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The American Society of Addiction Medicine just released a new guide to substance use disorder care in hospitals and emergency departments. Access it in our "Headlines" section. Also in this section is a report on how cocaine alters brain structure, increasing craving for the drug. Then read an article on how housing is a critical element of drug policy. After all, how does a person maintain sobriety if they don't know where they will find shelter that night? In addition, see a story which explains how overall drug overdoses have fallen at the same time that new synthetic drugs have hit the street. We report in the "Headlines" portion of the newsletter on one of those drugs, medetomidine.
More below!
In our Research section, read in more depth about how cocaine changes the brain. Also, a new paper challenges the belief that the brain does not reach maturity until the age of 25. In fact, the authors suggest that there is no evidence whatsoever that this is true, and that drug policy based on this idea is faulty. In addition, we feature a paper on how a common antidepressant can be helpful in treating methamphetamine use disorder.
Much more below!
HEADLINES
ASAM Editorial – New ASAM Implementation Guide for Hospital and Emergency Department Substance use Disorder Care
Study shows how chronic cocaine use alters brain to seek more
(READ THE FULL PAPER HERE)
Housing is drug policy
Drug overdose deaths drop sharply in the U.S. even as new street drugs emerge
What is happening with medetomidine?
Mayo Clinic study reveals Adderall's surprising cardiovascular risks in young adults
Psychedelics Like LSD, psilocybin, and DMT may rewire the brain in the same two ways — with implications for mental health
Related
Study finds psychedelics reshape depression treatment
Antidepressant reduces methamphetamine use
Senate budget restores funding for pain therapies and addiction recovery
NEW PAPERS AND REPORTS
Transcriptional regulation of ventral hippocampus-nucleus accumbens circuit excitability drives cocaine seeking (Science Advances. April 15, 2026)
Challenging the 25-year-old ‘mature brain’ mythology: implications for the minimum legal age for non-medical cannabis use (American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. April 11, 2026)
Mirtazapine for Methamphetamine Use Disorder (JAMA Psychiatry. April 13, 2026)
Early onset of cannabis use and risk for opioid use disorder across two decades in the United States (Addictive Behaviors. April 15, 2026)
Find more research here
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