Here’s a thoughtful article on the recent, tragic death of Glee actor Cory Monteith, in which Dr. Hart points out that drug deaths are not often due to heroin alone, and we should be putting more effort into promoting awareness of the dangers of mixing addictive substances.
This blog post on “Spicephrenia” sums up a systematic review of studies on the psychological effects of cannabamimetics — drugs, like Spice, that mimic the effects of marijuana but don’t contain any THC. The results of the test were inconclusive, but it seems clear that these drugs are more dangerous than marijuana itself, and a great deal of more study will be needed to determine which, if any, can do permanent psychological damage.
It’s old news that parents have environmental and genetic influence over the risk of addiction in their children; this short article links to a study indicating that siblings may also have an effect greater than anyone had previously thought.
How is chronic food-restriction (as in many eating disorders) related to substance abuse? The details are fuzzy, but the answer seems to be dopamine.