According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs in United States costs over 740 billion yearly (https://www.drugabuse.gov/relatedtopics/trends-statistics, accessed March 2018). However, statistics like this rarely include the toll that alcohol tobacco, and illegal drugs takes on family members,…

Parental substance use disorders negatively impact a child's development both prenatally and postnatally. Caregivers struggling with substance use disorders, and Opioid Use Disorder in particular, often have difficulty accessing appropriate holistic clinical interventions and are at high risk of losing custody of their children due to abuse and…

Substance use and alcohol abuse during pregnancy are significant public health concerns. Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) is a withdrawal syndrome that infants exposed to opioids may experience in the first few days of life. For most infants with NAS, exposure to opioids occurs during pregnancy while they are fetuses. Similarly, prenatal alcohol…

Individuals with opioid use disorder experiencing a non-fatal opioid-overdose (OOD) are at heightened risk for future OODs; there are no interventions to facilitate treatment enrollment for these patients. Our goal was to develop and initially test the "tailored telephone intervention delivered by peers to prevent recurring…

Drug use is an alarming issue in Bangladesh. Most drug users return to drugs after treatment, in what becomes a vicious cycle of treatment and relapse. This study explored why they return and what pathways they follow. We carried out 5 key informant interviews, 10 in-depth interviews, 2 focus group discussions, 3 case studies, 8 observations, and…

Excessively devaluing delayed reinforcers co-occurs with a wide variety of clinical conditions such as drug dependence, obesity, and excessive gambling. If excessive delay discounting is a trans-disease process that underlies the choice behavior leading to these and other negative health conditions, efforts to change an individual's discount rate…

The purpose of this paper is to show how "realist synthesis" methodology (Pawson, 2002) was adapted to review a large sample of community based projects addressing alcohol and drug use problems. Our study drew on a highly varied sample of 127 projects receiving funding from a national non-government organisation in Australia between 2002…

A clinical trial contrasted 2 interventions designed to link opioid-dependent hospital patients to drug abuse treatment. The 126 out-of-treatment participants were randomly assigned to (a) case management, (b) voucher for free methadone maintenance treatment (MMT), (c) case management plus voucher, or (d) usual care. Services were provided for 6…

Analyzes Oetting and Beauvais's article on Peer Cluster Theory and drug use, agreeing with their focus on the role of the individual, the environment, and experience with use of a substance, but disagreeing with the notion of physical dependence. Advocates that society give children the competencies, values, and opportunities to find superior…

The problem of drug abuse in school and the detrimental effects of drug use are well documented. Identification of the problem is only part of the solution. Members of the school health team are in an excellent position to intervene and provide alternatives for the student. Intervention strategies are discussed. (Author/DF)

Illustrates associations between substance abuse and leisure experiences. Presents rationale for leisure interventions for adolescents designed to remediate this social and behavioral problem. Suggests leisure education and counseling for inclusion in prevention or intervention strategies for substance abuse. Provides recommendations for…

The program positively affected family communication patterns, self-esteem levels, and drug knowledge levels at follow-up. The follow-up data indicated that drug-related school system and drug-related criminal justice system contacts were significantly reduced. There was a reduction in drug usage by regular users for selected drugs. (Author)

This meta-analysis examined outcomes of smoking cessation interventions evaluated in 19 randomized controlled trials with individuals in current addictions treatment or recovery. Smoking and substance use outcomes at posttreatment and long-term follow-up (? 6 months) were summarized with random effects models. Intervention effects for smoking…

Young adults' 3,4-methylenedyoxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use is a national public health concern. Although research on the epidemiology of MDMA use has increased, inquiry into intervention and treatment is needed. The authors examine results from an epidemiological investigation from a clinical perspective and provide suggestions for clinicians…

An increasingly important consideration in drug abuse policy and programming is the growing number of multiple substance abusers, i.e., problem-drinking drug addicts. A longitudinal study of two drug addict populations examined drug and alcohol usage, psychological variables, and criminal justice and employment indicators. Findings indicated that…