Alcohol
The most widely used psychoactive substance in America. Associated with more death and disability nationally than all illicit drugs combined.
Latest reporting
The VA Just Bet on Ozempic for Alcoholism — Because No One Ever Built Alcoholism a Drug of Its Own
The VA opens a GLP-1 trial for alcohol use disorder today, joining Lancet, NIAAA, and UW research all converging on Ozempic's drug class as addiction medicine's best new lead.
FDA Fast-Tracks an Ozempic-Class Drug for Alcohol Use Disorder
The FDA granted Fast Track designation to pemvidutide, a dual GLP-1/glucagon drug, for alcohol use disorder — a regulatory speed-up, not a verdict on results, entering a field where only 2.6% of people with AUD get any medication.
You Don't Have to Want to Quit Drinking for This Drug to Help You Drink Less
For ninety years, American addiction treatment had one accepted destination: zero. A weekly injection and two very different city programs are testing what happens when 'less' is allowed to count as a win.
Through eight lenses
Science
GABA-A positive allosteric modulator, NMDA antagonist, multiple neurotransmitter effects.
Biology
Dose-dependent CNS depression; acute risks (respiratory depression, injury, aspiration); chronic (hepatic, cardiovascular, cancer risk across 7 cancers per 2025 Surgeon General report, wernicke-korsakoff).
A New 340,000-Person Drinking Study Will Get Misquoted by Friday. Here's What It Actually Found.
Aug 11The Ozempic-for-Drinking Trial Just Published Real Numbers. The Headline Effect Missed Its Own Primary Target.
Jul 31The Lancet's Semaglutide Trial Is the Best Alcohol News in a Decade — And Medicine Doesn't Know What to Do With It Yet
Jun 28
Psychology
Withdrawal can be fatal (seizures, DTs); craving neurobiology.
Nobody Warns You That Year Six of Recovery Has Its Own Crisis. It Just Looks Nothing Like Year One's.
Jul 29A Diabetes Drug Just Quieted Cravings Science Couldn't Explain. Washington Just Deleted the Number That Told You How Much Was Too Much.
Jul 22MAHA Went After Seed Oils, Sugar, and Vaccines. Alcohol Got a Pass.
Jul 12
Policy
Age 21, OSHA workplace, ABC licensing, dram shop.
Trends
105,400 alcohol-induced deaths in 2022 — 30% pandemic-era surge.
Alcohol Sales Keep Sliding. Stop Reading That as a Recovery Win.
Jul 26The Seven-in-a-Hundred Problem: Alcohol Kills as Many Americans as Fentanyl, and 93 Percent Never Get Treatment
Jun 22The Medication Nobody's Taking: AUD Has Three FDA-Approved Treatments. Fewer Than 3% of People With the Disorder Receive Any of Them.
May 23
Treatment
FDA-approved meds (naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram) — underused; only ~10% of AUD gets treatment. Motivational interviewing + CBT + 12-step.
Harm Reduction
Managed drinking, eating+hydration, avoiding mixing with benzos/opioids, medically-managed withdrawal when needed.