A Calgary father accused in the overdose death of his 16-month-old daughter was being treated with methadone for a drug addiction, a manslaughter trial hears. (Source: CBC | Health)

The Supreme Court will decide whether drug makers can be sued by parents who claim their children suffered serious health problems ... (Source: USATODAY.com Health)

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, says millions of impoverished drug addicts around the world have been pushed to the margins of society, do not have access to medical care and often are imprisoned. (Source: CTV Health)

Conclusions: Levels of understanding and vaccination coverage were low while evidence of prior infection was high among this IDU sample. This is cause for concern given the majority of participants were recruited through primary care and treatment services. Strategies to bolster vaccination among this group will be discussed. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of salvia use through systematic observations of YouTube videos. A sample of salvia videos was obtained using the search term “salvia.” The videos were further screened and only videos that captured the entire drug “trip” without video edits were included in the analyses described here (n=34). Three trained research assistants independently watched the videos and rated their observations on 42 effects in 30-s intervals. Onset of symptoms was quick (often less than 30s) and tended to dissipate within 8min. Further, there was a relationship between salvia dose and effect duration. Since salvia's effects on humans are largely undocumented, this study provides the look at users in a non-laboratory environment (e.g. self-taped videos...

This study examined the prevalence of nicotine dependence (ND) and its associations with DSM-IV personality disorders (PDs) among current smokers (n=7078), controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbid Axis I and II disorders. Data were derived from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population. Although all PDs were significantly associated with ND when sociodemographic factors were controlled, only schizotypal, borderline, narcissistic and obsessive–compulsive PDs were associated with ND after adding controls for Axis I and other Axis II disorders. These associations remained significant after controlling for degree of smoking exposure. The results suggest that both shared and PD-specific pathogenetic factors underlie these PD-ND associations.

read more

Conclusions: These preliminary analyses do not suggest a decrease in receptor availability in heavy drinking nonsmokers as compared to control nonsmokers. However, a larger study is warranted to explore effects of heavy alcohol drinking on other variables, such as sex, smoking, and genetic make up. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

This report followed on from an earlier study of this literature in this journal by us () for which this formula was appropriately used in meta-analyses of between-group percentage of participants with smoking cessation outcome and in numbers of cigarettes smoked. We thus treated within-group data as between-group data in the study. This means that the confidence intervals we presented and the analyses based upon them are invalid. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: The elevated risk of dying from overdose within the first 4 weeks of leaving medication-free inpatient treatment is so dramatic that preventive measures should be taken. More studies from similar inpatient programmes are needed in order to obtain systematic knowledge about determinants of overdose deaths shortly after leaving treatment, and possible preventive measures. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was not associated with smoking initiation in either male or female subjects. However, significant association was found between 5-HT2C receptor gene polymorphisms and smoking initiation in male Caucasian subjects. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: SDB was common in this sample of MMT patients and OSA was more common than CSA. Given the lack of association between presence of SDB and severity of subjective sleep difficulties, factors other than sleep apnea must account for complaints of disturbed sleep in this population. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

Conclusion: These results suggest the “gateway” pattern at least partially reflects unmeasured common causes rather than causal effects of specific drugs on subsequent use of others. This implies that successful efforts to prevent use of specific “gateway” drugs may not in themselves lead to major reductions in the use of later drugs. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

This study presents a comprehensive methodology for calculating the cost to society of various criminal acts. Tangible and intangible losses are estimated using the most current data available. The selected approach, which incorporates both the cost-of-illness and the jury compensation methods, yields cost estimates for more than a dozen major crime categories, including several categories not found in previous studies. Updated crime cost estimates can help government agencies and other organizations execute more prudent policy evaluations, particularly benefit–cost analyses of substance abuse treatment or other interventions that reduce crime. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusion: Buprenorpine and methadone appear to be the most effective detoxification treatments. While the analysis suggests buprenorphine is the most effective method of detoxification there is some uncertainty on whether it is more effective than methadone and requires further research to confirm this result. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: High exposure to threatening situations and atrocities was associated with a positive screen for alcohol misuse. Clinicians treating combat veterans should be aware of the potential association of alcohol misuse with specific types of experiences and closely follow those soldiers upon their return home. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: The results of these analyses of time-varying concurrent alcohol consumption and smoking suggest that drinking low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol as common in the general population might actually facilitate cessation in non-clinical settings. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

MedWorm Message: Get the very latest Swine Flu news via the MedWorm Swine Flu RSS news feed - updated hourly from thousands of authoritative health and news sources.

Abstract: The efficacy of stimulant treatment in patients with substance use disorders and comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been tested for cocaine and alcohol dependence but so far no studies have been conducted in amphetamine dependent individuals.The present trial was a pilot study aiming to test the feasibility of treating amphetamine dependent patients with comorbid ADHD with central stimulant medication. The study was a double-blind, placebo controlled trial with parallel groups design comparing the efficacy of a fixed dose (72mg) of OROS methylphenidate (MPH) with placebo (PL) in reducing ADHD symptoms in currently abstinent adults with amphetamine dependence and ADHD. Twenty-four treatment seeking patients who met the DSM IV criteria for amphetamine depe...

(Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Abstract: Previous studies have implicated a relationship between particular allelic variations of the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) and alcohol dependence. To provide a current estimate of the strength of this association, particularly in light of inconsistent results for 5HTTLPR, we conducted a meta-analytic review of the association between 5HTTLPR and a clinical diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Of 145 studies initially identified, 22 (including 8050 participants) met inclusion criteria. Results indicated that there was a significant albeit modest association between alcohol dependence diagnosis and the presence of at least 1 short allele (OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.01, 1.30, p (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)

Conclusions: Participants with a current Axis I disorder were more likely to experience tobacco withdrawal symptoms and withdrawal-related discomfort and relapse. Having a co-morbid psychiatric disorder and AUD/SUD did not synergistically increase the experience of withdrawal-related symptoms or relapse. It is important to identify Axis I disorders in smokers and provide these smokers with more intensive and/or longer treatments to help them cope with withdrawal symptoms and prevent relapse. (Source: Drug and Alcohol Dependence)