Addiction Medicines Under Development
Advances in Neuroscience Power New Treatments of Opioid Abuse Disorders
Three new types of addiction-treatment drugs show promise, as researchers apply understanding of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, epigenetics and anxiety to developing medicines that can lessen cravings and relapses.
Writing About Opioids
Authors Share Insights on America’s Opioids Crisis and How to Cover It
Opioids changed the geography and politics of America’s addition problem. Here’s how three writers made readers care about the story.
Addiction in Immigrant and Latino Populations
Language a Barrier to Reaching Latino Populations for Mental Health Services
Immigrant Latinos are healthier, physically and mentally, when they arrive in the U.S. than later, research finds A dearth of Latino health-care professionals hurts.
Digital Therapies for Drug Addiction
Research Shows Apps and Other Tools Can Beat Standard Addiction Treatment
Physicians won’t be replaced by iPhones, but “a therapist in your pocket” can help improve treatment for substance use disorders.
Race and the Criminalization of Drugs
America Treated Addiction as Medical Problem – Until People of Color Were Addicted
Experts decry systemic racism in the treatment of opioid addiction. More Black patients have to line up to get methadone. White Americans are more likely to get buprenorphine prescribed from the privacy of a doctor’s office.
New Insights into Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcohol Use Varies Widely, But Only About 20% Get Addicted. What Are the Drivers?
A family history of alcohol use disorder is the most important risk factor. A top addiction doctor details the latest research.
The Fentanyl Surge
As Heroin and OxyContin Fade, Powerful and Cheap Fentanyl Kills 30,000 Per Year
Just when the U.S. began winning the war on prescription opioid misuse, synthetic fentanyl smuggled from China and Mexico has created an “unprecedented” increase in overdose deaths.
Systemic Racism and Addiction Medicine
Tackling the Racism That Has Long Plagued Addiction Treatment (See: George Floyd)
Addiction specialist Dr. Stephen Taylor has been calling for sweeping reforms in the racialized treatment of substance use disorders. He calls on physicians and law enforcement to rethink a chronic, relapsing brain disorder.
Addiction 2021
Overdoses Rising, Vaping, Fentanyl and Stimulants Trending, Addiction Expert Says
A top official at the National Institute on Drug Abuse says scientists are understanding the biology of opioid use better and getting a handle on the latest crisis: vaping.
The Brain Disease Model of Addiction
Recognizing Addiction is a Disease Has Led to Advances in Treatment
A person experiencing a heart attack is treated with respect by society. A person experiencing addiction generally isn’t. Do we need a culture shift?
Marijuana Use Increases Risk of Psychosis and Other Ills
As Cannabis Use Rises, Data Reveal Risk to Developing Brains
Marijuana is America’s most popular illicit drug, and users contend it is harmless and non-addictive. Research shows otherwise – particularly for still-developing adolescent brains. Heavy use is correlated with worse life outcomes.
New Strategies for Policing Opioids
Tossing People Into Jail Didn’t Stop Curb Addiction. New Approaches Did.
In Quincy, Mass., police knock on doors of drug poisoning victims to help them get treatment – not to arrest them. The architect of the program explains why.
The New Neurobiology of Addiction
Understanding How and Why of Addiction is Changing
The opioid epidemic has been fueled by a scientific mistake, a greedy industry and a tricky brain.
What Can Help Curb Drug Addiction?
Researchers Aiming to Boost Use and Availability of Opioids Treatments
What’s considered effective treatment for opioid use disorder is well-known but not widely used by policymakers or the public.
Addiction is a Chronic Brain Disease
Addiction Should be Treated Like Other Chronic Diseases
Only 4,000 U.S. physicians are addiction specialists, leading to the poor understanding of the disease.
Federal Scientists Target Opioids and Addiction
Researchers Seek to Understand Pain and Dependence
A top federal scientist describes how understanding the brain’s reaction to pain and to drugs might help mitigate the opioids crisis.
How Big Cities are Combating Opioids
Chicago was Jolted into Action by Alarming Statistics
Long considered a rural scourge, the opioids epidemic is hitting big cities as well. Here’s how one is dealing with it.
Writing about Addiction
How Can Journalists Avoid Stigmatizing Drug Addiction?
Words that used to be commonplace are now frowned on. Why? And how should reporters respond?
The Neurobiology of Addiction
How Well Do We Understand Addiction?
How journalists can infuse their reporting with details on the neurobiological processes that lead to addiction.
Reporters’ Tips for Covering Opioids
Tips on Getting Inside the Opioids Epidemic
Tracking prescriptions from doctors to bodies in the morgue, reporters have broken big stories as opioids swept the nation. How did they do it?
New Thinking About Addiction
Beyond Opioids, Federal Researchers Seeking to Understand All Addictions
The leader of the nation’s top addiction research institute says scientists are gaining new insights into alcohol, drug and other addictions.
Opioids and the Courts
Drug Courts Seek to Help County Mitigate Impact of Opioids Epidemic
Drug courts help steer those arrested for drug-related crimes to treatment and supervision to avoid jail time.
Mixed Data on Opioid Use, Death Trends
Federal Officials Track the Nation’s Overdose Problem
How reporters can find and evaluate critical CDC data on opioids use and misuse.
Reporting on Doctors and Opioids Prescribing
Physicians – Often Blamed in Rise of Opioids – Seek to Help Curb Problem
Tracking drug prescriptions and boosting treatment options could alleviate crisis.
Prevention and Treatment of Opioids Abuse
Researchers Examining the Latest – and Best – Ways to Prevent and Treat Opioids Abuse
Years into the opioids epidemics, researchers are still examining what works best in stopping and mitigating it.
The Impact of Opioids on Children
Families Often Ripped Apart as Drug Use Escalates
Pediatricians often witness the ravages of drug use – not on the users, but on their children.
Developing a National Strategy on Opioids
Alcohol, Drug and Suicide Deaths Are All on the Rise. What Do they Have in Common?
In “Pain in the Nation,” researchers detailed the growth in deaths from social scourges such as drugs and alcohol. How can the trends be reversed?
Battling Opioids on the Streets, the ER and City Hall
Baltimore Confronts Opioids with Health Leader Who Sees It Up Close
If cities are going to make progress in the opioids epidemic, they need to change their thinking on what opioid addiction really means.
Strategies for Combating Opioids
States, Cities Looking for Best Ways to Attack Epidemic
In Alaska, state officials issued a disaster declaration about the opioids epidemic. The state’s top public official details whether it had an impact.
How States Are Battling the Opioid Epidemic
States are on the Front Lines of Trying to Control Opioid Abuse, Deaths
In Alaska, the state’s health commissioner has long had a range of unique public health problems to confront; the scourge of opioids is just the latest.
Alternatives to Opioids to Manage Pain
From Yoga to NSAIDs, Other Ways to Ease Pain
Journalists writing about the opioids crisis should educate readers about myriad other ways to manage chronic pain.
Treatment and Opioids
Despite Availability of Effective Treatments, Use Not Widely Understood
Medical community remains divided on what constitutes effective treatment – and public often not aware of its options.
Words Matter in Writing About Opioids
Language About Addiction Should Be Carefully Chosen
Words that journalists commonly use to describe addiction can perpetuate stigma.
How States Are Battling Opioids
States Seek to Clamp Down on Opioid Use, Overdoses and Expand Treatment Options
Governors and state legislators are working to counter the opioid epidemic on the local level by boosting treatment and curbing improper prescriptions.
Using Data to Document Drug Deaths
Health Survey Data Can Pinpoint Opioid Deaths
In effort to better understand opioid epidemic in nation, foundation began tracking deaths in annual health atlas.
Policing Opioids
Law Enforcement Takes a Different Tactic on Opioid Users
Officials in Massachusetts town changed the thinking of police officers to help – not arrest – opioid users.
Reporting on Opioids
Reporters Examining Opioid Epidemic Face Challenges in Science, Language
For reporters documenting the rapid increase in opioid use and deaths, learning what not to report has been part of the process.
Role of Big Pharma and FDA
Interaction Between Drugmakers, Regulators Confounds Solutions in Opioid Epidemic
As federal regulators try to mitigate increase in opioid use and deaths, the financial interests of drugmakers and other stakeholders can slow progress.
How the Feds are Tackling Research on Opioids
Federal Research Effort into Opioids Seeks to Understand Mechanism of Drug Interaction, Treatment
NIH-funded researchers are exploring research into opioids’ impact on the brain – and whether damages can be mitigated.
Opioid Mortality Rate Triples in 15 Years
White House Drug Control Director Says Opioid Deaths On Par with AIDS Mortality
Clear correlation cited between overdose deaths and number of prescriptions written by doctors.
