Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry Updates

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/awareness/ioad.html August 31 marks  International Overdose Awareness Day   (IOAD) , the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose. It’s a day to: Remember  loved ones who have died from drug overdose and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind. Take action  to encourage support and recovery for everyone impacted by substance use and overdose. End overdose  by spreading awareness of overdose prevention strategies. Hashtags : #IOAD2023 #EndOverdose

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 .   In response to the rapid escalation in the detection of xylazine in the unregulated drug supply, in April 2023, the White House designated fentanyl contaminated with xylazine an "emerging threat". The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Center for the Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) convened health care professionals and federal partners to review current practices in xylazine-related testing, treatment, and wound care to inform evolving best-practices in the field. This convening focused on the most critical areas of concern with the goal of rapidly identifying current practices and a xylazine-opioid research agenda.   https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/meetings-events/2023/06/managing-patients-taking-xylazine-adulterated-opioids-emergency-hospital-addiction-care-settings

This CME activity provides a practical approach to the management of prescription drug misuse and addiction, including how to use the clinical interview and CURES (California's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) to identify if a problem exists, and how to intervene once the problem has been identified. Animated didactic videos, interactive slides, and video case scenarios will be used to put these principles into practice with a treatment algorithm. The most compassionate approach to tapering patients down and off the medication they are misusing will also be discussed.   https://edhub.ama-assn.org/stanford-medicine-cme/provider-referrer/14533

Haney, M., Vallée, M., Fabre, S.  et al.  Signaling-specific inhibition of the CB 1  receptor for cannabis use disorder: phase 1 and phase 2a randomized trials.  Nat Med   29 , 1487–1499 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02381-w   AEF0117 significantly reduced cannabis’ positive subjective effects (primary outcome measurement, assessed by visual analog scales) by 19% (0.06 mg) and 38% (1 mg) compared to placebo ( P  < 0.04). AEF0117 (1 mg) also reduced cannabis self-administration ( P  < 0.05). In volunteers with CUD, AEF0117 was well tolerated and did not precipitate cannabis withdrawal. These data suggest that AEF0117 is a safe and potentially efficacious treatment for CUD.