The citizens of four US states—Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington—have voted to legalise the sale of cannabis to adults for recreational purposes, and more states look likely to follow. Experience with alcohol and tobacco suggests that a for-profit legal cannabis industry will increase use by making cannabis more socially acceptable to use, making it more readily available at a cheaper price, and increasing the number of users and frequency of their use. We argue that it is too early to see the full effects of legalised cannabis policies on use and harm because several factors could delay the full commercialisation of a legal cannabis industry. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Cannabis is a public health issue that is not going away. In the USA, cannabis use has doubled in the past ten years,1 with approximately 22 million American users in 2014.2 The risks of both short-term and long-term cannabis use have been well described. Short-term use can result in impaired memory, motor coordination, and decision making.3 Long-term use can affect brain development, functional outcomes, and mental health.3 In the face of these risks, as states and countries consider enactment of laws relating to medical and recreational cannabis use, clear and evidence-based cannabis policies are needed. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Does cannabis matter anymore? Cannabis use has been falling steadily for a few years; a trend seized on by the government as ‘proof’ that their policy of prohibition is working (Release 2014). At the same time the number of people seeking treatment due to problems with cannabis is on the rise. So how do we make sense of these counter intuitive trends?
A group of experts drawn from across the UK gathered at the University of York to share their ideas, here is a summary of the day.
There were an estimated 1.09 million hospital admissions2 3 for which an alcohol-related disease, injury or condition was the primary reason for admission or a secondary diagnosis, in 2014-15, compared to 1.06 million in 2013-14.
Studies show that drinking at a hazardous level is far higher among those who have left the forces than those who have never served. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
This note provides a summary of statistics on drinking alcohol among adults in Great Britain and children in England. Data on alcohol related hospital admissions in England and Scotland and alcohol related deaths in England is also shown.
Parenting practices are associated with adolescents' alcohol consumption, however not all youth respond similarly to challenging family situations and harsh environments. This study examines the relationship between perceived parental rejection and adolescent alcohol use, and specifically evaluates whether youth who possess greater genetic sensitivity to their environment are more susceptible to negative parental relationships. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
To characterize a contemporaneous cohort of UK general practice patients with alcohol use disorder and describe their management. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
To analyze the current paradigm and clinical practice for dealing with alcohol use disorders (AUD) in primary health care. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
The aim of the study was to assess the blood concentration of orexin and its association with other clinical factors in patients with alcohol dependence. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Research into Theory of Mind (ToM) in alcohol use disorder (AUD) is sparse and the extant findings contradictory. The objective of this paper was to conduct a meta-analysis to determine whether individuals with AUD show ToM deficits across the available published literature. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
To assess the effectiveness of a 12 week specialized, integrated intervention for alcohol dependence with comorbid anxiety and/or mood disorder using a randomized design in an outpatient hospital setting. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
The nonmedical use of prescription opioids, sedatives, stimulants, and tranquilizers appears to peak during late adolescence, suggesting preventive intervention efforts should be initiated in early adolescence. The developmental course of nonmedical use is not the same among all four classes of prescription drugs, suggesting each drug class warrants individual research. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
On June 7, the US Food and Drug Administration released a drug safety notice about loperamide, an anti-diarrhoea medicine sold over the counter and under prescription. The drug is being used as a cheap and legally-available high, and to reduce the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. A standard dose for the medicine is 8 mg per day in divided doses, but opioid users have been taking massive doses of the drug, as much as 300 mg or more daily for weeks at a time. Taken in such high quantities, overdoses of loperamide can cause severe heart problems like ventricular arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, and death. Although the number of reported cases is currently small, standard toxicology screenings do not look for loperamide, and it is possible that the rate of loperamide abuse is under-reported. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
This study examined whether a history of criminal justice involvement is related to the use of contemporaneous mental health and substance abuse treatment among adults experiencing co-occurring disorders. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Translational Issues in Psychological Science2.2 (Jun 2016): 116-127.
The prevalence of smoking among individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is twice as high as the general smoking population. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of delivering a smartphone-based contingency management (CM) smoking cessation intervention with 3 adults diagnosed with ADHD. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Smoking is one of the major modifiable risk factors contributing to early mortality for people with serious mental illness. However, only a minority of service users access smoking cessation interventions and there are concerns about the appropriateness of generic stop-smoking services for this group. The SCIMITAR (Smoking Cessation Intervention for Severe Mental Ill-Health Trial) feasibility study explored the effectiveness of a bespoke smoking cessation intervention delivered by mental health workers. This paper reports on the nested qualitative study within the trial.
Selection biases may lead to systematic overestimate of protective effects from ‘moderate’ alcohol consumption. Overall, most sources of selection bias favor low-volume drinkers Gaetanoers in relation to non-drinkers. Studies that attempt to address these types of bias generally find attenuated or non-significant relationships between low-volume alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease, which is the major source of possible protective effects on mortality from low-volume consumption. Furthermore, observed mortality effects among established low-volume consumers are of limited relevance to health-related decisions about whether to initiate consumption or to continue drinking purposefully into old age. Short of randomized trials with mortality end-points, there are a number of approaches that can minimize zselection bias involving low-volume alcohol consumption. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Substance use has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of risky sexual behaviors, which have particularly devastating consequences in young women. This study examined whether (i) adolescent onset of cannabis use is associated with repeated voluntary unprotected sex in women and (ii) whether this association persists after accounting for correlated familial influences.
Research using different behavioral economic (BE) and time perspective (TP) measures suggests that substance misusers show greater sensitivity to shorter term contingencies than normal controls, but multiple measures have seldom been investigated together. This study evaluated the extent to which multiple BE and TP measures were associated with drinking problem severity, distinguished initial outcomes of natural recovery attempts, and shared common variance. Hypotheses were (1) greater problem severity would be associated with greater impulsivity and demand for alcohol and shorter TPs; and (2) low-risk drinking would be associated with greater sensitivity to longer term contingencies compared with abstinence. Please contact the library to request a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai