Drug Facts in Media

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.

A new study shows that between 2013 and 2018, as many U.S. states were legalizing recreational marijuana, cancer patients continued to abstain in large numbers.

Children whose parents regularly smoke or vape marijuana may experience viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, more frequently than those whose parents do not smoke, according to a new study.

Combined perceptions of the risk and availability of cannabis influence the risk of cannabis use more than perceived risk and perceived availability alone, according to a new study. Researchers observed that those who perceived cannabis as low-risk and available were more likely to report using the drug in the past year and almost daily compared to those individuals who perceived cannabis as high-risk and unavailable. This is the first study to consider the joint effects of perceived risk and perceived availability.

Researchers have found that terpenes mimic cannabinoids and produce similar pain-relieving effects, which are amplified when the two are used together.

Adolescent marijuana use and binge drinking did not significantly change during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite record decreases in the substances' perceived availability, according to a survey of 12th graders in the United States. The study's findings challenge the idea that reducing adolescent use of drugs can be achieved solely by limiting their supply.

As the ravages of the opioid epidemic lead many to avoid these powerful painkillers, a significant number of people with fibromyalgia are finding an effective replacement in CBD-containing products, finds a new study.

People who have a high sensation-seeking trait in the brain could be more susceptible to drug addition, according to a new study.

Zebrafish exposed to the leading cannabinoids found in cannabis in the earliest stages of development suffer a significant drop in neural activity later in life, according to a new study that has implications for prenatal development in humans.