The Future of Addiction Treatment Lies in Narrowing the Treatment Gap

In the time of the worst overdose crisis in American history, those of us who work in the field of addiction medicine have the responsibility of bringing treatment to where patients with addiction are. The addiction treatment gap refers to the approximately 94% of people with one or more DSM-5 defined substance use disorders (SUDs) who did not receive any addiction treatment (according to the SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted in 2021).

ASAM Clinical Considerations: Buprenorphine Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

Guest Editorial by David A. Gorelick, MD, PhD, DLFAPA, FASAM

Cannabis potency, the content of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), usually expressed as the percentage of dry weight, has increased substantially worldwide over the past four decades [1]. This higher potency poses a risk of increased harms because of evidence of a positive association between cannabis potency and adverse psychiatric effects from long-term cannabis use. This article reviews the evidence for this association.

Remove Arbitrary Barrier to Evidence-based Treatment for Stimulant Use Disorder

Although the current overdose crisis in the US is almost universally referred to as the “opioid” or “fentanyl crisis”1,2, the overdose death rate associated with psychomotor stimulants including methamphetamine and cocaine has also dramatically increased in recent years.

Questioning the Right to Pain Relief and Its Role in the Opioid Epidemic

Xylazine effects on opioid-induced brain hypoxia

Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period

Reduced Stress-Related Neural Network Activity Mediates the Effect of Alcohol on Cardiovascular Risk

Signaling-specific inhibition of the CB1 receptor for cannabis use disorder

The Future of Psychedelic Therapy and Addiction Treatment

With the resurgence of scientific interest into the healing properties of psychedelics, current studies are investigating potential therapeutic breakthroughs in the treatment of substance use and mental health disorders. The landscape of addiction treatment faces new challenges, as evidenced during the Covid pandemic. With dual-diagnoses on the rise, promising new treatment modalities are needed more than ever.

Increasing overdose deaths among Black Americans

As treatment providers, we are working to adjust our clinical approach to illicitly manufactured fentanyl and its unique challenges, such as secondary peaking, non-linear withdrawal, and peripheral tissue accumulation (JAM).

Recovery capital is a conceptual framework for recovery, but the balance of social, physical, human, and cultural capital does shape an individual's experience of addiction (Drug and Alcohol Dependence). It’s a relevant theme in this week's publications.

Eat, Sleep, Console Approach for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal

Management of Stimulant Use Disorders

The Hedonic Amplification of Feeding