The intersection of substance use with broader public health concerns.
Public Health
Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids: A Free Online Training Course
A free online training course from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now available. The course addresses the CDC recommendations with respect to the prescription of opioids for chronic pain as well as their treatment...
Excessive Drinking: More a Result of Low Socioeconomic Status Than Access to Alcohol?
Among US neighbourhoods, poverty and disorganisation, that is high levels of crime, drug trafficking and graffiti etc., may increase the risk of problem drinking, more so than the presence of bars or stores that sell alcohol. In other words...
State HCV Incidence and Policies Related to HCV Preventive and Treatment Services for Persons Who Inject Drugs — United States, 2015–2016
Summary What is already known about this topic? The United States has experienced a sharp increase in hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence that can be attributed to injection drug use. Some states have used public health laws and treatment...
Current and Binge Drinking Among High School Students — United States, 1991–2015
Summary What is already known about this topic? Each year from 2006 to 2010, excessive alcohol consumption was responsible for approximately 4,300 deaths among persons aged <21 years, and, in 2010, underage drinking cost the United States...
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...
