Addiction Blog

What if fictive thoughts were to play a role in addiction asks researchers at Baylor College of Medicine. Fictive thoughts, or fictive learning uses “what if” scenarios on subjects to see “what might have been” and their emotional responses to these questions and fictional situations. The study used MRI technology to detect changes in the…

As if traditional meth labs aren’t bad enough, where criminals cook a combination of over-the-counter and acquired hazardous materials to feed the addicts’ need, now these same criminals are evading police in mobile meth labs. When meth labs are housed in a home or apartment, there is the inherent danger of explosion from chemical reactions…

Last week the American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) held their 38h Annual Medical-Scientific Conference in Miami, Florida. The focus on the conference was to present the most current research, development and treatment available in the field of addiction. The conference was open to physicians, nurses, counselors, psychologists and students in the field of addiction.…

Home Box Office (HBO) has teamed up with the Open Student Television Network (OSTN) to bring the documentary Addiction to students on their TV’s and computers. The public service initiative will be free to students nationwide on over 4,500 campuses. HBO’s Addiction features a 90-minute full-length documentary featuring industry experts, case studies and the real…

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to cut $25 million from drug rehab programs sponsored by Proposition 36, which was approved by voters in 2000. Supporters of Proposition 36 have filed a lawsuit against Schwarzenegger’s attempt to enact tougher penalties for those who do not complete rehab, including more jail time. Governor Schwarzenegger has threatened…

Utah’s Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. has proposed increased funding for drug courts and rehabilitation services for those addicted to methamphetamines. Acknowledging the state’s growing meth addiction problem the governor has particularly noted women as the key at-risk group. Because methamphetamines are “uppers” they deliver increased energy and weight loss, which is appealing to some women…

Remember the public service announcement from 1987, where the TV guy would show an egg and say “This is your brain” and then crack the egg into the frying pan and say “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” This is one of many slogans against drugs that have been played before the public…

The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, Inc. (AATOD) has generated a five-year plan to treat those addicted to opioids. The major components to the five-year plan include supporting the treatment system, improving financial support, supporting patient advocacy, working with the criminal justice system, workforce development and organizing opioid treatment programs (OTPs) within…

A recent UK study has concluded that addictions to alcohol or tobacco are just as dangerous to a person’s health as addictions to illegal substances including heroine, cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy. The study does not advocate for any kinds of legal or illegal drugs, but rather puts alcohol and tobacco on par with other drugs…

Illegal drug use in both Germany and Russia have hit new heights according to different reporting agencies. In Germany, according to the National Treatment Agency, people receiving treatment for cannabis abuse has risen to 22,500 in the current year. In the prior year, 13,400 sought treatment, indicating an increase of 60-percent from last year to…

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D – Rhode Island) has admitted to an Oxycontin addiction, which he sought treatment for after an auto accident outside the U. S. Capitol building last year that made national headlines. Kennedy checked himself into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in May 2006 after the crash for “addiction to painkillers”. At that…

HBO producer Susan Froemke of the TV show “Addiction” interviewed Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s policy adviser Mike Zamore recently about a bill before Congress to provide parity in benefits for addiction treatment. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act amends and updates the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 and hopes to end discriminatory…

According to a study just released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), 3.8 million full-time college students (49-percent) binge drink or abuse drugs, both prescription and illicit. Of this number 22.9-percent meet the criteria for addiction. According to CASA chairman Joseph A. Califano, Jr. “It’s time to get…

As the war rages on in Iraq, the one in Afghanistan is often forgotten about. And, when the war in Afghanistan is remembered and talked about, the focus is on fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban and not about fighting the outflow of the world’s largest supply of heroin and opium. To make matters worse,…

With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, Boston has some good news. Addiction to heroin and Oxycontin have leveled off. Why is this good news around a drinking holiday in a city known for this celebration? Because heroin treatment admissions still account for more than those related to alcohol. And, more Bostonians die from drug and…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is presenting an HBO special titled “Addiction” on March 15, 2007 at 9 pm EST. The NIH’s two main arms, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), have collaborated with HBO to bring forward this documentary about addiction, a…

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is conducting a large-scale, nationwide study on those who have an addiction to prescription pain medication. According to the NIDA, six million Americans in 2005 said that they used prescription drugs in a nonmedical manner within the past month. The nonmedical use of prescription pain medication has for…

A two year old study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America says that huffing, or inhalant abuse is up 44-percent over the two prior years among sixth graders. Inhaling aerosol sprays, rubber cement, rubbing alcohol, glue, permanent markers, paint, butane, correction fluid, gasoline, Freon, Dust-Off, whipped cream and nail polish are just a few…

In the United Kingdom, University of Cambridge researchers have discovered that those who lack the neurotransmitter dopamine, at the top of the brain stem, are predisposed to compulsive behavior including drug addiction. The study conducted with rats and cocaine made a link between impulsive and compulsive behavior.  Positron emission tomography (PET) scans were used on…

Welcome to the first post in the Addiction Blog. We have moved the news items found in the Drug and Alcohol Alerts section of the website to this blog so that we can not only bring you news, but also opinion, interviews and factual information that does not easily fit within the confines of the…