Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jul 2020
Comparative StudyRacial/ethnic differences in opioid-involved overdose deaths across metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in the United States, 1999-2017.
From 1999 to 2017, more than 400,000 Americans died from a drug overdose death involving an opioid. Early surveillance studies have observed large variations in opioid-involved overdose deaths among different geographic regions and racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to characterize trends in racial/ethnic opioid-involved overdose deaths across metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in the United States from 1999 to 2017. ⋯ The variations in opioid-involved overdose deaths among different racial/ethnic groups across geographic regions support the existence of multiple sub-epidemics in the current opioid overdose crisis and provide directions for targeted intervention efforts.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jul 2020
Interactions between opioids and cannabinoids: Economic demand for opioid/cannabinoid mixtures.
Opioid abuse remains a significant public health challenge. With continuing emergence of novel psychoactive substances (e.g., synthetic cannabinoids found in "K2" or "spice" preparations), the co-administration of opioids and other novel drugs is likely to become more prevalent, which might increase the risk for abuse and other adverse effects. This study examined whether the synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist JWH-018 alters the reinforcing effectiveness of the mu opioid receptor agonist remifentanil in rhesus monkeys (n = 4) using economic demand analyses. ⋯ These data indicate that synthetic cannabinoids such as JWH-018 might alter some aspects of opioid self-administration (i.e., decreased consumption at the lowest price) but do not enhance reinforcing effectiveness as measured by sensitivity of consumption to increasing costs. Opioid/cannabinoid mixtures do not appear to have greater or lesser abuse potential compared with opioids alone.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Jul 2020
Changes in substance use in relation to opioid agonist therapy among people who use drugs in a Canadian setting.
Although previous studies have shown that opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is linked to reductions in illicit opioid use, less is known about how OAT impacts the use of other psychoactive substances. We aimed to examine the changes in use of different substances by comparing patterns before and after initiating OAT. ⋯ We observed significant reduction in illicit opioids use following OAT initiation, but not for stimulant and cannabis. The increasing problematic use of alcohol may pose challenges to the safety and effectiveness of OAT. Development of comprehensive and tailored treatment strategies is needed for poly-substance users accessing OAT.