A study by Washington University in St. Louis has found that GLP-1 medications, a class of drugs used for treating diabetes and obesity, reduce addiction to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, opioids and cocaine. The study involved 600,000 veterans with diabetes and followed patients with Type 2 diabetes in the Veterans Administration health care system for three years. The largest risk reduction came from the largest reduction in addiction from 25% to 31% among those with existing addictions. The drug-related deaths dropped 50% for those on the medications, which is greater than a national decline in overdose deaths. The research is not fully understood how the medications reduce drug cravings, but researchers believe it may have to do with similar reward pathways in the brain for food and drugs.