Why Ozempic and Wegovy May Be the Ultimate Villains

You’ve probably heard the news by now. A person first takes Ozempic or Wegovy to lose pounds, and they stop biting their nails. Or they lose their taste for wine. Even if they actively quit a 20-year smoking habit.

For a while, this was cocktail party conversation. But now, the data amounts to anecdotes.

A new study involving more than 600,000 people suggests that GLP-1 drugs for weight loss and diabetes may do more than shrink your waistline. They appear to be short-circuit addictions across the board, from alcohol and nicotine to opioids and cocaine.

If you’re skeptical of miracle drugs, I don’t blame you. Me too. But the numbers from this study are hard to ignore, and could dramatically change the way we treat drug abuse.

What the numbers really say

Researchers at the VA St. Louis Health Care System and Washington University School of Medicine recently accessed the medical records of more than 600,000 veterans with diabetes. They compared patients taking GLP-1 drugs with those taking older diabetes drugs.

According to the results published by the Washington University School of Medicine, the results were surprising. Here’s what they found:

1. The risk of a new addiction: For people who did not have a substance abuse problem, the risk of developing one decreased by 18% for alcohol, 14% for marijuana, 20% for cocaine and nicotine, and 25% for opioids.
2. Mortality has decreased significantly: The most significant effect was seen in people who already had a serious addiction problem. GLP-1 users experienced 50% more drug-related deaths.
3. A few medical emergencies: The data also showed 39% fewer overdoses and 26% fewer drug-related hospitalizations.

Turning off the sound

So, how does a diabetes shot stop you from craving cigarettes?

It depends on how these drugs rewire your brain’s reward system. GLP-1 drugs mimic the hormone that makes you feel full. But that hormone doesn’t just work in your stomach; it also falls into the reward center of the brain.

Often, addictive substances cause a flood of dopamine, creating a powerful loop of craving and reward. GLP-1 drugs appear to dampen that dopamine signaling. They turn down the volume on what doctors call the drug noise or food noise.

The drug stops being rewarding, so the craving goes away.

What does this mean for your wallet

Let’s talk about the practical side. Addiction is not just a health problem; it’s a financial disaster. Relocation costs, lost wages, legal problems, and medical emergencies can wipe out a family’s life savings faster than anything else. Even the daily cost of the practice itself adds up quickly.

Currently, these drugs are expensive. GLP-1 prescriptions can easily cost more than $1,000 a month out of pocket if your insurance doesn’t cover them. And insurance companies are notorious for allowing them for anything but certain, FDA-approved conditions like diabetes or obesity.

(Related: See “Health Care Costs Set to Skyrocket: 7 Trends You Should Know About.”)

But if the FDA finally approves these drugs to treat addiction, insurance will likely follow. That would make them accessible to millions of people who are most in need of effective interventions.

As the Associated Press notes, we haven’t gotten to the point where doctors only prescribe Ozempic to stop smoking. We need more clinical trials to understand the long-term effects and find out who benefits the most.

But if you’re already taking GLP-1 for diabetes or weight loss, don’t be surprised if your worst habits suddenly start to disappear. It’s not just a coincidence. Science is just doing its job.