Drug Use
Heavy Cannabis Use Linked to Schizophrenia, Especially among Young Men
A huge Danish study shows that up to 30 percent of psychosis diagnoses in young men could have been prevented if these individuals hadn’t used marijuana heavily
Drug Use40 articles archived since 1845
Drug Use
A New Era in Addiction Medicine: A Trailblazing Doctor’s Legacy and the Ongoing Search for a Cure
Medication treatment for heroin addiction has come a long way since its pioneer died. But what would she think of the field today?
Drug Use
Over-the-Counter Narcan Is a Small Win in the Overdose Crisis. We Need More
Requiring a prescription for all forms of naloxone holds the overdose-reversing medication hostage, kept from millions of Americans who should carry it in their purses and back pockets
Drug Use
Methadone Maintenance versus Synthetic Heaven: Inside the Historic Fight over Heroin Treatment
In the 1970s Marie Nyswander thought that she had finally found a long-term treatment for heroin addiction, but not everyone agreed—including some of the people she was trying to help...
Drug Use
These Doctors Fought the Federal Bureau of Narcotics to Treat Addiction—With Drugs
In the early 1960s a trio at the Rockefeller Institute started a bold experiment to change the way heroin addiction was treated, and they did so using a drug originally created by “the devil’s chemist”...
Public Health
How Over-the-Counter Narcan Can Help Reverse Opioid Overdoses
A recent Food and Drug Administration decision that makes naloxone available without a prescription may increase the drug’s accessibility. But cost could be a barrier
Drug Use
From Orgasms to Overdoses: How Marie Nyswander Went from Treating ‘Sexual Frigidity’ to Heroin Addiction
A young psychoanalyst specializing in sexual issues starts getting calls for help—about something else entirely
Drug Use
What Is Xylazine? A Medical Toxicologist Explains How It Increases Overdose Risk and Why Narcan Can Still Save a Life
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned about the dangers of xylazine, but Narcan (naloxone) can still save people’s life during an overdose
Drug Use
Marie Nyswander Changed the Landscape of Addiction. Here’s How Her Story Begins
In the first episode of Season Five of the Lost Women of Science podcast, we meet a young doctor who, in 1946, was posted to Kentucky’s Narcotic Farm
Drug Use
Antimicrobial Resistance Is Growing because of COVID
Antibiotics won’t work on the virus that causes COVID, but in places like India, their overuse threatens to nullify their effects on other equally deadly pathogens
Drug Use
Should Parents Really Be Worried About Rainbow Fentanyl?
The candy-colored drugs are the latest Halloween scare, but history suggests such fears are overblown
Drug Use
The Federal Government Should Decriminalize Marijuana
An ideal federal marijuana policy would reduce arrests while supporting a highly regulated marketplace
Drug Use
A Recent Supreme Court Ruling Will Help People In Pain
By ruling in favor of two doctors accused of running pill mills, SCOTUS is clarifying opioid prescription practices
Drug Use
Doctors Prescribing Opioids in Good Faith Should Not Be Prosecuted
The Supreme Court will consider a case that has had a chilling effect on medical practice
Artificial Intelligence
How AI Could Prevent the Development of New Illicit Drugs
The DarkNPS algorithm has predicted the formulas of millions of potential drugs
Drug Use
Cigarette Smoke Kills Eye Cells
A new study reveals how tobacco from traditional or noncombusted cigarettes kills corneal cells
Health Care
Can Psychedelic Drugs Treat Physical Pain?
LSD and psilocybin increasingly show promise as mental health treatments. Now universities and companies are exploring their use in pain management
Drug Use
Opioids and Cigarettes Are Both Harmful, but Opioids Have Valid Medical Uses
We mustn’t apply the same harm reduction strategies to both
Behavior
The FDA Shouldn’t Support a Ban on Kratom
The herbal supplement can be abused, but given the explosion in opioid deaths, eliminating this safer substitute will almost certainly lead to more deaths
Animals
Caffeine Boosts Bees’ Focus and Helps Them Learn
By associating caffeinated sugar water and a target scent, researchers teach bumblebees to stay on task
