Addiction and Substance Abuse

Few studies have been conducted on the relationship between “outside-residing” resilience characteristics and the risk of developing drug use disorder later in life. These characteristics include responsive and caring parenting, household routines involving regular family meals and bedtime routines, social support from peers, participation in organized activities, and religious service attendance. We quantified the association between these resilience promotion factors during childhood and the risk of developing criteria for drug use disorder during adulthood using data from a retrospective cohort study of 618 adults born in Massachusetts during 1969-1983, including those with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Self-administered questionnaires gathered information on criteria for drug use disorder, ACEs, and family and community resilience promotion factors.

A variety of behavioral, environmental, developmental, and genetic factors have been documented as contributing to the development of Substance use disorders (SUDs) in youth. For example, it has been suggested that things such as the perceived availability of substances, familial history of anti-social behavior, personal attitudes favorable towards drug use all have strong correlations to the development of substance use in youth [1]. What’s especially troubling is that use initiation at younger ages is also correlated with stronger likelihoods of developing a SUD [2]. Thus, it is crucial that researchers continue to explore contributing factors to youth’s likelihood of substance use.

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is described as a chronic relapsing condition with definitive behavioral markers and is characterized by repeated drug intake despite severe negative consequences [1]. With 12-month prevalence rates at 14% and lifetime estimates of 29% [2], it is clear that AUD adversely and substantially affects individual and societal health [3]. Recognized clinically as affecting decision making, relationships, and neurological function [4], AUD has been a major cause of personal, family, and social conflict for centuries [2]. Behavioral change is difficult to achieve and relapse after detoxification is common, especially when AUD individuals are exposed to alcohol-associated cues or stress [5].

In recent years, various types of synthetic cannabinoids have become widely distributed and are causing social and health problems in most parts of the world. Synthetic cannabinoids are currently the largest group of new psychoactive substances. Those that have been subjected to legal control are replaced by newer controlled and uncontrolled substances. Some of the most recent synthetic cannabinoids that have distributed on the market among youth are FUB-AMB and AB-FUBINACA.

Suicide rates are on the rise in the United States as is mortality associated with opioid toxicity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 7% of opioid overdose deaths are suicide, but this number may be under-reported. Many people who use opioids or have opioid use disorder, (OUD), may have “passive” intentions to commit suicide that are difficult to quantify. Further, both chronic pain and mental health disorders are prevalent in those who use opioids, and both are independently associated with suicide. It appears that suicide is associated with a trio of interlocking risk factors: opioids and opioid use disorder, chronic pain, and psychiatric illness.

It has long been clear that cigarette smoking is causally linked to many diseases, particularly lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and various forms of cardiovascular disease. For lung cancer, for example, a meta-analysis my colleagues and I conducted, based on epidemiological evidence published in the 1900s [1], estimated that current smoker/never smoker relative risks, were around 10 in North America and Europe, though lower (around three) in Asia. They were higher for squamous cell carcinoma than for adenocarcinoma, were very strongly related to amount smoked, and declined with increasing years of cessation of smoking.

Geophagy is described in most countries of the world as a practice observed in pregnant women. In industrialized countries, it results from migrant populations who carry with them their cultural habits and practices. This is the case in France and more particularly in Guiana, an overseas territory. Originally used to treat the ills of pregnancy, it is today considered to be dangerous for the woman and her unborn child.
A survey involving 788 pregnant women examining substance use during pregnancy was conducted in three maternity wards in Guiana in 2017-2018. This survey on the Pemba (clay in local language) issue also performed interviews and observations with a dozen women and a dozen health professionals in 2019.