Kirk Dombrowski, Devan Crawford, Bilal Khan, Kimberly Tyler
{"title":"Current Rural Drug Use in the US Midwest.","authors":"Kirk Dombrowski, Devan Crawford, Bilal Khan, Kimberly Tyler","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The nature and challenge of illicit drug use in the United States continues to change rapidly, evolving in reaction to myriad social, economic, and local forces. While the use of illicit drugs affects every region of the country, most of our current information about drug use comes from large urban areas. Data on rural drug use and its harms justify greater attention. Record overdose rates, unexpected outbreaks of HIV, and a dearth of treatment facilities point to a rapidly worsening health situation. While health sciences have made considerable progress in understanding the etiology of drug use and uncovering the link between drug use and its myriad associated harms, this promising scientific news has not always translated to better health outcomes. The scope of the problem in the Central Plains of the US is growing, and can be estimated from available sources. Clear remedies for this rising level of abuse are available, but few have been implemented. Suggestions for short-term policy remedies are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":91309,"journal":{"name":"Journal of drug abuse","volume":"2 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5119476/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141201359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Serum Cotinine and Chronic Pain: NHANES 2003-2004.","authors":"R. Wiener","doi":"10.21767/2471-853X.100003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21767/2471-853X.100003","url":null,"abstract":"PURPOSE Tobacco smoke exposure continues to be the leading preventable risk factor for many diseases and has the potential to be a risk factor for chronic pain. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of chronic pain with smoking, secondhand smoke exposure and non-smoking using serum cotinine (and self-report of living with someone who smokes in the home) to identify the tobacco exposure groups. METHODS The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 was used for this study. Participants were queried about pain duration and had serum cotinine levels determined during the course of the NHANES examination/survey. Participants, ages 20 years and above, with complete data on chronic pain, cotinine level, sex, race/ethnicity, and responses concerning living with someone who smoked in the home were included in the study (n=4429). RESULTS The adjusted odds ratio of tobacco smoke exposure on chronic pain was 1.67 (95% CI: 1.08, 2.59; p=0.0220) for participants with a serum cotinine level >10 ng/mg (smokers) as compared with individuals who had a non-detectable serum cotinine level. For individuals with a serum cotinine level >0.011 ng/mg to 10 ng/mg who identified as living with someone who smoked in the home, the adjusted odds ratio was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.47, 1.65; p=0.6785) as compared with individuals who had a non-detectable serum cotinine level. CONCLUSION Chronic pain is a complex situation with many factors affecting it. Similarly, smoking is a complex addiction. The interplay of chronic pain and cotinine levels in this study were significant.","PeriodicalId":91309,"journal":{"name":"Journal of drug abuse","volume":"1 1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.21767/2471-853X.100003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68139758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Baum, A. Campa, J. Page, S. Lai, Lesedi Tsalaile, S. Martinez, Patricia Burns, O. Williams, Yinghui Li, E. van Widenfelt, H. Bussmann, Moyo Sikhulele, J. Makhema, M. Essex, R. Marlink
{"title":"Recruitment, Follow-Up and Characteristics of HIV Infected Adults who Use Illicit Drugs in Southern Africa.","authors":"M. Baum, A. Campa, J. Page, S. Lai, Lesedi Tsalaile, S. Martinez, Patricia Burns, O. Williams, Yinghui Li, E. van Widenfelt, H. Bussmann, Moyo Sikhulele, J. Makhema, M. Essex, R. Marlink","doi":"10.21767/2471-853X.10007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21767/2471-853X.10007","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND With one of the worst HIV prevalence rates in the world, Botswana has made great strides in addressing AIDS. Nevertheless, to fully contain the epidemic, outreach to marginalized groups, including illicit drug users, is critical. OBJECTIVE To conduct targeted outreach within an intervention trial to recruit HIV-infected drug users and assess HIV disease and nutritional status. METHOD Recruitment strategies included safeguarding confidentiality, involving ocal health-care professionals, advertising, and participation incentives. Urine toxicology, CD4 cell count, HIV viral load, blood chemistry, plasma micronutrients, dietary history, drug use and morbidity were assessed for two years. RESULTS Targeted outreach identified 138 HIV-infected persons who used marijuana; 18.1% had CD4 cell counts ≤ 350 cells/μL and 39.9% had low BMI. Eligible marijuana users (N=52) had significantly lower BMI (21.8 3.7 vs. 24.3 ± 5.3 kg/m2, P=0.001), higher HIV viral load (4.36 ± 0.89 vs. 4.09 ± 0.89 log10, P=0.018), and higher kilocalorie intake (1924 ± 1055 vs. 1620 ± 926 Kcalories, P=0.025) than those who did not use marijuana (N=748) with similar CD4 cell count. Marijuana users ≥ 40 years old had more opportunistic diseases (P=0.020) than non-users of the same age. Benzodiazepine use was detected among 57 participants and they had higher BMI than marijuana users (24.4 ± 6.8 vs. 21.8 ± 3.7 kg/m2, P= 0.017). CONCLUSION A population stigmatized by illicit drug use and HIV-infection can be brought into a clinical research setting in Africa. HIV-infected marijuana users were at a risk for higher HIV viral load, lower BMI and more comorbidities than nonusers. Outreach to this marginalized group is important for containing the HIV epidemic.","PeriodicalId":91309,"journal":{"name":"Journal of drug abuse","volume":"1 1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68140575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Brief Interventions for Adolescents.","authors":"K. Winters","doi":"10.21767/2471-853X.100014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21767/2471-853X.100014","url":null,"abstract":"Public health concerns regarding adolescent alcohol and other drug involvement emphasize the need for continuing research to develop and evaluate preventive interventions for use in a variety of settings. This focus includes research on brief interventions. This short commentary piece provides an overview of the brief intervention literature and highlights future directions.","PeriodicalId":91309,"journal":{"name":"Journal of drug abuse","volume":"2 1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.21767/2471-853X.100014","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68139814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}