For 30 years, NIDA Notes provided in-depth coverage of research findings on drug misuse and addiction. NIDA Notes was discontinued in 2021.
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). For current information, please visit nida.nih.gov.
Social Environment Appears Linked to Biological Changes in Dopamine System, May Influence Vulnerability to Cocaine Addiction
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Cocaine is known to be a highly addictive drug; however, little is known about the factors that make some individuals more vulnerable to it than others. Recently, NIDA-supported researchers at...
NIDA-Scholastic Team Spreads "Real News About Drugs" for Students
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NIDA scientists have teamed with Scholastic, a global children's publishing and media company, in a 2-year project designed to educate 12- to 15-year-olds about the dangers of drug abuse. Launched...
Rising to the Challenges of Inhalant Abuse
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In the last 10 years, drug abuse research has greatly expanded the range of approaches available to prevent and treat abuse of cocaine, opiates, marijuana, and nicotine. Research also has...
Timing Quit Date May Help Women Smokers
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Tobacco Withdrawal Symptoms, Luteal Versus Follicular Phase Withdrawal symptoms for luteal-phase women 1 week after quitting smoking were significantly higher than those of follicular-phase women. Symptoms of irritability, anxiety, difficulty...
Family-Based Treatment Programs Can Reduce Adolescent Drug Abuse
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Many factors influence adolescent drug abuse. Peer relationships; family, school, and neighborhood environments; and social or cultural norms can each act as protective factors or can put adolescents at increased...
Depression, PTSD, Substance Abuse Increase in Wake of September 11 Attacks
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Map of Study Area Relative to World Trade Center. Manhattan residents living closest to the World Trade Center, south of Canal Street, were three times more likely than residents from...
Women and Smoking: Sensory Factors, Attitudes About Weight, Phase of Menstrual Cycle All Key to Quitting
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NIDA-funded researchers are studying gender differences in smoking behavior and working to develop treatment plans that will help more women end their nicotine addiction. Three recent studies headed by Dr...
Bulletin Board
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Study Sheds Light on Progression to Drug Dependence Users Who Develop Drug Dependence During Each Year After First Use. Among cocaine users, more than 5 percent develop dependence during their...
Buprenorphine Approval Expands Options for Addiction Treatment
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Roughly two decades of NIDA-sponsored research and clinical trials have culminated in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of buprenorphine as a treatment for opiate dependence and addiction. The...
Inhalant Abuse Among Young People
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Percentage of Students Reporting Past-Year Use of Inhalants, by Grade. A consistent pattern shows higher rates of inhalant use in earlier grades, with levels of use in all three grades...
Chronic Solvent Abusers Have More Brain Abnormalities and Cognitive Impairments Than Cocaine Abusers
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Chronic inhalant abuse has long been linked to widespread brain damage and cognitive abnormalities that can range from mild impairment to severe dementia. Now a NIDA-funded study that compared brain...
Bulletin Board
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Dr. Elkashef Honored by PHS Dr. Ahmed M. Elkashef Dr. Ahmed M. Elkashef, chief of NIDA's Clinical/Medical Branch, Division of Treatment Research and Development, has been named by the Public...
Study Opens Promising New Approach to Developing Medications to Prevent Relapse to Cocaine Use
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Cocaine treatment patients who encounter people, situations, or settings they associate with past drug abuse often experience strong urges to use cocaine and slip back into addictive use. Such cue-induced...
Study Demonstrates That Marijuana Smokers Experience Significant Withdrawal
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Animal research and controlled studies of marijuana smokers during inpatient treatment suggest that marijuana dependence, like dependence on other addictive drugs, is associated with withdrawal symptoms -- such as irritability...
Combining Medications May Be Effective Treatment for "Speedball" Abuse
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NIDA-supported researchers from Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital, in Belmont, Massachusetts, discovered that a combination of the drugs buprenorphine and indatraline reduced the self-administration of "speedball" by monkeys. Speedball is a...
New Research Report Presents Marijuana Facts
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The latest in NIDA's Research Report series is " Marijuana Abuse," an eight-page pamphlet that summarizes current scientific knowledge of marijuana and its effects. "Today's marijuana is far more potent...
Dr. Roger M. Brown: Drug Abuse Neuroscience Pioneer
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Dr. Roger M. Brown Dr. Roger M. Brown, associate director for neuroscience in NIDA's Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research and longtime member of the NIDA NOTES editorial board, passed...
Cannabinoid Antagonist Reduces Marijuana's Effects in Humans
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Marijuana smokers treated with an experimental compound reported reduced highs and had smaller heart rate increases than untreated smokers in a recent study at NIDA's Intramural Research Program (IRP) in...
New Insights Into Relapse
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Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder. As when patients in treatment for hypertension or asthma temporarily lose control, relapse to drug abuse does not mean treatment does not work...
Researchers, Practitioners "Blend" Talents, Share Knowledge at NIDA Conference
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More than 800 drug abuse researchers and clinicians gathered in New York for the second NIDA conference on Blending Clinical Practice and Research with a common goal: Learn from one...
Prenatal Exposure to Ecstasy May Impair Memory and Cognition
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Dr. Harry Broening, Dr. Charles Vorhees, and colleagues at the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation and the University of Cincinnati have demonstrated that rats exposed to MDMA -- ecstasy -- during...
Shortened Family Prevention Programs Yield Long-Lasting Reductions in Adolescent Drug Abuse
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Two brief family-focused drug abuse prevention programs have produced long-term reductions in substance abuse among adolescents in rural Iowa public schools who were assigned to the programs in the sixth...
Prenatal Exposure to Methamphetamine Increases Vulnerability to the Drug's Neurotoxic Effects in Adult Male Mice
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A NIDA-funded study has shown that exposure to methamphetamine before birth results in more severe neurotoxic effects in male mice given the drug as adults than in females. These findings...
New Teaching Aids Focus on Ecstasy (MDMA), Power of Science
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Examples of Slides and Narrative Text in NIDA's New Teaching Packets "People who take ecstasy desire its pleasurable or reinforcing effects. However, few drugs are able to produce desirable effects...
Genetic Variation in Serotonin System May Play Role in Smoking Initiation
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Each day more than 3,000 young people smoke their first cigarette, and the likelihood of becoming addicted to nicotine is higher for these young smokers than for those who begin...
In Drug Abuse, Gender Matters
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Recent decades have seen a marked increase in awareness of the importance of gender in medical treatment and research. In the complex field of drug abuse research, scientists have helped...
NIDA's New Journal for Researcher-Provider Dialogue
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NIDA is launching a new publication for drug abuse researchers and treatment providers. Science & Practice Perspectives seeks to promote a practical, creative dialogue between scientists and service providers. Published...
High-Risk Sex Is Main Factor in HIV Infection for Men and Women Who Inject Drugs
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A 10-year study has found that the biggest predictor of HIV infection for both male and female injecting drug users (IDUs) is high-risk sexual behavior, not sharing needles used to...
Cocaine's Effects on Cerebral Blood Flow Differ Between Men and Women
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Researchers studying the effects of cocaine on the brain have found that men and women with comparable drug use histories do not exhibit comparable damage. One study showed that women...
Methamphetamine Abuse Linked to Impaired Cognitive and Motor Skills Despite Recovery of Dopamine Transporters
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Animal studies have demonstrated that methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant, damages brain cells involved in transport of the chemical messenger dopamine. Now, NIDA-supported researchers have found that long-term methamphetamine abuse...
Cognitive Deficits Associated with Heavy Marijuana Use Appear to be Reversible
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Memory and learning problems caused by heavy marijuana smoking persist for at least a week after cessation of use of the drug, but they appear to resolve completely within a...
NIDA Announces Science-Based Principles of HIV Prevention in Drug Users
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HIV prevention interventions must be personalized for each individual at risk. During the past 15 years, NIDA research on the co-occurring epidemics of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS has yielded a...
NIDA Research Advances Global Efforts to Prevent and Treat AIDS
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In the 20 years since AIDS was first identified, the disease has killed 25 million people. From the beginning of the epidemic, drug abuse has played an important role in...
Adolescent Treatment Programs Reduce Drug Abuse, Produce Other Improvements
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In the first large-scale study designed to evaluate drug abuse treatment outcomes among adolescents in age-specific treatment programs, NIDA-supported researchers have found that longer stays in these treatment programs can...
Prevention Program for HIV-Positive Youths Reduces Risks of Further HIV Transmission
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HIV-positive youths who attended intervention sessions designed to reduce unsafe behaviors were more likely than nonparticipants to make lifestyle changes that improved their own health and less likely than nonparticipants...
Childhood Sex Abuse Increases Risk for Drug Dependence in Adult Women
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Women who are sexually abused during childhood are at increased risk for drug abuse as adults, according to NIDA-supported research conducted at the Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University in...
Bulletin Board
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Coping With Stress Subject of New NIDA Community Alert Many of us may be encountering colleagues, friends, or family members who are more vulnerable to addiction because of stress. NIDA's...
Blood Pressure Medication May Improve Cocaine Treatment Results in Patients With Severe Withdrawal Symptoms
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A medication used to treat high blood pressure may be an effective add-on therapy for cocaine-dependent patients who suffer severe withdrawal symptoms when they stop using the drug, a NIDA-funded...
The CTN's First Three Waves of Research Protocols
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The criteria for selecting the first three waves of research protocols developed by NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) reflect the growing sophistication of CTN participants as...
Dr. Glen Hanson Assumes Post as Acting Director of NIDA
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Dr. Glen R. Hanson assumed the duties of acting director of NIDA on December 1, 2001. Dr. Hanson's appointment to the position by Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, acting director of the...
NIDA's Clinical Trials Network Marks Progress Toward Improved Drug Abuse Treatment
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More than 300 members of NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) met in September to celebrate 2 years of progress toward building a nationwide network of researchers...
New Vistas in Drug Abuse Prevention
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"Prevention is the best treatment" is an oft-cited maxim, and one that certainly applies to drug abuse. Anyone who can be influenced to avoid abusing drugs is spared their harmful...
Special Interest Groups Focus CTN's Research
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NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) provides a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to work together to test research concepts that can help them fill gaps...
Bulletin Board
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Media Guide: Reliable Background for Science Writers NIDA's Public Information and Liaison Branch has produced a Drug Abuse and Addiction Media Guide as part of the Institute's mission to close...
Risk and Protective Factors in Drug Abuse Prevention
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In more than 20 years of drug abuse research, NIDA has identified important principles for prevention programs in the family, school, and community. Prevention programs often are designed to enhance...
NIDA Conference Reviews Advances in Prevention Science, Announces New National Research Initiative
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"Messages should be pretested for their effectiveness and appropriateness to the target audience." - Dr. Joseph Cappella, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. A review of current, effective drug abuse prevention programs...
Annual Survey Shows Teen Smoking Down, Rise in MDMA Use Slowing
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Use of cigarettes by American teenagers decreased from 2000 to 2001, according to the annual Monitoring the Future Study. Smoking was down for 8th- and 10th-graders, continuing a general pattern...
NIDA Conference Highlights Scientific Findings on MDMA/Ecstasy
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In the face of worldwide increases in the use of MDMA, or ecstasy, particularly among teens and young adults, NIDA convened an international array of scientists at the National Institutes...
Altered Cellular Activity May Be First Step in Progression to Cocaine Addiction
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When the brain chemical glutamate reaches dopamine cells in the ventral tegmental area, it activates specific sites called NMDA receptors and AMPA receptors. Electrical current generated by the AMPA receptors...
The Many Faces of MDMA Use Challenge Drug Abuse Prevention
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Three NIDA-funded ethnographic studies presented at the MDMA/Ecstasy Conference illustrate the diversity and complexity of MDMA use in the United States. The studies showed both similarities and differences in patterns...
At NIDA, Se Habla Español
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Why is it important that NIDA reach out to Hispanic communities in their own language? Hispanic/Latino peoples constitute the fastest growing population group in the Nation. NIDA's Monitoring the Future...
Using Science to Counter the Spread of Ecstasy Abuse
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At a time when the abuse of most illicit drugs has leveled off or declined slightly among the Nation's youth, one drug has soared in popularity. It is known by...
MDMA/Ecstasy - A Drug With Complex Consequences
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MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as "ecstasy," is a complex drug that defies simple classification. Its chemical structure bears similarities to both the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. As a...
Methamphetamine, Cocaine Abusers Have Different Patterns of Drug Use, Suffer Different Cognitive Impairments
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NIDA-supported research has found that methamphetamine abusers typically use the drug throughout the day in a pattern that resembles taking medication, while cocaine abusers often exhibit a binge pattern, using...
NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner Named CEO of American Association for the Advancement of Science
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Dr. Alan I. Leshner, NIDA director since 1994, was recently appointed chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general science organization and...
CEWG: 25 Years Tracking Emerging Drug Abuse Problems
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This June, NIDA’s Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) celebrated 25 years of providing timely and accurate information about drug abuse patterns, trends, and emerging problems. The network of drug abuse...
Television Public Service Announcements Decrease Marijuana Use in Targeted Teens
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NIDA-supported researchers have helped clarify the necessary elements in effective anti-drug public service announcements (PSAs) directed at high-sensation-seeking adolescents. NIDA researchers have previously shown that high-sensation-seekers–individuals characterized by their need...
Countering Abuse and Addiction With Information Audiences Can Use
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NIDA’s quarter century of research has produced a basic unequivocal message–drug addiction is a treatable brain disease. That message is being heard: A survey of public attitudes toward illegal drug...
Drug Abuse Data from the Nation's Communities
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At the June meeting, CEWG members reported on drug abuse trends in their areas. Highlights from each area are listed below. Atlanta: Large-scale production and distribution of methamphetamine continues, and...
Coping With Stress in the Wake of September 11
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As we all struggle with the emotional impact of the large-scale damage and loss of life, and the uncertainty of what may happen next, that have resulted from the terrorist...
Buprenorphine Taken Three Times per Week is as Effective as Daily Doses in Treating Heroin Addiction
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Buprenorphine, a medication developed through NIDA-funded research, has been shown in clinical trials to be an effective treatment for opioid addiction when taken in daily doses. Research at Yale University...
Biochemical Brain Abnormality Found in School-Age Children Prenatally Exposed to Cocaine
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Exposure to cocaine before birth may affect the way a child’s brain functions many years later, according to a recent NIDA-funded study. The brain-imaging study found a chemical abnormality in...
Tools for Schools: NIDA's Drug Abuse Education Information for Teachers
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In the past few years, NIDA has increased its efforts to provide drug abuse education materials for students and teachers. Part of NIDA’s mission is to increase students’ knowledge of...
Pathological Obesity and Drug Addiction Share Common Brain Characteristics
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Reduced brain activity of dopamine, a naturally occurring substance that modulates feelings of pleasure, may contribute to obesity as well as drug addiction, a NIDA-funded study suggests. The study found...
33-Year Study Finds Lifelong, Lethal Consequences of Heroin Addiction
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Heroin addiction exacts a terrible toll. For many addicts the condition lasts a lifetime–a lifetime shortened by health and social consequences of addiction. NIDA-supported researchers at the University of California...
Natural Compound May Offer New Treatment for Chronic Pain
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"Agmatine appears to selectively reduce the chronic pain resulting from nerve damage or inflammation, but not the acute pain caused by normal injury." NIDA-supported researchers Drs. George Wilcox and Carolyn...
Lights! Camera! PRISM!
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Entertainment Industries Council president Brian Dyak (left) is joined by co-hosts Richard Lewis and Jamie Lee Curtis, NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Vice President...
NIDA Scientific Panel Reports on Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse
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As part of its initiative on prescription drug misuse and addiction, NIDA is distributing 400,000 postcards with messages about the dangers of prescription drugs. The cards are available in restaurants...
Bulletin Board
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Adding Vouchers to Behavioral Therapies Improves Marijuana Treatment Results Enhancing behavioral treatments by adding the opportunity to earn vouchers for remaining drug-free has been shown to improve abstinence rates among...
New NIDA Web Site Eases Access to Latest Drug Abuse News and Information
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NIDA has redesigned its Web site to make it easier for different audiences to obtain information about drugs, drug abuse, and the Institute. The new site features a "Headlines" section...
Even Modest Cocaine Use May Cause Brain Changes That Could Contribute to Addiction
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A major goal of drug abuse research is to determine how voluntary drug use turns into compulsive drug use and addiction. A recent NIDA-supported study sheds light on drug-induced brain...
Nicotine Disrupts Brain Development in Rats
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To determine the effect of nicotine on developing brains in the auditory cortex (the part of the brain where sounds are associated with meanings), researchers measured an electrical property (excitatory...
Facts About Prescription Drug Abuse and Addiction
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Prescription drugs can help patients manage chronic or severe pain, restore emotional or behavioral balance, control sleep disorders, or fight obesity. When prescription medications are abused, however, the consequences-including addiction-can...
Drug Injectors Sharing Cookers and Cotton Increase Their Risk of Hepatitis C
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The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is extremely common among injection drug users (IDUs); some regions of the United States have reported prevalence rates as high as 90 percent in their...
Understanding the Risks of Prescription Drug Abuse
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Prescription drugs can transform lives. For the millions of patients who take them, prescription drugs bring dramatic improvements in health and quality of life. But when abused or misused, many...
Bulletin Board
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Advisory Council Welcomes New Members New members and NIDA officials at the February National Advisory Council meeting, left to right: Dr. Jose Szapocznik, Dr. Kenneth Hoffman (Ex Officio Member, U.S...
Information on LSD, PCP, and Related Drugs Available in New Research Report
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NIDA has issued a new report summarizing recent scientific research on hallucinogens and other mind-altering drugs that distort perceptions of reality. The eight-page Research Report, " Hallucinogens and Dissociative Drugs,"...
Buprenorphine Proves Effective, Expands Options for Treatment of Heroin Addiction
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NIDA-supported researchers continue to expand treatment options for heroin addicts. A recent clinical trial showed that buprenorphine can be as effective as levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol (LAAM) and high-dose methadone in the treatment...
Conference Highlights Increasing GHB Abuse
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We don't yet know if GHB abuse is a fad or if it will become an epidemic, but the knowledge exchanged at this conference will keep NIDA on top of...
Annual Survey Finds Increasing Teen Use of Ecstasy, Steroids
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Graph on MDMA Trends in High School Children For the fourth year in a row, the percentages of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders avoiding all use of illicit drugs remained level...
NIDA Small Business Grants Spur Promising Drug Abuse-Related Products and Programs
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A CD-ROM-based game called "The Science of Drugs" uses text, graphics, and animation to teach children how their brains and bodies work and how abused drugs, such as cocaine, affect...
About the SBIR and STTR Programs
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Under the Federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Program, small businesses can compete for grants to develop promising ideas that meet...
Cues for Cocaine and Normal Pleasures Activate Common Brain Sites
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Positron emission tomography shows that limbic regions in the brains of in-treatment cocaine users are activated by watching cocaine-related videos. Watching videos of nature scenes does not result in activation...
When the Question Is Drug Abuse and Addiction, the Answer Is 'All of the Above'
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Too often, discussions about how to reduce drug abuse and addiction turn into intense debates between polarized viewpoints. Is drug addiction a brain disease or a bad personal choice? Should...
Adolescents, Women, and Whites More Vulnerable Than Others to Becoming Nicotine Dependent
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Rates of drug dependence-the percentage of users who experience symptoms that reinforce their drug use and have trouble quitting-are higher for nicotine than for marijuana, cocaine, or alcohol. Rates of...
Meeting the Challenge of Reducing Health Disparities
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Through more than 25 years of scientific research, NIDA has dramatically advanced our understanding of the ways that drugs act on cells, in the brain, and in the lives of...
Thailand Conference Focuses on Methamphetamine Research
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The Pacific Regional Research Conference on Methamphetamine and Amphetamine-Type Stimulants, held in November in Bangkok, Thailand, explored the potential for cooperating on research to reduce and prevent the abuse of...
Smoking May Lead to Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults
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Using a wealth of data obtained through a 25-year longitudinal study, NIDA-funded researcher Dr. Judith Brook of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, Dr. Patricia Cohen of...
Large Study Expands Probe of Disulfiram's Effects on Cocaine Use
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Dr. Richard Schottenfeld of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, has begun enrolling patients in a clinical trial that is large enough to establish more definitively than...
Alcohol-Treatment Medication May Help Reduce Cocaine Abuse Among Heroin Treatment Patients
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Disulfiram-treated patients averaged more than twice as many weeks of abstinence from cocaine as placebo-treated patients during the course of the 12-week trial. A NIDA-supported study has found evidence that...
Women and Smokeless Tobacco Use
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Although more than 90 percent of smokeless tobacco users in the United States are male, a substantial number of women also use smokeless tobacco products. In 1998, 0.5 percent of...
NIH Develops High School Curriculum Supplement on Addiction
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In collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Science Education (OSE), NIDA has developed a new, free educational resource for adolescents. The science curriculum supplement is designed...
Nicotine Patch Helps Smokeless Tobacco Users Quit, But Maintaining Abstinence May Require Additional Treatment
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An estimated 9.6 million people in the United States used smokeless tobacco products - moist snuff and chewing tobacco - during 1998, according to the National Household Survey on Drug...
Bulletin Board
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NIDA Executive Officer Receives Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award NIDA Associate Director and Executive Officer Laura S. Rosenthal NIDA Associate Director and Executive Officer Laura S. Rosenthal has received her...
Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy Associated With Negative Toddler Behavior and Early Smoking Experimentation
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NIDA-funded researchers have added to the accumulating scientific evidence that women's smoking during pregnancy adversely affects their children's health and development. Two new studies have linked prenatal tobacco exposure to...
Preventing Drug Abuse-Related Infectious Diseases Through Community Outreach
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Drug abuse service providers in the field now have a new tool to help them reduce the spread of drug-related disease among drug abusers. The NIDA Community-Based Outreach Model: A...
Blending Drug Abuse Research and Practice to Improve Treatment
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In recent years, NIDA research has produced an array of pharmacological and behavioral interventions that show great promise for improving drug abuse treatment. We know that many of these treatments...
Research That Provided Key Insights for Drug Abuse Scientists Takes Nobel Prize
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Dr. Arvid Carlsson This year's Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to three scientists whose work laid the foundation for understanding how drugs affect the brain and recognizing drug...
NIDA Clinical Trials Network Begins First Multisite Tests of New Science-Based Drug Abuse Treatments
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NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) is up and running. Seven research-based drug abuse treatment protocols are being tested under real-world treatment conditions by the network's 6...
Facts About Inhalant Abuse
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A new booklet in NIDA's Research Report series provides up-to-the-moment science-based information about inhalant abuse, a serious and prevalent health risk. Following are highlights from "Inhalant Abuse." What are inhalants...