Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Oct 2020
Trajectories of cannabis use and risk for opioid misuse in a young adult urban cohort.
Although much of the attention surrounding the opioid epidemic has focused on rural and suburban Whites and prescription opioids, heroin overdoses among urban Blacks are on the rise. While some argue that legalization of cannabis will combat the epidemic, there are concerns it ignores the shift in the epidemic and could increase vulnerability to opioid misuse. The goal of this study is to examine the association between cannabis use from adolescence to young adulthood with opioid misuse in a primarily urban Black cohort. ⋯ Adolescent onset cannabis use is associated with opioid misuse in young adulthood among urban Blacks even after adjustment for socioecological factors associated with opioid misuse.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Oct 2020
Successful engagement in buprenorphine treatment among hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder and trauma.
The opioid epidemic continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality. Although there are effective medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), a minority of patients receive these treatments. OUD is common among patients hospitalized for traumatic injury and hospitalization could be an opportunity to initiate medications and link to ongoing buprenorphine care. ⋯ Among hospitalized patients with OUD who initiate buprenorphine, those who were hospitalized for trauma were at least as likely to link to out-patient treatment. Trauma admissions represent an important opportunity for diagnosing and linking patients with OUD to buprenorphine treatment.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Oct 2020
Evaluation of the rewarding effects of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine in an intracranial self-stimulation procedure in male and female rats.
Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth.) has been used in Southeast Asia for hundreds of years to increase energy, for relaxation, and to diminish opioid withdrawal. Kratom use has recently spread to Western countries. Kratom could potentially be used for the treatment of opioid withdrawal and pain, but more insight is needed into its abuse potential. Therefore, we investigated the rewarding properties of the primary kratom alkaloid mitragynine and its active metabolite 7-hydroxymitragynine, and morphine as a reference drug in male and female rats. These compounds have agonist activity at mu-opioid receptors. ⋯ These initial findings indicate that mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are not rewarding in the ICSS procedure. The present results suggest that these kratom alkaloids do not have abuse potential.