Opiate Addiction & Substance Abuse Articles

Screening For Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol-Related Problems in College Populations
New-found independence can sometimes be dangerous: Alcohol use and abuse among college students is a serious cause for concern. Many students are under the legal drinking age and many engage in heavy episodic, or binge, drinking. There are a variety of simple screening methods that can help identify those students at greatest risk for alcohol problems so that preventative steps can be taken before it's too late.

Harsh Truths About Cocaine
The word "cocaine" refers to the drug in both a powder (cocaine) and crystal (crack) form. It is made from the coca plant and causes a short-lived high that is immediately followed by opposite, intense feelings of depression, edginess, and a craving for more of the drug. Using cocaine has dangerous emotional and physical effects that can prove to destructive to all aspects of a person's life--and can even be fatal.

New Research Report on Comorbidity of Addiction and Other Mental Illnesses
New research report, Comorbidity: Addiction and Other Mental Illnesses, summarizes the state of the science regarding the complex relationship between substance abuse and other mental disorders. The release of this report is timely given the increasing prevalence and link between post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.

Binge Drinking: Too Often a Deadly "Game"
In recent national surveys about a third of high school seniors and 42 percent of college students reported at least one occasion of binge drinking within the previous 2 weeks. Alcohol poisoning – a severe and potentially fatal physical reaction to an alcohol overdose – is the most serious consequence of binge drinking.

What Effects Do Anabolic Steroids Have On Behavior?
In addition to out-of-control aggression, anabolic steroids have been reported also to cause other behavioral effects, including euphoria, increased energy, sexual arousal, mood swings, distractibility, forgetfulness, and confusion.

Troubled Teens in the Wilderness Learn to Love Learning
By: Hugh C. McBride There aren’t a lot of textbooks in the Idaho desert, but Sean Tomkinson, a therapist with SUWS Adolescent and Youth Programs, believes that the students who spend weeks in that wilderness environment emerge more motivated and better prepared to pursue academic success when they return to the classroom.

Ecstasy: Too Often a Fatal Trip
A recent survey of teens conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that one in four questioned said they had a friend or class mate whom they knew had used Ecstasy, and 17% said they knew more than one user. Often referred to as this decade’s version of LSD, Ecstasy is, according to some of its users “the hottest drug going now.” It’s also one of the deadliest.

Neuroimaging Identifies Brain Regions Possibly Involved in Alcohol Craving
Viewing pictures of alcoholic beverages activates the prefrontal cortex and the anterior thalamus in alcoholics but not in moderate drinkers, report Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers in the April Archives of General Psychiatry. The research team is the first to use fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine whether alcohol cues stimulate specific brain regions.

Study Shows Most Treatment Effective Against Alcoholism
A complex study of alcoholism treatment medications and counseling has found that most stand-alone and combined therapies were effective in promoting short-term abstinence, with only the drug acamprosate (Campral) proving to be disappointing.

Downward Trend in Teen Marijuana Use Slows; Prescription Drug Abuse Remains High
Just-released 2008 survey results reinforce the fact that we cannot become complacent in our efforts to persuade teens not to smoke, drink or abuse illicit substances. As long as young people are being exposed to images that make taking drugs seem glamorous, we need to counter them with truthful messages about the risks and consequences of drug abuse.