TODAY: Join the January 22 All-Participants Meeting at 3PM Eastern with Presentation on Residential Treatment for Adolescents Study

CEPOP will be hosting its September All-Participants Teleconference today at 3:00 pm ET. Today’s meeting includes a presentation from Dr. Olivia Rae Wright at PeaceHealth Family Medicine, to discuss a recent NIH-funded Study on Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment In The US. Please contact Sanjyot Sangodkar for meeting details.

NIH Research Finds Reduced Use as Meaningful Treatment Outcome for Stimulant Use Disorder

On January 10, Johns Hopkins’ researchers, with the support of National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), published an article outlining the clinical meaningfulness of reduced drug use in stimulant use disorder (SUD). Researchers reviewed thirteen clinical trials for pharmacological treatments from 2001 to 2017. According to the analysis, abstinence remains the gold standard, but a reduction in drug use resulted in improved health outcomes. Findings compared responses of “no reduced use,” “reduced use,” and “abstinence.” In responses with “reduced use” there was a 60% decrease in drug cravings, a 41% decrease in drug-seeking behavior, and a 40% decrease in depression severity. NIDA Director, Dr. Nora Volkow, was quoted saying,” These findings align with an evolving understanding in the field of addiction, affirming that abstinence should be neither the sole aim nor only valid outcome of treatment…Embracing measures of success in addiction treatment beyond abstinence supports more individualized approaches to recovery and may lead to the approval of a wider range of medications that can improve the lives of people with substance use disorders.” Researchers note that additional research is needed to understand how this nuanced approach to successful treatment can be used.

Articles & Resources

Addiction—Reduced drug use as an alternative valid outcome in individuals with stimulant use disorders: Findings from 13 multisite randomized clinical trials

NIDA—Reduced drug use is a meaningful treatment outcome for people with stimulant use disorder

What We Read Last Week

Several articles were published last week pertaining to the opioid epidemic, covering a variety of different components of the topic. Links to relevant articles are provided below.

ABC News—Some New Hampshire residents want better answers from 2024 candidates on the opioid crisis

Axios—San Francisco is now wastewater testing for fentanyl

FDA—From Our Perspective: CDER’s Continued Efforts to Widen Naloxone Access

JAMA—British Columbia’s Safe Opioid Supply Policy and Opioid Outcomes

Journal of Addictive Diseases—Treatment of poppy seed tea misuse with buprenorphine in telehealth practice: a case series

This Week’s Calendar

In the week ahead, there are no relevant events or hearings noticed at this time. In the event that there are any changes to the schedule for this week, we will make additional information available.

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