The Center for Addiction Science, Policy and Research and the Allegheny County Department of Human Services plan to launch a GLP-1 clinical trial in Pittsburgh in early 2027.

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The proposed FY26 budget restructuring includes a $1 billion funding reduction affecting community mental health centers, suicide prevention, and substance use treatment programs.

The President's FY26 budget proposed dissolving the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration to consolidate them into a new Administration for a Healthy America.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reinstated $2 billion in mental health and substance use grants on January 14, 2026, following bipartisan pushback.

On January 13, 2026, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration terminated hundreds of grants totaling approximately $2 billion for mental health and substance use disorder services.

Heavy alcohol use, drug use, and smoking were associated with looking biologically older in FAHR-FaceAge facial photograph analyses, with current smokers appearing older than former smokers.

A study in BMJ Open associated childhood adversity with 60% of drug use in Wales, 57% in England, 49% of violence in Wales, and 46% in England.

Ultra-processed food and addiction researcher Ashley Gearhardt noted that binge eating emerged as a recognized clinical problem alongside the growing dominance of highly processed foods in the food supply.

Documented marijuana use among young adult stroke patients in the study region increased from under 1% in 1993–1994 to 30.6% in 2020, accounting for most of the overall substance use increase.

Documented substance use among stroke patients aged 20 to 54 increased from 4.6% in 1993–1994 to 40.2% in 2020.

The planned 2027 Pittsburgh GLP-1 trial will evaluate whether the drug helps individuals with addiction while reducing criminal recidivism and improving employment, health, and housing outcomes.

The planned 2027 Pittsburgh GLP-1 trial will enroll up to 1,200 adults with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, or both, who face high risk of criminal-justice involvement.

Half of the up to 1,200 participants enrolled in the planned 2027 Pittsburgh GLP-1 trial will be randomly assigned to take Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

A clinical trial starting in early 2027 by the Center for Addiction Science, Policy and Research and Allegheny County will evaluate weekly semaglutide injections in 1,200 participants with substance use disorders.

Retail pharmacies bear equal responsibility with prescribing doctors for the opioid crisis

Over the past decade, drugmakers, wholesalers, and pharmacies have agreed to U.S. government settlements totaling over $50 billion to address an overdose crisis linked to more than 100,000 annual U.S. deaths

The Department of Health and Human Services is funding early-stage clinical trials of ibogaine to treat opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder through ARPA-H and NIDA.

Public attention on ibogaine was renewed following the death of 27-year-old Presley Gerber, who had traveled to Mexico for high-dose treatment while struggling with addiction.

Local governments should not spend opioid settlement funds on general law enforcement expenses

In West Virginia, local municipal governments spent nearly half of their allocated opioid settlement funds on general law enforcement expenses in 2024 and 2025.

Opioid manufacturers and distributors agreed to pay approximately $50 billion to U.S. states and the District of Columbia between 2022 and the late 2030s, with eighty-five per cent required to fund direct opioid remediation.