Viewing pictures of alcoholic beverages activates the prefrontal cortex and the anterior thalamus in alcoholics but not in moderate drinkers, report Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers in the April Archives of General Psychiatry. The research team is the first to use fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine whether alcohol cues stimulate specific brain regions.

According to researchers, nicotine withdrawal symptoms begin just 30 minutes after a smoker takes his last cigarette.

Immunization with an experimental anti-cocaine vaccine resulted in a substantial reduction in cocaine use in 38 percent of vaccinated patients in a clinical trial supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The chemical structure of ecstasy allows it to reach the brain quickly after ingestion. First, the pill is ingested and it disintegrates quickly in the stomach contents. Once dissolved, some ecstasy molecules are absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream, but most of the ecstasy molecules move from the stomach into the small intestine. There, they are absorbed into the bloodstream very easily.

The path to drug abuse can be more rapid and complex for women than it is for men and typically includes a pattern of breakdowns in individual, familial, and environmental protective factors and an increase in childhood fears, anxieties, phobias, and failed relationships.

Diversion and abuse of the prescription pain reliever OxyContin has become a major problem. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that, in the United States, oxycodone products, including OxyContin, are frequently abused pharmaceuticals.

Western states like Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota have binge-drinking levels far higher than the national average, and local experts say that boredom plays a huge role in the problem, the New York Times reported Sept. 2.

The first multi-center study of PTSD among individuals seeking treatment for an SUD has found a greater prevalence of PTSD among those who were drug- rather than alcohol-dependent, and that having PTSD was associated with a more severe course and worse outcome for an SUD.

Researchers say that drugs may create "extreme" memories by overstimulating the brain's dopamine system. When drugs cause an overabundance of dopamine it may cause the brain to "overlearn," creating a memory of drugs as "good."

In addition to providing methadone to help people break their substance abuse addictions, methadone maintenance clinics serve a great many people who live with chronic or acute pain. Methadone, however, will not provide pain relief to those who take it for addiction treatment — these people need additional forms of analgesia.

Substance use is more common among teens with depression than among those without depression. Researchers have also found that depression can inhibit teens' response to treatment of substance abuse, and substance abuse is associated with a poorer response to treatment of depression.

A little-known mental disorder marked by episodes of unwarranted anger is more common than previously thought. Evidence suggests that IED might predispose toward depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse disorders by increasing stressful life experiences, such as financial difficulties and divorce.

A new survey estimates that as many as three-fourths of American adults think they know enough about how drinking affects their blood alcohol levels, while in fact, most don't even know the legal limits in their own state. The Century Council, a group backed by major distillers, is campaigning to better educate the public about those limits and how much you have to drink to exceed them.

According to a new survey released July 18, 2006 by the National Association of Counties (NACo), county law enforcement officials across 44 states reported that methamphetamine remains the number one drug problem in their county.

For most adults, moderate alcohol use--up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people--causes few if any problems. However, for a range of circumstances, certain people should not drink at all.