Drug Abuse

News Drug Abuse

• Preclinical study suggests path toward non-addictive painkillers
  

  A pre-clinical study led by Indiana University scientists reports a promising step forward in the search for pain relief methods without the addictive side effects behind the country's current opioid addiction crisis. The research finds that the use of compounds called positive allosteric modulators more

• Study finds surprises about drug use

  Conducting an economic analysis of drug use is a particularly difficult endeavor, but for Michigan State University professor and economist Siddharth Chandra, it just meant taking a look at the history books. "You can't simply go to Wal-Mart and look at the sticker price, and people don't want to ta more

• Understanding the molecular mechanism leading to addiction in humans

  A new study published by the team led by Salah El Mestikawy, Ph.D., researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'île-de-Montréal), professor at McGill University and head of research at CNRS INSERM UPMC in Paris, opens the field to new understanding of the mol more

Infographics Drug Abuse

The Chemistry of Cannabis & Synthetic Cannabinoids

In recent years, there’s been an increase in the number of media reports on users of synthetic cannabinoids. Commonly referred to by names such as ‘Spice’ or ‘K2’, the most recent reported case involved five UK students being hospitalised after use. But what are the chemicals present in ‘spice’ and  more

Publications Drug Abuse

• Ambient air pollution exposure and emergency department visits for substance abuse

  by Mieczysław Szyszkowicz, Errol M. Thomson, Ian Colman, Brian H. Rowe There is growing evidence supporting the notion that exposure to air pollution can contribute to cognitive and psychiatric disorders, including depression and suicide. Given the relationship between exposure to acute stressors more

• The E2.65A mutation disrupts dynamic binding poses of SB269652 at the dopamine D2 and D3 receptors

  by Ravi Kumar Verma, Ara M. Abramyan, Mayako Michino, R. Benjamin Free, David R. Sibley, Jonathan A. Javitch, J. Robert Lane, Lei Shi The dopamine D2 and D3 receptors (D2R and D3R) are important targets for antipsychotics and for the treatment of drug abuse. SB269652, a bitopic ligand that simult more

• Validation of a behavioral economic purchase task for assessing drug abuse liability

  Abstract Behavioral economic purchase tasks quantify drug demand (i.e. reinforcing value of a drug) and have been used extensively to assess the value of various drugs among current users. However, purchase tasks have been rarely used with unfamiliar drugs to address a compound's abuse liability more