Drug and substance abuse continues to be a major problem across the United States, with 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 12 admitting that they used illicit drugs in 2022. 1 While alcohol, tobacco and ...

This article is part of a Health Affairs Forefront series titled “New Challenges for Health Care.” The series of articles focuses on emerging issues that are facing decision makers at provider ...

What’s the most addictive drug? Newly published research indicates that when focusing on persistent drug memory, craving, and addiction, the most addictive illegal drug is cocaine. In contrast, the ...

Despite fewer new addiction cases worldwide, a sweeping analysis finds drug-related deaths surging, exposing critical failures in global harm-reduction and recovery systems. Study: The evolving burden ...

Remarkable scientific progress over the past five decades has helped us develop knowledge of how drugs of abuse induce pleasure, reinforce use, and lead to the compulsive self-administration we call ...

Drug abuse and drug addiction are related but not the same. Drug abuse describes using legal or illegal substances in a way that is harmful, whereas drug addiction is a physical or psychological ...

GLP-1 drugs, originally developed for diabetes and obesity, may also curb addictive behaviors by acting on reward circuits in the brain. Early trials show reductions in alcohol intake, opioid seeking, ...

Last April, neuroscientist Sue Grigson received an e-mail from a man detailing his years-long struggle to kick addiction — first to opioids, and then to the very medication meant to help him quit. The ...