This Week in Addiction Medicine from ASAM

US drug overdose deaths that occurred in isolation, 2022–2024

NEJM Evidence

Data were obtained from SUDORS (State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System) for 2022-2024. Of 191,577 overdose deaths, 76% occurred in isolation with no opportunity for rescue. Of the deaths in isolation, 73% were in a house or apartment and 23% elsewhere (car, sidewalk, bar). ...

Nicotine e-cigarettes for cigarette smoking cessation: Recommendations to US-based clinicians

Journal of the American Medical Association

This Special Communication summarizes the evidence on the use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation and provides recommendations for clinicians on how to engage in conversations with adult patients who currently smoke cigarettes. Specifical...

Oral Semaglutide for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The American Journal of Psychiatry

Accumulating preclinical and observational evidence suggests that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide, reduce alcohol consumption. This phase 2 double-blind, randomized, parallel-arm trial evaluated the effects of oral semaglutide on alcohol c...

Reflections on the preparation, implementation, and sustainability of a virtual SUD clinic: A public health response to the opioid epidemic

Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment

This is an exploratory case study to identify barriers, facilitators, and implementation needs during the phases of implementation of a virtual SUD clinic offering low-barrier MOUD across the state of Texas. From January 2022 to September 2023, r...

Efficacy and safety of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of cocaine use disorder: A systematic review and network meta-analysis

Addiction

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is an increasingly widespread concern worldwide. Various pharmacological treatments have been investigated for CUD, but their efficacy remains unclear, and none have been licensed for treatment. This systematic review and network meta-analysis assessed the...

2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

SAMHSA

The 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows encouraging trends among adolescents and young adults with broad declines across past-month nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana use, and binge drinking, as well as reduced rates of substance use disorders, major depressive episodes, and suicidality. 

Conversely, troubling overall increases occurred in past-mont...

Association between GLP-1 receptor agonists and alcohol-related hospitalisations among adults with alcohol use disorder: Multi-target trial emulation study

BMJ Open

This retrospective cohort study using target trial emulation evaluated the association between use of newer glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide, tirzepatide) and alcohol-related hospitalizations among adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) ...

Trends in alcohol-related deaths in the United States over 55 years: 1968-2023

Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research 

This study of alcohol-related mortality trends since 1968 used primarily death certificate data from the CDC WONDER database. Between 1998 and 2023 there were 1.3 million alcohol-related deaths. Overall age-adjusted mortality rates (AAMR) per 100,000 increased from 13 to 19. Rates increased from 1968 to 1...

Comparison of buprenorphine treatment by virtual-only vs. traditional clinicians 

Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment 

Few patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive medications for OUD (MOUD), such as buprenorphine. Given that many patients, particularly those in rural communities, do not live near a clinician who prescribes MOUD, telemedicine could increase MOUD access. However, clinicians and policyma...

Adjunctive psychosocial interventions and opioid abstinence among patients receiving buprenorphine: A randomized clinical trial

JAMA Network Open

This randomized clinical trial of 340 adults with opioid use disorder (OUD) taking buprenorphine examined the comparative effectiveness of 2 psychosocial treatments—cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT) and peer recovery support (PRS)—on opioid abstinence when used as adjunctive...

Alcohol intake and health study: No protective effect at low levels, with mortality increasing to 1 in 25 at 14 Drinks per week

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

This study used a cause-specific modeling approach to estimate the lifetime risk of alcohol-attributable mortality and morbidity in the United States based on a person’s average lifetime weekly alcohol consumption to assess the impact of per-occasion alcohol co...

Social media use trajectories and substance use experimentation: A prospective cohort study

The American Journal of Psychiatry

An analysis of data from more than 7,000 adolescents over 5 years found significant associations between rising social media use trajectories and substance use. Four distinct social media use trajectories were identified, with greater social media use over time throughout early adolescence being proportiona...

Benzodiazepine tapering: Evidence limitations and research recommendations Journal of Addiction Medicine 

This systematic review of publications (2000-2023) concerning tapering benzodiazepines (BZDs) was used to inform the Joint Clinical Practice Guideline on Benzodiazepine Tapering, published in 2025. Rates of taper were often faster than recommended, such as 25%-50% reduction in the initial 1-2 weeks. There was little infor...

Tobacco industry contributions to the development of ultraprocessed food in the United States, 1985–2007: A case study of Lunchables

American Journal of Public Health

Tobacco firms began acquiring US food companies in the 1960s-1990s to increase revenues and leverage research and development across holdings in tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed foods (UPF) subsidiaries. In this case study, the authors examine the developme...

A retrospective comparison of two state-funded smartphone-based contingency management programs with different incentives 

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

This retrospective study compared outcomes for patients with stimulant use disorder enrolled in a smartphone-based contingency management program based on the amount of total incentives possible, either $75 (“low-value”) or $599 (“moderate-value”). The lo...

Methamphetamine use among adult patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome: A single‐center retrospective cohort study🔓

Journal of the American Heart Association

This study included 1,309 patients treated for an acute myocardial infarct (MI) at a California health system between 2012 and 2022. A total of 194 patients (15%) were methamphetamine users. The Meth-MI group had less diabetes than the No-Meth-MI group (38% vs 51%, ...

Best practices for hospital-based initiation of medications for opioid use disorder: A consensus statement

JAMA Network Open

This survey study used a 2-round Delphi process to develop expert consensus on best practices for hospital-based MOUD initiation for patients with OUD, with a goal to provide guidance on changing inpatient addiction treatment in response to increased synthetic opioids in the unregulated drug supply. A total o...

Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Among Veterans With Homeless Experience in Permanent Supportive Housing

JAMA Network Open

This cohort study assessed 10,110 US veterans with homeless experience and opioid use disorder (OUD) residing in permanent supportive housing (PSH), in terms of what factors are associated with receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).  Only 17% received MOUD within 12 months. Gre...

Medicaid Managed Care Plan Alignment With State Substance Use Disorder Treatment Coverage Requirements

The Milbank Quarterly

Medicaid managed plan coverage for medications for alcohol use disorders (AUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) varies across states but is generally lower in Republican-leaning states. Researchers conducted a national survey to evaluate if these differences in coverage were due to variation in state policy or v...