The intersection of substance use with broader public health concerns.
Public Health
Prescription Opioids and Risk of Dementia or Cognitive Decline: A Prospective Cohort Study
Abstract Objectives To determine whether prescription opioid use is associated with higher dementia risk or greater cognitive decline. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Group Health, an integrated healthcare delivery system...
ATTC White Paper: Preparing Students to Work in Integrated Health Care Systems
A recently published White Paper by the Addiction Technology Transfer Centre Newtork (ATTC) starts with the premise that the substance use disorder (SUD) prevention, treatment and recovery workforce is currently undergoing an evolution as a...
Can Medical Marijuana Promote Illegal Use?
Illegal marijuana use and reported cases of addiction have increased more rapidly in US states that passed laws to introduce medical marijuana compared to those that did not. This is according to new research to be published in the journal...
Britain and the Booze: New Stats Reveal a Fall in Alcohol Consumption Nationwide
British people love an alcoholic beverage or two (or three, or four), so the stereotype goes. New statistics from the Office for National Statistics, however, suggest a decrease in levels of alcohol consumption across the country. The...
Does Plain Packaging Cause a Reduction in the Prevalence of Smoking?
Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death worldwide. A recently published Cochraine Review has found that standardised, or plain, tobacco packaging could make tobacco products less appealing and, in turn, lead to a reduction in...
'Virado': A New Method of Crack Consumption in Brazil
Crack emerged in the late 1980s in Brazil. This emergence was a critical moment for public health; the growing AIDS epidemic led intravenous cocaine users to migrate toward crack use to avoid the use of injection drugs. At the same time...
Higher Taxes Needed to Lower Smoking Rates in South Asia
New research published in The British Medical Journal supports the need to increase taxes on tobacco products in South Asia, suggesting that doing so could reduce consumption by at least 1/3 and, in turn, avoid around 35 - 45 million...
Global Smoking Rates on Decline Thanks to Demand-Reduction Measures
New research published in The Lancet Public Health suggests that global smoking rates have decreased by 2.5% following the introduction of the global tobacco control treaty. The treaty obligates the 180 countries committed to it to...
New Resources from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has released a number of new resources. These are aimed at those working within the criminal justice system and other environments where people in recovery from drug addiction are ready to return...
