Latest from NIDA | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Daily use of marijuana among non-college young adults at all time high

September 5, 2018 | The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced that the latest Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey results on substance use trends as teens transition to adulthood are now available online...

Science Highlight

Immediate switch to low levels of nicotine in cigarettes more effective than a gradual reduction

September 4, 2018 | The FDA is considering a regulatory policy to reduce the levels of nicotine in combustible cigarettes to minimally addictive levels.

Science Highlight

Intervention increases use of Medication for both HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorders

September 1, 2018 | A vanguard study with people who inject drugs provides evidence that a specific flexible, scalable intervention increases reported use of both antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS (ART) and medication therapy for...

News Release

Event registration opens today for National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week®

August 29, 2018 | The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) announced today that event registration is open for the next National Drug &...

Science Highlight

A look at drug craving

August 28, 2018 | Studies using animal models of addiction have shown that drug seeking progressively increases after drug self-administration stops, which is a phenomenon called incubation of drug craving.

Science Highlight

E-Cigs linked to heart attacks

August 27, 2018 | An analysis of health data concludes that e-cigarette use, adjusted for smoking conventional cigarettes and other risk factors, is associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction, which is commonly known...

NIDA Notes

Proven Prevention Program Aims To Adapt for Native Americans

August 27, 2018 | This research showed: A survey that is a key tool in the Communities That Care prevention system is largely valid in Native American communities. Adjusting the survey to incorporate culturally...

Science Highlight

Mindfulness training and substance use treatment

August 9, 2018 | A NIDA-funded study showed that a mindful awareness training program is associated with improved outcomes for women seeking treatment for substance use disorders.

Science Highlight

How cannabis use disorder affects working memory

August 7, 2018 | Using imaging technologies, NIDA-funded scientists peered into the brains of people with cannabis use disorder to test their working memory, compared to a control group.

NIDA Notes

A New Tool for Investigating HIV in the Brain

August 7, 2018 | In this research: Researchers developed a tool that enables them to closely monitor HIV activity in key brain cells. The tool may accelerate the development of treatments for HIV in...

NIDA Notes

Adolescent Marijuana Use Is Linked to Altered Neural Circuitry and Mood Symptoms

| En español

August 3, 2018 | Some teens's marijuana use has been linked to disrupted communication between two key regions in the brain's reward circuitry at age 20. Disrupted communication between the regions was associated with...

NIDA Notes

E-Cigarettes Promote Smoking Progression in Youth and Depress Quitting Among Adults

August 2, 2018 | E-cigarettes are not an effective tool to reduce combustible-cigarette smoking, two NIDA-supported studies indicate.

NIDA Notes

Amphetamine Diverts the Brain’s Path to Maturity

| En español

July 26, 2018 | This research: Sheds light on a key mechanism of adolescent brain development. Shows how amphetamine disrupts this mechanism. Links this disruption to animal behaviors that resemble human susceptibility to addiction...

Science Highlight

Pregnant women in Appalachia face barriers to opioid treatment

July 26, 2018 | A NIDA-funded study has discovered that pregnant women in Appalachia face barriers to receiving medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorders, from both insurers and providers.

News Release

Journal commentary addresses role of dentists in opioid crisis

July 25, 2018 | The commentary, authored by Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and Dr. Martha Somerman, director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, both...

News Release

Study casts doubt on effectiveness of e-cigs for smoking cessation

July 9, 2018 | A study found no evidence that smokers who used e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in the United States were more likely to quit smoking cigarettes than smokers...

NIDA Notes

As Opioid Use Disorders Increased, Prescriptions for Treatment Did Not Keep Pace

July 2, 2018 | Several effective medications are now available for treating opioid use disorder but many patients who could benefit do not receive them. Some patients who receive the medications face challenges to...

News Release

2018 Avenir award recipient to study how social networks affect people who use drugs

July 2, 2018 | A proposal to study how drug users who are part of social networks influence their own communities has been given the 2018 Avenir award for HIV/AIDS research by the National...

Science Highlight

A revealing look at the brain on heroin

June 29, 2018 | A NIDA-funded study reveals major changes in the brains of heroin users.

News Release

New clinician screening tool available for substance use

June 28, 2018 | The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network has unveiled a new scientifically validated, online screening tool designed to assess a patient’s risk for substance misuse and substance...

News Release

Training module now available for acute pain management in hospitalized adults

June 27, 2018 | A case-based clinician training module designed for the evaluation of acute pain and opioid management for adults is now available through the Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPE) program...

Science Highlight

Scientists discover path to better pain medicines

June 26, 2018 | In this this NIDA-funded research, scientists used a novel approach to compare the cell signaling initiated by kappa opioids that produce dysphoria from those that do not.

NIDA Notes

Outcomes of Computerized CBT Rival Those of Clinician-Delivered CBT

June 25, 2018 | This clinical trial: Found that patients who self-administered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) using computerized training modules reduced their drug use as much as patients who received clinician-delivered CBT, and they...

News Release

Analysis of insurance coverage for back pain shows missed opportunities to prescribe non-opioid medications

June 22, 2018 | A comprehensive analysis of health insurance coverage of non-opioid and opioid medications to treat chronic low back pain concluded that some insurance plans have missed important opportunities to steer patients...

News Release

Methadone and buprenorphine reduce risk of death after opioid overdose

June 19, 2018 | A National Institutes of Health-funded study found that treatment of opioid use disorder with either methadone or buprenorphine following a nonfatal opioid overdose is associated with significant reductions in opioid...

NIDA Notes

In Animals, Opioid Combination Shows Promise for Safer Pain Relief

June 19, 2018 | This study found that: In rats, co-administration with nalfurafine reduced the dose of oxycodone required to lower pain responses in models of human chronic pain. The combination treatment generated less...

NIDA Notes

A Gene Links Impulsivity and Drug Use Vulnerability

June 14, 2018 | This research: Identified a gene variant that promotes impulsive behavior and enhanced responses to heroin in rats. Linked the corresponding human gene variant to increased risk for impulsivity and drug...

NIDA Notes

Novel Compound Alleviates Hard-to-Treat Pain in Mice

June 14, 2018 | A novel compound called GAT211 alleviates inflammatory and neuropathic pain in mice without producing tolerance or signs of abuse liability.

News Release

Special journal issue highlights ABCD brain study

June 11, 2018 | The special issue is an overview of the ABCD Study and includes articles about the rationale for the study, its design and recruitment strategy, assessment protocols and neuroimaging parameters, the...

Science Highlight

Too Hot And Too Cold: Dysregulation of key brain networks in people with addiction

June 8, 2018 | Study suggests that brain activity is not simply too high or low in people who are addicted to drugs, but behaves differently to drug and non-drug stimuli.