Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy
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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy · Jan 2009
EditorialStereotyping and the treatment of missing data for drug and alcohol clinical trials.
Stigma and stereotyping of marginalized groups often is insidious and shows up in unlikely places, for instance in how clinical trials consider dropouts in treatment research. A surprising number of studies presume that people who do not complete the study protocol relapse and code their data as if they had been observed. ⋯ We need to be mindful about our attitudes and preconceptions about the people we are intending to help. There is no good reason to continue to support science built on this scientifically indefensible stereotyping, however unintentional.
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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy · Jan 2009
Nowhere to go: how stigma limits the options of female drug users after release from jail.
Drug and alcohol using women leaving prison or jail face many challenges to successful re-integration in the community and are severely hampered in their efforts by the stigma of drug or alcohol use compounded by the stigma of incarceration. ⋯ Stigma based on drug use and incarceration works to increase the needs of women for health and social services and at the same time, restricts their access to these services. These specific forms of stigma may amplify gender and race-based stigma. Punitive drug and social policies related to employment, housing, education, welfare, and mental health and substance abuse treatment make it extremely difficult for women to succeed.
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Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy · Jan 2009
A national physician survey on prescribing syringes as an HIV prevention measure.
Access to sterile syringes is a proven means of reducing the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), viral hepatitis, and bacterial infections among injection drug users. In many U.S. states and territories, drug paraphernalia and syringe prescription laws are barriers to syringe access for injection drug users (IDUs): pharmacists may be reluctant to sell syringes to suspected IDUs, and police may confiscate syringes or arrest IDUs who cannot demonstrate a "legitimate" medical need for the syringes they possess. These barriers can be addressed by physician prescription of syringes. This study evaluates physicians' willingness to prescribe syringes, using the theory of planned behavior to identify key behavioral influences. ⋯ This was the first nationwide survey of the physician willingness to prescribe syringes to IDUs. While the majority of respondents were willing to consider syringe prescription in their clinical practices, multiple challenges need to be addressed in order to improve physician knowledge and attitudes toward IDUs.