Psychiatric News (5/29) reported a study found that “individuals with a history of non-medical opioid or stimulant use who lose access to their prescribed opioids are at elevated risk of turning to street drugs to manage chronic pain.” The researchers “analyzed data from 300 adults with a lifetime history of non-prescribed opioid or stimulant (cocaine or methamphetamine) use who had received long-term opioids for chronic non-cancer pain over the past year.” They observed that 59% “lost access to opioid prescriptions for at least 30 days during the study period. These patients had 2.55 times the odds of increasing their cocaine use and 3.4 times the odds of increasing their methamphetamine use compared with patients who had continuous access to opioid prescriptions.” The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Related Links:
— “Risk of Stimulant Use Rises After Opioid Deprescribing, Psychiatric News , May 29, 2026