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Cannabis and the Gateway Drug Theory: Correlation or Causation – Where does the Evidence Point? (Dalgarno Institute Research Report, October 2021)
This Research Report looks a the ever oscillating debate around Cannabis and the 'Gateway Drug Theory'.
Problematic substance use can be a significant cause of stress for family members of the person using substances. This review, published in the journal Drug: Education, Prevention and Policy, examines current research in order to explore the question 'What is the impact of an adult family member's problematic substance use for family life?'
Following a systematic search, the researchers analysed the data of 15 qualitative studies.
The Effectiveness Bank has stopped routinely issuing research analyses, but we couldn’t leave this gem from the ’70s figuratively gathering dust on the shelves of the British Library. Belied by an under-stated presentation, its practice implications are profound for treatment staff supporting clients with an apparently unpromising prognosis.
In a new study, led by a team at the University of Salford, evidence has been found to suggest fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a significant issue among the population, likely to be as common as autism, despite being rarely diagnosed.
The project, which investigated the number of primary school children affected by FASD in Greater Manchester, is the first of its kind in the UK.
The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) movement created the term "in recovery" to express the continuing requirement for vigilance in order to sustain sobriety (which includes abstinence from alcohol intake) and avoid a return to dangerous drinking. This term, or identity, may be adopted by someone who considers themselves to be in recovery for the rest of their lives.
Despite a long history of successful, community-led harm reduction programs and rising health inequalities suffered by PWUD, research collaborations between PWUD and researchers remain generally ignored. PWUDs are crucial in identifying developing concerns in the drug industry, as well as related health behaviors and consequences.
The use of alcohol and drugs is a significant public health concern and is prevalent in families. Over 100 million people are thought to be affected by a close relative's substance use, with many experiencing negative health and social consequences. Additional associated stressors, such as interpersonal conflict, financial issues, the burden of care, and family conflict, frequently increase the multi-dimensional impact of substance use.
Substance use continues to be a key public health concern in Africa. Despite this, there have been few reviews that have examined the current research on the subject. This study examines the existing research on the prevention of alcohol and substance use in Africa.
The specific objectives were to:
Identify drugs and substances used across Africa
Alcohol and cannabis are the most commonly used substances during adolescence and are typically initiated during this sensitive neurodevelopmental period.
The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the most recent literature focused on understanding how these substances affect the developing brain.
The effects of alcohol use include:
Substance use disorders are reoccurring chronic, often relapsing disease that affect the brain and should be treated within the public health arena similar to other diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. This understanding, however, does not easily find its way into public or social policy.
Cognitive reserve (CR) is the capability of an individual to cope with a brain pathology through compensatory mechanisms developed through cognitive stimulation by mental and physical activity. Recently, it has been suggested that CR has a protective role against the initiation of substance use, substance consumption patterns and cognitive decline and can improve responses to treatment.
Social Determinants & Substance Use: A Perspective Beyond the Policy 'Silo' Pragmatics - This paper (synoptic version, peer reviewed and published in Journal of Global Drug Policy & Practice) is a review of and research into the social determinants in a 'First World' setting, not relating to a developing world context.
This is a refreshed version of the 2017 paper.
Objective: To determine the mediated effect of sensation-seeking on the relationship between attitudes to alcohol consumption and consumption in a sample of adolescents from Ecuador. Method: Descriptive predictive and mediation study with the use of the Scale of Attitudes to consumption, the Brief Questionnaire of Search for Sensations and the Test of Identification of Disorders Related to Alcohol Consumption.
This qualitative study was commissioned by Alcohol Change UK in Wales to explore how and why alcohol and self-harm are related, and how alcohol, self-harm, and related services, are experienced and understood.
The risk of an individual overdosing is influenced by a range of, often overlapping circumstances. Factors such as incarceration, mental and physical health conditions, and the treatments prescribed for these conditions can all affect the risk of overdose.
This study, published in The Lancet Public Health, aimed to:
Biotechnological treatment, including addiction treatment, is the way of the future. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies praise depot injections, agonist/antagonist implants, deep brain stimulation, and hapten conjugate vaccines as medicine's greatest chance for reducing illegal usage, reducing the danger of overdose and severe withdrawal, and preventing drug diversion to criminal markets.
Tobacco smoking is the greatest cause of sickness and early death worldwide, with 8 million people dying each year from a smoking-related condition. The use of pharmaceutical or behavioural assistance improves smokers' chances of quitting; nonetheless, the majority of smoking cessation efforts are unassisted.
Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol is a policy whereby a set price is introduced, below which a fixed volume of alcohol cannot be sold to the public. Several countries, including Scotland, Canada, certain states of the USA, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, have adopted different forms of MUP.
In response to the concerning numbers of opioid-related deaths in the US, there has been a recent focus on opioid prescribing trends, which has shown an increase in opioid tapering among patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy. However, there has also been an increase in opioid-related mortality.
COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) was classified a pandemic on March 11, 2020, with early reports of the disease occurring in the Middle East and North African (MENA) area. On January 2021, the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO-EMRO) reported 5,566,708 confirmed cases with 131,886 fatalities to date.
The goal of this study was to analyze the prevalence and pattern of alcohol consumption (frequency of consumption, average daily consumption, and risky consumption) before and during confinement due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the adult population and based on gender.
This special issue addresses a rapidly growing area of research with a pressing public health need, the social structure of opioid use.
Specifically, this issue compiles original articles that apply theoretical and empirical frameworks to better understand structural conditions that form opioid use patterns.
Special Issue: Optimizing the Implementation and Effectiveness of Preventive Interventions through Motivational Interviewing
Issue editors: Catherine P. Bradshaw and Elise T Pas.