After battling drug manufacturers and distributors in court for years, local and state governments are about to receive a windfall that could expand access to treatments that can save lives.
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Articles on Opioids
Displaying 41 - 60 of 161 articles
People are dying from using a toxic drug supply. Safer supply and other approaches that listen to the needs of people who use drugs are critical to saving lives and addressing the opioid crisis.
We researched how much difference opioids like codeine, oxycodone or morphine make to osteoarthritis pain. We found they helped about as much as paracetamol. Yet they are far more dangerous.
Drug manufacturers often shun the use of placebos in clinical trials. But research suggests that placebos could play an important role in the treatment of depression, pain and other maladies.
Opioids can cause death by slowing breathing to dangerously low levels, or stopping it altogether. Examining one area of the brain may eventually lead to safer painkillers.
A growing body of research points to the body’s natural cannabinoid system as the primary driver behind the runner’s high – and the mental health boost and stress relief following exercise.
The number of fatal drug overdoses in the US over a 12-month period has surpassed 100,000 for the first time. Fentanyl is the main driver of the spike in deaths.
False narratives about drug addiction and policies that are not supported by research are deepening the overdose epidemic in the US.
The multibillion-dollar settlement will trigger the release of troves of documents that may shine new light on what caused the opioid crisis.
Ending the opioid epidemic requires addressing not only treatment gaps in addiction and overdose, but also inadequate pain management.
Fentanyl adulteration led to the replacement of heroin in the unregulated drug supply of British Columbia. Now that benzodiazepines are present in many opioids, are we headed towards a ‘new normal?’
While the COVID-19 pandemic raged on, the opioid epidemic got worse as drug overdose deaths soared. New research proposes a way to chemically modify opioids to reduce the risk of addiction.
Accidental ingestion of drugs can have detrimental effects on dogs’ health. Education and awareness can help protect pets from consuming opioids and cannabis products.
The start of one new public health crisis didn’t mean the end of another.
A one-dimensional approach to reducing opioid use isn’t favoured by health care professionals or patients.
The jury’s still out on whether or not CBD relieves stress and anxiety.
The government has tried to harness profit-driven drugmaking to serve public health before. The results were underwhelming.
The Office for National Statistics reports the highest drug deaths since records began in 1993.
COVID-19 plagues an overtaxed opioid addiction treatment system.
Opioid-related deaths in Australia have been on an upward trend in recent years, having doubled since 2006.
Top contributors
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Professor and Deputy Director, Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University
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Professor, Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney
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Joel Lexchin is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor Emeritus of Health Policy and Management, York University, Canada
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Professor, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Professor of Neuropharmacology, University of Central Lancashire
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Associate Professor of Sociology, Bentley University
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Honorary Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
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Professor of Geography, Penn State
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Head of Alcohol and other Drug Research, Centre for Population Health; Burnet Principal for Alcohol, other drugs and harm reduction, Burnet Institute
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Senior Lecturer in Criminology, UNSW Sydney
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Associate Professor of Population Health, New York University
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Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
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Associate Professor, Mental Health and Addiction, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University
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PhD Candidate, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne based), Curtin University
