This Week in Addiction Medicine from ASAM

Preventing deaths after prison release The Lancet Formerly incarcerated people have exceptionally poor health profiles and are at increased risk of preventable mortality when compared to their general population peers. This accompanying editorial discusses a study by Borschmann et al published in the same issue of The Lancet. Using administrative data from the multi-national Mortal

Lead Story: Telling the story of the opioid crisis: A narrative analysis of the TV series Dopesick PLOS One Dopesick (2021) is the first TV series whose plot deals exclusively with the opioid crisis in the United States. The current study uses narrative analysis and framing theory to explore this series, discussing its portrayal of the people and themes involved in the opioid crisi

Lead Story: Impact of jail-based methadone or buprenorphine treatment on non-fatal opioid overdose after incarceration Drug and Alcohol Dependence The authors studied the effect of receiving MOUD during incarceration in New York City jails on non-fatal overdose events during the year after discharge. Data were analyzed for patients with OUD incarcerated between 2011-2017 who either

Lead Story: Epigenome-wide association study on methamphetamine dependence Addiction Biology The authors of this study postulate that some of the biologic changes resulting from methamphetamine use may be associated with epigenetic changes from DNA methylation. Such associations have been seen in schizophrenia, mood disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Parkinson’s disease

Disposable E-Cigarette Use and Subsequent Use Patterns in Adolescents and Young Adults Pediatrics Utilizing sequential surveys in adolescents and young adults, the study evaluated the association between disposable e-cigarette (E-cig) use versus non-disposable E-cig and subsequent E-cig use. Those reporting the use of disposable e-cigs at baseline reported greater number of use day

Lead Story: Adolescent Δ8-THC and Marijuana Use in the US 🔓 JAMA D8-THC is synthesized from legal hemp plants (with low D9-THC) and has intoxicating effects similar to D9-THC. D8-THC is available in smoking, vaping, and edible products and is marketed as federally legal. To investigate the extent of D8-THC use by adolescents, data were extracted from the 2023 Monitoring the Fut

Lead Story: Association of Cannabis Use With Cardiovascular Outcomes Among US Adults Journal of the American Heart Association Cannabis use has increased in the US and perceived harmfulness has decreased, but there is evidence to suggest that cannabis use may increase risk of cardiovascular disease. In this study, the authors utilized the Brief Risk Factor Surveillance System surve

Lead Story: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Geographic Availability of Buprenorphine Journal of Addiction Medicine To identify whether buprenorphine availability equitably meets the needs of diverse populations, this study examined the differential geographic availability of buprenorphine in areas with greater concentrations of racial and ethnic minority groups. There were 45% to

Lead Story Smoking changes adaptive immunity with persistent effects Nature There is significant variability in immune response across the population, some of which is related to age, sex, and genetics, but this study examines other factors that may be related to immune response. Notably, the authors found that smoking affected both innate and adaptive immune response, and that the

Lead Story: Overdose mortality incidence and supervised consumption services in Toronto, Canada: an ecological study and spatial analysis The Lancet Public Health The objective of this study was to measure the effect of safe consumption sites (SCS) on overdose mortality. Between 2017 and 2019, nine SCS were implemented in Toronto, Canada. During this period there were 787 overdose