Articles on Opioid use disorder

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Critics of needle exchange programs often express concerns about syringe litter. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Syringe litter did not increase after a needle exchange ban was overturned in Pueblo, Colorado, but health services suffered

Pranav Padmanabhan, University of Colorado Anschutz; Katherine LeMasters, University of Colorado Boulder, and Paul Christine, University of Colorado Anschutz

Evidence suggests that people who receive syringes from a needle exchange are less likely to dispose of them improperly.
Patients who received 17 to 24 milligrams per day of buprenorphine stayed in treatment significantly longer than those who received 16 milligrams or less, researchers found. AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Higher buprenorphine doses help patients stay in opioid use disorder treatment, new study finds

Rachel French, University of Pennsylvania

Black patients were less likely to receive higher doses. This may reflect inequities in health care or misconceptions among patients that higher doses are unsafe.
Opioids have been an essential part of anesthesia, but they aren’t the only way to manage pain. Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images

Opioid‑free surgery treats pain at every physical and emotional level

Heather Margonari, University of Pittsburgh; Jacques E. Chelly, University of Pittsburgh, and Shiv K. Goel, University of Pittsburgh

Surgical patients are opting out of opioids due to concerns about side effects and addiction. Combining methods to manage pain can take these fears into account without compromising on care.
Approaching the opioid crisis from a public health perspective includes massively increasing access to care and treatment for patients experiencing substance use disorder. (Shutterstock)

The roots of the North American opioid crisis, and 3 key strategies for stopping it

Rohan Anand, University of British Columbia and M. Eugenia Socias, University of British Columbia

There were more than 100,000 opioid-related deaths in North America in 2022. How the crisis grew to such proportions, and three potential paths to ending it.
A nurse dispenses liquid Methadose, an FDA-approved medication that helps people addicted to opioids. Whitney Hayward/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications like methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone

Melissa S. Fry, Indiana University and Melissa Cyders, Indiana University

Prescription medications can help people with opioid use disorder avoid the risks of relapse and overdose. But stigma based on misperceptions about addiction limits their use.
According to Oregon law, possessing a small amount of drugs for personal consumption is now a civil – rather than criminal – offense. Peter Dazeley via Getty

Oregon just decriminalized all drugs – here’s why voters passed this groundbreaking reform

Scott Akins, Oregon State University and Clayton Mosher, Washington State University

Possessing heroin, cocaine, meth and other drugs for personal use is no longer a criminal offense in Oregon. The idea is to get people with problem drug use help, not punishment.
A man injects drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Feb. 6, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Without safe injection sites, more opioid users will die

Inderveer Mahal, University of Toronto

In the midst of a public health crisis, with increasing rates of death from opioid overdose, the Ontario government is clawing back life-saving measures.

Related Topics

  1. Addiction
  2. Buprenorphine
  3. Drug addiction
  4. Fentanyl
  5. Heroin
  6. Methadone
  7. Naloxone
  8. Opioid epidemic
  9. Opioids
  10. Overdose

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