Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialOpioid abusers' ability to differentiate an opioid from placebo in laboratory challenge testing.
Abuse liability assessments influence drug development, federal regulation, and clinical care. One suggested procedure to reduce variability of assessments is a qualification phase, which assesses whether study applicants adequately distinguish active drug from placebo; applicants failing to make this distinction are disqualified. The present analyses assessed differences between qualification phase qualifiers and non-qualifiers. ⋯ Different subjective responses to identical stimuli support the use of a qualification phase in abuse liability assessments. Further research should explore objective measures that may better account for these differences, determine optimal qualification criteria, and explore the developmental course of drug use. This study also documents certain opioid abusers fail to differentiate 30 mg of oxycodone from placebo, a phenomenon deserving further study.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2013
Catastrophic thinking and increased risk for prescription opioid misuse in patients with chronic pain.
As a consequence of the substantial rise in the prescription of opioids for the treatment of chronic noncancer pain, greater attention has been paid to the factors that may be associated with an increased risk for prescription opioid misuse. Recently, a growing number of studies have shown that patients with high levels of catastrophizing are at increased risk for prescription opioid misuse. ⋯ Discussion addresses the factors that might place patients with high levels of catastrophizing at increased risk for prescription opioid misuse. The implications of our findings for the management of patients considered for opioid therapy are also discussed.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2013
Prescription opioid mortality trends in New York City, 1990-2006: examining the emergence of an epidemic.
The drug overdose mortality rate tripled between 1990 and 2006; prescription opioids have driven this epidemic. We examined the period 1990-2006 to inform our understanding of how the current prescription opioid overdose epidemic emerged in urban areas. ⋯ The distinct epidemiologic profiles exhibited by analgesic and methadone overdose fatalities highlight the need to define drug-specific public health prevention efforts.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2013
ReviewClinical and pharmacological aspects of bath salt use: a review of the literature and case reports.
Bath salts are designer drugs with stimulant properties that are a growing medical and psychiatric concern due to their widespread availability and use. Although the chemical compounds in the mixtures referred to as "bath salts" vary, many are derivatives of cathinone, a monoamine alkaloid. ⋯ Much of the emerging information about bath salts is from emergency department evaluation and treatment of severe medical and neuropsychiatric adverse outcomes. This review consists of a compilation of case reports and describes the emergent literature that illustrates the chemical composition of bath salts, patterns of use, administration methods, medical and neuropsychiatric effects, and treatments of patients with bath salt toxicity.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Sep 2013
Tobacco use among Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, and mixed-race individuals: 2002-2010.
Non-Hispanic Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (NHs/PIs), and mixed-race individuals are the fastest growing segments of the US population. We examined prevalences and correlates of tobacco use among these understudied groups. Prevalences among whites were included as a comparison. ⋯ These new findings show prevalent tobacco use among NHs/PIs and mixed-race individuals, and highlight the importance of including these populations in future research and reporting.