News Releases | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Higher rate of substance use among Native American youth on reservations

May 31, 2018 | A survey comparing drug use among Native American youth living on or near reservations to a national sample of American youth found that Native American youth report substantially higher use...

News Release

Method to identify undetected drug suicides wins top NIDA Addiction Science Award

May 18, 2018 | A project that identified and tested a bioinformatics program that can help identify underreported suicides linked to drug overdoses was awarded the first-place distinction at the 2018 Intel International Science...

News Release

FDA approves first medication to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms

May 16, 2018 | Lofexidine, the first medication for use in reducing symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal in adults, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

News Release

Study upends conventional view of opioid mechanism of action

May 10, 2018 | A new discovery shows that opioids used to treat pain, such as morphine and oxycodone, produce their effects by binding to receptors inside neurons, contrary to conventional wisdom that they...

News Release

Nearly half of opioid-related overdose deaths involve fentanyl

May 1, 2018 | An analysis of opioid-related overdose deaths found that synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl, have surpassed prescription opioids as the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the U.S.

News Release

Dr. Kurt Rasmussen to lead NIDA’s therapeutics and medical consequences division

April 30, 2018 | The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, welcomed Dr. Kurt Rasmussen today as the Director of the Division of Therapeutics and Medical...

News Release

Understanding the Neuroscience of Addiction: what it means for prevention and treatment

April 25, 2018 | Advances in the understanding of brain development, as well as the role that genes and environment play in addiction, are the focus of a review article published today in The...

News Release

Five million American adults misusing prescription stimulants

April 16, 2018 | Looking at annual averages, approximately 6.6% (or 16 million) of U.S. adults used prescription stimulants in the preceding year; 4.5% (or 11 million) used prescription stimulants appropriately (without misuse); 2.1%...

News Release

Study changes long-held concepts of cell decoding

March 28, 2018 | Scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) have uncovered evidence that shows a more complex and elaborate role for the body's hard-working G protein-coupled...

News Release

Non-psychoactive cannabinoid may enable drug addiction recovery

March 26, 2018 | Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may help reduce the risk of drug and alcohol relapse.

News Release

E-cigarette ads associated with cigarette smoking initiation among youth

March 26, 2018 | A scientific study finds that receptivity to e-cigarette advertising increases the likelihood of trying conventional cigarettes one year later.

News Release

NIDA's 2018 Avant-Garde awards highlight immune response and killer cells

March 13, 2018 | NIDA’s annual Avant-Garde Award competition, now in its 11th year, is intended to stimulate high-impact research that may lead to groundbreaking opportunities for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in...

News Release

Greek life membership associated with binge drinking and marijuana use in later life

February 15, 2018 | A scientific study finds that close to half of residential fraternity members had symptoms of alcohol use disorder (AUD) by age 35, and that living at college is associated with...

News Release

Medication in Prison Associated with Reductions in Fatal Opioid Overdoses After Release

February 14, 2018 | A state-led initiative created within the Rhode Island correctional system showed that offering medication to inmates with opioid use disorders reduced fatal overdoses once the inmates were released.

News Release

NIH releases first dataset from unprecedented study of adolescent brain development

February 13, 2018 | Approximately 30 terabytes of data (about three times the size of the Library of Congress collection), obtained from the first 4,500 participants, will be available to scientists worldwide to conduct...

News Release

Dr. Redonna Chandler selected to lead AIDS Research Program at NIDA

January 8, 2018 | Dr. Redonna Chandler has been named director of the AIDS Research Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this...

News Release

Kappa Opioid Receptor Structure Revealed, A Potential Milestone in Medication Development

January 4, 2018 | New research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse illuminates the crystal structure of the activated kappa opioid receptor (KOR). The breakthrough could facilitate the development of new medications...

News Release

Study shows association between non-cigarette tobacco product use and future cigarette smoking among teens

January 2, 2018 | Some teens who use e-cigarettes and other non-cigarette tobacco products report smoking cigarettes one year later, according to recent research funded by institutes within the National Institutes of Health and...