Drug and Alcohol Findings
A UK-based resource, this magazine has made the welcome move to free PDF distribution. The full announcement and summary of contents:
” ISSUE 7 of the DRUG AND ALCOHOL FINDINGS magazine first published in 2002 is now available free of charge as downloadable PDFs (Adobe Acrobat files). Access by clicking this link:
or the BROWSE MAGAZINE link on the home page.
This final message introduces you the remaining NUGGETS. Remember to check the EXTENDED TEXTS for much more free information than we could fit on the page.
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DOING CBT AS GROUP THERAPY WORKS AND CAN SAVE MONEY
Brazilian clinic found that for both drinkers and drug users, cognitive-behavioural therapy worked as well in a group as an individual format with potential cost savings. Extended text documents similar studies.
Choose GROUP COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_7.pdf
TACKLE COMMUNITY, SCHOOL AND FAMILY SYSTEMS TO HELP TROUBLED TEENS
Children’s lives are hugely affected by parents, schools, peer groups and for those in trouble, public authorities and the law. Family therapy which orchestrated these multiple systems was more effective than typical group child or family approaches for teenage US drug users. Extended text highlights main advantage - effects persist while relapse is the norm after other therapies.
Choose HOLISTIC FAMILY THERAPY… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to: http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_8.pdf
DRUG-RELATED YOUTH WORK - IT’S NOT ONLY (OR EVEN MAINLY) ABOUT DRUGS
Analysis of nine Home Office-funded youth work projects found that the more freedom workers had to de-focus from drugs and relate to young people on their own terms, the more successful they were at working with the problem drug users among them.
Choose DRUG-RELATED YOUTH WORK… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_10.pdf
INVOLVE PARENTS AND COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOL-BASED DRUG PREVENTION
NE Choices was a major UK government community project trialed in six schools in Northumbria. Few statistically significant findings but some evidence that supplementing school and youth activities with community and parental components helped curb or reverse progression to more serious forms of
drug use.
Choose INVOLVING PARENTS… from the issue 7 listing or go direct to:
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nug_7_11.pdf
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Also in this issue:
CHRONIC TREATMENT TO MATCH CHRONIC DEPENDENCE
Leading US researchers argue that for many patients addiction treatment should be spread thinly and extensively and assessed in terms of change during not after treatment. http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=off_7_2.pdf
DO NOT DENY INJECTORS HEPATITIS C TREATMENT
Good response to and compliance with interferon-based treatment means no justification for refusing treatment for hepatitis C infection to continuing injectors.
http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=nugg_7_2.pdf
HIGH LEVEL HIDDEN SUPPORT FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE
You won’t find it on official web sites, but in 2000 the former US Surgeon General and senior US scientists judged there was “conclusive” evidence that needle exchanges reduced HIV risk. http://www.findings.org.uk/count/downloads/download.php?file=off_7_4.pdf”
Needle and Syringe Programs and Bleach in Prisons: Reviewing the Evidence
I noticed this interesting synopsis on the Update list yesterday and though it was worth passing on - the debate over NSP has raged non-stop for over twenty years now - is there likely to ever be a ceasefire?
“Full URL
http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/interfaces/downloadFile.php?ref=1285
Conclusions
A substantial amount of scientific evidence has shown that NSPs in the community are the most effective intervention available to prevent HIV transmission associated with injecting drug use. As well, NSPs have been associated with increases in access to care and treatment among people who use such programs, and with substantial cost-savings. The concerns raised about NSPs have been shown to be unfounded. NSPs have not led to increased levels of risk behaviour among people who use the programs or increased drug use by people who inject drugs.
An important and growing body of evidence demonstrating the success of prison-based NSPs also exists. Since the early 1990s, the number of NSPs established in prison settings has steadily grown. There are now in excess of 60 prisonbased NSPs in nine countries. While existing quantitative evaluations of NSPs have some limitations, overall the program evaluations have been highly and consistently favourable. NSPs in prison have been associated with a substantial reduction in needle and syringe sharing, and there have been no recorded cases of HIV infection among prisoners participating in an NSP.
Additional benefits observed include reductions in overdose incidents and deaths, an increase in referral to drug treatment programs, increased awareness of infections transmission and risk behaviours, and a reduction in injection-site abscesses. Significantly, none of the adverse consequences projected by some have been found. In particular, there have been no incidents in which syringes or needles from NSPs were used as weapons against guards or inmates, drug use has been stable or has decreased, and there has been no increase in injecting drug use among prisoners. In general, NSPs have been accepted by prison staff, including staff that was initially opposed to such programs. Bleach programmes should be available in prisons where authorities continue to oppose the introduction of NSPs, and to complement NSPs. However, because of bleach’s limited effectiveness, such programmes can only be regarded as a second-line strategy to NSPs and cannot replace NSPs.47
From a public health perspective, piloting and rapidly expanding NSPs is a priority for responding to the dual epidemics of injecting drug use and HIV infection among prisoners. To date a number of outbreaks of HIV among prisoners in the fSU have been documented.Given the evidence of entrenched epidemics of injecting drug use and HIV infection in prisons in many countries in Eastern Europe and the fSU, it is clear that further inaction on the part of prison officials will result in increased morbidity, including HIV infection, and mortality among people who inject drugs in prison. Moreover, the failure to implement NSPs could result in spread of HIV infection among the prison population as a whole, and could potentially lead to generalized epidemics among people in communities into which prisoners are released. Such further spread of HIV would lead not only to greater suffering for affected individuals and their families, but also would result in substantial, avoidable health care costs”.
Cannabis and Lung Cancer
I noticed a posting on ADCA’s Update list yesterday that quotes an interesting study showing a correlation between cannabis use and increased risk of lung cancer. Nothing particularly surprising about that - it’ll just be interesting how the research will be used by different ideological camps to promote their cause…
“Cannabis use and risk of lung cancer: a case–control study
S. Aldington*, M. Harwood*, B. Cox#, M. Weatherall”, L. Beckert*, A. Hansell+, A. Pritchard*, G. Robinson* and R. Beasley*,1 on behalf of the Cannabis and Respiratory Disease Research Group
ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study was to determine the risk of lung cancer associated with cannabis smoking. A case–control study of lung cancer in adults <55 yrs of age was conducted in eight district health boards in New Zealand. Cases were identified from the New Zealand Cancer Registry and hospital databases. Controls were randomly selected from the electoral roll, with frequency matching to cases in 5-yr age groups and district health boards. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to assess possible risk factors, including cannabis use. The relative risk of lung cancer associated with cannabis smoking was estimated by logistic regression. In total, 79 cases of lung cancer and 324 controls were included in the study. The risk of lung cancer increased 8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2–15) for each joint-yr of cannabis smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking, and 7% (95% CI 5–9) for each pack-yr of cigarette smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cannabis smoking. The highest tertile of cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (relative risk 5.7 (95% CI 1.5–21.6)), after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking.
In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that long-term cannabis use increases the risk of lung cancer in young adults.
KEYWORDS: Cannabis, case–control, lung cancer, tobacco
Eur Respir J 2008; 31: 280–286
DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00065707
Copyright ERS Journals Ltd 2008″.