Articles

An overview of select cannabis use and supply indicators pre- and post-legalization in Canada

Canada implemented the legalization and regulation of non-medical cannabis use, production and sale in 2018 aiming to improve public health and safety. While outcomes from legalization reforms in other jurisdi...

Authors: Benedikt Fischer, Angelica Lee, Tessa Robinson and Wayne Hall

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in the Russian language - a systematic review of validation efforts and application challenges

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is one of the most frequently used screening instrument for hazardous and harmful use of alcohol and potential alcohol dependence in primary health care (P...

Authors: Maria Neufeld, Anna Bunova, Carina Ferreira-Borges, Evgeniy Bryun, Eugenia Fadeeva, Artyom Gil, Boris Gornyi, Daria Khaltourina, Evgenia Koshkina, Aleksey Nadezhdin, Elena Tetenova, Melita Vujnovic, Konstantin Vyshinsky, Elena Yurasova and Jürgen Rehm

Opioid legislation and narcotic filling in total hip arthroplasty: descriptive study of time and state-level trends in the United States

The opioid misuse epidemic focused national attention on reducing opioid overprescribing. The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship of time and state-level interventions and opioid filling surr...

Authors: Daniel J. Cunningham, Sean P. Ryan, Steven Z. George and Brian D. Lewis

Are former heavy drinkers in the UK less likely to identify as being in recovery compared to those in the USA? A pilot test

To provide a preliminary test of the prediction that fewer former heavy drinkers will identify themselves as being in recovery in the UK versus the USA.

Authors: John A Cunningham and Alexandra Godinho

Socioeconomic correlates of incident and fatal opioid overdose among Swedish people with opioid use disorder

Opioid overdose (OD) and opioid OD death are major health threats to people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Socioeconomic factors are underexplored potential determinants of opioid OD. In this study, we assess...

Authors: Disa Dahlman, Henrik Ohlsson, Alexis C. Edwards, Jan Sundquist, Anders Håkansson and Kristina Sundquist

Correction to: Investigating the factor structure of a translated recovery-orientation instrument in inpatient treatment for substance use disorder

Authors: Dagny Adriaenssen Johannessen, Amy Østertun Geirdal and Trond Nordfjærn

Acute Toxic Effects of the New Psychoactive Substance “Voodoo” among Patients presented to the Poison Control Center of Ain Shams University Hospitals (PCC-ASUH), Egypt, during 2017

Voodoo is a heterogeneous mixture of psychoactive substances that has recently grown in popularity among youth in Egypt. Patients can present with a variety of manifestations that may lead to death in some cas...

Authors: Rania Hussien, Maged El-Setouhy, Mohamed El Shinawi, Hazem Mohamed El-Hariri and Jon Mark Hirshon

Research led by people who use drugs: centering the expertise of lived experience

Research collaborations between people who use drugs (PWUD) and researchers are largely underutilized, despite the long history of successful, community-led harm reduction interventions and growing health disp...

Authors: Zach R. Salazar, Louise Vincent, Mary C. Figgatt, Michael K. Gilbert and Nabarun Dasgupta

The validity and reliability of Persian version of smartphone addiction questionnaire in Iran

Smartphone addiction is one of the most important forms of technology addiction that has attracted the attention of all countries around the world. Many studies have been conducted in Iran on cellphone addicti...

Authors: Zahra Shaahmadi, Touraj Ahmadi Jouybari, Bahare Lotfi, Abbas Aghaei and Reza Ghanei Gheshlagh

Exploring the effectiveness of dextroamphetamine for the treatment of stimulant use disorder: a qualitative study with patients receiving injectable opioid agonist treatment

A high proportion of people receiving both oral and injectable opioid agonist treatment report concurrent use of stimulants (i.e. cocaine and or amphetamines), which has been associated with higher rates of co...

Authors: Heather Palis, Kirsten Marchand, Gerald “ Spike” Peachey, Jordan Westfall, Kurt Lock, Scott MacDonald, Jennifer Jun, Anna Bojanczyk-Shibata, Scott Harrison, David C. Marsh, Martin T. Schechter and Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes

Changes in substance use during outpatient treatment for substance use disorders: a prospective Norwegian cohort study from 2016 to 2020

Continuous use of amphetamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, or opioids contributes to health impairments, increased morbidity, and overdose deaths among patients with substance use disorders (...

Authors: Jørn Henrik Vold, Fatemeh Chalabianloo, Christer F. Aas, Else-Marie Løberg, Kjell Arne Johansson and Lars Thore Fadnes

Validity of self-reported substance use: research setting versus primary health care setting

Self-reported substance use is more likely to be influenced by underreporting bias compared to the biological markers. Underreporting bias or validity of self-reported substance use depends on the study popula...

Authors: Parvin Khalili, Ali Esmaeili Nadimi, Hamid Reza Baradaran, Leila Janani, Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar, Zohre Rajabi, Abdollah Rahmani, Zahra Hojati, Kazem Khalagi and Seyed Abbas Motevalian

Patterns, trends and determinants of medical opioid utilization in Canada 2005–2020: characterizing an era of intensive rise and fall

Into the 21st century, the conflation of high rates of chronic pain, systemic gaps in treatment availability and access, and the arrival of potent new opioid medications (e.g., slow-release oxycodone) facilita...

Authors: Wayne Jones, Ridhwana Kaoser and Benedikt Fischer

The effects of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy on adverse fetal outcomes among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public health facilities in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study

The teratogenic effect of fetal alcohol exposure may lead to actual and potential problems, instantly after birth, at infancy; or even later, and mental impairment in life. This study aimed to investigate the ...

Authors: Alemu Earsido Addila, Telake Azale, Yigzaw Kebede Gete and Mezgebu Yitayal

Naloxone availability in independent community pharmacies in Georgia, 2019

Increasing the availability of naloxone among people who use opioids, and friends and family of past and present people who use opioids is a vitally important mission to reduce the occurrence of opioid-related...

Authors: Lauren Gilbert, Jennifer Elliott, Lauren Beasley, Ekene Oranu, Kimberly Roth and Jennifer Nguyễn

A qualitative exploration of the role of NGOs in the recovery support for persons with substance use disorders in a low-income African setting

In sub-Saharan Africa, most government mental health facilities are under-resourced to cater for the mental health needs of the population, including the provision of treatment and recovery support services fo...

Authors: Kwaku Oppong Asante, Emmanuella Asiama-Sampong and Richard Appiah

Assessing the evidence on the differential impact of menthol versus non-menthol cigarette use on smoking cessation in the U.S. population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The potential impact of menthol versus non-menthol cigarette use on smoking behaviors is an intensely scrutinized topic in the public health arena. To date, several general literature reviews have been conduct...

Authors: Mimi M. Kim and Geoffrey M. Curtin

The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare delivery for people who use opioids: a scoping review

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare delivery worldwide with likely negative effects on people who use opioids (PWUO). This scoping review of the original research literature describes the impact of the ...

Authors: Karen Alexander, Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz, Angela Gerolamo, Nadia Hassen, Erin L. Kelly and Kristin L. Rising

20 years of Portuguese drug policy - developments, challenges and the quest for human rights

Portugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities. Arguing that the Portugu...

Authors: Ximene RÊGO, Maria João OLIVEIRA, Catarina LAMEIRA and Olga S. CRUZ

Variation in brief treatment for substance use disorder: a qualitative investigation of four federally qualified health centers with SBIRT services

Brief treatment (BT) can be an effective, short-term, and low-cost treatment option for many people who misuse alcohol and drugs. However, inconsistent implementation is suggested to result in BT that often lo...

Authors: Dennis P. Watson, Monte D. Staton, Michael L. Dennis, Christine E. Grella and Christy K. Scott

Implementation of tobacco control measures in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, 2008–2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was developed to assist nations in reducing the demand and supply of tobacco. As of 2020, 182 nations joined the FCTC, agreein...

Authors: Sarah S. Monshi and Jennifer Ibrahim

The association of workplace health education with smoking-related behaviour and unequal gains by job position in China: ABWMC programme findings

Although the Chinese government has introduced a series of regulations to promote tobacco-related health education in workplaces, their implementation has been far from satisfactory. The aim of the present stu...

Authors: Haoxiang Lin, Meijun Chen, Yunting Zheng, Qingping Yun and Chun Chang

Factors influencing the provision of care for Inuit in a mainstream residential addiction rehabilitation centre in Southern Canada, an instrumental case study into cultural safety

Provision of culturally safe care has been proposed to address health inequity, including in the areas of mental health and addiction. The factors that influence the provision of culturally safe care remain un...

Authors: Julie Lauzière, Christopher Fletcher and Isabelle Gaboury

Perspectives of illicit marijuana growers and traders on commercial legalisation of marijuana in South Africa: considerations for policy formulation

Over the years, there has been a clarion call for legalising marijuana cultivation and trading for commercial purposes in South Africa. Proponents of the call argue that the criminalisation of commercial marij...

Authors: Emmanuel Manu, Mbuyiselo Douglas, Mohlomi Jafta Ntsaba and Elvis Enowbeyang Tarkang

The impact of PSTD on service access among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada

Settings throughout the United States and Canada are contending with high rates of drug-related overdose. This in turn has prompted efforts to more effectively engage people who use drugs (PWUD) in treatment a...

Authors: Annemarie Goytan, William Lee, Huiru Dong, Kanna Hayashi, M. J. Milloy and Thomas Kerr

Gender disparities in opioid treatment progress in methadone versus counseling

In the United States, the high dropout rate (75%) in opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment among women and racial/ethnic minorities calls for understanding factors that contribute to making progress in treatment...

Authors: Erick Guerrero, Hortensia Amaro, Yinfei Kong, Tenie Khachikian and Jeanne C. Marsh

A review of research-supported group treatments for drug use disorders

This paper reviews methodologically rigorous studies examining group treatments for interview-diagnosed drug use disorders. A total of 50 studies reporting on the efficacy of group drug use disorder treatments...

Authors: Gabriela López, Lindsay M. Orchowski, Madhavi K. Reddy, Jessica Nargiso and Jennifer E. Johnson

Tailoring services in opioid treatment programs for patients involved in America’s criminal justice system: national associations and variation by state and Medicaid expansion status

Opioid treatment programs (OTPs) are the primary source of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for many individuals with opioid use disorder, including poor and uninsured patients and those involved in the cri...

Authors: George Pro, Brooke E. E. Montgomery and Nickolas Zaller

Alcohol use and associated factors among adolescent boys and young men in Kampala, Uganda

Alcohol use leads to about 3 million deaths globally. The alcohol industry employs marketing strategies to establish their brands in the lives of young people at a time when addictive behaviors are initiated a...

Authors: Steven Ndugwa Kabwama, Joseph KB Matovu, John M Ssenkusu, Tonny Ssekamatte and Rhoda K. Wanyenze

The relationship between family intimacy and relapse tendency among people who use drugs: a moderated mediation model

Drug addiction is difficult to overcome. The relapse rate is high, and the negative impact on individuals, families and society is severe, therefore exploring social psychological mechanisms to reduce relapse ...

Authors: Xiaoqing Zeng, Mengyao Lu and Meirong Chen

Associations between parental alcohol problems in childhood and adversities during childhood and later adulthood: a cross-sectional study of 28047 adults from the general population

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are related to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. However, few larger studies based on a general population sample with age groups ranging from young adults to eld...

Authors: Siri Håvås Haugland, Barbara Carvalho, Tonje Holte Stea, Arve Strandheim and John-Kåre Vederhus

A missed opportunity: underutilization of inpatient behavioral health services to reduce injection drug use sequelae in Florida

People who inject drugs (PWID) suffer high morbidity and mortality from injection related infections (IRI). The inpatient setting is an ideal opportunity to treat underlying substance use disorder (SUD), but i...

Authors: Austin E. Coye, Mackenzie T. Jones, Kasha J. Bornstein, Hansel E. Tookes and Joan E. St. Onge

The changing alcohol drinking patterns among older adults show that women are closing the gender gap in more frequent drinking: the Tromsø study, 1994–2016

As the population of older adults continues to grow, changes in alcohol consumption are important to monitor because an increase may have public health consequences. Rates of alcohol use vary with geographical...

Authors: Line Tegner Stelander, Anne Høye, Jørgen G. Bramness, Geir Selbæk, Linn-Heidi Lunde, Rolf Wynn and Ole Kristian Grønli

Non-financial barriers in oral health care: a qualitative study of patients receiving opioid maintenance treatment and professionals’ experiences

People with substance use disorders often have poor oral health, which can negatively impact their quality of life. Since 2005, patients receiving opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) in Norway have been eligibl...

Authors: Siv-Elin Leirvaag Carlsen, Katja Isaksen, Lars Thore Fadnes, Ole Jørgen Scheie Lygren and Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm

HIV testing and its associated factors among street-based female sex workers in Iran: results of a national rapid assessment and response survey

Female sex workers (FSWs) are at a disproportionate risk of sexually transmitted infections and they may face significant barriers to HIV testing. This study aimed to examine HIV testing prevalence and its ass...

Authors: Sina Ahmadi, Mehrdad Khezri, Payam Roshanfekr, Salah Eddin Karimi, Meroe Vameghi, Delaram Ali, Elahe Ahounbar, Mehdi Noroozi and Mostafa Shokoohi

Strategies to promote the implementation of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) in healthcare settings: a scoping review

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), is an approach for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders, but is often underutilized in healthcare settings. Although the imp...

Authors: Kelli Thoele, Laura Moffat, Stephanie Konicek, Monika Lam-Chi, Erica Newkirk, Janet Fulton and Robin Newhouse

The “black box” of treatment: Patients’ perspective on what works in opioid maintenance treatment for opioid dependence

A lack of conceptual modeling of how the components of opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) for opioid dependence (OD) work causes it to occasionally be labeled the “black-box” of treatment. This study had a two...

Authors: Teresa C. Silva and Fredrik B. Andersson

Resilience and related factors as predictors of relapse risk in patients with substance use disorder: a cross-sectional study

Resilience, referring to the inherent ability to naturally recover in the face of adverse conditions, is an essential concept in discussions of substance use disorder (SUD) recovery. This study’s objective was...

Authors: Ayako Yamashita, Shin-ichi Yoshioka and Yuki Yajima

Subjective symptoms and serum methadone concentrations: what should guide dose adjustments in methadone maintenance treatment? A naturalistic cohort study from Norway

There is little evidence-based guidance on how to optimize methadone dosages among patients with opioid addiction undergoing methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). This study aims to investigate whether self-p...

Authors: Fatemeh Chalabianloo, Lars Thore Fadnes, Gudrun Høiseth, Christian Ohldieck, Jørn Henrik Vold, Christer Aas, Else-Marie Løberg, Kjell Arne Johansson and Jørgen G. Bramness

Qualitative assessment of patients’ perspectives and needs from community pharmacists in substance use disorder management

Non-medical use of psychoactive substances is a common harmful behavior that leads to the development of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs). SUD is a significant health concern that causes adverse health consequen...

Authors: Sarah Fatani, Daniel Bakke, Marcel D’Eon and Anas El-Aneed

Drug dealing and drug use prevention – a qualitative interview study of authorities’ perspectives on two open drug scenes in Stockholm

The use of illicit substances causes various health and social problems globally. Moreover, open drug use and dealing in urban areas, i.e., open drug scenes, can cause public order problems, lead to the recrui...

Authors: Kristin Feltmann, Johanna Gripenberg, Anna K. Strandberg, Tobias H. Elgán and Pia Kvillemo

Use of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other substances during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Europe: a survey on 36,000 European substance users

SARS-CoV-2 reached Europe in early 2020 and disrupted the private and public life of its citizens, with potential implications for substance use. The objective of this study was to describe possible changes in...

Authors: Jakob Manthey, Carolin Kilian, Sinclair Carr, Miroslav Bartak, Kim Bloomfield, Fleur Braddick, Antoni Gual, Maria Neufeld, Amy O’Donnell, Benjamin Petruzelka, Vladimir Rogalewicz, Ingeborg Rossow, Bernd Schulte and Jürgen Rehm

Cyber-ethnography of cannabis marketing on social media

Since 2012, several states have legalized non-medical cannabis, and cannabis businesses have used social media as a primary form of marketing. There are concerns that social media cannabis exposure may reach u...

Authors: Marina C. Jenkins, Lauren Kelly, Kole Binger and Megan A. Moreno

Cannabis use in patients treated for opioid use disorder pre- and post-recreational cannabis legalization in Canada

As the legalization of recreational cannabis becomes more widespread, its impact on individuals with substance use disorders must be studied. Amidst an ongoing opioid crisis, Canada’s legalization of recreatio...

Authors: Tea Rosic, Nitika Sanger, Balpreet Panesar, Gary Foster, David C. Marsh, Launette Rieb, Lehana Thabane, Andrew Worster and Zainab Samaan

Mandatory treatment for methamphetamine use in Australia

In 2016, following a flurry of government inquiries and taskforces including calls for mandatory treatment regimes, the Australian community nominated methamphetamine as the drug most likely to be associated a...

Authors: Mathew Coleman, Kelly Ridley and Michael Christmass

Harmonizing healthcare and other resource measures for evaluating economic costs in substance use disorder research

Standardization and harmonization of healthcare resource utilization data can improve evaluations of the economic impact of treating people with substance use disorder (SUD), including reductions in use of exp...

Authors: Michelle A. Papp, Jared A. Leff, Sean M. Murphy, April Yang, Heidi M. Crane, Lisa R. Metsch, Carlos Del Rio, Daniel J. Feaster, Josiah D. Rich, Bruce R. Schackman and Kathryn E. McCollister

Relationships between consumption patterns, health beliefs, and subjective wellbeing in Chinese Baijiu consumers

Alcohol consumption in China has increased rapidly, and there have been calls for policies and programs to address the issue. Alcohol plays a complex and important role in Chinese culture, where it is consider...

Authors: Debra Ann Metcalf, Anthony Saliba, Kirsty McKenzie and Appy Gao

Assessing the impact of Indiana legislation on opioid-based doctor shopping among Medicaid-enrolled pregnant women: a regression analysis

States have passed various legislative acts in an attempt to reduce opioid prescribing and corresponding doctor shopping, including prescription drug monitoring programs. This study seeks to determine the asso...

Authors: Sukhada S. Joshi, Nicole Adams, Yuehwern Yih and Paul M. Griffin

Proportion and reasons for loss to follow-up in a cohort study of people who inject drugs to measure HIV and HCV incidence in Kerman, Iran

Understanding the reasons for loss to follow-up (LTFU) in cohort studies, especially among marginalized groups such as people who inject drugs (PWID), is needed to strengthen the rigor of efficacy trials for p...

Authors: Ghazal Mousavian, Nima Ghalekhani, Fatemeh Tavakoli, Willi McFarland, Armita Shahesmaeili, Heidar Sharafi, Mehrdad Khezri, Soheil Mehmandoost, Jasem Zarei, Hamid Sharifi and Ali Mirzazadeh

The association between the time of alcohol drinking and injury risk in Thailand: a cross‐sectional emergency department study

Although the relationship between acute alcohol consumption and injuries is well recognized, studies exploring how the time of day the drinking commences affects alcohol-related injuries have been scarce. This...

Authors: Bundit Sornpaisarn, Sarnti Sornpaisarn and Jürgen Rehm