Key Points

  • The CDC has flagged prescription stimulant misuse among college students as a public health concern tied to overdose risk, not just academic pressure.
  • About 7 in 10 counterfeit pills tested by the DEA contain a potentially lethal dose of illicit fentanyl.
  • A UC San Diego study of more than 175,000 California students found teens rank cannabis as the least worrying substance, even as high-potency products become more common.
  • Cannabis use disorder remains underdiagnosed in young people, and there are no FDA-approved medications for it.
  • A new national analysis estimates more than 8 million people in the U.S. used psilocybin in the past year, mostly outside any clinical setting.
  • Combining psychedelics with other substances, including ketamine, carries risks that are not well understood.

Addiction News Weekly Episode 1.5

In This Episode

Episode Transcript

Welcome to Addiction News Weekly by Rehab.com, where we break down the biggest stories in addiction, recovery, and public health. Last week we spent our time on big treatment studies built from veteran health records. This week the picture widens to the substances and the people who tend to slip past the headlines.

We have prescription stimulant misuse and what federal officials now call an overdose risk, what new research says about how teens read the risks of cannabis, and a surprising new national estimate on psilocybin use. Let’s get into it, starting with what students call study drugs.

Study Drugs and the Overdose Risk Behind Them

The CDC has issued a Health Alert Network advisory flagging prescription stimulant misuse among college students as a public health concern, putting the share of students who misuse drugs like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse at about 14.5 percent.1 Federal officials are now framing this as more than an academic shortcut. The reason is overdose risk.

These medications are Schedule II controlled substances, the same category as cocaine and heroin. The advisory warns that students who cannot get a legitimate prescription sometimes turn to pills from friends or online sellers, and per DEA testing cited by the CDC, roughly 7 out of 10 counterfeit pills seized from the illegal market contain a potentially lethal dose of illicitly made fentanyl.1 Stimulant-involved overdose deaths have climbed steadily since 2014.

The clinical takeaway is a shift in framing. The CDC now recommends that providers treating disrupted ADHD care offer naloxone and overdose prevention education, not just a new prescription. For families, that means treating study drug misuse as a substance use issue with real overdose risk, and asking treatment programs whether they handle co-occurring ADHD or anxiety alongside stimulant dependence.

What Teens Get Wrong About Cannabis Risk

For the research side this week, we asked Rehab.com medical officer Dr. Sylvie Stacy to walk us through a new study on how teenagers think about cannabis. Researchers at UC San Diego, led by Professor Shu-Hong Zhu, analyzed survey responses from more than 175,000 California students across two large statewide surveys, the most recent from 2024.2 The consistent finding: teens rank cannabis as the least worrying substance, below alcohol, nicotine vapes, and cigarettes.

The study was published May 5, 2026 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.2 Here is Dr. Stacy for more.

“I hear variations of this perception sometimes in my clinic. I actually had a teen patient recently who expressed contentment, almost a sense of relief, that he was only using weed instead of vaping nicotine or drinking alcohol. He assumed cannabis is completely benign because it’s legal and it’s natural. But the data from this study shows a gap between teen perception and what’s actually true clinically.

This study looked at over 175,000 students and found that cannabis is the substance teenagers worry about the least. What stands out to me is that as these kids get older, their fear of cannabis drops even lower by twelfth grade. That’s the opposite of what happens with alcohol or cigarettes.

So the peer effect here is strong. If their friends use it, the perceived risk plummets. And this is happening right as the market is flooded with very high potency products like concentrates and edibles that look entirely harmless.

Lower risk perception directly tracks with higher use here. But the adolescent brain is actively developing well into the mid-twenties, and the endocannabinoid system is caught right in the middle of that. So regular use during these formative years alters memory, attention, and motivation. For some young people, it significantly increases the risk of psychosis as well.

I do want to keep some perspective. This is survey data, so it shows associations rather than a direct cause and effect, and overall, teen cannabis use has actually ticked down lately. We don’t want to use scare tactics or treat substance use as a failure.

I remember a college student I treated recently who was blindsided when his daily cannabis use spiraled into cyclical vomiting and panic attacks. He had perceived cannabis as low risk and almost felt like it helped him at first. But it took a conversation and some education to establish that cannabis really does carry risk, and that cannabis use disorder is a real clinical entity.

It’s still underdiagnosed in young people, though. That young man was fortunate that he sought attention, but many young people don’t, and that initial conversation can be what changes their behavior moving forward, especially since we don’t have FDA-approved medications for cannabis use disorder at this time.

Looking ahead, as state regulatory frameworks evolve, our public health campaigns need to evolve past the old anti-tobacco models, because now we’re dealing with commercialized, high-potency THC being used by teens who have a distorted safety perception of it.”

Thank you, Dr. Stacy. One more research story.

Why More Than 8 Million Americans Are Trying Psilocybin

A new analysis of federal survey data estimates that more than 8 million people in the United States, about 2.8 percent of those age 12 and older, used psilocybin in the past year.3 The analysis, from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was published in AJPM Focus and draws on the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.3 A few findings stand out for treatment providers.

People who use psilocybin were more likely to be younger, male, white, and higher income, and most use is happening outside of any clinical setting, which means people often do not know the dose, potency, or source of what they are taking.3 Lead researcher Andrew Yockey pointed to cost as a likely driver: supervised psychedelic-assisted therapy can run as high as $6,500 and is rarely covered by insurance.3 Psilocybin use was also strongly linked to use of other substances, and co-author Rachel Hoopsick cautioned that combining it with something like ketamine carries risks that are not well understood.3 For comparison, a separate 2025 RAND survey estimated an even higher figure, around 11 million adults. Researchers note that self-reported surveys likely undercount real use.

Here is Dr. Stacy for more.

“Those numbers are astonishing, but as I think about it, I suppose they do match what I have begun to see in my clinical practice. Compared to other substances, psilocybin is not inherently toxic or uniquely dangerous, so that’s not the big takeaway here.

What I do think the takeaway is, though, is the sheer scale of unmonitored use. When over 8 million people are taking this substance on their own, they have no real way of verifying the dose, the potency, or what contaminants might be mixed into the product. They’re also bypassing the medical evaluation that happens in a controlled setting, like checking for underlying heart conditions, a family history of psychotic disease, or considering whether other therapies might be more helpful.

I’m especially concerned about the polysubstance patterns highlighted in this data. People rarely use psychedelics just in a vacuum. I’ve treated a patient who experienced a severe and prolonged panic episode after mixing mushrooms with street ketamine. She truly believed that because both are being researched as therapies, combining them at home would be fine. But these substances can create unpredictable interactions that we simply don’t fully understand yet.

Unsupervised home use is a different beast than use under tight medical supervision for a diagnosed condition such as depression, using a product that’s been approved by the FDA and manufactured in a facility that meets standards and requirements. I really hope patients will be transparent with me and the rest of their healthcare team about everything they’re taking, including psychedelics, and I’m going to make an effort to ask. We just want our patients to be safe.

Moving forward, as the commercial market for these compounds continues to grow, mental health providers and hopefully even primary care providers can integrate screening for psychedelics into the health history questions they ask their patients.”

A few other stories from this week on Rehab.com: the National Institutes of Health announced a grant to expand addiction treatment in rural primary care clinics, and a separate NIH-cleared trial is testing a new compound for opioid use disorder. A new research review renewed attention on the links between vaping and cancer risk, and new survey data showed depression rising sharply among young people and people with lower incomes. Links to all of these are on Rehab.com.

Conclusion

Put the week together and a pattern shows up. Prescription stimulants, cannabis, and psilocybin are not the substances the opioid overdose crisis trained us to watch, and many of the people using them do not see themselves at risk. That is exactly the gap that early screening, honest education, and federal funding are meant to close.

If you or someone you love is looking for treatment, Rehab.com lists thousands of verified centers across the country, and free confidential support is available anytime through the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

And those are the top stories in the news. For more, visit Rehab.com. We will be back next week. I’m Kay, thank you for listening!

Sources in This Episode

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disrupted Access to Prescription Stimulant Medications Could Increase Risk of Injury and Overdose. CDC Health Alert Network (HAN 00510). Published June 13, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/han/2024/han00510.html
  2. UC San Diego Today. Teens View Cannabis as Less Harmful Than Alcohol, Vapes and Cigarettes. Published May 6, 2026. https://today.ucsd.edu/story/teens-view-cannabis-as-less-harmful-than-alcohol-vapes-and-cigarettes
  3. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign News Bureau. Study: Millions in the US Report Past-Year Psilocybin Use. Published 2026. https://news.illinois.edu/study-millions-in-the-us-report-past-year-psilocybin-use/
Dr. Sylvie Stacy
By Dr. Sylvie Stacy
Published on June 30, 2026