Drug Facts in Media

An intense but short-term exposure to cannabis vapor lowered sperm counts and slowed sperm movement, or motility, not only in the directly exposed male mice but also in their sons, according to a new study. The findings build on other human and animal research, showing that cannabis can impede male reproductive function. The current study uses more controlled circumstances than human studies, which often have to rely on surveys, and is the first known reproductive study to use vaporized whole cannabis in mice, which is the more common form humans use. Previous animal studies use other administration methods such as injections of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of cannabis.

As cannabis is legalized in more areas, it has become increasingly popular as a medicinal and recreational drug. This plant produces a pungent, skunk-like odor that is pleasing to some but repulsive to others. Now, researchers have discovered a new family of prenylated volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) that give cannabis its characteristic skunky aroma. The findings open up opportunities to investigate the molecules for medicinal benefits, the researchers say.

Researchers have trained computers to predict the next designer drugs before they are even on the market, technology that could save lives. Identifying these so-called 'legal highs' within seized pills or powders can take months, during which time thousands of people may have already used a new designer drug. But new research is already helping law enforcement agencies around the world to cut identification time down from months to days, crucial in the race to identify and regulate new versions of dangerous psychoactive drugs.

Researchers may have an uncovered new answers on how to create safer opioids. Design a new opioid to bypass the part of brain that feels pleasure, but retain the analgesic properties, which make opioids one of the most effective pain relievers. Researchers looked at how opioids may have become so widely abused.

Researchers compared early preterm infants who were fed breast milk from THC-positive mothers to those who were fed either formula or breast milk from THC-negative mothers and found no differences in short-term health impacts such as breathing difficulties, lung development, and feeding issues.

The medication naloxone is so effective at saving the lives of opioid overdose victims that some people worry that it might make drug users think heroin and related drugs are no longer risky. But a new study suggests that is not the case.

An analysis of electronic health records of nearly 580,000 fully vaccinated people in the United States found that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection among vaccinated patients with substance use disorders was low overall, but higher than the risk among vaccinated people without substance use disorders.

Scientists have found that three rare cannabinoids reduce seizures in mice. They using the information to develop a better cannabis-based treatment for Dravet syndrome, an intractable childhood epilepsy.

Patients with excited delirium often are administered ketamine by EMS before arriving at the hospital. Many of them are intoxicated or are using illicit substances, which may alter the properties of ketamine. A study explored if patients who received prehospital ketamine with concomitant substance intoxication have higher rates of subsequent intubation in the ER compared to those without confirmed substance usage. Among the results, cocaine intoxication had a statistically significant 5.75-fold increased rate of intubation.

Researchers describe how withdrawal from nicotine, methamphetamine and cocaine alters the functional architecture and patterns in the brains of mice, compared to control animals, a key to developing addiction treatments.

A smartphone sensor, much like what is used in GPS systems, might be a way to determine whether or not someone is intoxicated after consuming marijuana, according to a new study.

A team of researchers has come up with a new solution to boost the surveillance of designer drug abuse. The team has identified three new urinary biomarkers that could be used to detect consumption of ADB-BUTINACA, an emerging synthetic cannabinoid which is a type of new psychoactive substance. The innovative approach used to identify the biomarkers can be applied to other existing and new synthetic cannabinoids.

Among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S, the overall rate of drug use remained relatively stable in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a decreased use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs.

Diclofenac and other NSAIDs may limit the passage of narcolepsy medication and illicit party drug GHB to the brain, decreasing the potential for fatal overdose, researchers find.

Teenagers who use cannabis frequently may be more likely to have children born preterm, when they become parents up to twenty years later, finds a new study. The research repeatedly assessed 665 participants in a general population cohort on their tobacco and cannabis use between ages 14 to 29 years, before pregnancy.