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New Medication Formulations Could Quickly Make a Difference for Treating Opioid Addiction

August 22, 2017
As Francis Collins and I wrote in May, NIH and NIDA are committed to an “all scientific hands on deck” effort to end the opioid crisis in America by halving the time it takes to develop new medications to treat pain and addiction and reverse overdoses. Read More.

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Recent Posts

Chemical structure of Cannabidiol over marijuana leaf background

Researching Marijuana for Therapeutic Purposes: The Potential Promise of Cannabidiol (CBD)

July 2015
Three weeks ago I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate on cannabidiol, or CBD—one of the main active ingredients in the marijuana plant, and a compound around which there is a growing amount of interest from the public as well as the scientific and medical communities. Read More.

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The Importance of Integrating HIV and Addiction Treatment

July 2015
Great progress has been made in reducing the number of new HIV infections and transforming the disease into a manageable and livable condition, but we still have some way to go to achieve an AIDS-free world. Injection drug use is still creating new, local epidemics, and the ways substance use disorders and HIV are intertwined often receive insufficient attention. Read More.

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Seeking Input from the Community on NIDA’s Scientific Reorganization

June 2015
NIDA’s Advisory Council periodically reviews the various programs and Divisions within the Institute to ensure they best reflect NIDA’s capacities and mission. At our May 2015 Council meeting, an Advisory Council workgroup presented a series of recommendations related to the scientific areas currently led by the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research (DCNBR). Read More.

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Scans of healthy brain versus methamphetaine user showing reduced dopamine levels in the striatum

Addiction Is a Disease of Free Will

June 2015
When I was five or six years old, my grandfather—my mother’s father—died of what I was always told was complications of heart disease. It was not until much later that I learned the real reason for his death. Read More.

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Image of HIV - cover art from Reseach Report

The Major HIV Outbreak in Indiana Was Preventable

May 2015
One of the fastest-spreading recorded U.S. outbreaks of HIV since the inception of the epidemic is now occurring in southeastern Indiana, and it is being driven by injection drug use—specifically, abuse of the opioid painkiller Opana (oxymorphone). Read More.

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Photo of marijuana spilling from a prescription bottle

Taking a Science-informed Approach to Medical Marijuana

April 2015
Opinion on marijuana has changed dramatically in the United States. The public increasingly perceives it as a benign substance, and there is growing interest in its potential medicinal uses. Read More.

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Summit attendees listen to Dr. Nora Volkow's presentation

The 2015 Prescription Drug Abuse Summit

April 2015
This event, which is the brainchild of Kentucky Congressman and House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers, has grown in attendance each year, successfully shining a light on this terrible public health problem in our nation. Read More.

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HHS Announces Actions to Attack the Opioid Abuse Crisis

March 2015
Deaths from opioid painkillers now exceed all other drug overdose deaths, and we are seeing increases in heroin use and increased deaths from heroin as people addicted to painkillers transition to this cheaper, more potent street drug. More must be done to confront the opioid crisis head-on Read More.

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Knowns and Unknowns about e-Cigarettes and Teens

February 2015
When asked in early 2014, 17.1 percent of high school seniors and 16.2 percent of 10th graders reported using e-cigarettes in the previous month. We are still wrestling with whether or not e-cigarettes pose a danger, but their popularity among youth combined with society’s past experiences with tobacco and other addictive substances demands that we urge caution around these products. Read More.

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Brain in Progress: Why Teens Can’t Always Resist Temptation

January 2015
The changes in the brain common to obesity and drug addiction are especially pertinent to the struggles teens face to resist drugs, because adolescence is a crucial period both of susceptibility to the rewards of drugs and of vulnerability to the long-term effects of drug exposure Read More.