Incidence of Substance Abuse in the Workplace

A survey of employers' attitudes regarding the prevalence of drugs in the workplace, how employee drug use impacts their firm, and the effectiveness of company policies to treat and prevent employee substance abuse

Costs associated with policies regarding alcohol use during pregnancy: Results from 1972-2015 Vital Statistics.

Background and objectiveAs of 2016, 43 US states have policies regarding alcohol use during pregnancy. A recent study found that out of eight state-level alcohol/pregnancy policies, six are significantly associated with poorer birth outcomes, and two are not associated with any outcomes. Here we estimate the excess numbers of low birthweight (LBW) and preterm births (PTB) related to these policies and their associated additional costs in the first year of life.MethodsCost study using birth certificate data for 155,446,714 singleton live births in the United States between 1972-2015. Exposures were state- and month/year-specific indicators of having each of eight alcohol/pregnancy policies in place. Outcomes were excess numbers of LBW and PTB and associated costs in the first year of life. Fixed effects regressions with state-specific time trends were used for statistical analyses in 2018.ResultsIn 2015, policies mandating warning signs were associated with an excess of 7,375 LBW; policies defining alcohol use during pregnancy as child abuse/neglect were associated with an excess of 12,372 PTB; these excess adverse outcomes are associated with additional costs of $151,928,002 and$582,698,853 in the first year of life, respectively.ConclusionsMultiple state-level alcohol pregnancy policies lead to increased prevalence of LBW and PTB, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Policymakers should consider adverse public health impacts of alcohol/pregnancy policies before expanding extant policies to new substances or adopting existing policies in new states

Science and policy in substance abuse

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy (SATPP) is an open access, peer-reviewed international journal of original research and scholarship that focuses on policy issues in the treatment and prevention of substance use disorders. Separate and often disparate public systems deal with substance use problems as well as provide treatment and prevention. This journal will provide an environment for the exchange of ideas, new research, consensus papers, and critical reviews that bridge fields that share a common goal of reducing the problems caused by drugs and alcohol. The agenda is simple; a new forum for integrating thoughts, issues, and developments

UNODC youth initiative: discussion guide. Draft.

Contents: Section 1: Perceptions about Drug Use Section 2: What is Vulnerability? Section 3: The Direct Effects of Using Drugs Section 4: Abuse of Prescription Drug Section 5: Consequences and Risks Associated with Drug Use Section 6: Prevention of Drug Use Section 7:Treatment of Drug Dependence Section 8: The Role of Youth in the Global Effort to Prevent Drug Use Ice breaker ideas Guidelines for Creating Activities Appendix: Youth Friendly Sites Providing Information about Drug Use A site on how to manage your privacy on Facebook Forum Guidelines for Youth Initiative Facebook pag

Substance use disorders in the farming population: Scoping review

Purpose The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the current knowledge base in order to make recommendations for prevention and treatment of substance use disorders among the farming populations. Methods We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published between January 1989 and September 2019. The search yielded 3,426 citations and the final review was conducted on 42 articles. The full review was conducted by 4 authors to extract information about the target population, data collection methods, and main results. Findings There were 21 articles on farmers and 21 articles on farmworkers. The majority of the articles were about alcohol. Overall, farmers had higher prevalence of risky alcohol consumption patterns than nonfarmers. The prevalence of risky alcohol consumption was also high among farmworkers compared to the general population. Risk factors for risky alcohol consumption included male gender, lower socioeconomic status, and psychological problems (eg, depression). Recommendations for prevention and intervention of alcohol disorders included policy development and implementation to curb alcohol access by taxation, screening of alcohol-related problems, and alternative means of recreation instead of alcohol consumption. Conclusions This review confirmed that alcohol-related problems are prevalent among farmers and farmworkers. More population-based research is called for to understand the additional risk factors of alcohol disorders and the prevalence of other substance-related disorders. Also, interventions should be tailored to the unique culture of farmers and farmworkers

The Anchor, Volume 133.01: September 18, 2019

The Anchor began in 1887 and was first issued weekly in 1914. Covering national and campus news alike, Hope College’s student-run newspaper has grown over the years to encompass over two-dozen editors, reporters, and staff. For much of The Anchor\u27s history, the latest issue was distributed across campus each Wednesday throughout the academic school year (with few exceptions). As of Fall 2019 The Anchor has moved to monthly print issues and a more frequently updated website. Occasionally, the volume and/or issue numbering is irregular