---
title: Risk of Stimulant Use Rises After Opioid Deprescribing
description: Individuals with a history of non-medical opioid or stimulant use who lose access to their prescribed opioids are at elevated risk of turning to street drugs to manage chronic pain.
---

[Psych News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org)

# [Risk of Stimulant Use Rises After Opioid Deprescribing](https://alert.psychnews.org/risk-of-stimulant-use-rises-after-opioid-deprescribing)

 Written by [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) | 5/29/26 4:12 PM

Individuals with a history of non-medical opioid or stimulant use who lose access to their prescribed opioids are at elevated risk of turning to street drugs to manage chronic pain, according to a [study ](https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(26)00180-7/fulltext)in the *American Journal of Preventive Medicine*.

 

**Why It’s Relevant**

Concerns about opioid-related morbidity and mortality, increases in overdose deaths, and evolving clinical guidelines for the management of chronic pain have prompted a decrease in opioid prescribing since 2015. Individuals with a history of substance use in particular face difficulties in accessing and maintaining opioid prescriptions, which may lead to unintended consequences for those patients.

 

**By the Numbers**

- Researchers analyzed data from 300 adults with a lifetime history of non-prescribed opioid or stimulant (cocaine or methamphetamine) use who had received long-term opioids for chronic non-cancer pain over the past year.
- Fifty-nine percent lost access to opioid prescriptions for at least 30 days during the study period. These patients had **2.55 times the odds of increasing their cocaine use** and **3.4 times the odds of increasing their methamphetamine use **compared with patients who had continuous access to opioid prescriptions.
- In addition, **patients who identified as Black/African American or who had depression had 2.89 and 2.23 times the odds of increasing the frequency of their cocaine use,** respectively, compared with patients without these traits.

**The Other Side**

The study relied on self-reported data, which may be subject to biases. In addition, the study was conducted in a single safety-net health care system among individuals with a history of unregulated substance use—many of whom were using stimulants at baseline— which limits the generalizability of the findings.

 

**Takeaway Message**

“Although high levels of opioid prescribing have historically led to serious national consequences and increased overdose deaths, [our] findings emphasize the need for caution when adjusting pre-existing opioid regimens among vulnerable populations,” the researchers wrote. They added that their results both raise concerns about protocolized, insufficiently individualized opioid deprescribing and support patient-centered efforts to reduce reliance on opioids for pain management.

 

**Related Information**

“[CDC Issues New Opioid Prescribing Guideline](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2023.02.2.12)”

 

**Source**

Leslie W. Suen, et al. Stimulant use after loss of access to prescribed opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. *American Journal of Preventive Medicine*. Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2026.108437

 

(Image: Getty Images/iStock/gchapel)

 

[View full post](https://alert.psychnews.org/risk-of-stimulant-use-rises-after-opioid-deprescribing)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-05-29T16:12:24.203Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-05-29T16:12:23Z",
  "headline" : "Risk of Stimulant Use Rises After Opioid Deprescribing",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 512,
    "url" : "https://46880868.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/46880868/Imported_Blog_Media/empty_pills_iStock-1791183285.jpg",
    "width" : 683
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/risk-of-stimulant-use-rises-after-opioid-deprescribing",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Psych News Alert"
  }
}
```