Risk of injury after alcohol consumption from case-crossover studies in five countries from the America's

This study aimed to: 1) provide relative risk (RR) estimates between acute alcohol use and injuries from emergency departments in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Nicaragua and Panama, and 2) test whether the RR differs if two control periods for the estimates were used.

Case-crossover methodology was used to obtain estimates of the RR of having an injury within six hours after drinking alcohol, using a pair-matching design with control periods of the same time of day the day prior to injury, and the same time of day and day of week the week prior to injury.

Emergency departments(EDs).

2,503 injured patients from EDs were interviewed between 2010-2011, with a response rate of 92.6%.

Number of drinks consumed within six hours prior to the injury and in the two control periods.

The RR of injury after drinking alcohol was 4.38 (95% confidence interval CI= 3.29-5.84) using as the control period the prior week, and 5.35 (CI=3.50-8.17) using as a control period the prior day. The RR was 5.08 (CI=4.15-6.23) in multiple matching. Those drinking 1-2 drinks had a RR of 4.85 (CI=3.12-7.54); those drinking 3-5 a RR of 5.00 (CI =3.47-7.18); those drinking 6-15 a RR of 4.54 (CI=3.36-6.14); and those drinking 16 or more a RR of 10.42 (CI=4.38-24.79).

As in other countries, drinking alcohol is an important trigger for an injury in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guyana, Nicaragua and Panama.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: guibor@imp.edu.mx

Effects of a Multi-component Responsible Beverage Service Program on Violent Assaults in Sweden

A multi-component Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) program has been disseminated in Swedish municipalities. The aim of the program is to reduce violence associated with consumption of alcohol at on-licensed premises. This study aimed to analyse the effect of the program on police-recorded assaults after the dissemination of the program in Swedish municipalities, 1996-2009.

This study is a natural experiment that uses variation in the level of implementation of the RBS program to predict change in the rate of police-recorded assaults.

Swedish municipalities

The municipalities included in the study initiated the RBS program no later than 2008. On-licensed premises open during the evenings must exist. Out of 290 municipalities, 237 fulfilled these requirements.

Program fidelity was studied by means of several surveys. Yearly data on police-recorded assaults, per 100,000 inhabitants aged 15 and above, committed on weekend nights, were used as dependent variable. A fixed effects panel data regression model was used to examine the effect of the program.

Each extension of the program, by one component, was associated with a significant 3.1% reduction in assaults. However, this effect was mainly seen in smaller municipalities. Of the different components of the program, the presence of a community coalition steering group had a significant effect on assaults. No significant effect was found regarding RBS training or supervision of on-licensed premises.

Multi-component Responsible Beverage Service programs can have a significant effect on police-recorded assaults even when implemented on a large scale in many communities.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: bjorn.trolldal@ki.se

Chronic Free-Choice Drinking in Crossed High Alcohol Preferring Mice Leads to Sustained Blood Ethanol Levels and Metabolic Tolerance Without Evidence

Crossed high alcohol preferring (cHAP) mice were selectively bred from a cross of the HAP1 × HAP2 replicate lines, and we demonstrate blood ethanol concentrations (BECs) during free-choice drinking that are reminiscent of those observed in alcohol-dependent humans. Therefore, this line may provide an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the consequences of excessive voluntary ethanol (EtOH) consumption, including metabolic tolerance and liver pathology. Cytochrome p450 2E1 (CYP2E1) induction plays a prominent role in driving both metabolic tolerance and EtOH-induced liver injury. In this report, we sought to characterize cHAP drinking by assessing whether pharmacologically relevant BEC levels are sustained throughout the active portion of the light–dark cycle. Given that cHAP intakes and BECs are similar to those observed in mice given an EtOH liquid diet, we assessed whether free-choice exposure results in metabolic tolerance, hepatic enzyme induction, and hepatic steatosis.

In experiment 1, blood samples were taken across the dark portion of a 12:12 light–dark cycle to examine the pattern of EtOH accumulation in these mice. In experiments 1 and 2, mice were injected with EtOH following 3 to 4 weeks of access to water or 10% EtOH and water, and blood samples were taken to assess metabolic tolerance. In experiment 3, 24 mice had 4 weeks of access to 10% EtOH and water or water alone, followed by necropsy and hepatological assessment.

In experiment 1, cHAP mice mean BEC values exceeded 80 mg/dl at all sampling points and approached 200 mg/dl during the middle of the dark cycle. In experiments 1 and 2, EtOH-exposed mice metabolized EtOH faster than EtOH-naïve mice, demonstrating metabolic tolerance (p < 0.05). In experiment 3, EtOH-drinking mice showed greater expression of hepatic CYP2E1 than water controls, consistent with the development of metabolic tolerance (p < 0.05). EtOH access altered neither hepatic histology nor levels of alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase.

These results demonstrate that excessive intake by cHAP mice results in sustained BECs throughout the active period, leading to the development of metabolic tolerance and evidence of CYP2E1 induction. Together, these results provide additional support for the cHAP mice as a highly translational rodent model of alcoholism.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: ngrahame@iupui.edu

The Use of a Novel Drinkometer System for Assessing Pharmacological Treatment Effects on Ethanol Consumption in Rats

There are numerous studies in the preclinical alcohol research field showing that pharmacological interventions and many other manipulations can influence ethanol (EtOH) consumption in a free-choice paradigm in rats. Most of these studies are based on 24-hour measurements. These studies provide a measure of the total amount of EtOH consumed per day, but do not provide information on the drinking patterns within this period of measurement. Here, we used a novel drinkometer system in combination with Fourier analysis to provide detailed information on drinking patterns.

Our automated drinkometer system measures fluid consumption by means of high-precision sensors attached to the drinking bottles in the home cage of the rat and thereby ameliorates several limitations of a classical lickometer-based drinkometer system. As an example of its application, we used the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model for relapse-like drinking and tested as a reference compound lamotrigine, which has a robust effect on the ADE. Fourier analysis was chosen as the main strategy for 24-hour drinking pattern recognition during water/EtOH drinking.

Under baseline conditions, voluntary EtOH consumption in rats can be expressed as characteristic oscillations that follow diurnal activity and differ in their amplitude, depending on the EtOH concentration. This diurnal drinking rhythmicity was altered during a relapse condition. Furthermore, lamotrigine given during the ADE did not significantly affect the drinking frequency or the number of approaches to the EtOH bottles when compared to vehicle-treated animals. However, EtOH intake during a drinking approach was dramatically reduced.

The use of the drinkometer system and mathematical modeling allows the characterization of treatment effects on relapse-like drinking with a great level of detail. One use of such detailed information may lie in its translational predictability. For instance, owing to lamotrigine treatment's lack of effect on EtOH drinking frequency or the number of approaches to the EtOH bottles, this compound might not be effective in relapse prevention per se but may reduce hedonic EtOH effects and could therefore be used in alcohol-dependent patients if harm reduction is the primary goal of treatment.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: valentina.vengeliene@zi-mannheim.de

The α1-Adrenergic Receptor Antagonist, Doxazosin, Reduces Alcohol Drinking in Alcohol-Preferring (P) Rats

Evidence supports a role for the noradrenergic system in alcohol drinking in animals and humans. Our previous studies demonstrated the efficacy of prazosin, an α1-adrenergic antagonist, in decreasing alcohol drinking in rat models of alcohol dependence. Prazosin has also been shown to decrease alcohol drinking in treatment-seeking alcohol-dependent men. Clinically, the use of prazosin is limited by the requirement for multiple daily administrations, whereas doxazosin, a structurally similar α1-adrenergic antagonist, requires only once-daily dosing. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that doxazosin, like prazosin, would decrease alcohol drinking in rats selectively bred for alcohol preference (P line).

Adult male P rats were given 2 h/d scheduled access to a 2-bottle choice (15% v/v alcohol vs. water) session 5 d/wk (M–F), with food and water available ad libitum 24 h/d. Rats were injected with doxazosin (0 to 10 mg/kg, IP) 40 minutes prior to initiation of the alcohol access session in 3 trials (of 3, 5, and 5 consecutive days) each separated by 5 to 8 weeks. The third trial included 1 day without alcohol access (for locomotor testing), and 1 day of a single hour of alcohol access (for plasma alcohol determination).

Doxazosin significantly reduced alcohol intake in all 3 trials. The 5 mg/kg dose consistently reduced alcohol intake, increased water drinking, did not affect locomotor activity, and resulted in lower plasma alcohol concentrations, suggesting that the doxazosin-induced reduction in alcohol drinking was not dependent on a motor impairment or an alteration in alcohol clearance.

Doxazosin decreases voluntary alcohol consumption by male alcohol-preferring (P) rats, supporting a role for the noradrenergic system in alcohol drinking in P rats and suggesting that doxazosin could potentially be an effective once-daily pharmacotherapeutic agent for the treatment of alcohol use disorders.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: drasmuss@u.washington.edu

Programmed Cell Death 4 (PDCD4): A Novel Player in Ethanol-Mediated Suppression of Protein Translation in Primary Cortical Neurons and Developing Cere

Prenatal exposure to ethanol (EtOH) elicits a range of neuro-developmental abnormalities, microcephaly to behavioral deficits. Impaired protein synthesis has been connected to pathogenesis of EtOH-induced brain damage and abnormal neuron development. However, mechanisms underlying these impairments of protein synthesis are not known. In this study, we illustrate the effects of EtOH on programmed cell death protein 4 (PDCD4), a tumor and translation repressor.

Primary cortical neurons (PCNs) were treated with 2.5 and 4 mg/ml EtOH for different time points (4 to 24 hours), and PDCD4 expression was detected by Western blotting. Protein synthesis was determined using [³⁵S] methionine incorporation assay. Methyl cap pull-down assay was performed to establish the effect of EtOH on association of eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A) with capped mRNA. Luciferase assay was performed to determine the in vivo translation. A 2-day acute 5-dose binge model with EtOH (4 g/kg body wt, 25% v/v) was performed in Sprague–Dawley rats at 12-hour intervals and analyzed for PDCD4, eIF4A, and eIF4A–methyl cap association.

EtOH increased PDCD4 expression in a time- and dose-dependent manner in PCNs, which inhibited the association of eIF4A with methyl cap. EtOH and ectopic PDCD4 expression suppressed in vivo translation in PCNs and RNAi targeting of PDCD4 blocked the inhibitory effect of EtOH on protein synthesis. In utero exposure of pregnant rats to EtOH resulted in a significant increase in PDCD4 in fetal cerebral cortex along with the inhibition of methyl cap–associated eIF4A, compared with isocaloric controls. Increased PDCD4 also occurred in pooled fractions of remaining brain regions.

Our data, for the first time, illustrate that PDCD4 mediates inhibitory effects of EtOH on protein synthesis in PCNs and developing brain.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: lenin.mahimainathan@ttuhsc.edu

Perceived Alcohol Stigma: Factor Structure and Construct Validation

There has been an increasing interest in studying the stigma of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) yet scant research has evaluated the conceptualization and measurement of alcohol stigma. This study examined the measurement properties (i.e., factor structure) and validity of the alcohol-adapted Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination scale (PDD), which assesses the construct of perceived alcohol stigma (PAS).

Our sample included 34,386 respondents from the Wave 2 assessment in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, a population-representative survey of noninstitutionalized U.S. adults. Analytic procedures included confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

One-factor (perceived devaluation–discrimination) and 2-factor (perceived devaluation, perceived discrimination) confirmatory factor analytic models fit the data well (Comparative Fit Index = 0.958, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.942, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.056; Comparative Fit Index = 0.962, Tucker-Lewis Index = 0.946, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.054; respectively) when adjusting for item wording effects with a latent method factor. Despite having a better fit to the data, χ² (1) = 542, p < 0.0001, the 2 factors were highly correlated (r = 0.90), which led us to favor a 1-factor model. Structural equation models found that the inverse relationship between PAS and perceived interpersonal social support was strongest for persons with a stigmatized labeling status. The same was not true in analyses predicting social network involvement.

A 1-factor solution of PAS had superior parsimony. The alcohol-adapted PDD appears to be a psychometrically sound measure and exhibits relationships that are consistent with modified labeling theory.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: jeglass@wustl.edu

Home Office decisions on EMROs and Late Night Levy following consultation

The government has published its response to the consultation Dealing with the Problems of Late Night Drinking [pdf]. Draft legislation has been laid in parliament so that later this year local councils will be able to:

• use early morning alcohol restriction orders (EMROs) to restrict the sale of alcohol in all or part of their areas between midnight and 6am
• charge a levy for late-night licences to contribute to the cost of extra policing, and other costs linked to late-night drinking like street cleaning > > > > Read More
  

Alcopops Cheaper Than Energy Drinks: 7-11 Gambles With Children's Lives

Alcopops, legally identified as “flavored malt beverages,” are sweet, bubbly high alcohol products that are packaged and marketed to appeal to youth. They are used by the alcohol industry as a transition beverage from soda and non-alcoholic energy drinks to hook youth on alcohol and secure customers for life. Supersized alcopops, available in single servings with up to 12% alcohol by volume, encourage excessive drinking and are available at convenience stores frequented by youth throughout the nation.

In Marin County in Northern California we surveyed the prices of supersized alcopops at popular 7-Eleven stores in Marin and found that supersized alcopops were being offered at a promotional price break, priced cheaper than non-alcoholic energy drinks, and priced cheaper per standard drink than beer and even malt liquor.

Excessive alcohol consumption is a substantial problem in Marin County, and alcohol is the most widely used drug among the county’s youth. Although alcohol producers should ultimately be held accountable for the harm their products cause, alcopop retailers such as 7-Eleven, Inc. and its local franchisees bear responsibility for selling harmful products to their communities. > > > > > Read More

How Big Alcohol Abuses "Drink Responsibly" to Market its Products

"Drink responsibly” messages function as one tool in the alcohol industry’s marketing toolbox to promote, grow loyalty to and build credibility for its brands. The “drink responsibly” slogan also serves as a public relations distraction for alcohol corporations fighting evidence-based, effective policies such as increasing alcohol taxes, restricting alcohol advertising, and maintaining state control of alcohol sales. There is no evidence to show that “drink responsibly” messages are an effective strategy for reducing alcohol consumption or related harm. Much like Big Tobacco’s anti-smoking campaigns, alcohol industry facades like “drink responsibly” are counterproductive and could backfire, increasing intent to use the product instead of decreasing alcohol-related harm. > > > > Read More

Gender and Sexualities Conference - October 10-12, 2012

The aim of this conference is to examine these new developments within gender studies and explore their potential usefulness for socio-cultural research on gender and alcohol and drug consumption. For example, what are the possible contributions of contemporary theories of materiality, intersectionality or embodiment to alcohol and drug research? How are notions of masculinity and femininity constructed, experienced and acted out in alcohol and drug consumption? How do women and men “do gender” today through their alcohol and drug using practices?

Interested participants are invited to submit abstracts that are clearly related to the aims of the conference and adopt a theoretical approach to analyzing gender issues within alcohol and drug research. Potential papers, which examine and discuss empirical data are also most welcome, but must include a theoretical and analytical perspective.

Our aim is to attract researchers at different career levels, as well as more established researchers both from within the alcohol and drug fields as well as related research areas.

Read More About the Conference

News Release - New powers to tackle alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder

Communities across England and Wales will benefit from two new powers that will help them tackle alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder, the Home Office announced today. > > > > Read More

α4βδ GABAA receptors are high-affinity targets for γ-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB)

γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) binding to brain-specific high-affinity sites is well-established and proposed to explain both physiological and pharmacological actions. However, the mechanistic links between these lines of data are unknown.

To identify molecular targets for specific GHB high-affinity binding, we undertook photolinking studies combined with proteomic analyses and identified several GABA_A receptor subunits as possible candidates.

A subsequent functional screening of various recombinant GABA_A receptors in Xenopus laevis oocytes using the two-electrode voltage clamp technique showed GHB to be a partial agonist at αβδ- but not αβγ-receptors, proving that the δ-subunit is essential for potency and efficacy.

GHB showed preference for α4 over α(1,2,6)-subunits and preferably activated α4β1δ (EC₅₀ = 140 nM) over α4β(2/3)δ (EC₅₀ = 8.41/1.03 mM).

Introduction of a mutation, α4F71L, in α4β1(δ)-receptors completely abolished GHB but not GABA function, indicating nonidentical binding sites.

Radioligand binding studies using the specific GHB radioligand [³H](E,RS)-(6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5-hydroxy-5H-benzocyclohept-6-ylidene)acetic acid showed a 39% reduction (P = 0.0056) in the number of binding sites in α4 KO brain tissue compared with WT controls, corroborating the direct involvement of the α4-subunit in high-affinity GHB binding. 

Our data link specific GHB forebrain binding sites with α4-containing GABA_A receptors and postulate a role for extrasynaptic α4δ-containing GABA_A receptors in GHB pharmacology and physiology.

This finding will aid in elucidating the molecular mechanisms behind the proposed function of GHB as a neurotransmitter and its unique therapeutic effects in narcolepsy and alcoholism.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: mary.collins@sydney.edu.au
or
pw@farma.ku.dk

Patterns of alcohol use, their correlates, and impact in male drinkers: a population-based survey from Goa, India

Associations between low socio-economic class and alcohol use disorders are relatively well established in developed countries; however, there is comparably little research in India and other developing countries on the associations between socio-economic class, drinking patterns, and alcohol-related problems. We sought to assess drinking patterns and adverse outcomes among male drinkers and examine whether the association between drinking patterns and adverse outcomes differ by socioeconomic class.

Population survey of 732 male drinkers screened from 1,899 men, aged 18 to 49 years, randomly selected from rural and urban communities in northern Goa, India.

Usual quantity of alcohol consumed by 14.8 % (rural 16.8 %; urban 13.6 %) current drinkers is at high-risk level. About 28.6 % (rural 31 %; urban 27.2 %) and 33.7 % (rural 30.5 %; urban 35.5 %) of current drinkers reported monthly or more frequent heavy episodic drinking and drunkenness, respectively. Lower education and lower standard of living (SLI) were associated with higher usual quantity of alcohol consumption. More frequent heavy episodic drinking was associated with older age, being separated, lower education, and lower standard of living; weekly or more frequent drunkenness was associated only with rural residence. All three risky drinking patterns were associated with common mental disorders, sexual risk, intimate partner violence, acute alcohol-related consequences, and alcohol dependence. Significant interactions between SLI and risky alcohol use patterns suggested an increased risk of intimate partner violence among men with risky drinking and lower SLI.

Risky drinking patterns are common among male drinkers in Goa and associated with lower socio-economic class. A range of adverse health and social outcomes were associated with risky drinking across all socio-economic classes. Alcohol policy should target risky drinking patterns, particularly among poorer men, to reduce the health and social burden of alcohol use in India.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: ap2664@columbia.edu.

Voluntary alcohol labelling pledge on track says Portman Group

The Portman Group, the alcohol industry's social responsibility body, has said alcohol producers are on track to deliver their pledge to provide health information on 80% of alcohol labels by the end of December 2013.

As part of the Government’s responsibility deal, alcohol producers have committed that three core labelling elements - clear unit content, NHS guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant - will appear on 80% of drinks. A Drinkaware link and responsibility statement are optional.

The Portman Group, who were given responsibility for monitoring the pledge, say current compliance is over 60%, with 18 months still remaining. More companies are expected to confirm their pledges in the coming months.

The industry has attempted voluntary agreements to improve alcohol labelling in the past, but failed to make real progress. A 2010 independent report said just 15 per cent of drinks give consumers sufficient information as per the voluntary code, whereas an Alcohol Concern report Message on a Bottle put the figure at only 4% of the products reviewed. > > > > Read More

The 16th Annual National A.A. Archives Workshop “Passing It On”

October 4-7, 2012
Cocoa Beach, Florida

Registration

Program

Gail L. formerly from Akron.and Michelle M. from GSO will both be doing archive presentations Friday Night October 5.

History of Richmond Walker and the 24hour book on Saturday October 6.

Tommie D. close friend of Bill and Lois will be featured speaker on Saturday night.

Archive displays from Districts, Area and Intergroups will be on display.

Effects of 0.4g/kg alcohol on attentional bias and alcohol-seeking behaviour in heavy and moderate social drinkers

Alcohol intoxication is known to influence attentional biases for alcohol-related cues and alcohol-seeking behaviour. It is unknown if heavier drinkers are more or less sensitive to these effects of alcohol, or whether the effects of alcohol on attentional bias are associated with subsequent alcohol-seeking behaviour.

In the present study, 55 social drinkers were administered either 0.4 g/kg alcohol or placebo in a repeated measures, double-blind experimental design. Participants completed a visual probe task with eye movement monitoring (to measure attentional bias) and a bogus taste test (to measure alcohol-seeking) in both alcohol and placebo sessions.

Heavy drinkers showed an attentional bias for alcohol cues that was unaffected by alcohol, whereas in moderate drinkers attentional bias was present after alcohol administration, but was absent after placebo.

All participants voluntarily consumed more beer during the taste test after administration of alcohol compared with placebo. The effects of alcohol on attentional bias were unrelated to the effects of alcohol on beer consumption.

Results are consistent with the development of tolerance, rather than sensitization, to the acute effects of alcohol on attentional biases in heavy drinkers. However, alcohol-induced increases in attentional bias were not related to the effects of alcohol on the motivation to drink.



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Request Reprint E-Mail: mfield@liverpool.ac.uk

Aboriginal women, alcohol and the road to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

"The girls don’t drink much; ’bout the same as the fellas”

I am an Aboriginal woman, with traditional connections to the Bidjara people from central western Queensland and extensive experience in working with Aboriginal women who consume alcohol during pregnancy.

During several decades of working in the health field, I have asked myself and others why Aboriginal people drink alcohol at such dangerous levels.

As I have reported earlier,1 I believe that the historical and political background and the cultural aspects of drinking have been insufficiently considered. There is an entrenched expectation of Aboriginal community members that to drink is an expression of identity and culture.

It is unrealistic to expect that individuals can take responsibility for their own actions outside the context of their cultural environment. Programs aimed at changing individual risky behaviour fail to acknowledge the way in which the person is inextricably tied to the culture in which he or she exists.

In many communities, alcohol use is a familiar and embedded practice that spans generations as well as individual lifetimes, from before birth to death. Its consequences are difficult to escape, whether a given person actually drinks or not.

Some years ago, with input from a number of Aboriginal community members, I constructed a framework to assist in understanding the development of identity and the resulting changes of emotions and physical boundaries across the lifespan. > > > > Read More

Comparative performance of the AUDIT-C in screening for DSM-IV and DSM-5 alcohol use disorders

Under the proposed DSM-5 revision to the criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD), a substantial proportion of DSM-IV AUD cases will be lost or shifted in terms of severity, with some new cases added. Accordingly, the performance of the AUDIT-C in screening for DSM-IV AUD cannot be assumed to extend to DSM-5 AUD. The objective of this paper is to compare the AUDIT-C in screening for DSM-IV and DSM-5 AUD.

Using a broad range of performance metrics, the AUDIT-C was tested and contrasted as a screener for DSM-IV AUD (any AUD, abuse and dependence) and DSM-5 AUD (any AUD, moderate AUD and severe AUD) in a representative sample of U.S. adults aged 21 and older and among past-year drinkers.

Optimal AUDIT-C cutpoints were identical for DSM-IV and DSM-5 AUD: ≥4 for any AUD, ≥3 or ≥4 for abuse/moderate AUD and ≥4 or ≥5 for dependence/severe AUD. Screening performance was slightly better for DSM-5 severe AUD than DSM-IV dependence but did not differ for other diagnoses. At optimal screening cutpoints, positive predictive values were slightly higher for DSM-5 overall AUD and moderate AUD than for their DSM-IV counterparts. Sensitivities were slightly higher for DSM-5 severe AUD than DSM-IV dependence. Optimal screening cutpoints shifted upwards for past-year drinkers but continued to be identical for DSM-IV and DSM-5 disorders.

Clinicians should not face any major overhaul of their current screening procedures as a result of the DSM-5 revision and should benefit from fewer false positive screening results.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: deborah.anne.dawson@gmail.com

Download New Reports About Substance Abuse

SAMHSA has released two reports regarding substance abuse. The first indicates that youth between the ages of 12 and 17 are far more likely to start using most substances during the summer than during other parts of the year. The second report shows that the rate of increase in drug-related emergency department visits slowed.


Monthly Variation in Substance Use Initiation Among Adolescents

This report found that, on an average day in June and July, more than 11,000 adolescents age 12 to 17 use alcohol for the first time—December is the only other month with comparable levels. Throughout the rest of the year, the daily average for first-time alcohol use ranges from 5,000 to 8,000 adolescents. The report is based on SAMHSA's 2002 to 2010 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

View the Full Report [PDF - 704 KB]


Highlights of the 2010 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Findings on Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits

The DAWN report found there were 4 million drug-related emergency department visits made by patients age 21 or older in 2010. Of these, 1.9 million, or 47.2 percent, involved drug misuse or abuse. Cocaine was found to be the most commonly involved illicit drug among this age group, followed by marijuana, heroin, and amphetamines/methamphetamines. For emergency department visits made by patients age 20 or younger, 45.3 percent involved drug misuse or abuse. Alcohol was the most commonly involved illicit drug for this age group, followed by marijuana.

View the Full Report [PDF - 411 KB]