To determine the associations of recreational cannabis legalization with CUD treatment outcomes (90-day retention and successful discharge), we estimated an individual-level pre-post time series model, including rich individual and county-level characteristics via logistic regressions. We can interpret the coefficients reported in Table 2 as the expected change in the probability of the CUD treatment outcome after RCL, compared to before the passage of RCL. This approach mirrored that of Bass et al. (2024), who estimated the association between RCL and CUD treatment admissions overall and for subgroups using CalOMS-Tx.
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The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a United States federal government research institute whose mission is to “advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health.” Advances in cannabis and cannabis policy research could be aided by wider adoption of the standard 5mg unit of THC required in research studies funded by NIDA and other NIH Institutes. Adoption of this standard was based on the need for consistency across research studies, which will facilitate more real-world-relevant research and translation of findings into policy and clinical practice. Research using this standard could also provide better insights into the effects of cumulative exposure and long-term developmental and cognitive effects of prenatal exposure. The NIDA-funded Monitoring the Future survey has tracked nationwide cannabis use trends in adolescents and young adults for decades. The survey has recently recorded reduction in teenage use of substances in general, including cannabis, and recent surveys have also shown increases in disapproval of cannabis use and perception of its harms in this age group.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: DISSEMINATION OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE TO IMPROVE ADOLESCENT HEALTH
NIDA supports the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, which will follow a large population of mothers and their infants from the prenatal period through age 10. This study aims to better understand healthy development and shed light on how early exposure to cannabis and other substances, stressors, and trauma affect brain development and mental health, and how to reduce adverse outcomes. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the largest supporter of the world’s research on substance use and addiction. Part of the National Institutes of Health, NIDA conducts and supports biomedical research to advance the science on substance use and addiction and improve individual and public health. Among our outcomes of interest, of the 192,580 patients receiving treatment for CUD, 50% remained in treatment for at least 90 days before RCL implementation, compared to only 40% after.
The move may reflect a broader shift in federal marijuana policy, as the DEA continues to consider rescheduling marijuana under federal law, a move that would drastically expand research possibilities. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has officially discontinued its contract with the university, according to a report by the Cannabis Wire. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the use of any product containing whole cannabis plant material for any purpose, even though cannabis and cannabinoid products are marketed for various therapeutic uses and are available in many states from medical cannabis dispensaries. NIDA research supports people affected by substance use and addiction throughout the lifespan and across communities.
Medical marijuana monopoly
When the above steps have been completed, investigators contact the NIDA Drug Supply Program to place an order for marijuana with specific characteristics with regard to concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydro-cannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. The program official verifies that the application is complete (with all the above-mentioned steps fulfilled), and forwards the order on to the contractor responsible for shipping the marijuana. Researchers will be asked for a redacted protocol to protect any intellectual property because the protocols will be sent to two external reviewers to assess the appropriateness of materials and amounts requested based on the protocol.
Can drinking Coke really help with migraines? Science says yes—at least for some
- The use and possession of marijuana is illegal under U.S. federal law, but most states allow people to access the drug in some form, either for medical or recreational purposes.
- Studies using brain scans have shown teenagers who frequently use cannabis have reduced brain matter and activity in the areas crucial for decision making and planning,” he explains.
- You might have heard cannabis called other names, like “marijuana,” “weed,” or “pot.” Cannabis has hundreds of chemical compounds in it, including Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
- Dr. Volkow highlights important work being done at NIDA and other news related to the science of drug use and addiction.
In this analysis, researchers found that changing even stringent limits on annual substance use benefits had only a small absolute effect on overall insurance costs under managed care, even though a large percentage of substance use patients were affected. The results of the study indicated that even people who used cannabis nondaily, fewer than 300 days a year, were more likely to have suicidal ideation and to plan or attempt suicide than those who did not use the drug at all. These associations remained regardless of whether someone was also experiencing depression. Among people without a major depressive episode, about 3% of those who did not use cannabis had suicidal ideation, compared with about 7% of those with nondaily cannabis use, about 9% of those with daily cannabis use, and 14% of those with a cannabis use disorder.
Among people with depression, 35% of people who did not use cannabis had suicidal ideation, compared to 44% of those with nondaily cannabis use, 53% of those who used cannabis daily, and 50% of those who had a cannabis use disorder. Similar trends existed for the associations between different levels of cannabis use and suicide plan or attempt. The number of adults in the United States who use cannabis more than doubled from 22.6 million in 2008 to 45.0 million in 2019, and the number of daily or near-daily users almost tripled from 3.6 million to 9.8 million in 2019. Over the same time span, the number of adults with depression also increased, as did the number of people who reported suicidal ideation or plan or who died by suicide.
- In a study partially funded by NIDA, researchers merge technologies from the imaging and genetic fields to discover that the number of brain dopamine D2 receptors an individual has may correlate directly with the amount of euphoria experienced while taking methylphenidate, a mild stimulant.
- NIH did not address our recommendations to correct the improper funding for the first 3 program years of the Contract.
- The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) mission is to advance the science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health.
- Third, due to a lack of data availability, we are unable to test the potential mechanisms discussed above.
- We included several individual-level covariates to control for individual-specific characteristics to help isolate the effect of recreational cannabis legalization from these other variables that may influence CUD treatment retention and successful discharge.
- Researchers will be asked for a redacted protocol to protect any intellectual property because the protocols will be sent to two external reviewers to assess the appropriateness of materials and amounts requested based on the protocol.
The study has also found that people who didn’t smoke anything but did use marijuana edibles also had problems with their arteries; however, their blood didn’t cause the same damage to lab-grown endothelial cells, suggesting that smoking and edibles affect blood vessel function in different ways. Endothelial dysfunction is an early warning sign of cardiovascular conditions like hypertension and atherosclerosis. In his most recent study conducted at Stanford, Sahlem—who joined the Duke faculty in 2024—used brain scans to help precisely target two brain networks disrupted in addiction.
It is clear that people are consuming cannabis more and in a wider variety of ways, and there is some evidence of increases in emergency department visits due to accidental ingestion, car accidents, psychotic reactions, and a condition of repeated and severe vomiting (hyperemesis syndrome). But we are hindered in our further understanding because policy details vary so much between states and because data are collected and reported in so many different ways, making interpretation difficult. In cannabis marijuana national institute on drug abuse nida this uncertain and rapidly changing landscape, research on cannabis and cannabis policy is badly needed to guide individual and public health decision-making.
Alternatively, legalization may positively impact treatment outcomes if it reduces stigma (King et al. 2024; Wen et al. 2019) and increases the willingness to seek and engage in treatment (van der Pol et al. 2013). Therefore, we empirically assess the effect of RCL on CUD treatment outcomes using data on CUD treatment outcomes for individuals who received publicly funded CUD treatment in California from January 2010 through December 2021. The NIDA Drug Supply Program is administered by the Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences (DTMC). In addition to funding research in drug abuse, addiction, prevention, and treatment, NIDA facilitates such research to accomplish its mission by providing chemicals and research probes that are either unavailable, difficult to obtain, or very costly for researchers to procure.
97-35, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, repealed NIDA’s formula grants and Community Programs project grants and contracts authorities, and established the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Services (ADMS) Block Grant program, giving more control of treatment and prevention services to the states. SBIR-funded Spark Biomedical develops a wearable treatment technology intended for the relief of opioid withdrawal symptoms. 2002 — NIDA-supported research leads to the FDA approval of buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone, the first medications for opioid use disorder that can be prescribed in an office setting. 2000 — Researchers demonstrate that contingency management for cocaine use disorder can have long-lasting effects and serve as a valuable role in treating addictions. Patients in this study who received vouchers for having cocaine negative urine tests were more likely to have sustained cocaine abstinence during outpatient treatment than a comparative group that received incentives regardless of urine test results. NIDA-supported research identifies brain processes that increase the rewarding effects of cocaine the more a person uses it, a change thought to play an important role in the development of cocaine craving and addiction.