scholarly journals An Australian Twin Study of Cannabis and Other Illicit Drug Use and Misuse, and Other Psychopathology

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T. Lynskey ◽  
Arpana Agrawal ◽  
Anjali Henders ◽  
Elliot C. Nelson ◽  
Pamela A. F. Madden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Drug Use Disorders ◽  
Illicit Drug Abuse ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Adult Twins

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug throughout the developed world and there is consistent evidence of heritable influences on multiple stages of cannabis involvement including initiation of use and abuse/dependence. In this paper, we describe the methodology and preliminary results of a large-scale interview study of 3,824 young adult twins (born 1972–1979) and their siblings. Cannabis use was common with 75.2% of males and 64.7% of females reporting some lifetime use of cannabis while 24.5% of males and 11.8% of females reported meeting criteria for DSM-IV cannabis abuse or dependence. Rates of other drug use disorders and common psychiatric conditions were highly correlated with extent of cannabis involvement and there was consistent evidence of heritable influences across a range of cannabis phenotypes including early (≤15 years) opportunity to use (h2 = 72%), early (≤16 years) onset use (h2 = 80%), using cannabis 11+ times lifetime (h2 = 76%), and DSM abuse/dependence (h2 = 72%). Early age of onset of cannabis use was strongly associated with increased rates of subsequent use of other illicit drugs and with illicit drug abuse/dependence; further analyses indicating that some component of this association may have been mediated by increasing exposure to and opportunity to use other illicit drugs.

scholarly journals Psychometric properties of DSM assessments of illicit drug abuse and dependence: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC)

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1345-1355 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. LYNSKEY ◽  
A. AGRAWAL
Keyword(s):  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Epidemiological Survey ◽  
Epidemiologic Survey ◽  
Drug Use Disorders ◽  
Illicit Drug Abuse

ABSTRACTBackgroundDSM-IV criteria for illicit drug abuse and dependence are largely based on criteria developed for alcohol use disorders and there is a lack of research evidence on the psychometric properties of these symptoms when applied to illicit drugs.MethodThis study utilizes data on abuse/dependence criteria for cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers, opiates, hallucinogens and inhalants from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC, n=43 093). Analyses included factor analysis to explore the dimensionality of illicit drug abuse and dependence criteria, calculation of item difficulty and discrimination within an item response framework and a descriptive analysis of ‘diagnostic orphans’: individuals meeting criteria for 1–2 dependence symptoms but not abuse. Rates of psychiatric disorders were compared across groups.ResultsResults favor a uni-dimensional construct for abuse/dependence on each of the eight drug classes. Factor loadings, item difficulty and discrimination were remarkably consistent across drug categories. For each drug category, between 29% and 51% of all individuals meeting criteria for at least one symptom did not receive a formal diagnosis of either abuse or dependence and were therefore classified as ‘orphans’. Mean rates of disorder in these individuals suggested that illicit drug use disorders may be more adequately described along a spectrum of severity.ConclusionsWhile there were remarkable similarities across categories of illicit drugs, consideration of item difficulty suggested that some alterations to DSM regarding the relevant severity of specific abuse and dependence criteria may be warranted.

scholarly journals Cannabis use, subsequent other illicit drug use and drug use disorders: A 16-year follow-up study among Swedish adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 106390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rynaz Rabiee ◽  
Andreas Lundin ◽  
Emilie Agardh ◽  
Yvonne Forsell ◽  
Peter Allebeck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Drug Use Disorders

A twin study of early cannabis use and subsequent use and abuse/dependence of other illicit drugs

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1227-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARPANA AGRAWAL ◽  
MICHAEL C. NEALE ◽  
CAROL A. PRESCOTT ◽  
KENNETH S. KENDLER
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Model Fitting ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Twin Design ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Discordant Twin

Introduction. Cannabis use is strongly associated with the use and abuse/dependence of other illicit drugs. Gateway and common liabilities models have been employed to explain this relationship. We sought to examine this association using a combination of the discordant twin design and modeling methods.Method. We assess the relationship between early cannabis use and the subsequent use and abuse/dependence of other illicit drugs in a population-based sample of male and female twin pairs using four analyses: (i) analysis of the association between early cannabis use and other illicit drug use and abuse/dependence in the entire sample of twins, (ii) assessment of the influence of early cannabis use in twin 1 on twin 2's use or abuse/dependence of other illicit drugs, (iii) use of twin pairs discordant for early cannabis use in a discordant twin design and (iv) a model-fitting procedure.Results. We found: (i) a strong association between early cannabis use and use and abuse/dependence of other illicit drugs in the sample, (ii) twin 1's early cannabis use is significantly associated with the twin 2's other illicit drug use, (iii) the role of correlated genetic factors with some evidence for a causal influence, and (iv) the correlated liabilities model fits the data well.Conclusions. Early cannabis use is strongly associated with other illicit drug use and abuse/dependence. The relationship arises largely due to correlated genetic and environmental influences with persisting evidence for some causal influences.

Comparison of self-reports and biological measures for alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs consumption in psychiatric inpatients

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 540-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renaud de Beaurepaire ◽  
Michael Lukasiewicz ◽  
Patrick Beauverie ◽  
Sophie Castéra ◽  
Odile Dagorne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Drug Consumption ◽  
Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Glutamyl Transferase

AbstractBackgroundAsking psychiatric in-patients about their drug consumption is unlikely to yield reliable results, particularly where alcohol and illicit drug use is involved. The main aim of this study was to compare spontaneous self-reports of drug use in hospitalized psychiatric patients to biological measures of same. A secondary aim was to determine which personal factors were associated with the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs as indicated by these biological measures.MethodsThe consumption of substances was investigated using biological measures (urine cotinine, cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines and barbiturates; blood carbohydrate-deficient transferrin [CDT] and gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT]) in 486 consecutively admitted psychiatric patients, one day following their hospitalization. Patients’ self-reports of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs consumption were recorded. Socio-professional and familial data were also recorded.ResultsThe results show a low correlation between biological measures and self-reported consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs. Fifty-two percent of the patients under-reported their consumption of illicit drugs (kappa = .47). Patients with schizophrenia and personality disorders were more likely to disclose their illicit drug consumption relative to patients suffering from mood disorders and alcohol dependence. Fifty-six percent of patients underreported alcohol use, as evaluated by CDT (kappa = .2), and 37% underreported when using the CDT + GGT measure as an indicator. Smoking appeared to be reported adequately. In the study we observed a strong negative correlation between cannabis use and age, a strong correlation between tobacco and cannabis use, and correlations between tobacco, cannabis and alcohol consumption.ConclusionThis study is the first to compare self-reports and biological measures of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug uses in a large sample of inpatients suffering from various categories of psychiatric illnesses, allowing for cross-diagnosis comparisons.

Prediction Profiles for Nutritional Supplement Use Among Young German Elite Athletes

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 623-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Dietz ◽  
Rolf Ulrich ◽  
Andreas Niess ◽  
Raymond Best ◽  
Perikles Simon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Elite Athletes ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Nutritional Supplement ◽  
Physiological Effect ◽  
Supplement Use ◽  
World Champion

Nutritional supplements (NS) are defined as concentrated sources of nutrients and other substances that have a nutritional or physiological effect and that are used in high frequency among athletes. The study aimed to create a prediction profile for young elite athletes to identify those athletes who have a higher relative risk for using NS. The second objective was to examine the hypothesis that the consumption of NS paves a gateway for the use of illicit drugs and doping substances. A self-designed anonymous paper-and-pencil questionnaire was used to examine the prevalence of NS consumption, doping, and illicit drug use in elite athletes with a mean age of 17 years (SD = 4 years). Logistic regression analysis was employed to assess whether NS consumption can be predicted by independent variables (e.g., biographical data, training characteristics, drug consumption behavior) to create the prediction profile for NS use. 55% and 5% of the athletes (n = 536) responded positively to having used NS and illicit drugs, respectively. Nutritional supplement consumption was positively correlated with age (OR: 1.92; CI: 1.21 to 3.05), the desire to enhance performance to become an Olympic or World Champion (OR: 3.72; CI: 2.33 to 6.01), and being educated about NS (OR: 2.76; CI: 1.73 to 4.45). It was negatively correlated with training frequency (OR: 0.55; CI: 0.35 to 0.86) and the use of nicotine (OR: 0.29; CI: 0.1 to 0.74) but did not correlate with illicit drug use and alcohol consumption. The present results show that NS are used on a large scale in elite sports. The prediction profile presented in this article may help to identify those athletes who have a high risk for using NS to plan potential education and prevention models more individually.

Cannabis use in Switzerland: The role of attribution of drug use to friends, urbanization and repression 1The study was supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (Bundesamt für Gesundheit BAG) Grant 316.96.5980.

2001 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Schmid
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Model ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Structural Variables ◽  
Hbsc Study ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Individual Use

Cannabis use does not show homogeneous patterns in a country. In particular, urbanization appears to influence prevalence rates, with higher rates in urban areas. A hierarchical linear model (HLM) was employed to analyze these structural influences on individuals in Switzerland. Data for this analysis were taken from the Switzerland survey of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Study, the most recent survey to assess drug use in a nationally representative sample of 3473 15-year-olds. A total of 1487 male and 1620 female students indicated their cannabis use and their attributions of drug use to friends. As second level variables we included address density in the 26 Swiss Cantons as an indicator of urbanization and officially recorded offences of cannabis use in the Cantons as an indicator of repressive policy. Attribution of drug use to friends is highly correlated with cannabis use. The correlation is even more pronounced in urban Cantons. However, no association between recorded offences and cannabis use was found. The results suggest that structural variables influence individuals. Living in an urban area effects the attribution of drug use to friends. On the other hand repressive policy does not affect individual use.

Fire on the Mountain: Reinvigorating Legislative Measures to Quench the Flame of Illicit Drug Use in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-29
Author(s):  
Sogo Angel Olofinbiyi ◽  
Thembelihle Mtambo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
South African ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
African Government ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Legislative Measures

South African societies have been characterized by the prolific incidence of illicit drug use in recent times.  The paper attempts to examine the legislations implemented on the use of illicit drugs in South Africa. The study adopts a review of the literature to identify and describe the most common illicit drugs used around South Africa communities, placing emphasis on the policies developed by the South African government in combating these situations. The research follows a critical   discussion on the issues associated with drug use, its causes, as well as its effects on humans and the environment. The study recommends relevant initiatives to combat all intricacies associated with drug use within the country. This approach will be appropriate in facilitating a clear-cut   understanding of the possible remedies to quench the burning flame of illicit drug use across a broad range of South African communities.

scholarly journals Healthcare cost associations of patients who use illicit drugs in Florida: a retrospective analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Ryan ◽  
Veronica R. Rosa
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Healthcare Cost ◽  
Healthcare Costs ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Multiple Drug ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Multiple Drugs ◽  
Hospital Research

Abstract Background Illicit drug use increases visits to the hospital. Research is limited on the costs of these healthcare visits by illicit drug. Methods Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration’s emergency department and inpatient datasets from 2016 to 2018 were analyzed. Adults who used an illicit drug were included in the study population resulting in 709,658 observations. Cost-to-charge ratios were used to estimate healthcare costs. Linear regression analyzed associations of illicit drugs with total healthcare cost. Results Total healthcare costs are estimated at $6.4 billion over the 3 year period. Medicare paid for the most patient care ($2.16 billion) with Medicaid and commercial insurance each estimated at $1.36 billion. Cocaine (9.25%) and multiple drug use (6.12%) increased the costs of an ED visit compared to a patient with cannabis SUD. Opioids (23.40%) and inhalants use (16.30%) increased the costs of inpatient compared to cannabis SUD. Conclusion Healthcare costs are high of patients with illicit drug SUD and poisoning, over half of which are paid for with tax payer dollars and to an unknown degree hospital write-offs. Injuries and illness of patients using cocaine and multiple drugs are associated with more expensive ED patient care and opioids and inhalants are associated with more expensive inpatient care.

Silent severe myocardial ischemia in a past illicit drug user imaged with myocardial perfusion scintigraphy

Perfusion ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 026765912110281
Author(s):  
Chrissa Sioka ◽  
Georgios Georgiou ◽  
Christos Katsouras ◽  
Konstantinos Pappas ◽  
Dimitris-Nikiforos Kiortsis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Myocardial Perfusion ◽  
Myocardial Ischemia ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Microvascular Dysfunction ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction ◽  
Illicit Drug User ◽  
Cardiac Symptoms

Patients with illicit drug use may have deleterious acute and chronic cardiac effects. We present a case of a 42-year-old man, former alcohol and various illicit drugs user, who was admitted to the psychiatric unit for management of psychosis. Because of his previous drug and alcohol history, a cardiological evaluation was performed which revealed silent severe myocardial ischemia detected by myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). The myocardial ischemia was attributed to coronary microvascular dysfunction, occurring several years after quitting the illicit drugs. This study highlights the potential myocardial ischemia that may occur in patients with previous alcohol and illicit drug use, and the role of MPI, a non-invasive test that can provide important information regarding the myocardial status of such patients, even without obvious cardiac symptoms or findings.

scholarly journals Use of illicit drugs by adolescents and young adults of an urban settlement in Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-118
Author(s):  
Rafael Alves Guimarães ◽  
Márcia Maria de Souza ◽  
Karlla Antonieta Amorim Caetano ◽  
Sheila Araujo Teles ◽  
Marcos André de Matos
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Adolescents And Young Adults ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Factors Associated

Summary Objective: To estimate the prevalence and factors associated with illicit drug use by adolescents and young adults of a formal urban settlement. Method: Cross-sectional study including adolescents and young adults 12-24 years of an urban settlement in the Midwest Region of Brazil. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Stata, version 12.0. We used Poisson regression model to estimate the factors associated with illicit drug use. Results: Of the total participants (n=105), 27.6% (95CI 20.0-36.9%) had used illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack, LSD and inhalants. The consumption of these substances was associated with male gender, use of body piercing and/or tattoos, licit drug use and self-report of signs and/or symptoms of sexually transmitted infections. Conclusion: High prevalence of illicit drug use was found in the individuals investigated, ratifying the presence of risk factors to the vulnerability of the settlers to use these substances in the urban settlement population.

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