Addiction Disorders

The new U.S. plan to target xylazine-laced fentanyl

Researchers from Penn LDI, in conjunction with the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, analyze the plan and raise the question of whether it goes far enough.

From Penn LDI

The economics of addiction

Professor of Economics Jeremy Greenwood’s research is uncovering information about the opioid crisis, its effects on the labor shortage, and the law of unintended consequences.

Susan Ahlborn

Promising efforts to mitigate the opioid crisis

Margaret Lowenstein, an LDI senior fellow and assistant professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine discusses the increase in opioid and drug overdoses since the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Penn LDI

Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children

In research done using rats, Penn Nursing’s Heath Schmidt and colleagues found that males that engaged in voluntary nicotine use had offspring more likely to do so, too. Some offspring also developed impaired memory and anxiety-like behavior.

Michele W. Berger

The origins of the opioid epidemic

The study, “Origins of the Opioid Crisis and its Enduring Impacts” examines the role of the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin as a potential leading cause of the opioid crisis. 

From Penn LDI



In the News


NBC News

Fentanyl plus stimulants drives ‘fourth wave’ of overdose epidemic in the U.S.

Anna Childress of the Perelman School of Medicine says that fentanyl was ripe for combination with other drugs when it first appeared, given the long trend of combining opioids and stimulants.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

‘I didn’t have it in my bag before’: Incoming Penn students say carrying Narcan is shaping their outlook on medicine

Penn Medicine welcomed a new class of 157 first-year medical students with a hands-on orientation for administering naloxone, a life-saving medication used to help reverse opioid overdoses.

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Newsweek

Gruesome photos reveal horrors of ‘zombie’ drug fentanyl additive

A study by Jessica O’Neil and Steven Kovach of the Perelman School of Medicine reveals the dangerous impact of xylazine, a fentanyl additive, on the human body.

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Psychology Today

Prescribed stimulants for ADHD and the risk of addiction

Russell Ramsay of the Perelman School of Medicine writes about stimulants as a treatment for ADHD.

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Scientific American

Could new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic treat addiction?

Heath Schmidt of the School of Nursing explains how addictive drugs such as cocaine and opioids are generally thought to “hijack” the brain’s natural reward pathways and why semaglutide is complicated in relation to addiction.

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NBC News

White House announces plan to cut ‘tranq dope’ in illicit drug supply

Jeanmarie Perrone of the Perelman School of Medicine says that to know if xylazine causes dependence and withdrawal syndrome would be a very important thing to solve.

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