Lead: Online sports betting legalization and behavioral health care useLead: Online sports betting legalization and behavioral health care use
This Week in Addiction Medicine from ASAM
A concise news briefing summarising recent addiction medicine studies, from online sports betting and mental health care to opioid treatment strategies and alcohol withdrawal management. The episode focuses on data-driven insights that may affect behavioural health services and recovery support across different populations.
7:23•10 Nov 2026
Research Round-Up: Sports Betting, Opioids, and Alcohol Treatment
Episode Overview
- State legalisation of online sports betting was associated with increased mental health care use for depression and anxiety, particularly among men.
- People who use opioids were more willing to accept a "long-acting medication" than a "vaccine," with six to twelve months as the preferred duration.
- Enhanced access to MOUD in residential treatment, especially with extended linkage after discharge, increased time on MOUD and prevented overdose deaths in modelling scenarios.
- Hospitalised patients with opioid use disorder frequently showed polysubstance use, with marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and alcohol commonly detected.
- Phenobarbital and diazepam showed similar effectiveness for alcohol withdrawal syndrome in terms of hospital length of stay and mechanical ventilation use.
“Results suggest state legalization of online sports betting was associated with measurable increases in mental health care use and may increase strain on the behavioral health system.”
How do different strategies aid in addiction recovery? This weekly round-up from "This Week in Addiction Medicine" packs a lot into a short briefing, making it ideal if you’re trying to keep up with research without wading through every journal yourself. Host Zach Caruso walks through several new studies, starting with a headline-grabbing look at online sports betting.
Using almost 62 million enrollee-years, researchers found that state legalisation of online sports betting was linked to more prescriptions and outpatient visits for depression and anxiety, especially among men, but not to changes in substance use disorder treatment. As Zach notes, the study suggests this legalisation "may increase strain on the behavioural health system." You’ll then hear about survey data on how people who use opioids feel about opioid vaccines.
Participants were more willing to use something described as a "long-acting medication" than a "vaccine," preferring a six- to twelve‑month blockade, with fentanyl as the most popular target and side effects as the top worry. The episode also highlights modelling work showing that wider access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in residential treatment, especially with extended linkage after discharge, could increase time on MOUD and prevent overdose deaths.
There’s data on polysubstance use among patients with opioid use disorder, racial and departmental gaps in addiction care for reproductive-aged women with opioid use diagnoses, and early motor development risks in infants born to mothers on opioid replacement therapy or using alcohol and other drugs. Finally, Zach summarises one‑year outcomes from a seven‑week inpatient alcohol treatment programme in the Czech Republic and compares phenobarbital with diazepam for alcohol withdrawal, with findings suggesting near‑therapeutic equivalence.
If you’re short on time but want solid, research-based updates on addiction and recovery, this concise briefing might be just what you need—what findings stand out most to you?
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