addiction

Hand holding various medications

Benzodiazepine Abuse

Benzodiazepines, sometimes called benzos, are a type of medication known as tranquilizers. Familiar names include Valium and Xanax. These drugs slow down your central nervous system, cause sedation and muscle relaxation, and lower anxiety levels. Often used to treat anxiety or insomnia, they’re some of the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S. But they […]

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Benzo Withdrawal: What Are the Symptoms and How Long Do They Last?

Benzodiazepines (commonly known as “benzos”) can be used to treat a variety of medical conditions. This includes anxiety and panic disorders, alcohol use disorder, and insomnia (trouble sleeping). But in many cases, experts recommend limiting benzo use to just a few weeks. This is partly because long-term benzo use has been associated with negative effects,

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Kratom powder and pills Mitragyna speciosa

Kratom’s path across the US is marked by deception and secrets

The kratom trail spanned thousands of miles before it ended inside Jeremy Franka’s Broward County home. Two bags of the substance were near the 35-year-old’s lifeless body in a backpack in his bedroom. One held 120 capsules of O.P.M.S. Silver, a popular kratom product that has been linked to multiple overdose deaths in Florida. The

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Top view of Kratom powder in ceramic spoon and Kratom capsules on wooden table

As dangerous kratom products go unregulated, lobbyists write the laws

Upstart companies around the country sell crushed kratom leaf, providing no clear dosing instructions or warnings about potential dangers. They don’t have to. As medical examiners log an increasing number of overdoses involving kratom across Florida and elsewhere, the industry has largely operated without government constraints or safety measures that could help protect consumers. Florida

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Unrecognizable despaired unhappy european young lady suffering from depression commits suicide

The number of overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women has seen a significant rise.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) revealed a substantial surge in drug overdose deaths among pregnant and recently postpartum women aged 10 to 44 from 2018 to 2021. Notably, fatalities in the 35 to 44 age group more than tripled during this period, as indicated by data released on Wednesday and published in JAMA

The number of overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women has seen a significant rise. Read More »

telemedicine, doctor in a white coat and glasses communicates with a patient

OUD Treatment Retention Improved by Telehealth-Based Initiation

According to a study released on Wednesday by the National Institute on Addictive Disorders (NIDA), patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) who begin buprenorphine treatment by telehealth are more likely to remain engaged with treatment longer than patients who begin treatment in a non-telehealth environment. In JAMA Network Open, researchers analyzed Medicaid data from 2019

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Hand holding various medications

Medications prescribed for OUD with concomitant polysubstance use may jeopardize recovery

Medications have been proven to be effective for treating opioid use disorders; however, practitioners should be aware of concurrent use of non-prescribed, illicit substances that could adversely affect treatment. At the recent Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders, Kelly Olson, PhD, director of clinical affairs for Millennium Health, shared key considerations for monitoring patients’ medications

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Benzo Drug Crisis Outpatient detox in Florida

The Burgeoning Benzo Crisis

Drugs that instantly relieve anxiety can feel like a godsend, but using the pills long-term may come with serious consequences. When Rachel Ziegler was 22, her doctor prescribed 0.5 mg of Xanax once a day to treat generalized anxiety and panic attacks. “I don’t recall ever discussing a potential stopping point,” says Ziegler, who works

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Two brothers, hockey players, dead on same day of opioid overdose. ‘It was just a horrible, horrible morning.’

There were chores to do that Sunday morning and Becky Savage had started them. She was plucking up pieces of clothes strewn about the house — a house full of four boys — to load a heap of laundry into the washing machine. Becky headed to her son Jack’s room to gather what she could

Two brothers, hockey players, dead on same day of opioid overdose. ‘It was just a horrible, horrible morning.’ Read More »

First major drug distribution company, former executives, criminally charged in opioid crisis

“Our office will do everything in its power to combat this epidemic, from street-level dealers to the executives who illegally distribute drugs from their boardrooms.” In a national first in the fight against the opioid crisis, a major drug distribution company, its former chief executive and another top executive have been criminally charged in New

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Aspiring Doctors Seek Advanced Training In Addiction Medicine

The U.S. surgeon general’s office estimates that more than 20 million people have a substance-use disorder. Meanwhile, the nation’s drug overdose crisis shows no sign of slowing. Yet, by all accounts, there aren’t nearly enough physicians who specialize in treating addiction — doctors with extensive clinical training who are board certified in addiction medicine. The

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Ohio Attorney General Sues 5 Drugmakers Over Opiate Crisis

Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio attorney general sued five drugmakers on Wednesday, accusing the companies of perpetrating the state’s addictions epidemic by intentionally misleading patients about the dangers of painkillers and promoting benefits of the drugs not backed by science. Attorney General Mike DeWine said the companies created a

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