Illegal Drugs News

September 16, 2025

Top Headlines

Overworked Neurons Burn Out and Fuel Parkinson’s Disease

Sep. 3, 2025 — Overactivation of dopamine neurons may directly drive their death, explaining why movement-controlling brain cells degenerate in Parkinson’s. Mice with chronically stimulated neurons showed the same selective damage seen in patients, along with ...

Study Finds Cannabis Improves Sleep Where Other Drugs Fail

Sep. 2, 2025 — A long-term study following insomnia patients treated with cannabis-based medical products revealed sustained improvements in sleep quality, mood, and pain management over 18 months. Most participants reported better rest and less anxiety or ...

Stronger Weed, Higher Risk? Potent THC Linked to Psychosis and Addiction

Sep. 2, 2025 — A sweeping review of nearly 100 studies has raised concerns about the mental health impacts of high-potency cannabis products. Researchers found strong links to psychosis, schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder, while results for anxiety and ...

Cannabis for Coping? Why It May Trigger Paranoia

Aug. 28, 2025 — Using cannabis to self-medicate comes with hidden dangers—new research shows these users face higher paranoia and consume more THC. Childhood trauma further amplifies the risks, especially emotional abuse, which strongly predicts ...

The Hidden Mental Health Danger in Today’s High-THC Cannabis

Aug. 12, 2025 — THC levels in cannabis have soared in recent years, raising the risk of psychosis—especially in young, frequent users. Studies reveal a strong connection between cannabis-induced psychosis and schizophrenia, making early cessation and treatment ...

People with Eating Disorders Say Cannabis and Psychedelics Help More Than Antidepressants

July 24, 2025 — A massive global survey has revealed that people with eating disorders often turn to cannabis and psychedelics like magic mushrooms and LSD to ease their symptoms, rating them more effective than ...

Magic Mushrooms Rewind Aging in Mice—could They Do the Same for Humans?

July 22, 2025 — A surprising discovery from Emory University shows that psilocin, the active metabolite of psychedelic mushrooms, can delay cellular aging and extend lifespan. Human cells lived over 50% longer, and mice treated with psilocybin not only lived 30% ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 — Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective signals in a mouse model of genetic Parkinson’s. ...

Cannabis Use Among Seniors Surges 46% in Two Years--Study Reveals

June 7, 2025 — Cannabis use among older Americans has climbed dramatically, with 7% of adults 65 and older now reporting recent use. This rise isn't just in numbers but also in diversity older users today are more likely to be women, college-educated, and ...

Clinical Research on Psychedelics Gets a Boost from New Study

June 3, 2025 — As psychedelics gain traction as potential treatments for mental health disorders, an international study stands to improve the rigor and reliability of clinical ...

Record High: Study Finds Growing Cannabis Use Among Older Adults

June 3, 2025 — Marijuana use among older adults in the US has reached a new high, with 7 percent of adults aged 65 and over who report using it in the past month, according to a recent ...

Whether It's Smoking or Edibles, Marijuana Can Be Bad for Your Heart, Study Suggests

May 28, 2025 — A new study finds that chronic cannabis use -- whether it's smoked or consumed in edible form -- is associated with significant cardiovascular ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:32am EDT

Tiny Genetic Switch Found to Control Brain Balance and Behavior

May 26, 2025 — Researchers have identified a remarkably small but critical piece of genetic code that helps determine how brain cells connect, communicate, and function. The discovery not only deepens our ...

Scientists Discover New Way the Brain Learns

May 14, 2025 — Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain uses a dual system for learning through trial and error. This is the first time a second learning system has been identified, which could help explain ...

Is AI Truly Creative? Turns out Creativity Is in the Eye of the Beholder

May 12, 2025 — What makes people think an AI system is creative? New research shows that it depends on how much they see of the creative act. The findings have implications for how we research and design creative ...

Cannabis Study: Legalization Reduces Problematic Consumption, Particularly Among Certain Individuals

May 9, 2025 — Researchers are investigating how the legal supply of cannabis affects consumption and mental health among participants. In a first academic ...

Discovery of Dopamine Receptors in a Previously Overlooked Part of the Brain Sheds Light on the Complex Circuitry for Anxiety and Depression

May 7, 2025 — Researchers have discovered distinct roles for two dopamine receptors located on nerve cells within the portion of the brain that controls approach ...

Ancient Andes Society Used Hallucinogens to Strengthen Social Order

May 5, 2025 — Snuff tubes uncovered at Chavin de Huantar in Peru reveal how leaders used mystical experiences to cement their ...

Dopamine Signals When a Fear Can Be Forgotten

May 4, 2025 — A new study shows how a dopamine circuit between two brain regions enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has ...

Physical and Psychological Symptoms of Ketamine Abuse Revealed in Research

May 4, 2025 — Ketamine addiction is linked to high levels of physical health problems and psychological consequences, with nearly half of those affected not seeking support or treatment, new research has ...

Study Links Childhood Trauma to Increased Substance Use and Unexpected Effects on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure in Adolescents

May 4, 2025 — Childhood trauma significantly increases the likelihood of engaging in harmful alcohol consumption, smoking and illicit drug use, by the age of ...

Mindfulness Therapy Reduces Opioid Craving and Addiction, Study Finds

May 2, 2025 — Researchers found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain's response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to reduced opioid cravings. The findings suggest that ...

First Synthetic 'Mini Prion' Shows How Protein Misfolding Multiplies

Apr. 28, 2025 — Prions transmit their abnormally folded shape onto other proteins. Researchers designed a synthetic fragment of the tau protein that exhibits prion-like behavior. Misfolded tau proteins are the ...

Psychedelics Can Reverse Neuroimmune Interactions That Boost Fear

Apr. 23, 2025 — A new study suggests that fear and the immune system are connected in previously unknown ways. Researchers found that the immune system can influence stress and fear behaviors by changing how brain ...

How Dopamine Helps Us Learn to Avoid Bad Outcomes

Apr. 22, 2025 — Dopamine is the brain's motivational spark, driving us to chase what feels good, say scrolling another reel on social media, and steer clear of what doesn't, like touching a hot stove. But ...

More Americans Are Using Psilocybin -- Especially Those With Mental Health Conditions, Study Shows

Apr. 21, 2025 — Use of psilocybin, the hallucinogenic chemical found in what is known as 'magic mushrooms,' has increased significantly nationwide since 2019, according to a new ...

How Disturbed Signaling Pathways Could Promote Epileptic Seizures

Apr. 16, 2025 — Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer ...

Simulate Sound in 3D at a Finer Scale Than Humans Can Perceive

Apr. 15, 2025 — Ambisonic rendering is a way to simulate the precise locations of sounds in 3D, and an ambisonics algorithm has allowed researchers to create rich virtual 'soundscapes.'Researchers decided ...

LSD Analogue With Potential for Treating Schizophrenia Developed

Apr. 14, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic's therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic ...

Brain Study Increases Understanding of What Triggers Drug Use Relapse

Apr. 10, 2025 — Research on the biological basis of addiction has found that the critical epigenetic enzyme histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) limits the expression of the gene Scn4b, regulating neuronal activity and ...

Brain Pathway Links Inflammation to Loss of Motivation, Energy in Advanced Cancer

Apr. 10, 2025 — Researchers identified a direct connection between cancer-related inflammation and the loss of motivation characteristic of advanced cancer. In a mouse study, they describe a brain pathway that ...

'Eolving' Opioid Epidemic Across U.S.

Apr. 10, 2025 — The heart of the opioid epidemic that killed 665,341 people in the United States between 2005 and 2020 shifted geographically from the Northwest to the East, according to a new geographical ...

Simultaneous Alcohol, Cannabis Use May Fuel More Drinking

Apr. 10, 2025 — A recent study found that people may perceive fewer negative effects of alcohol if they are also using cannabis at the same ...

What Links Cannabis Use and Psychosis? Researchers Point to Brain's Dopamine System

Apr. 9, 2025 — A new study found that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) had elevated dopamine levels in a brain region associated with ...

Researchers Identify Safer Pathway for Pain Relief

Apr. 8, 2025 — Scientists have helped identify a novel drug compound that selectively activates pain-altering receptors in the body, offering a potentially safer alternative to conventional pain ...

Perceiving One's Own Body: Babies Sense Their Heartbeat and Breathing

Apr. 7, 2025 — Body signals such as heartbeat and breathing accompany us constantly, often unnoticed as background noise of our perception. Even in the earliest years of life, these signals are important as they ...

Medicinal Cannabis Is Linked to Long-Term Benefits in Health-Related Quality of Life, Study Finds

Apr. 2, 2025 — Patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia maintained improvements in overall health-related quality of life (HRQL), fatigue, and sleep disturbance across a one-year period, according to a ...

Researchers Concerned About Rise in Nitrous Oxide Misuse, Deaths in US

Apr. 2, 2025 — Despite a recent Food and Drug Administration warning against inhaling nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, deaths due to misusing the substance are rising in the United ...

PET Imaging Confirms Direct Involvement of Dopamine in Cognitive Flexibility

Mar. 28, 2025 — Scientists have confirmed a neurobiochemical link between dopamine and cognitive flexibility. PET imaging shows that the brain increases dopamine production when completing cognitively demanding ...

Study Identifies Shisa7 Gene as Key Driver in Heroin Addiction

Mar. 26, 2025 — Researchers have found a unique molecular signature and genes in the orbitofrontal cortex associated with heroin-seeking behavior. A preclinical rodent model implicated a gene called Shisa7 as the ...

Scientists Discover Why Obesity Takes Away the Pleasure of Eating

Mar. 26, 2025 — Why do some people lose the joy of eating, even when surrounded by irresistible foods? UC Berkeley researchers have uncovered a surprising brain mechanism that explains this paradox. They found that ...

Potential Risk Biomarkers Found for Schizophrenia Resulting from Cannabis Use

Mar. 21, 2025 — A new study has analyzed and compared the fatty acids in the blood of individuals with schizophrenia, of those with cannabis use disorder and of those with both diagnoses, with the aim of shedding ...