Sleep and Substance Use: What’s the Link?
A new study reports a link between daytime tiredness and alcohol consumption, together with its related harms, in the future.
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Counselling Parents and Teens about Marijuana Use in the Era of Legalisation of Marijuana
Abstract
Many states have recently made significant changes to their legislation making recreational and/or medical marijuana use by adults legal. Although these laws, for the most part, have not targeted the adolescent population, they...
Effectiveness of the Gold Standard Programme Compared with Other Smoking Cessation Interventions in Denmark
Strengths and Limitations of this Study
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This study was based on a large cohort of smokers from all regions and settings in Denmark. 46 287 smokers were included in the study, and the follow-up rate was high (74%).
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The study was...
Socioeconomic Status and Non-Communicable Disease Behavioural Risk Factors in Low-Income and Lower-Middle-Income Countries
FINDINGS
Low socioeconomic groups were found to have a significantly higher prevalence of tobacco and alcohol use than did high socioeconomic groups. These groups also consumed less fruits, vegetables, fish, and fibre than those of high...
The Impact of Alcohol Use and Related Disorders on the HIV Continuum of Care
Alcohol use is highly prevalent globally with numerous negative consequences to human health, including HIV progression, in people living with HIV (PLH). The HIV continuum of care, or treatment cascade, represents a sequence of targets for...
Better Working Memory, Less Temptation: Substance Abuse and Neuro-Mechanisms
New research published in the journal Addiction suggests that poor working memory and the inability to control impulses during adolescence are key predictors for future substance abuse. ‘Working memory’ refers to one’s capacity to...
The Urgent Need to Change the Current Medical Approach on Tobacco Cessation in Latin America
Absract
Despite the accumulation of scientific evidence confirming the health consequences of smoking and the new paradigm of smoking as a disease where nicotine is the drug that modifies the functional and morphological characteristics of...
Participation in School Sports and Marijuana Use among Male and Female Students
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit substance among adolescents. There is a paucity in the literature on the relationship between school sports participation and marijuana use.
Systematic Review: Efficacy and Safety of Medical Marijuana in Selected Neurologic Disorders
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the efficacy of medical marijuana in several neurologic conditions.
Methods: We performed a systematic review of medical marijuana (1948–November 2013) to address treatment of symptoms of multiple...
Substance Abuse and Schizophrenia Risk
A number of studies have looked at the relationship between schizophrenia and substance abuse. However, many contain various methodological limitations. Uncertainties, therefore, still exist.
A new investigation published in the journal Ps...
Reducing Risk: Assessing the Effectiveness of Computer-Based Interventions
A new study reveals that computer-based intervention programmes could reduce the risk of substance use among early adolescents living in an urban setting.
Validity and Reliability of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) in University Students
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been used successfully in many countries, but there are few studies of its validity and reliability for the...
Psychometric and Diagnostic Properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST): Comparing the DAST-20 vs. the DAST-10
ABSTRACT
Background: The use of reliable and valid self-report questionnaires to identify drug use disorders (DUD) is a strategy that has shown usefulness for screening. One of the instruments more used for detection is the Drug Abuse...
Synthetic Pot: Not Your Grandfather’s Marijuana
In the early 2000s in Europe and shortly thereafter in the USA, it was reported that ‘legal’ forms of marijuana were being sold under the name K2 and/or Spice. Active ingredients in K2/Spice products were determined to be synthetic...
Multiple Fentanyl Overdoses — New Haven, Connecticut, June 23, 2016
Summary
What is already known about this topic?
Fentanyl and its analogs have been substituted for heroin and other opioids, and are usually marketed to persons seeking opioids. Because of fentanyl’s high potency compared with heroin...
Enzymes Involved in Cocaine Metabolism: A New Pharmacologic Approach to Treat Overdose Due to Cocaine
Abstract English/Spanish
Introduction: New therapeutic strategies against cocaine overdose toxicity have been developed. These new approaches are based on the design and synthesis of proteins involved in the destruction of cocaine before...
Systemic and Individual Factors in the Buprenorphine Treatment-Seeking Process: A Qualitative Study
Abstract
Background: Opioid use is a significant problem in Alaska. Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use, including buprenorphine, reduces withdrawal symptoms and the harm associated with opioid abuse. Understanding consumers’...
Delaying Marijuana Use to Age 17 Is Better for the Teenage Brain
The longer teenagers delay the use of marijuana, the better it is for their developing brains. However, a new study has found that there may be little adverse effect if one starts smoking the drug after the age of 17. According to the...
Carefree Adolescence: A Risky Business
It is widely accepted that adolescents are predisposed to indulge in risky behaviours, more so than adults. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have recently provided us with new insights into the underlying...
Tobacco and Cancer: Epidemiology and New Perspectives of Prevention and Monitoring in Mexico
Tobacco smoking is a causal risk factor of at least 16 different types of cancer. In Mexico, smoking causes 6,035 premature deaths annually of lung cancer and 5,154 from other types. Additionally, 16,408 new smoking attributable cases are...