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“All Scientific Hands on Deck” to End the Opioid Crisis

May 31, 2017
In 2015, two million people had a prescription opioid use disorder and 591,000 suffered from a heroin use disorder; prescription drug misuse alone cost the nation $78.5 billion in healthcare, law enforcement, and lost productivity. But while the scope of the crisis is staggering, it is not hopeless. By Nora Volkow (Director, NIDA) and Francis Collins (Director, NIH) Read More.

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Recent Posts

Image of a stethoscope on a pregnant woman

Medical Marijuana Might Not Be a Safe Nausea Solution for Pregnant Women

September 2016
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Participant Recruitment Now Underway for Landmark Study on Adolescents

September 2016
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which has been in the planning phase for just under a year, is now recruiting more than 10,000 9- and 10-year-olds at 19 research sites across the United States, and will follow these young people for a decade, through their early adulthood. Read More.

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Responsibly and Sensitively Addressing Chronic Pain Amid an Opioid Crisis

September 2016
Last week, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, sent a personal letter to more than 2.3 million health care practitioners and public health leaders, seeking their help to address the prescription opioid crisis. Read More.

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Psychiatrists Should Take a More Active Role in Treating Pain

June 2016
The recommendation to move away from opioids as the first line of treating many types of chronic noncancer pain has generated an understandable outcry from some pain patients who fear that medications they need will no longer be available to them. Read More.

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Probuphine: A Game-Changer in Fighting Opioid Dependence

May 2016
Medications like buprenorphine and methadone have revolutionized the treatment of people with opioid use disorder, including those with severe disorders (addiction). Read More.

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New Regulations on Flavored Tobacco Products and e-Cigarettes Will Protect Public Health

May 2016
Despite great successes in reducing tobacco use over the past five decades, smoking leads to more than 480,000 deaths in the United States annually and remains the number-one preventable cause of sickness and mortality. Unfortunately, a new generation of young Americans is being introduced to tobacco via flavored tobacco products (small cigars, hookahs) and e-cigarettes, which until now have been subject to none of the federal oversight that apply to cigarettes. Read More.

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The CDC Provides Crucial New Guidance on Opioids and Pain

April 2016
Although these medications have a legitimate and important role in the treatment of severe acute pain and some severe chronic pain conditions, it is clear that they are also overprescribed or prescribed without adequate safeguards and monitoring. Read More.

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A Major Step Forward for Addiction Medicine

March 2016
A major milestone was reached on March 14, 2016, when the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) formally announced recognition of the field of Addiction Medicine as a medical subspecialty. Read More.

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Intervening Early to Prevent Substance Use Disorders

March 2016
The brain is an organ that adapts in both short- and long-term ways to its environment, and prevention science over the past few decades has shown clearly that a person’s early experiences during the first few years of life and even prenatally can have an enormous impact on an individual’s later risk or resilience for drug abuse and related psychiatric conditions. Read More.

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NIDA's 2016-2020 Strategic Plan

February 2016
Over the last four decades, NIDA-supported research has revolutionized our understanding of drug use and addiction, driving a new understanding of the neurobiological, genetic, epigenetic, social, and environmental factors that contribute to substance use disorders. Read More.

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About This Blog

Here I highlight important work being done at NIDA and other news related to the science of drug abuse and addiction.
—Dr. Nora Volkow, Director

Comment & Guest Blog Policies

Dr. Nora Volkow: Video Highlights

NIDA Director, Dr. Nora D. Volkow Videos

National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA): Quality Talks, October 2016
Treating Addiction Within the Health Care System
Watch video (18:51)
APA TV, May 2016
APA TV chats with Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of NIDA to hear about her lecture on drug abuse and the opioid epidemic.
Watch video (3:20)
Kentucky Educational Television, May 2016
One to One with Bill Goodman: Dr. Nora Volkow
Watch video (27:41)
TEDMED, January 2015
Why do our brains get addicted?
Watch video (16:23)
The World Science Festival, May 2013
Meet Pioneer in Science, Dr. Nora Volkow
Watch video (5:44)
Rockburn Presents, November 2012
Dr. Nora Volkow
Watch video (29:32)
Brookhaven National Laboratory WBNL Video, October 2012
Chemistry celebration: FDG: Contribution to Our Understanding of Addiction
Watch video (43:05)
CBS 60 Minutes, April 2012
Hooked: Why Bad Habits Are Hard to Break
Watch video (13:31)
Science Times, June 2011
Dr. Nora Volkow
Watch video (8:19)

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