Mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), are efficacious mind-body treatments for chronic pain, though their modest effect sizes suggest room for improvement. Notably, recent studies indicate that mindfulness meditation does not engage the endogenous opioid system, which plays an important role in analgesia. Therefore, exploring the combination of a...
Novel treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) are needed to address both the ongoing opioid epidemic and long-standing barriers to existing OUD treatments that target the endogenous μ-opioid receptor (MOR) system. The goal of this review is to highlight unique clinical trial design considerations for the study of emerging treatments for OUD that address targets beyond the MOR system. In...
Background: Synthetic cannabinoids are a rapidly emerging class of abused drugs. Synthetic cannabinoids are typically sold as "herbal blends" or "incense," commonly referred to as Spice products. No controlled human experiments have been conducted on the effects of Spice products or the synthetic cannabinoids they often contain. Methods: An internet-based survey study was conducted with adults...