From the blog of Dr. Nora VolkowJanuary 4, 2022 Last year saw drug overdose deaths in the U.S. surpass an unthinkable milestone: 100,000 deaths in a year. This is the highest number of drug overdoses in our country’s history, and the numbers are climbing every month. There is an urgent need for a nationwide, coordinated response that …
To End the Drug Crisis Bring Addiction Out of the Shadows
From the Blog of Dr. Nora Volkow, Executive DirectorOriginal Date November 8, 2021 Far too often, shame and stigma fuel addiction and prevent treatment, argues Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. But replacing judgment with compassion can save lives. Science has shed much light on addiction. We now understand that …
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2020 Drug Overdoses Were “Horrifying”
August 31, 2021 Dr. Nora Volkow, Executive DirectorNational Institute on Drug Abuse The provisional drug overdose death statistics for 2020 confirmed the addiction field’s worst fears. More people died of overdoses in the United States last year than in any other one-year period in our history. More than 93,000 people died. The increase from the …
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Addressing the Stigma that Surrounds Addiction
From the Monthly Blog of Dr. Nora Volkow, Exec. Dir. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE Original Date April 22, 2020 Untreated drug and alcohol use contribute to tens of thousands of deaths every year and impact the lives of many more. Healthcare already has effective tools including medications for opioid and alcohol use disorder that …
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Connections between Sleep and Substance Use Disorders
From the Monthly Blog of Dr. Nora Volkow, Executive Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse Original Date March 9, 2020 Most common mental disorders, from depression and anxiety to PTSD, are associated with disturbed sleep, and substance use disorders are no exception. The relationship may be complex and bidirectional: Substance use causes sleep problems; but …
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NIDA 2019 Achievements
From the Blog of Dr. Nora Volkow, Executive Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse Original Date January 24, 2020 As NIDA sets its sights on new goals and objectives for 2020 and beyond, I like to reflect on how far we have come in our research efforts, especially as they concern the opioid crisis, one …
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2019 Monitoring the Future Survey Raises Worries about Teen Marijuana Vaping
From the monthly blog of Dr. Lora Volkow, Executive Director National Institute on on Drug Abuse Originally posted December 18, 2019 For the second year in a row, rapid rises in vaping among adolescents are the top story from the Monitoring the Future survey of drug use and attitudes among the country’s 8th, 10th, and …
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Addressing the Socioeconomic Complexities of Addiction—Lessons from the Kensington Neighborhood in Philadelphia
From the Monthly Blog of Dr. Lora Volkow, Dir., National Institute on Drug Abuse Originally Posted October 29, 2019 here. This September, Dr. Volkow was invited by Thomas Farley, the Health Commissioner of Philadelphia, to see firsthand how that city is responding to the opioid crisis. With other members of NIDA leadership, she toured Prevention …
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Emergency Departments Can Help Prevent Opioid Overdoses
From the Blog of Dr. Nora Volkow Executive Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse Additional Writings by Steven Barto, B.S., Psych. Originally Posted at the NIDA Website on August 26, 2019 One of the biggest risk factors for overdose death from opioids is having had a previous overdose. Common sense and a growing body of …
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Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Recovery Advocacy Update
Startling data recently made public show the details of how pharmaceutical companies saturated the country with opioids. In the seven years from 2006 to 2012, America’s biggest drug companies shipped 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills in the United States. The result? Opioid-related deaths soared in communities where the pills flowed most. These new …
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The Accidental Apologist 