New research shows alcohol-linked cancer deaths more than doubled between 1990 and 2023, affecting cancer types that most people never connect to drinking. Dr. Sylvie Stacy joins this week to explain what a large opioid treatment study reveals about methadone, buprenorphine-naloxone, and what happens when people leave treatment too soon.

Sources:

• https://www.onclive.com/view/alcohol-linked-cancer-s-toll-extends-far-beyond-the-liver-with-deaths-rising-across-age-groups
• https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/75/wr/mm7534a2.htm

A new study in JAMA Network Open found that more than a quarter of patients stopped individual therapy after three sessions or fewer, a gap that mirrors early dropout patterns in addiction treatment.

For National Recovery Month, Rehab.com Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy examines peer support specialists and what the evidence says about whether they help people stay.

Source:⁠⁠⁠

• https://www.samhsa.gov/recovery-month
• https://www.wunc.org/2026-08-06/most-u-s-doctors-avoid-treating-patients-with-addiction-leaving-millions-vulnerable
• https://www.npr.org/2026/08/28/nx-s1-5945729/a-conversation-about-doctors-addiction-patients-and-stigma

Three major legal and regulatory actions in one week: Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion over teen social media harms, ten California treatment providers filed suit alleging Cigna paid only 16 cents on the dollar for addiction care, and the DEA moved three synthetic kratom compounds into Schedule I after dozens of overdose deaths.

Dr. Sylvie Stacy, Rehab.com's Medical Officer and an addiction medicine specialist with over a decade of clinical experience, provides context on what each development means for people seeking care and the families supporting them.

Source:⁠

• https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/meta-agrees-settle-social-media-addiction-case-up-16b.amp
• https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/risk-compliance-legal/providers-sue-cigna-over-alleged-12-8-million-addiction-claims-shortfall-586905.aspx
• https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/cigna-faces-128m-lawsuit-over-addiction-treatment-claims
• https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/26/2026-17429/schedules-of-control

An NPR investigation found that most U.S. clinicians actively avoid prescribing FDA-approved addiction medications, a large randomized opioid tapering trial is being widely misread, and University of Pennsylvania researchers have built the first heart disease risk calculator designed for people who use cocaine or methamphetamine.

Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains why the tapering findings do not transfer to patients with opioid use disorder, and what each story means for someone navigating addiction care.

Sources:

• https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health/national-releases/2025
• https://ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/research-updates/people-who-use-stimulants-face-hidden-heart-risks-penn-study-finds/

A proposed federal rule would make cigarettes far less capable of creating addiction, a 9th Circuit ruling let more than 3,000 social media lawsuits move forward, and a new SAMHSA report details how physical illness routinely goes unrecognized inside existing addiction care. Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr.

Sylvie Stacy explains why nicotine dependence keeps getting left off the treatment plan, and what the pattern of blind spots across all three stories means for care today.

Sources:

• https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2026/07/13/tc-2025-059896
• https://research.rutgers.edu/news/how-nicotine-reduction-policy-could-reduce-smoking-disparities-and-boost-productivity⁠

A JAMA review published August 4, 2026 documents that US deaths from alcohol-related liver disease nearly doubled between 1999 and 2022, a figure that complicates recent survey data showing declining alcohol use disorder rates.

Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains what the VA's new semaglutide trial actually represents, why three FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder remain underused, and how a network of mobile clinics in Massachusetts is reaching people conventional treatment has missed.

Sources:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42406571/
• https://www.va.gov/minneapolis-health-care/news-releases/minneapolis-va-medical-center-named-one-of-18-va-sites-to-test-efficacy-of-glp-1-as-treatment-for-alcohol-use/
• https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/expanding-mobile-addiction-clinics

SAMHSA's 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health finds that 21.4 million Americans used cannabis daily or near-daily last year, now surpassing the number who drink at the same frequency.

Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains what the absence of FDA-approved medications for cannabis use disorder means for people seeking care, and what the encouraging trends in youth data are missing.Sources:

• https://www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we-collect/nsduh-national-survey-drug-use-and-health/national-releases/2025
• https://abcnews.com/Health/alcohol-drug-declining-young-americans/story?id=135240157

New workplace drug testing data puts close to one in five tested workers positive for drug use in 2025, a University of Pennsylvania study tracks how a first opioid prescription reshapes military careers, and a fast-moving cannabis policy debate is leaving employers without clear guidance on how to act.

Rehab.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy explains how opioid-related cognitive changes tend to show up as attendance and conduct problems before any physical symptoms appear, and what that pattern means for clinicians trying to start the right conversation.

Sources:

• https://newsroom.questdiagnostics.com/2026-07-10-One-in-Five-American-Workers-Tested-Had-a-Positive-Hair-Drug-Test-in-2025,-Signaling-Persistent-Long-Term-Substance-Use-Patterns
• https://ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/research-updates/opioid-prescriptions-can-lead-to-misuse-and-poor-job-performance/
• https://ldi.upenn.edu/our-work/research-updates/opioid-prescriptions-can-lead-to-misuse-and-poor-job-performance/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2026/04/06/cannabis-laws-quietly-creating-6-surprising-workplace-changes-in-2026/

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we look at new federal data showing fentanyl overdose deaths fell 22% between 2024 and 2025, new research that reframes what actually drives relapse, and an AI tool already cutting drug test turnaround times in clinical addiction programs.

We break down what the numbers mean for people seeking treatment today, then hear from Rehab.com medical officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy on why craving, not mood, is the direct predictor of substance use, and what that means for how treatment should be designed.

Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/releases/20260513.html
https://www.rehab.com/fentanyl-deaths-fell-22-nationwide-cdc-data-shows
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2850599

In this episode of Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, we cover three new developments in the fentanyl crisis. A UCLA-led study puts the first hard numbers on how much illicit fentanyl regular users are actually consuming each day, and the figures go well beyond what addiction treatment protocols were designed to handle.

New nationally representative survey data shows that most eighth graders do not see fentanyl as dangerous, even as it drives the majority of adolescent overdose deaths. And SAMHSA has announced more than $281 million in new funding to expand medication-assisted treatment and first responder training.

But what does extreme fentanyl tolerance actually mean for patients trying to start treatment? We break down all three stories, then hear from Rehab.com medical officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy on how the tolerance findings play out in clinical practice, why standard methadone doses often fall short today, and what it takes to adapt care as the drug supply keeps shifting.

Sources:

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037687162600205X
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42412427/
• https://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/press-announcements/20260706/samhsa-announces-more-than-281m-funding-address-addiction-overdose-mental-illness-promote-recovery