Category: Uncategorized
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Start A Conversation: 10 Questions Teens Ask About Drugs and Health
At the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), our goal is to help people get accurate, science-based information about drugs and health. To help you start a conversation about drugs and health, we’ve compiled teens’ 10 most frequently asked questions from more than 118,000 queries we’ve received from young people during National Drug and Alcohol Facts […]
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Open the Doors
Browsing TikTok this morning I came across this incredible Ted Talk. Everything we need to understand and solve our drug epidemic is within this talk. So why haven’t we? We set aside scientific studies, proven effective methods for helping people struggling with addiction and then wonder why we are in the midst of this epidemic. […]
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The Next Great Overdose-Reversing Drug Might Already Exist
Fentanyl-related substances have a bad reputation, but they could also save lives. In the US, a legislative battle to expedite research is heating up. The overdose crisis is getting worse. Biblical-plague worse. The United States recorded more than 107,000 drug-induced deaths in 2021, up 28 percent from the previous year. Fentanyl has played a key […]
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Addiction can happen to anyone
One in 7 Americans reports experiencing a substance use disorder. There is not one single driving factor that leads to addiction. Some people may use drugs to help cope with stress, trauma, or to help with mental health issues. Some may even develop opioid use disorder after misusing opioids they are prescribed by doctors. In […]
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Peer recovery support: a bridge to hope and healing
November 26, 2022 ~ Dr David McCartney Good human relationships and social connections are potent protections against both physical and mental ill health. In an analysis involving hundreds of thousands of people researchers looked to see to what extent social relationships influenced the risk of death. They found that those who had stronger relationships were 50% […]
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FDA opens door to make opioid overdose antidote available over the counter
Over-the-counter versions of naloxone, a lifesaving drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, could begin appearing on pharmacy shelves as early as next year. Nov. 16, 2022 By Berkeley Lovelace Jr. The Food and Drug Administration is pushing for drugmakers to apply for over-the-counter approval for naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote. In a notice published online […]
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Top government researcher calls for easier access to methadone
Kerry Breen Thu, November 17, 2022 The top addiction researcher in the U.S. government is calling for the broad deregulation of methadone — a medication that can reduce dependency on opioids — in a major departure from how it is currently made available. Nina Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), made […]
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Decriminalizing Mental Illness and Promoting Mental Health Equity
A poll commissioned by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that only one in five Americans believe that those in jails and prisons are getting the mental health care they need while 75% believe mental health support should be provided for incarcerated people. Jails and prisons are not meeting the mental health needs of incarcerated […]
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Fatal Heart Infections Linked to Opioid Abuse Have Tripled Among Young Americans
Nov. 9, 2022, at 2:11 p.m. By Dennis Thompson The U.S. opioid epidemic has been heartbreaking — literally Young adults’ risk of dying from a devastating infection of the heart has doubled to tripled in the United States during the past two decades, a new study reports. Researchers ascribe the increase in fatal heart infections […]
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How to Talk to Kids About Drugs in the Age of Fentanyl
Nov. 8, 2022 By Maia Szalavitz In September, two 15-year-old Los Angeles girls overdosed on fentanyl, one of them fatally, after they purchased what they thought were prescription opioid pills. Although most overdose deaths occur among adults, teen opioid fatalities have doubled in recent years, even as opioid use among adolescents has plummeted. In the […]
The Truth About Addiction 