September 2021    
         
         
 
     
  Understand the influence  
     
  The misuse of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription medications affects millions of Americans. A 2019 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration—part of the US Department of Health and Human Services—reported that more than 19 million people aged 18 or older had a substance use disorder in the previous year.  
     
  There is no cure for substance use disorders, so an ounce of prevention is infinitely more valuable, as well as effective and accessible treatment. Research into the trajectory of addiction may be key.  
     
 
  Learn more about and find treatment options for substance use disorders.  
 
       
  Rethinking binge drinking  
     
 
alcoholic drinks
 
 
     
  (iStock.com/MarkWagonerProductions)  
     
 
     
  Tolerance has long been linked to how alcoholism (clinically called alcohol use disorder) develops. The prevailing theory has been that heavy drinkers must drink more to feel good, leading to a cycle of progressively higher tolerance and ever-increasing consumption. But only tolerance to adverse effects, like drowsiness and nausea, had been observed. Tolerance to the pleasant feelings of being drunk—giddiness, euphoria, relaxation—had never been studied on its own, just assumed.  
     
  What if the assumption is wrong? Now in its 17th year, the Chicago Social Drinking Project investigates the pleasurable effects of alcohol by seeing how people’s happiness while drinking changes over time. The study concludes that lower—not higher—tolerance to alcohol’s pleasurable effects predicts future alcoholism.  
     
 
  If you have questions or concerns about your alcohol consumption, visit Rethinking Drinking.  
 
       
 
 
  Substantive news  
     
 
     
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Reports of vaping-related lung injuries continue to rise.
 
     
     
     
 
     
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So the tobacco industry has introduced a new “heat-not-burn” leaf product, legalized in 2019.
 
     
     
     
 
     
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Drug use in prison is widespread and uniquely dangerous, leading to a sharp increase in overdose deaths.
 
     
     
 
         
         
    Spotlight    
         
         
 
     
  Mindful trip  
     
 
psychedelic brain
 
 
     
  (iStock.com/wildpixel)  
     
 
     
  When taken under clinical supervision, drugs like MDMA and LSD could serve a purpose beyond recreation: they might radically change how some people engage with therapy.  
     
     
     
  In case you missed it  
     
 
 
 
Vitamin D: During the pandemic, vitamin D has its day in the sun.
 
 
Restless: The pandemic is causing many of us to lose sleep.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
  Support UChicago Medicine.  
     
 
     
 
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