Publications - Substance Abuse and Addictions

Contaminant found in vaping products linked to deadly lung illnesses, state and federal labs show, by Lena H. Sun, The Washington Post, Sep 5 2019.

“State and federal health officials investigating mysterious lung illnesses linked to vaping have found the same chemical in samples of marijuana products used by people sickened in different parts of the country and who used different brands of products in recent weeks.  The chemical is an oil derived from vitamin E. Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found the oil in cannabis products in samples collected from patients who fell ill across the United States. ”

Millennials May Be Drinking Less, But Binge Drinking Is On the Rise Among Older Adults, by Jamie Ducharme, Time Magazine, Jul 31 2019.

“Much has been made lately of millennials drinking less—and as America’s younger generations shift toward sobriety, recent research suggests the opposite is happening among its older ones.  A new study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that, from 2015-2017, more than 10% of adults 65 and older said they had binge drank—defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting for men, or four or more for women— in the past month, up from about 7% in 2006. That’s in keeping with other studies that have charted increases in excessive drinking among elderly adults, including one that pointed to a 65% increase in high-risk drinking in this population from 2001 to 2013. ”

Mental Health Screening Tools, by Theresa Nguyen, Mental Health America, May 2019.

“Taking a mental health screening is one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. Mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety, are real, common and treatable. And recovery is possible. ”

Activists call for supervised injection sites for drug users, by unknown, AP, Apr 6 2019.

“Activists are hoping to persuade Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and state lawmakers to allow drug user to shoot up at supervised injection sites in Massachusetts. ”

Major study debunks myth that moderate drinking can be healthy, by Kate Kelland, Reuters, Apr 4 2019.

“Blood pressure and stroke risk rise steadily the more alcohol people drink, and previous claims that one or two drinks a day might protect against stroke are not true, according to the results of a major genetic study. ”

CBD Is Everywhere, but Scientists Still Don’t Know Much About, by Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, Feb 25 2019.

“Cannabidiol, or CBD, a nonintoxicating component of the marijuana plant, is touted as a magic bullet that eases pain, anxiety, insomnia and depression. But scientists know little about what it can do. Most of the information about CBD’s effects in humans is anecdotal or extrapolated from animal studies, and few rigorous trials have been conducted. ”

Antidepressants Can Interfere With Pain Relief Of Common Opioids, by Jonathan Lambert, NPR, Feb 6 2019.

“Antidepressants may dampen the effects of some common opioids, resulting in less effective pain management according to research findings published Wednesday. The researchers suggest physicians should consider alternative pain management strategies for patients on antidepressants. ”

Chronic pain most common reason U.S. patients get medical marijuana, by Lisa Rapaport , Reuters, Feb 6 2019.

“Almost two-thirds of patients in the U.S. who get medical marijuana are using it as a treatment for chronic pain, a new study suggests. That’s in line with the large number of Americans who suffer chronic pain and the strong scientific evidence that marijuana is an effective pain treatment, the authors report in Health Affairs. ”

The digital drug: Internet addiction spawns U.S. treatment programs, by Gabriella Borter, Reuters, Jan 27 2019.

“Psychiatrists say internet addiction, characterized by a loss of control over internet use and disregard for the consequences of it, affects up to 8 percent of Americans and is becoming more common around the world. “We’re all mildly addicted. I think that’s obvious to see in our behavior,” said psychiatrist Kimberly Young, who has led the field of research since founding the Center for Internet Addiction in 1995. “It becomes a public health concern obviously as health is influenced by the behavior.” ”

Steep Climb In Benzodiazepine Prescribing By Primary Care Doctors, by Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, Jan 25 2019.

“The percentage of outpatient medical visits that led to a benzodiazepine prescription doubled from 2003 to 2015, according to a study published Friday. And about half those prescriptions came from primary care physicians. This class of drugs includes the commonly used medications Valium, Ativan and Xanax. While benzodiazepines are mostly prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and seizures, the study found that the biggest rise in prescriptions during this time period was for back pain and other types of chronic pain. ”

U.S. substance abuse helpline largely unknown, by Linda Carroll, Reuters, Jan 14 2019.

“The U.S. government’s toll-free substance abuse helpline, which provides free referral services to those looking for treatment, gets little publicity, a new study finds. By contrast, suicide helplines are regularly publicized, the research team points out. When the researchers compared how often the addiction helpline was mentioned in news stories and social media after Demi Lovato’s overdose to how often the suicide helpline was noted after Anthony Bourdain killed himself, they found a huge disparity. They hope their study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, will help change that. ”

Report: Americans Are Now More Likely To Die Of An Opioid Overdose Than On The Road, by Ian Stewart, NPR, Jan 14 2019.

“For the first time in U.S. history, a leading cause of deaths — vehicle crashes — has been surpassed in likelihood by opioid overdoses, according to a new report on preventable deaths from the National Safety Council. Americans now have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose, according to the council's analysis of 2017 data on accidental death. The probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103. ”

When your child vapes, what's a parent to do?, by Michael Nedelman, CNN, Jan 11 2019.

“Health experts say parents whose kids are vaping often don't know what to do or where to turn for help. While federal authorities grapple with how to regulate e-cigarettes on a broad scale and while leading tobacco company Altria invests billions in e-cigarette maker Juul, parents are scrambling at home to deal with nicotine dependence -- or to prevent their kids from getting hooked on something that's ubiquitous at many schools. Some are even approaching addiction rehab programs in hopes of weaning their kids off these products. ”

Even with insurance, getting mental health treatment is a struggle in Mass., study says, by Liz Kowalczyk, Boston Globe, Dec 11 2018.

“Massachusetts residents who need health care are colliding with a hard reality: Having medical insurance doesn’t guarantee you can get treatment, particularly for psychiatric problems. More than half of adults who sought mental health or addiction treatment in recent months had difficulty getting that care, according to a survey of 2,201 residents by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in Boston...The obstacle wasn’t a lack of insurance; the vast majority of patients were insured. Rather, the problem was that providers either did not accept their insurance or their practices were closed to new patients. ”

Infections May Raise The Risk Of Mental Illness In Children, by Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, Dec 5 2018.

“Researchers have traced a connection between some infections and mental illnesses like schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. New research from Denmark bolsters that connection. The study, published Thursday in JAMA Psychiatry, shows that a wide variety of infections, even common ones like bronchitis, are linked to a higher risk of many mental illnesses in children and adolescents...For all mental illnesses — excluding depression and bipolar disorder — the team found that being hospitalized for an infection was associated with a 84 percent higher risk of subsequently being diagnosed with a mental health disorder at a hospital and a 42 percent increased risk of being prescribed a medication for mental illness. ”