17 January 2022

• Link between mental health and substance abuse issues on young people's mortality
  Young people with a history of mental health and drink and drug issues are more likely to die than those with a mental illness or who use substances alone.
• Pandemic, stigma a double barrier to health care for people who use substances
  Hospitals aren't better equipped to help those struggling with a substance use disorder because of ongoing stigma in health care, according to a University of Alberta public health researcher who suggests the pandemic has underscored the need for change.
• More folks drive high when pot made legal: study
  Here's more evidence that marijuana may make driving more dangerous: As pot has been legalized in more countries and states, a greater number of people are driving intoxicated by the drug and crashing, researchers report.
• Should e-cigarettes be licensed as medicines?
  Nicholas Hopkinson at Imperial College London welcomes the move, saying this will give doctors another means to help smokers quit.
• Researchers find removing brain cells linked to wakefulness and addiction may lessen symptoms of opioid withdrawal
  A UCLA-led study in mice shows that removing chemical messengers in the brain that are involved in both wakefulness and addiction may make withdrawal from opioids easier and help prevent relapse.