The North American Opioid Crisis: how it came about and how to manage it

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Rob Poole explores the recently published Stanford-Lancet Commission report on the North American Opioid Crisis, which aims to understand the opioid crisis, propose solutions to the crisis in the USA and Canada, and attempt to stop its spread internationally.

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Can psychosocial interventions help reduce parental substance use?

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In her debut blog, Lilli Waples summarises a recent Cochrane Review on the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions to reduce parental substance use.

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Opioid Agonist Treatment associated with 50% lower risk of mortality, but political epiphany still needed to reduce drug-related deaths

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Ian Hamilton appraises a systematic review and meta-analysis on the association of opioid agonist treatment with all-cause mortality and specific causes of death among people with opioid dependence.

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Who do we help after an opiate overdose?

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Ian Hamilton reviews a recent US study exploring the incidence of treatment for opioid use disorder in people following a non-fatal opiate overdose.

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Drug use and oral health status

Very few studies in this review, measured or adjusted for use of other substances such as cannabis.

This review investigating the relationship between drug use (methamphetamines, heroin, opiates, cocaine, cannabis and crack) and oral health includes 10 observational studies showing a higher risk of caries.

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The global drug problem: who cares? #LxAddictions19

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Ian Hamilton shares his thoughts on the new Drug Use series published yesterday in The Lancet: The global drug problem – change but not progression.

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We know how to reduce premature deaths from co-morbid mental health and substance use problems, so why aren’t we doing anything about it?

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Ian Hamilton looks at a Swedish 42-year follow-up study, which looks at the impact that psychiatric comorbidity can have on premature death in a cohort of patients with substance use disorders.

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Inclusion health: a new perspective on health inequalities?

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Noortje Uphoff writes her debut elf blog on a recent paper in The Lancet, which looks at what works in inclusion health; providing an overview of effective interventions for marginalised and excluded populations.

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Opiate substitution therapy: supervised-consumption vs take-home doses

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Vicky Carlisle publishes her debut elf blog on a Cochrane review of supervised dosing with long-acting opioid medication in the management of opioid dependence.

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Women, addiction and crime: what works? #WomenAndDrugs

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Some of the country’s leading experts on mental health and substance abuse will gather at the University of York tomorrow to “end the silence” surrounding women and addiction. We’ll be taking this #WomenAndDrugs event #BeyondTheRoom and I’m delighted to be publishing two relevant blogs, one today and the other tomorrow.

Here’s the first from regular elf blogger Ian Hamilton, who explores a recent narrative literature review on effective interventions for drug using women offenders.

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