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Results for search "Drug Abuse".

Health News Results - 186

More of America's Pets Are Overdosing on Stray Coke, Meth

Hundreds of beloved pet dogs and cats were reported as being unintentionally poisoned by cocaine and methamphetamine left out in their owners' homes, new data from one U.S. pet poison control hotline shows.

When a dog or cat consumes cocaine or meth, it can quickly prove fatal, warned a team led by Orrin Ware, an assistant professor ...

U.S. Life Spans Rebound from Pandemic Lows, Helped by Drop in Fatal Overdoses

After years of decline, U.S. life expectancy is finally on the rise again for the first time since 2019, new government research shows.

This turnaround was driven in part by a decline in drug overdose deaths, which had risen dramatically as a result of the opioid epidemic, according to a second

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • December 19, 2024
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  • Psychedelics Like Psilocybin, MDMA Tied to Higher Odds for Schizophrenia

    People are at higher risk of schizophrenia if they indulge in psychedelic drugs, a new study warns.

    Patients who land in the ER following hallucinogen use have a 21-fold higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to the general population, Canadian researchers report.

    Even after controlling for a person’s existing

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • November 13, 2024
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  • Marijuana Use Tied to Worse School Outcomes for Teens

    Generations of parental warnings may not be wrong: A massive study of available data finds teens who use marijuana have significantly worse outcomes at school.

    Data from 63 studies involving almost 440,000 youths found "cannabis use during adolescence is probably associated with lower school grades; less likelihood of high school completion, university enrollment and post-secondary degree...

    Diverting Low-Level Criminals to Drug-Treatment Programs Instead of  Jail Reaps Rewards

    A Wisconsin program that sends suspects in minor drug-related crimes to treatment instead of jail is paying off, a new study shows.

    Researchers who evaluated the Madison Area Recovery Initiative (MARI) found that non-violent offenders who were given a clinical assessment and six months of

  • Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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  • October 7, 2024
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  • Hospital Drug Tests Far More Likely for Minority Teens

    Teens from minority groups seeking treatment at pediatric trauma centers are more likely than their white counterparts to be tested for drugs and alcohol.

    That's the takeaway from a new study led by researchers at UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 

    "While screening can positively affect patients if it is followed by counseling and treatment, it can also lead to negative...

    CDC Warns of Fake Drug Dangers From Online Pharmacies

    Americans who turn to online pharmacies to find cheaper versions of expensive prescription medications, especially opioids, may instead be buying themselves dangerous drugs that could trigger an overdose, U.S. health officials warned Wednesday.

    The warning, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, follows a

  • Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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  • October 3, 2024
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  • Upping Dose of Anti-Opioid Drug Might Work Better to Curb Addiction

    Patients with opioid use disorder who receive higher doses of a drug to treat their addiction are more likely to have positive results, a new study finds. 

    Daily doses of the drug buprenorphine is a standard treatment for opioid use disorder, and the findings suggest that higher doses may be a better way to manage it. Researchers say this could be an important way to improve treatmen...

    Know What 'Chroming' Is? TikTok Fad Could Harm Your Kids

    Chroming, where toxic fumes from common household items are inhaled for a quick high, is on the rise among youth and TikTok may be to blame, new research suggests.

    In findings that are to be presented Saturday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., experts took a closer look at over 100 chroming videos that had garnered 25 million views on the social media ...

    High Doses of ADHD Meds Could Trigger Psychosis

    Prescriptions for amphetamine stimulants to treat ADHD have increased significantly in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.

    Unfortunately, high doses of stimulants like Adderall can increase the risk of psychosis or mania by more than fivefold, a new study finds.

    Patients had a nearly 63% ...

    Recreational Drug Use Triples Odds for Repeat Heart Crises

    Recreational drug users are three times more likely to have repeated heart health emergencies than people who don’t use, a new study has found.

    About 11% of patients admitted to intensive cardiac care units have been using recreational drugs, said researcher Dr. Raphael Mirail...

    Most Americans Unsure How to Help Someone in Opioid Overdose

    The U.S. opioid epidemic has caused a startling number of overdose deaths, but a new survey shows that most Americans still have no idea how to help an OD victim.

    More than 3 in 4 people (77%) said they would not know how to respond if they saw someone having an overdose, according to survey results from Ohio State ...

    Kids' Bedtimes Might Influence Odds for Drug, Alcohol Use as Teens

    Regular bedtimes won't just help your child be alert for a busy school day; they might also help keep them from abusing drugs or alcohol as a teen, new research suggests.

    Youth who'd had early bedtimes in childhood and adolescence were significantly less likely to be drinking or using marijuana by the time they were 15, compared to kids who'd stayed up late and had fewer hours sleep, rese...

    FDA Says No to MDMA as Therapy for PTSD

    Advocates for the use of the psychedelic drug MDMA (midomafetamine) to treat mental health conditions were delivered a setback on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve it as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

    There is insufficient evidence that MDMA -- currently illegal and also known as Ecstasy or molly -- can ease PTSD, the agency told ...

    Painkiller Misuse Common Among People Battling Chronic Pain

    Nearly 1 in every 10 chronic pain patients treated with prescription opioids winds up addicted to the painkillers at some point, a new review finds.

    Further, nearly 1 in 3 will show symptoms of opioid addiction, researchers reported Aug. 7 in the journal

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • August 8, 2024
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  • Brand of Kratom Tied to One Death, Many Severe Illnesses, FDA Warns

    Millions of Americans use the opioid-like herbal supplement known as kratom, but evidence of its dangers continue to mount.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued another alert ...

    Fake Oxycontin Pills Widespread and Potentially Deadly: Report

    The rate at which young Americans are ending up in hospital ICUs after using fake Oxycontin pills spiked with fentanyl is soaring, especially in the U.S. West, a new report warns.

    Medical toxicology data from one unnamed hospital in the western U.S. found the number of cases involving overdoses involving fake "M-30" Oxycontin pills rose from just three in 2017 to 209 during 2022, accordin...

    Big Drop in U.S. Kids, Teens Misusing Prescription Meds

    Misuse of illicit prescription drugs is falling dramatically among U.S. high school students, a new study says.

    The percentage of seniors who say they’ve misused prescription drugs in the past year has dropped to 2% in 2022, down from 11% back in 2009, researchers reported July 24 in the ...

    Mushroom Gummies That Sickened Users Contained Illicit Psilocybin

    Mushroom gummies being sold to promote brain function might instead contain harmful ingredients not listed on the label, including illicit psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in “magic” mushrooms, experts warn in new report.

    Five people in Virginia, including a 3-year-old child, have been sickened by the gummies, University of Virginia doctors said.

    The gummies claimed to...

    Feds Issue Warnings on 'Copycat' Delta-8 Products That Mimic Popular Foods

    In a joint effort to curb the illegal sales of food products containing delta-8 THC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday they have warned five companies to stop marketing such products.

    Because the packaging for these THC edibles mimics that of popular snack foods, the FDA said it is concerned they can be easily mistaken for traditional food...

    Magic Mushroom's Psilocybin Is America's Most Popular Hallucinogen

    As psilocybin mushrooms become the most popular psychedelic in the United States, some states have started to ease regulations on its recreational use.

    Now, a new report warns that the federal government will have to decide whether to follow suit.

    RAND, a nonprofit research group, stresses in the report that if efforts t...

    There's Another 'Magic' Mushroom Being Sold in Gummies -- But It Can Kill

    Growing public fascination with "magic"psilocybin mushrooms as a trendy treatment for depression had led to increased interest in another type of psychedelic mushroom, a new study reports.

    Unfortunately, this second sort of shroom -- known as Amanita muscaria -- can be more toxic than fentanyl, cocaine and PCP, researchers say.

    Marketing the two types of mushrooms as essent...

    Calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers Are Becoming More Severe

    America's poison control centers are increasingly fielding calls on cases of deliberate or accidental poisonings that end in disability or death, a new report finds.

    Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures reported to the 55 poison centers in the United States between 2007 and the end of 2021. 

    Over that time, the...

    Police Seizures of Pills With Fentanyl Have Skyrocketed

    Police seizures of illicit fentanyl pills have soared in recent years, a new study has found.

    The number of pills containing fentanyl seized by law enforcement was 2,300 times greater in 2023 than in 2017"more than 115 million pills, compared ...

    Getting Help for Alcohol, Drug Abuse Tougher for Rural Americans

    When folks in rural America need treatment for a substance use disorder, significant obstacles stand in their way, researchers say.

    They are more likely to have to look outside their insurance network for care, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Servi...

    How Long Does Marijuana THC Linger in Breast Milk?

    New mothers who like to smoke marijuana might wind up exposing their babies to THC through their own breast milk, a new study says.

    THC, the intoxicating compound in cannabis, dissolves in the fats contained in human milk, researchers found.

    Mother's milk produced by weed users always had detectable amounts of THC, even when the mothers had abstained for 12 hours,

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • May 9, 2024
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  • More Than 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost a Parent to Drug ODs in a Decade

    More than 320,000 U.S. children lost a parent to drug overdose during the past decade, according to a new study reported May 8 in JAMA Psychiatry.

    What's more, the death rate accelerated during the period, more than doubling between 2011 and 2021, researchers found.

    About 27 children per 100,000 had a parent die ...

    Big Rise in Emergencies Involving Synthetic Weed Among Kids, Adults

    Calls to U.S. poison centers regarding so-called synthetic cannabis jumped 88% between 2021 and 2022, as use of these legally sold products rose, research shows.

    Synthetic cannabis contain varying forms of the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC and THC-O acetate. 

    They're banned or regulated in 14 states, but even then people c...

    Almost All Counterfeit Oxycontin Pills Contain Fentanyl

    Lab tests of counterfeit oxycodone (Oxycontin) pills seized by police in Rhode Island in 2022 found 99.3% also contained dangerous fentanyl. 

    It was typically mixed with another potentially deadly drug, xylazine.

    Both drugs make overdose more likely and more fatal, experts note. 

    As too many American families have tragically come to know, "counterfeit prescription pi...

    A Parent's Watchful Eye Does Keep Kids From Drugs, Alcohol: Study

    Parents can be very effective buzzkills for their teens, just by letting kids know they're being closely watched, a new study reports.

    Teenagers are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs when parents keep tabs on their activities, according to fin...

    Parental Deaths to Guns, Drugs Harmed Nearly 100,000 U.S. Kids in 2020

    Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study.

    Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, according to a team who reported its findings May 4 in the

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • May 6, 2024
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  • 'Drug Take Back Day' is Saturday: Check for Leftover Opioids in Your Home

    Each year, thousands of Americans head home after a surgery clutching prescription opioids to help ease post-surgical pain.

    Trouble is, most won't use all those pills, and that could lead to a lot of misuse and addiction, one study found.

    And with National Prescription Drug Take Back Day slated for Saturday, it's time yet again to rais...

    Few Young Adults Could Administer Naloxone to Reverse Fentanyl Overdose

    Even though fentanyl-linked fatal overdoses are soaring among young adults, a new survey of American college students found that just 1 in 7 knew how to administer the overdose antidote drug naloxone.

    Many who took the survey "reported high willingness to intervene during an overdose, yet only a small proportion knew how to administer naloxone, an easily learnable skill," said a team led ...

    Most Homeless Americans Are Battling Mental Illness

    Two-thirds of homeless people are experiencing some form of mental health disorder, a large, new review of data on the subject.

    The analysis found that men who are homeless are more likely to be battling mental illness than women, although rates were high for both genders compared to the general population.

    There are signs that rates of mental illness may be on the rise among homele...

    Black and Native Americans Hit Hardest by 'Deaths of Despair'

    More middle-aged Black and Native Americans are now falling prey to "deaths of despair"than whites, a new study finds.

    These deaths -- from suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease -- initially had been more common among whites.

    But a new analysis has determined that deaths of despair have skyrocketed for Black and Native Americans over the past decade.

    The deaths of...

    Taking 'Study Drugs' Like Adderall Could Be Gateway to More Drug Abuse

    College students who use drugs like Adderall to help them focus on their studies may be setting themselves up for trouble.

    Researchers asked 700 undergraduates across the United States about drugs commonly used by students -- including ADHD medications like Adderall, cannabis, nicotine, alcohol, MDMA and ecstasy. They also asked about students' academic performance and physical and mental...

    Use of Legal 'Delta-8-THC' Is Rising Among Teens - Is it Safe?

    They're cheap, easy to buy and now new research shows they have become the buzz of choice for American teens.

    Delta-8-THC products, which include gummies and vapes, are legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C. There is no federal minimum age requirement for buying them, and they are sold in gas stations, chain drug stores and online. 

    That has made the products a marketing magne...

    ADHD Meds Cut Odds for Early Death, Especially by Overdose

    People diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a marked decline in their two-year risk for death once they start taking medication, new research shows.

    That was particularly true for deaths due to accidents and drug overdose.

    People taking ADHD drugs also showed no higher...

    You Can Safely Avoid Addictive Long-Acting Opioids After Knee Replacement

    It's well known that long-acting opioid meds raise the odds for addiction in users -- including folks dealing with pain after an orthopedic surgery.

    Now, new research suggests that patients fare just as well if doctors prescribe less risky immediate-release opioids following a knee replacement surgery.

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • March 8, 2024
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  • Emergency Calls by Youth Rose After States Decriminalized 'Magic Mushroom' Drug

    U.S. poison center calls related to psilocybin "magic mushrooms"among youth skyrocketed after U.S. cities and states began decriminalizing the hallucinogen, a new study shows.

    Psilocybin-related calls among teens ages 13 to 19 more than tripled between 2018 and 2022, rising from 152 to 464 calls annually, according to data from the National Poison Data System.

    Calls among young adul...

    Young Workers' Injuries Rise After Recreational Marijuana Sales Made Legal

    After states legalize the sale of weed for recreational use, on-the-job injuries rise among younger workers, new research shows.

    U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for 2006 through 2020 show that legal "recreational marijuana sales were associated with a 10% increase in workplace injuries among individuals aged 20 to 34 years,"the study authors concluded.

    They note that prior research ...

    Stress Main Factor Driving Teens to Abuse Drugs, Alcohol

    American teenagers cite stress as the leading reason they might get drunk or high, a new report reveals.

    That only underscores the need for better adolescent mental health care, according to the research team behind the study.

    Better "access to treatment and support for mental health concerns and stress could reduce some of the reported motivations for substance use," concluded inve...

    Cutting U.S. Homelessness by 25% Could Prevent 2,000 Opioid Deaths Each Year

    Reducing homelessness by 25% could save nearly 2,000 lives lost each year to opioid overdoses, a new study estimates.

    It also could save 850 lives from alcohol poisoning and 540 from cocaine overdoses, researchers from the University of Georgia estimate.

    This is the first study to suggest that homelessness contributes to deaths from substance use, the researchers said.

    "One of...

    Surge in Police Seizures of 'Magic Mushrooms' Mirrors Rise in Psilocybin Use

    Police seizures of "magic"mushrooms have more than tripled within the past five years, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse reports.

    The total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased from 498 pounds in 2017 to 1,861 pounds in 2022, according to a new report published Feb. 6 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

    To put those seizures in ...

    CDC Warns That 'Gas Station Heroin' May Contain Synthetic Pot

    It's known by the street name "gas station heroin," but a new government report finds the highly addictive supplement Neptune's Fix may also contain synthetic pot.

    The product has already been linked to seizures, brain swelling and hallucinations, researchers reported Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Wee...

    What Works Best to Help Pregnant Women Ease Off Opioids?

    There's one treatment for pregnant women addicted to opioids that's safer for their unborn child, a new study reports.

    Buprenorphine is associated with a slightly lower risk of birth defects overall compared to methadone, according to findings published recently in the journal JAMA Internal Medici...

    FDA Issues Another Warning on Tianeptine Products, Which Can Cause Seizures and Death

    Reiterating a warning first issued in November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging Americans to stay away from supplements containing tianeptine, known on the street as "gas station heroin."

    The supplements, sold under the brand name Neptune's Fix online and at gas stations and convenience stores, can cause seizures, unconsciousness and even death.

    "FDA is warning consu...

    Mom's Opioid Use in Pregnancy Raises Child's Asthma, Eczema Risk

    Fetal exposure to opioids may change a baby's immune system, triggering a rise in risks for eczema and asthma through early childhood, new research shows.

    Children born to women who used opioids during pregnancy had much higher rates of eczema, as well as conditions such as "diaper rash," during infancy, Australian researchers report.

    These children also went on to have significantl...

    Marijuana Has No Role in Taking Up or Quitting Opioids: Study

    There's no link at all between weed use and a person's use of illicit opioids, one way or the other, a new review concludes.

    Cannabis isn't a gateway drug that can spark a person's desire to try narcotics, results show.

    On the other hand, weed also isn't effective in helping wean addicts off opioids, researchers said.

    These results have significant implications for U.S. opioid...

    Latest Data Show 22 U.S. Teens Die of Overdoses Each Week

    An average of 22 U.S. teens die each week from drug overdoses, a death toll driven by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, a new study reports.

    Researchers also have identified 19 "hotspot"counties where fatal ODs are occurring as much as double the national average.

    The overdose death rate for 14- to 18-year-olds now stands at 5.2 deaths per 100,000, researchers report in the