- Characterizing Help-Seeking Searches for Substance Use Treatment From Google Trends and Assessing Their Use for Infoveillance: Longitudinal Descriptive and Validation Statistical Analysis. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the clear potential for using internet search queries from Google Trends as an infoveillance tool to predict the demand for substance use treatment spatially and temporally, especially for opioid use disorders.
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- Medical Marijuana Legalization in Oklahoma: Effects on Neonatal Exposure to Opiates. [Journal Article]Am J Perinatol. 2023 Jan 16 [Online ahead of print]AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Marijuana legalization was related to significant increases in positive test rates for THC, but no significant change/association was noted for neonatal exposure to opioids.
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- Associations between prescription and illicit stimulant and opioid use in the United States, 2015-2020. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Prescription stimulant misuse, compared to prescription opioid misuse, was associated with higher levels of cocaine use but not methamphetamine use. Treatment providers should consider screening for other substance use disorders among people who report prescription stimulant use or misuse. Additional research should seek to understand the mechanism underlying the different associations between prescription stimulant misuse and cocaine or methamphetamine use.
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- Stimulant misuse among youth. [Review]Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2022 09; 52(9):101265.CP
- Rates of stimulant use, including misuse of prescription stimulants and use of cocaine and methamphetamine, are rising rapidly among adolescents and young adults ("youth"). Stimulant misuse is associated with overdose, polysubstance use, substance use disorders, and other medical harms. Substance use is often initiated during adolescence and young adulthood, and interventions during these crucial…
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- Definitive urine drug test findings in patients prescribed opioids for pain from a large national database. [Journal Article]J Opioid Manag. 2022 Jul-Aug; 18(4):361-375.JO
- CONCLUSIONS: Overall positivity rates for cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine were low. Patients with prescribed opioid present were less likely to be positive for cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. Patterns of substance use within this pain management population should be used to inform ongoing policy decisions.
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- Toxicological Analysis of Illicit Drugs Seized in Naples (Italy) and First Detection of Synthetic Cannabinoids during COVID-19 Pandemic. [Journal Article]
- The COVID-19 pandemic has consistently raised the number of drug seizures, in United States as in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed the typology of seizures from "more traditional" drugs to New Psychoactive Substances (NPSs), depending on geographical area. In Europe, the most frequent NPSs are synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) and cathinones, nonetheless synthetic opioids and phenethylam…
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- Development and Validation of Machine Models Using Natural Language Processing to Classify Substances Involved in Overdose Deaths. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: In this diagnostic study, NLP/ML algorithms demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance at classifying substances related to overdoses. These algorithms should be integrated into workflows to decrease the lag time in reporting overdose surveillance data.
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- Early-Onset Cardiovascular Disease From Cocaine, Amphetamines, Alcohol, and Marijuana. [Review]
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD), a disease typically associated with aging and the definitive leading cause of death worldwide, now threatens young and middle-aged populations. Recreational abuse of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and amphetamine-type stimulants has been an escalating public health problem for decades, but now use of these substances has become a significant contributor to early-onset …
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- Trends in characteristics of fentanyl-related poisonings in the United States, 2015-2021. [Journal Article]
- Background: Fentanyl-related deaths continue to increase in the United States; however, most national studies focus on fatal overdose. More research, including data on nonfatal overdose, is needed.Objective: We examined trends in characteristics of fatal and nonfatal fentanyl-related poisonings ("exposures") in the US.Methods: National Poison Control data were examined to estimate trends in chara…
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- Analysis of Urine Drug Test Results From Substance Use Disorder Treatment Practices and Overdose Mortality Rates, 2013-2020. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: In this study, UDT results were highly correlated with mortality rates at national, state, and county levels. These findings suggest that real-time UDT surveillance can help to quickly identify changes in drug use patterns that might inform targeted harm reduction strategies designed to prevent overdose deaths.
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- Epidemiological trends in opioid-only and opioid/polysubstance-related death rates among American Indian/Alaska Native populations from 1999 to 2019: a retrospective longitudinal ecological study. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight magnification over time in opioid-related deaths and may point to broader systemic factors that may disproportionately affect members of AI/AN communities and drive inequities.
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- Human behavioral pharmacology of stimulant drugs: An update and narrative review. [Review]
- Stimulant use disorders present an enduring public health concern. Chronic stimulant use is associated with a range of health problems, with notable increases in stimulant overdose that disproportionately affect marginalized populations. With these persistent problems, it is important to understand the behavioral and pharmacological factors that contribute to stimulant use in humans. The purpose …
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- Substance abuse and neurotransmission. [Journal Article]
- The number of people who suffer from a substance abuse disorder has continued to rise over the last decade; particularly, the number of drug-related overdose deaths has sharply increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Converging lines of clinical observations, supported by imaging and neuropsychological performance testing, have demonstrated that substance abuse-induced dysregulation of neurotrans…
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- Interactions between opioids and stimulants: Behavioral pharmacology of abuse-related effects. [Journal Article]
- Opioid abuse continues to be a significant public health challenge, with rates of opioid-related overdose deaths increasing continuously over the last two decades. There also has been a sharp increase in overdose deaths involving stimulant drugs, primarily cocaine and methamphetamine. Recent estimates indicate a high prevalence of co-use of opioids and stimulants, which is a particularly complex …
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- Hearing and Vestibular Loss with Misuse of Opioids and Illicit Drugs: A Review of the Literature. [Systematic Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: Practitioners who see patients for sudden or rapidly progressive HL or VL with no apparent cause should inquire about misuse of illicit drugs and opioids, particularly when the HL does not respond to steroid treatment.
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- Association between law enforcement seizures of illicit drugs and drug overdose deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine, Ohio, 2014-2019. [Journal Article]Drug Alcohol Depend. 2022 03 01; 232:109341.DA
- CONCLUSIONS: The number of ISODs was extremely high when IMF was co-involved and relatively low without IMF involvement. By demonstrating how supply-side trends correspond with ISOD rates, the current study bolsters the analytical utility of law enforcement seizures and complements growing literature in the field.
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- Emergency department visits and trends related to cocaine, psychostimulants, and opioids in the United States, 2008-2018. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Presentations for stimulant-related ED visits differ from opioid-related ED visits: compared to opioids, ED presentations related to cocaine and psychostimulants are less often identified as related to drug toxicity/withdrawal and more often require interventions to address acute cardiopulmonary and psychiatric complications.
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- Stimulant Drugs of Abuse and Cardiac Arrhythmias. [Review]
- Nonmedical use of prescription and nonprescription drugs is a worldwide epidemic, rapidly growing in magnitude with deaths because of overdose and chronic use. A vast majority of these drugs are stimulants that have various effects on the cardiovascular system including the cardiac rhythm. Drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, have measured effects on the conduction system and through several …
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- Understanding Stimulant Use and Use Disorders in a New Era. [Review]
- Extending from the triple wave epidemic of opioid-related overdose deaths, a fourth wave of high mortality involving methamphetamine and cocaine use has been gathering force. This article provides a review of the published literature on stimulants including epidemiology, pharmacology, neurobiology, medical and psychiatric consequences, withdrawal management, and medical and behavioral treatments.
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- Does naloxone provision lead to increased substance use? A systematic review to assess if there is evidence of a 'moral hazard' associated with naloxone supply. [Review]
- CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that THN provision was associated with increased opioid use or overdose. Concerns that THN supply may lead to increased substance use were not supported by data from reviewed studies.
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- Exploring Differences in Baseline Characteristics among Adults Entering Integrated Residential Treatment for Co-occurring Disorders in 2013 and 2017. [Journal Article]Soc Work Public Health. 2022 02 17; 37(2):186-194.SW
- Little is known about patients' addiction severity, substance use, or mental health symptoms upon entering integrated treatment. This is the first study to compare baseline characteristics among cohorts of patients with co-occurring disorders entering a private integrated residential treatment program in 2013 and 2017; a period when severe and persistent mental illness diagnoses, mental health se…
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- Effects of a Pandemic and Isolation on Alcohol and Psychoactive Medication Use in a Population of Rehabilitation and Pain Patients. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: In summary, these findings demonstrate relatively consistent drug use, with decreased positivity for high-risk drugs and dangerous drug combinations. We speculate that monitoring of these patients mitigates the possibility of drug misuse and potential overdose and is in concordance with the goals of these monitoring programs.
- Patient characteristics and treatment utilization in fatal stimulant-involved overdoses in the United States Veterans Health Administration. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: The rate of deaths among US Veterans from stimulant-related overdose was three times higher in 2018 than 2012. Key differences in characteristics of patients across overdose toxicology profiles, such as geographic location and health-care use, point to distinct treatment needs based on stimulant use type.
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- Non-fatal stimulant overdose among homeless and unstably housed women in San Francisco, California. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Women in this setting, particularly those who used stimulants frequently or used methamphetamine, experienced high non-fatal stimulant overdose and rarely received health care for these events. Efforts should be made to increase awareness and reduce harms of stimulant toxicity in vulnerable populations.
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- Spanish Research Network on Drugs in Hospital Emergency Departments - the REDUrHE registry: general analysis and comparisons between weekend and weekday poisonings. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Weekend and holiday emergencies due to drug overdoses are more frequent in large city hospitals. Weekend emergencies share certain distinctive characteristics: patients are younger, alcohol more often is ingested with drugs but multiple-drug combinations are less common, and GHB is used more often while opioids are used less often. Severe poisonings occur more often on weekends and holidays.
- Methamphetamine Use, Methamphetamine Use Disorder, and Associated Overdose Deaths Among US Adults. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study found consistent upward trends in overdose mortality, greater risk patterns of methamphetamine use, and populations at higher risk for MUD diversifying rapidly, particularly those with socioeconomic risk factors and comorbidities. Evidence-based prevention and treatment interventions are needed to address surges in methamphetamine use and MUD.
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- Changes in substance use during outpatient treatment for substance use disorders: a prospective Norwegian cohort study from 2016 to 2020. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that inpatient detoxification was not associated with substance use changes over time for patients undergoing outpatient SUD treatment. Otherwise, injecting substance use was a particular risk factor for a high level of substance use. Future research needs to evaluate the impact of other treatment approaches on substance use, ideally in randomized controlled trials.
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- Toxicological and pharmacologic sex differences in unintentional or undetermined opioid overdose death. [Journal Article]
- CONCLUSIONS: Higher rates of controlled substance prescription prior to death and prescription drug co-exposures suggest that female opioid-involved drug overdose decedents are often in contact with the health care system immediately preceding their death, presenting the opportunity to create patient-centric approaches for prevention, harm reduction, and substance use treatment.
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- Isolation housing elevates amphetamine seeking independent of nucleus accumbens glutamate receptor adaptations. [Journal Article]
- Overdose death rates caused by psychostimulants have increased by 22.3% annually from 2008 to 2017. Cue-evoked drug craving progressively increases and contributes to perpetual relapse. Preclinical models have determined that glutamate receptor plasticity within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) drives amplified cue-evoked drug seeking after prolonged abstinence (>40 days). Isolated condition (IC) rear…
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- Routine Use of Prescription Adderall Leading to Non-cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema and Respiratory Failure. [Case Reports]
- A 47-year-old female with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder on prescription Adderall presented to the hospital with worsening dyspnea for the one-month duration. She was admitted to the medical intensive care unit with respiratory failure requiring non-invasive positive pressure ventilation. Cardiac catheterization confirmed the diagnosis of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema. With the discon…
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