This week on the podcast, we use the Penn State and Herman Cain cases as a starting point for a discussion of the complicated relationships among sexual abuse, sexual harassment, trauma and memory. We also discuss the dramatic …
Drugs
A Brief History of OD’ing in America
The conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray in Michael Jackson’s death highlighted a worrying drug trend in the U.S. Less than a week before a jury found Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter for improperly using an anesthetic to …
Study: Whites More Likely to Abuse Drugs Than Blacks
Black youth are arrested for drug crimes at a rate ten times higher than that of whites. But new research shows that young African Americans are actually less likely to use drugs and less likely to develop substance use …
Is Nicotine a ‘Gateway’ to Cocaine Addiction (and Cancer)?
Some have claimed that tobacco and alcohol are “gateway” drugs that people use before turning to illicit substances. While causal conclusions are hard to draw, at least one new study in mice shows that smoking may indeed increase …
Study: Legal Medical Marijuana Doesn’t Encourage Kids to Smoke More Pot
Despite warnings from opponents of medical marijuana, legalizing the drug for medical purposes does not encourage teens to smoke more pot, according to new research that compared rates of marijuana use in Massachusetts and Rhode …
‘Magic Mushrooms’ Trigger Lasting Personality Change
The psychedelic drug psilocybin (the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms”) may produce lasting, positive changes in personality, new research finds. People who took the drug showed increases in the key personality dimension of …
Viewpoint: Teaching Recovery, Rather Than Treating Addiction
Today is the final day of Recovery Month, during which we celebrated those who are overcoming addictions. But as the month winds down, the question of how best to spur recovery remains. One New York program, Exponents, has …
How Understanding Drug Addiction Can Motivate You to Exercise
Much has been made of the “runner’s high,” the euphoria attributed to pleasure-inducing neurotransmitters like dopamine and endorphins (the brain’s endogenous opiates) being released in the brain during exercise. But the question …
Does Drug Testing the Poor Do Anything to Reduce Addiction?
In one of the most emailed articles this week on TIME.com, legal columnist Adam Cohen questions the constitutionality and financial benefit of a new Florida law that requires welfare applicants to take a drug test for …
Fact-Check: A Survey Links Facebook to Drug Use in Teens
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) released its annual “Back to School” survey on Wednesday. Among the findings: teens who use social networking sites like Facebook are five times more likely to use …
Most Teens Taking Prescription Drugs Do It Right
Most students taking prescription medications for pain, sleep, anxiety or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not misuse the drugs, a new study finds. And proper use of these medications was not associated with a …
Marijuana Derivative May Offer Hope in Cocaine Addiction
A new study in mice has found that activating a receptor affected by marijuana can dramatically reduce cocaine consumption. The research suggests that new anti-addiction drugs might be developed using synthetic versions of …
Amy Winehouse and the Pain of Addiction
Another addiction death comes at age 27, with Amy Winehouse joining Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and most aptly, Janis Joplin among the rock icons who died from their disorder at the same point in their young lives. …