Archived News Releases

This is Archived Content. This content is available for historical purposes only. It may not reflect the current state of science or language from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). View current news releases on nida.nih.gov.

Stronger Relief for Neuropathic Pain

 |  Opioid medications are highly effective against many types of pain, but not neuropathic pain, which arises from damaged or diseased nerves. Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests a way to remedy that shortcoming.

Young adults’ daily use of marijuana a concern

 |  The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced that the latest Monitoring the Future (MTF) national survey results of drug use among full-time college students and their non-college peers are now available online, highlighting that daily marijuana use is at the highest level since the early 1980s for this age group.

Collaborative care shows promise for opioid and alcohol use disorders

 |  A NIDA-funded randomized clinical trial found that primary care patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders (OAUD) who were offered a collaborative care intervention were more likely to receive evidence-based treatment and refrain from using opioids and alcohol six months later, compared to patients receiving usual care.

Grants awarded to address opioid crisis in rural regions

 |  To address the opioid crisis in rural U.S. regions, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in partnership with several other federal agencies, have issued nine grants to help communities develop comprehensive approaches to prevent and treat consequences of opioid injection, including substance use disorder, overdose, HIV, hepatitis B and C virus infections, as well as sexually transmitted diseases.

NIDA scientists advance DREADD technology

 |  Scientists at the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have discovered new clues to the successful use of the DREADD technology. It has been thought that artificially designed DREADD receptors can be activated by a metabolite of the antipsychotic drug clozapine, called CNO.

Glutamate Receptor’s Role in Cocaine Reward and Relapse

 |  Scientists supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that rats lacking mGluR2 self-administered more cocaine than wild-type rats when little work was needed to obtain the drug, but less when the work requirement rose—and they were less likely to relapse after a period of abstinence.

Microglia Revealed

 |  Neuroscientists at the NIDA Intramural Research Program, with colleagues from the Johns Hopkins University, conducted the most extensive analysis to date of microglia in the midbrain of healthy mice. They discovered that the microglia in different midbrain areas differ in population density, number of branches, cellular contents, and gene expression.

Smoking cessation medications alleviate symptoms of nicotine withdrawal, but not long-term brain changes

 |  Researchers now report that nicotine replacement therapy and the smoking cessation medication varenicline alleviate ex-smokers’ deficits in decision-making, but do not restore reward sensitivity. The new study pinpoints the types of decision errors newly abstinent smokers make, and how their brain activity during decision-making differs from that of non-smokers.

High mortality among opioid use disorder patients in a general health care setting

 |  A new report provides information that primary care physicians and health care systems can use as they develop responses to the reforms and measure their success. The findings provide a baseline estimate of the excess mortality suffered by patients with opioid use disorder who are treated in a general health care system, and identify the main proximate causes of this mortality.

Research shows parallels between addiction and aggression

 |  A new study by scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) showed that when mice are exposed to experimental protocols adapted from those that are used to model human addictive behaviors, some animals develop an addiction-like propensity to aggression.

New analysis highlights patterns of adult medical marijuana use

 |  An analysis of medical marijuana use among adults in the United States indicates that more than 21 percent of medical marijuana users reside in states that have not legalized its use; suggesting that physicians might be recommending medical marijuana regardless of legalization in their respective states.

Teens using e-cig devices not just for nicotine

 |  A recent analysis of the 2015 Monitoring the Future (MTF) findings on e-cigarette use highlights uncertainty about what teens are actually inhaling when using "e-cig" devices, and at least six percent report they are using the vaporizers to inhale marijuana.

Smoking cessation success linked to sex difference

 |  A meta-analysis of smoking cessation therapies, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), showed that clinicians should strongly consider varenicline as the first treatment option for women who are trying to quit smoking.

Co-prescribing naloxone in primary care settings may reduce ER visits

 |  Research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that patients taking opioids for long-term chronic pain, who were given prescriptions for naloxone in a primary care setting, had 63 percent fewer opioid-related emergency department visits after one year compared to those who did not receive prescriptions for naloxone.

College and young adult drug use data now available online

 |  The latest (2014) college age MTF data shows that more students are using marijuana daily than are drinking alcohol daily. Survey results suggest that the non-medical use of the stimulant Adderall is higher for the college group than their non-college peers; and there has been an uptick in cocaine use among college students.

Extended-release naltrexone lowers relapse rates in ex-offenders

 |  New research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) revealed that the relapse rates among criminal justice involved adults with a history of opioid dependence were lower for participants receiving extended-release naltrexone than for those receiving treatment as usual (brief counseling and referrals for community treatment programs).

Marijuana Use Raises SUD Risk

 |  The health impacts of marijuana are currently the subject of significant public debate. Past data have suggested a link to numerous mental health outcomes including substance use disorders (SUDs), mood disorders, and anxiety, although whether marijuana use actually causes these conditions, or just shares common contributing factors, has been difficult to specify.

Dr. Marilyn Huestis retires

 |  Dr. Huestis’ research program has sought to discover mechanisms of action of cannabinoid agonists and antagonists, effects of in utero drug exposure, and the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of novel psychoactive substances, the emerging face of drug abuse.

Factors Predicting the Transition from Prescription Opioids to Heroin

 |  Prescription opioid misuse remains one of America’s biggest drug problems. In recent years the numbers of people misusing prescription pain relievers has leveled off, however, the number of people dying from overdoses continues to rise, and a new epidemic of heroin use has emerged as many people misusing prescription opioids transition to their cheaper, often easier-to-obtain street relative.

NIDA editorial urges safer opioid prescribing practices for pregnant women

 |  Recent research sheds light on the risks of prescribing opioids to pregnant women and their exposed infants – underscoring the importance of following good opioid prescription practices, according to an editorial published today in the British Medical Journal by Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Teen Opioid Prescriptions Raise Risk of Later Opioid Misuse

 |  A new study using data from the NIDA-funded Monitoring the Future survey of adolescent drug use and attitudes conducted annually by the University of Michigan shows that teens who received a prescription for opioid pain medication by Grade 12 were at 33 percent increased risk of misusing an opioid between ages 19 and 25.

Drug use trends remain stable or decline among teens

 |  The 2015 Monitoring the Future survey (MTF) shows decreasing use of a number of substances, including cigarettes, alcohol, prescription opioid pain relievers, and synthetic cannabinoids (“synthetic marijuana”). Other drug use remains stable, including marijuana, with continued high rates of daily use reported among 12th graders, and ongoing declines in perception of its harms.

NIDA announces new awards for the Clinical Trials Network

 |  The grants will support studies on behavioral and pharmacological therapeutic interventions in rigorous, multi-site clinical trials to determine their effectiveness across a broad range of community-based treatment settings and diversified patient populations.

Nef Protein Helps HIV Virus Overcome Immune Cell Defenses

 |  A new NIAID- and NIDA-funded study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School found that Nef enhances the ability of HIV-1 to take over immune cells specifically by reducing the expression of two proteins in the surface of those cells (i.e., transmembrane proteins), SERINC3 and SERINC5.

Brain structure and predisposition for cannabis use

 |  A new study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and elsewhere and partly funded by NIDA—the largest study to date examining cannabis exposure in relation to brain volume—used neuroimaging data from a sample of twins and siblings (483 participants total) to examine the extent cannabis use causes structural effects in the brain.

Do rats prefer palatable foods over meth?

 |  Recent research has shown that most rats will choose non-drug rewards (palatable foods) over self-administering cocaine, if given the option.  A new study by researchers at NIDA’s Intramural Research Program examined whether such a preference generalizes to rats with a history of limited or extended access to another stimulant drug, methamphetamine.