How Will the Next President Tackle Our Drug Problems?
What are the presidential candidates revealing about how they’ll handle our nation’s drug policy issues? It’s a crucial question.
Tag Archives: drug addiction
Neuroscientist Carl Hart Offers Radical Take on War on Drugs
Carl Hart was starting his career as a neuroscientist and beginning a professorship at Columbia University when he first heard reports of the crack epidemic that was supposedly wreaking havoc across black America. Motivated by a desire to help the community he came from, Hart began researching drug addiction and ways to help people. But […]
More Sensible Sentencing for Drug Offenders
When it comes to sentencing drug offenders, research indicates that addiction treatment is often a better option than jail time, both in effectiveness and cost. But is court-ordered treatment and forced rehab the answer?
Newly Discovered Brain Mechanism Helps Explain Addiction
Over the years, researchers have identified many of the brain mechanisms that contribute to the onset and continuation of substance addiction. However, as investigations on this subject continue, more and more information comes to light and adds to basic understanding and the potential options for treatment. In a study published in June 2014 in the […]
Flesh-Eating Krokodil Makes Its Way to the U.S.
There have been many stories over the years about giant alligators and crocodiles supposedly living in the sewers of American cities. These wild yarns have been routinely dismissed as urban legends; tall tales spun to frighten, amuse and entertain. But sometimes truth is scarier than fiction, and in the city of Phoenix, a new drug […]
Diet During Pregnancy May Affect Child’s Risk for Alcohol, Drug Abuse
Almost 50 percent of U.S. women capable of bearing children weigh enough to meet the standard definitions for being overweight or obese. Without doubt, one the main contributors to excess weight in these women (and all other people) is consumption of a diet high in sugar and fat. In a study presented in August 2013 […]
Designer Drugs: What They Are and Why Their Use Is Growing: Part I
New designer drugs seem to be hitting the United States market and the media with a frequency that is unsurpassed in other countries. President Barack Obama signed the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act in 2012, effectively banning a number of compounds commonly used to create synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs. Before […]
Graphic Ads Help Prevent Meth Use
By Colin Gilbert Methamphetamine abuse has become a serious problem among teenagers and young adults in Idaho. In 2007, the state ranked fourth in the country for meth use among individuals aged 12-25, and more than half of Idaho’s prison inmates acknowledged the drug as being directly involved with their initial imprisonment. It’s an alarming […]
Former Drug Addict Finds Solace in Triathlons
Eddie Freas, 33, has found a different way to fight his 20-year addiction to alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine—he started training for and entering triathlons. “I feel better when I’m working out,” Freas told CNN’s Madison Park. “It does wonders for the mind. The reason I started running—it was a switch that went off in my […]
Painkiller Patch Can Lead to Dangerous Addiction
In 2005, morphine patches were introduced in Norway in the hopes of reducing the use and abuse of painkillers. However, researchers have found that the patches are often used incorrectly, which can lead to addiction. Like a nicotine patch, the morphine patch releases small, steady doses of medication over a long period of time, which […]
New Research Reveals Impact of Cocaine Addiction on the Brain
There are several popular misconceptions circulating in society today as to what exactly addiction is, and whether or not addiction should be treated as a disease by health professionals. To many scientists, addiction has long been associated as a by-product of altered mental states where the brain cannot distinguish between healthy and unhealthy behavior. For […]
Nanotechnology Research May Offer Hope for Drug Addiction
The University of Buffalo has completed new research, suggesting that nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction may offer the answer to long-term recovery. Scientists involved in the research have developed a stable nanoparticle that delivers short RNA molecules in the brain to disable the gene that has proven to play a critical role in a variety […]
Methamphetamines Impacting the Middle Class
For years, methamphetamine has been considered the drug of choice for the lower class. It is cheap to make, easy to acquire and delivers the same euphoric high as more expensive “upper class” drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine. Now that perception is changing as the drug itself has found a comfortable market among the […]