Do you work or volunteer in a UK community drug and alcohol treatment, recovery or harm reduction service? Liverpool John Moores University researchers want to understand how you think the general public, and professionals in other health and social care…
News Archives
Alcohol-related cirrhosis, heart failure are rising across Europe, US
Findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2023 Study indicate that the burden of disability from alcohol-related cirrhosis and heart failure is predicted to sharply increase in Europe and the USA by 2050. The researchers collated data on cirrhosis due…
ASAM: addiction policies
The American Society of Addiction Medicine drew attention to the President’s executive order Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets and SAMHSA’s Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction through ‘Treatment First as well as The Atlantic’s article about the “montage of…
Seniors wait as treatment bill stalls
Seniors remain largely locked out of residential addiction treatment under Medicare, which has long excluded non-hospital residential care – despite about 1 in 15 adults over 65 having a substance use disorder and thousands of overdose deaths among those 65+.…
Surviving a loved one’s suicide
STASH reviewed a study by Nassau Community College et al that explored the possibility that suicide-bereaved adults report more problematic substance use than others, to cope. Suicide-bereaved adults were more likely than a nationally representative sample to report using marijuana (27%…
US vaping trends 2013-2023
Since 2013-14, not only are more people in the US vaping, but those who vape are doing so more often, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and University of Waterloo shared. See also University of California et al study on the…
Back pain, opioids and overdose
In this New York University and Columbia University study of 399, 500 opioid-naive adults with Medicaid insurance, the incidence of opioid use disorder or overdose diagnosis was 2% at 13 months after starting treatment for acute lower back pain. Initiating higher-dose opioids…
Australia: psychosocial health and alcohol
Monash University published Psychosocial health and hazardous alcohol use among 50-70-year-olds, finding that the profile of ‘socially connected, poor mental health’ has the highest probability of hazardous alcohol consumption, while ‘low social connection and good mental health’ has the lowest.
The missing link in drug policy
In her independent review of drugs 5 years ago, Dame Carol Black delivered a warning the UK could not afford to ignore. Drug-related deaths were at a record high. Prevention, treatment and recovery services were “not fit for purpose”. She called…
