The American journal on addictions
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To help curb the opioid overdose epidemic, many states are implementing overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs. Few evaluations of these programs exist. Maryland's OEND program incorporated the services of the poison center. It asked bystanders to call the poison center within 2 hours of administration of naloxone. Bystanders included law enforcement (LE). ⋯ The findings of this study may be more generalizable. Incorporation of poison center services facilitated the capture of more timely data not usually available to OEND programs. (Am J Addict 2016;25:301-306).
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Comparative Study
Are medical marijuana users different from recreational users? The view from primary care.
Marijuana is currently approved for medical use in 23 states. Both clinicians and the lay public have questioned whether users of marijuana for medical purposes are different from users of marijuana for recreational purposes. This study examined similarities and differences in important clinical characteristics between users of medical marijuana and users of recreational marijuana. ⋯ Although our results suggest that there are few distinct differences between medical and recreational users of marijuana, the differences observed, while mostly very small in effect size (<.2), are consistent with at least some medical users employing marijuana to relieve symptoms and distress associated with medical illness.
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Cannabis use is common among patients taking prescription opioids, although rates of concomitant cannabis use disorder (CUD) have been largely unexamined. CUD may increase safety risks in those taking opioid pain medications but it is unknown whether cannabis and opioids function as substitutes (cannabis use is associated with less prescription opioid use), or rather as complements (cannabis is associated with increased use of prescription opioids). ⋯ These findings suggest that clinicians should be alert to concomitant CUD and prescription opioid use, as these substances appear to complement each other.
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Hospital visits are an opportunity to engage smokers in tobacco treatment. However, little is known about engagement in follow-up referrals. The purpose of this study is to report the rates of program engagement and smoking cessation outcomes of patients referred to a specialist outpatient tobacco treatment program after a hospital visit or other referral. ⋯ Referral to evidence-based tobacco treatment after hospital visits is effective. Models of tobacco treatment based on sources of referral should further be explored.
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Letter Case Reports
Reversal of overdose on fentanyl being illicitly sold as heroin with naloxone nasal spray: A case report.
This is a case report describing a reversal of fentanyl overdose with naloxone nasal spray. The patient was not aware that he overdosed on fentanyl being sold as heroin. ⋯ The authors recommend that public health administrators and policy makers advocate for the implementation of these programs to reduce the rising number of overdose death in the United States and worldwide.