En español
NIDA

Menu

Home
Drugs of Abuse

Quick Links

Related Topics

Quick Links

Publications

Quick Links

Research

Quick Links

Funding

Quick Links

News

Quick Links

About NIDA

Quick Links

Home » News & Events » Nora's Blog

Nora's Blog

Featured Post

baby in mother's arms

Prenatal and Early Childhood Brain Development: The HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study

March 11, 2019
The NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) initiative is helping to fund an ambitious research project called the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study. This study, which will use many of the same neuroimaging and other methods as the ABCD study, will follow a large cohort of children from the prenatal period to age 10. Read More.

0 Comments

Recent Posts

Summit attendees listen to Dr. Nora Volkow's presentation

The 2015 Prescription Drug Abuse Summit

April 2015
This event, which is the brainchild of Kentucky Congressman and House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, has grown in attendance each year, successfully shining a light on this terrible public health problem in our nation. Read More.

4 Comments
photo of opium poppies

HHS Announces Actions to Attack the Opioid Abuse Crisis

March 2015
Deaths from opioid painkillers now exceed all other drug overdose deaths, and we are seeing increases in heroin use and increased deaths from heroin as people addicted to painkillers transition to this cheaper, more potent street drug. More must be done to confront the opioid crisis head-on Read More.

5 Comments
Photo of e-cigs showing their variety

Knowns and Unknowns about e-Cigarettes and Teens

February 2015
When asked in early 2014, 17.1 percent of high school seniors and 16.2 percent of 10th graders reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month. We are still wrestling with whether or not e-cigarettes pose a danger, but their popularity among youth combined with society’s past experiences with tobacco and other addictive substances demands that we urge caution around these products. Read More.

3 Comments
Dr. Nora Volkow presenting at TEDMED

Brain in Progress: Why Teens Can’t Always Resist Temptation

January 2015
The changes in the brain common to obesity and drug addiction are especially pertinent to the struggles teens face to resist drugs, because adolescence is a crucial period both of susceptibility to the rewards of drugs and of vulnerability to the long-term effects of drug exposure Read More.

5 Comments
Logo for Monitoring the Future

Good News from Monitoring the Future 2014

December 2014
At the end of a year that has seen further tragic deaths from addiction and new designer drugs that put young people at risk, today's results from the 2014 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of drug use among adolescents provide a dose of welcome optimism. Read More.

1 Comment
Image of brain scans of control and Obese subjects showing reduced DA D2 receptor activity from control

Reproducibility Issues May Be Science’s Growing Pains

November 2014
I have written before about the reproducibility crisis in the health sciences. High percentages of published findings are failing to be reproduced, and this has prompted NIH Institutes and other funding agencies, as well as scientific journals and universities, to take measures to improve how science is taught, funded, conducted, and published. Read More.

2 Comments
Illustration of a billboard with a question mark in it

Marijuana Advertising and the Power of Conditioning

October 2014
As social acceptance and public policy around marijuana shift, and especially if legalized recreational use becomes more widespread, we will need to consider the influence and potential regulation of its marketing. Read More.

12 Comments
See caption

Opioids and Chronic Pain—A Gap in Our Knowledge

September 2014
Opioid prescriptions have increased three-fold over the past two decades, and we have seen how this skyrocketing availability of medications has helped create a new drug abusing population, some of whom suffer severe health consequences Read More.

8 Comments
Graph showing increased use of drugs in most categories by American Indian/Alaskan Native students - see text

Substance Use in American Indian Youth is Worse than We Thought

September 2014
We have long known that American Indian communities are particularly vulnerable to problems with substance use, which are tied in part to limited socioeconomic opportunity. But because national surveys fail to fully capture drug use patterns on or near reservations, the true scope of the problem has been elusive. Read More.

3 Comments
Marijuana leaf

Science Should Guide Marijuana Policy

August 2014
In a series of recent articles, The New York Times’ editors presented a case for repealing the federal ban on marijuana, including the disproportionate impact of current marijuana laws on minorities. While there is no question that we should rectify any injustices associated with such policies, we also need to consider and prepare for the escalation in social and health costs that could result from creating a third legal drug in this country. We should be thoughtfully examining all policy and regulatory options available to minimize harms to society and promote Americans’ safety, well-being, and competitiveness Read More.

11 Comments

Pages

Dr. Nora Volkow: Remarks and Video Highlights

APA 2015 meeting

About This Blog

Dr. Nora Volkow

Here I highlight important work being done at NIDA and other news related to the science of drug use and addiction.
—Dr. Nora Volkow, Director

Comment & Guest Blog Policies
Receive Nora’s Blog Articles in your Email!
You will only receive messages related to Nora’s Blog