Recreational Drug Use Among Primary Care Patients: Implications of a Positive Self-Report Annals of Family Medicine “Should recreational drug use raise clinical concern?” This overdue naturalistic study characterizes episodic drug users and their outcomes; its one drawback is the brevity of the study interval, despite which a significant outcome was demonstrated. The authors examined the association between weekend-only recreational drug use at baseline (yes vs no) and any increase in recreational drug use frequency or severity over 6 months among primary care patients who screen positive for drug use. In the weekend-only recreational drug use group (52/483 [10.8%]), 54% (28/52) started using drugs on weekdays. Compared with use not limited to weekends, weekend-only use was associated with lower odds of increasing drug use frequency (AOR 0.48, P
= 0.03) and lower odds (non-significant) of increasing severity (AOR 0.56, P = 0.07).
Impaired Decision-Making, Higher Impulsivity and Drug Severity in Substance Dependence and Pathological Gambling Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) Compared with individuals with substance dependence without pathological gambling, those with both disorders demonstrated worse decision making and significantly more drug-related symptoms. When evaluating patients with substance dependence, clinicians should consider diagnostic assessments for gambling, as the co-occurrence of both disorders may impact clinical characteristics.
Bias, Black Lives, and Academic Medicine New England Journal of Medicine Not an item specific to addiction medicine, this discussion of the presence and management of bias in academics is included as a reflection of our shared accountability. At noon Pacific Standard Time on December 10, 2014, thousands of students from 70 medical schools throughout the United States held silent “White Coats for Black Lives” die-ins. These demonstrations, the largest coordinated protests at US medical schools since the Vietnam War era, were initiated by medical students in California and spread across the country in response to a call to action posted online at thefreethoughtproject.com.
ASAM Endorses the Safe Prescribing of Controlled Substances Act Ed Markey – US Senator for Massachusetts ASAM supports Senator Markey’s efforts to prevent addiction to opioids by requiring prescribers of opioid pain medications and other controlled substances to undergo mandatory training on safe prescribing practices and the identification of possible substance use disorders.
Journal of Addiction Medicine seeks Co-Editor Journal of Addiction Medicine ASAM invites applications for the position of Co-Editor of Journal of Addiction Medicine. The Co-Editor will contribute to the vision, energy, and leadership to support JAM as a leading professional clinical journal. Applications for this position must be received to by 5:00 PM Eastern on Monday, June 15.
Call for Workshops, Papers, and Posters for AAAP's Annual Meeting and Symposium American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry The following guidelines apply for submission of presentations for AAAP’s Annual Meeting and Symposium, occurring December 3-6, 2015 in Huntington Beach, CA. All presenters must also register for the event. The due date for workshops, paper and poster presentations is June 1.
Substance Use Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, and Mortality After Release from Prison: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort Study The Lancet Psychiatry High mortality rates have been reported in people released from prison compared with the general population. However, few studies have investigated potential risk factors associated with these high rates, especially psychiatric determinants including substance use disorders. The authors aimed to investigate the association between psychiatric disorders and mortality in people released from prison in Sweden.
Neighborhood Disadvantage and Individual Adversities in Adolescence and Total Alcohol Consumption Up to Mid-Life—Results from the Northern Swedish Cohort Health and Place This study tests if neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and family social and material adversities during adolescence are independently related to total alcohol consumption from adolescence through to mid-life. Self-reports from the Northern Swedish Cohort (effective sample=950) at ages 16, 18, 21, 30 and 42 were combined with register data on the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods at age 16. The findings support the salience of social adversity above material adversity, in the genesis of SUDs.
MASAM Holding Risk Management Course Next Month Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine The Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine will hold Pearls for Practice: The Fourth Annual Risk Management Course for All Providers on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27, 2015 at the Massachusetts Medical Society in Waltham, MA. The program will feature presentations from experts in the addiction medicine field on a wide variety of topics, and will include an e-cigarettes panel discussion and an in-depth addiction medicine case session. Any health care professional working with addictions or related issues is invited to attend.
Social Anxiety and Peer Helping in Adolescent Addiction Treatment Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research This study found evidence of an association between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and earlier age of first use, greater lifetime use of heroin, incarceration history, and lifetime trauma. SAD was associated with higher service participation during treatment, which was associated with reduced risk of relapse and incarceration in the 6 months post-treatment. Findings indicate the benefits of service participation for juveniles with SAD which provides a nonjudgmental, task-focused venue for developing sober networks in the transition back into the community. A glib summary would be, those adolescent SUD patients with SAD are sicker, yet more likely to get well in treatment; this encourages use of service engagement in the care of this population.
Most Painkiller Users Don’t Know Opioid Sharing is Felony Bloomberg Billie Holiday sang, “God bless the child that’s got his own,” a notion reinforced by this warning to the public. US patients on prescription opioids underestimate the risks of the medication, with a majority failing to realize that it’s a felony to share their drugs, a survey from a safety group shows. About one in seven believe it’s appropriate to share the medication with friends and family, according to the National Safety Council. About 28 percent believe it’s “slightly risky,” with little or no negative consequences, while 26 percent think it’s a misdemeanor. Only 32 percent realize it’s punishable by at least a year in jail. It raises further sociological research considerations, both the propensity of people to share drugs and the meaning of
“medications” in a society with so many OTC remedies & supplements.
Dr. Dougherty's Mission to Reschedule Hydrocodone ASAM Magazine While it took more than 15 years and a lot of bureaucratic maneuvering, in the end one ASAM member, Dr. Ronald J. Dougherty, a concerned and caring physician who refused to take no for an answer, secured the rescheduling of hydrocodone combination products.
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The views and positions of any content published in ASAM Weekly are not necessarily endorsed by ASAM nor a reflection of ASAM's beliefs and policies. The features are presented as a summary of the contemporary issues being represented and expressed in scientific, governmental, commercial, and media sources across the specialty field of addiction medicine. Contact ASAM Weekly with any comments or feedback.