Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Nov 2012
Co-ingestion of prescription opioids and other drugs among high school seniors: results from a national study.
The objective of this study was to determine the past-year prevalence rates and behavioral correlates of co-ingestion of prescription opioids and other drugs among high school seniors in the United States. ⋯ Nearly 7 out of every 10 nonmedical users of prescription opioids reported co-ingestion of prescription opioids and other drugs in the past year. The findings indicate that the co-ingestion of prescription opioids and other drugs by high school seniors in the United States serves as a marker for substance abuse and represents a significant public health concern.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Nov 2012
The association between neighborhood disorder, social cohesion and hazardous alcohol use: a national multilevel study.
Evidence on associations of alcohol use with neighborhood disorder and social cohesion is limited. The aim of this study was to further investigate these associations. ⋯ Hazardous alcohol use seems to have a stronger and more consistent relationship with neighborhood disorder than with social cohesion. This suggests that negative aspects of the social environment have more impact on the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use than positive factors related to sociability and support.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Nov 2012
Comparative StudyContrasting effects of d-methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone, and 4-methylmethcathinone on wheel activity in rats.
Reports from U.S., U.K. and European drug policy entities, and ongoing media accounts, show increasing recreational use of 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC, mephedrone) and 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Severe sympathomimetic symptoms, hallucinations, psychoses, and even deaths have been reported, yet little scientific information is available on the effects of these compounds in laboratory models. Available studies on the neurochemistry of these drugs show that 4-MMC and MDPV enhance DA neurotransmission, while 4-MMC additionally enhances 5-HT neurotransmission--a pattern much like that reported for methamphetamine versus 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). As is the case for designer amphetamines, these neurochemical distinctions may predict differential potential for repetitive versus episodic abuse and distinct lasting toxicities. ⋯ Thus, voluntary wheel running yielded the same categorical distinctions for these drugs as did prior experiments testing the effects of these drugs on monoaminergic neurotransmission. These data indicate that MDPV produces prototypical locomotor stimulant effects whereas 4-MMC is more similar to the entactogen MDMA.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Nov 2012
Assessment of a formulation designed to be crush-resistant in prescription opioid abusers.
The extent of prescription opioid abuse has led to the development of formulations that are difficult to crush. The purpose of the present studies was to examine whether experienced prescription opioid abusers (individuals using prescription opioids for non-medical purposes regardless of how they were obtained) were able to prepare a formulation of oxymorphone hydrochloride ER 40 mg designed to be crush-resistant (DCR) for intranasal (study 1) or intravenous abuse (study 2), utilizing a non-crush-resistant formulation of oxymorphone (40 mg; OXM) as a positive control. ⋯ These data suggest that the oxymorphone DCR formulations may be a promising technology for reducing opioid abuse.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Nov 2012
Changing over-the-counter ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products to prescription only: impacts on methamphetamine clandestine laboratory seizures.
Clandestine laboratory operators commonly extract ephedrine and pseudoephedrine-precursor chemicals used to synthesize methamphetamine-from over-the-counter cold/allergy/sinus products. To prevent this activity, two states, Oregon in 07/2006 and Mississippi in 07/2010, implemented regulations classifying ephedrine and pseudoephedrine as Schedule III substances, making products containing them available by prescription only. Using simple pre-regulation versus post-regulation comparisons, reports claim that the regulations have substantially reduced clandestine laboratory seizures (an indicator of laboratory prevalence) in both states, motivating efforts to implement similar regulation nationally. This study uses ARIMA-intervention time-series analysis to more rigorously evaluate the regulations' impacts on laboratory seizures. ⋯ Oregon's regulation encountered a floor effect, making any sizable impact infeasible. Mississippi, however, realized a substantial impact, suggesting that laboratories, if sufficiently extant, can be meaningfully impacted by prescription precursor regulation. It follows that national prescription precursor regulation would have little impact in western states with low indicated laboratory prevalence, but may be of significant use in regions facing higher indicated prevalence.