The intersection of substance use with broader public health concerns.
Public Health
Scotland Becomes the First Country to Enforce Minimum Pricing on Alcohol
Scotland has become the first country in the world to enforce a minimum price per unit of alcohol. As of 1 May 2018 all alcohol must cost no less than 0.5GPD or 50 pence. The move is the result of a long process of research and...
Improving Quality of Life: Substance Use and Ageing
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) has released a resource focusing on substance use in ageing populations. The document covers the consequences of substance use in older adults, health conditions which might occur...
Single Episode of Alcohol Use Resulting in Injury: A Cross-Sectional Study in 21 Countries
Objective To examine the empirical basis for including the diagnostic category of “a single episode of harmful substance use” in the 11th revision of the International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD...
Electronic Cigarettes and Future Marijuana Use: A Longitudinal Study
Abstract Background: Cigarettes have been strongly associated with subsequent marijuana use among adolescents, but electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are now rapidly replacing traditional cigarettes among youth. This study examines...
The Hardest Hit: Addressing the Crisis in Alcohol Treatment Services
This research, launched at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Harm on 1 May 2018, warns that the alcohol treatment sector is in crisis. These services are entering into a cycle of disinvestment, staff depletion, and reduced...
Medical Marijuana Users Are More Likely to Use Prescription Drugs Medically and Nonmedically
ABSTRACT Objectives: Previous studies have found a negative population-level correlation between medical marijuana availability in US states, and trends in medical and nonmedical prescription drug use. These studies have been interpreted as...
Solution to Detect, Classify, and Report Illicit Online Marketing and Sales of Controlled Substances via Twitter
ABSTRACT Background: On December 6 and 7, 2017, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hosted its first Code-a-Thon event aimed at leveraging technology and data-driven solutions to help combat the opioid epidemic. The authors...
Candyflipping and Other Combinations: Identifying Drug–Drug Combinations from an Online Forum
Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) refer to synthetic compounds or derivatives of more widely known substances of abuse that have emerged over the last two decades. Case reports suggest that users combine substances to achieve desired...
Taking a New Line on Drugs
This report, ‘Taking a New Line on Drugs’, comes at a timely moment for drugs strategy both in the UK and across the world. The special session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem, which took place in New York...
Measuring the Burden of Opioid-Related Mortality in Ontario, Canada
Opioid overdose is a leading public health problem across Canada that continues to evolve, particularly as clandestinely-produced opioids enter the market (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2017). In 2014, we published a study that found that...