Novel psychoactive substance consumption is more represented in bipolar disorder than in psychotic disorders : A multicenter-observational study

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Acciavatti, T, Lupi, M, Santacroce, R, et al. Novel psychoactive substance consumption is more represented in bipolar disorder than in psychotic disorders: A multicenter‐observational study. Hum Psychopharmacol Clin Exp. 2017; 32:e2578. which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2578. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.OBJECTIVE: Comorbidities between psychiatric diseases and use of traditional substances of abuse are common. Nevertheless, there are few data regarding the use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) among psychiatric patients. Aim of this multicentre survey is to investigate the consumption of a number of psychoactive substances in a young psychiatric sample. METHODS: Between December 2013 and September 2015, a questionnaire was administered in 10 Italian psychiatric care facilities to a sample of 671 patients, aged 18-26 (mean age 22.24; SD 2.87). RESULTS: About 8.2% of the sample declared to have used NPS at least once, and 2.2% had consumed NPS in the previous 3 months. The three psychiatric diagnoses most frequently associated with NPS use were bipolar disorder (23.1%), personality disorders (11.8%), and schizophrenia and related disorders (11.6%). In univariate regression analysis, bipolar disorder was positively associated with NPS consumption, an association that did not reach statistical significance in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The use of NPS in a young psychiatric population appears to be frequent, and probably still underestimated. Bipolar disorder shows an association with NPS use. Careful and constant monitoring and an accurate evaluation of possible clinical effects related to NPS use are necessary.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

"Spice", "Kryptonite", "Black Mamba": An overview of brand names and marketing stragtegies of Novel Psychoactive Substances on the Web

Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPSs) are often sold online as “legal” and “safer” alternatives to International Controlled Drugs (ICDs) with captivating marketing strategies. Our aim was to review and summarize such strategies in terms of the appearance of the products, the brand names, and the latest trends in the illicit online marketplaces. Methods: Scientific data were searched in PsychInfo and Pubmed databases; results were integrated with an extensive monitoring of Internet (websites, online shops, chat rooms, fora, social networks) and media sources in nine languages (English, French, Farsi, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese simplified/traditional) available from secure databases of the Global Public Health Intelligence Network. Results: Evolving strategies for the online diffusion and the retail of NPSs have been identified, including discounts and periodic offers on chosen products. Advertisements and new brand names have been designed to attract customers, especially young people. An increased number of retailers have been recorded as well as new Web platforms and privacy systems. Discussion: NPSs represent an unprecedented challenge in the field of public health with social, cultural, legal, and political implications.Web monitoring activities are essential for mapping the diffusion of NPSs and for supporting innovative Web-based prevention programmes.Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

An international survey on the awareness, use, preference and health perception of Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS)

© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Deligianni, E, Corkery, JM, Schifano, F, Lione, LA. An international survey on the awareness, use, preference, and health perception of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). Hum Psychopharmacol Clin Exp. 2017; 32:e2581, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2581. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.ObjectiveThis survey investigated the level of public awareness, preference and motivation of NPS use as well as knowledge of potential associated health risks.Methods A Bristol Online Survey was advertised through social media and a drug forum ‘’Bluelight’’ between 7 January and 7 February 2015. ResultsResponses were received from 17 countries, mainly from Europe. Most responses (83%) came from University educated students. Two-thirds (65%) of the 168 respondents were aware of NPS. Awareness was significantly increased in those with bisexual/homosexual orientation (p0.05). Nearly half of the NPS users perceived NPS to carry either a low risk to health (20%) or did not know whether or not they posed a health risk (29%).ConclusionsThese survey data indicate that awareness of NPS and, importantly, perception of the potential health risks associated with NPS use is lacking. NPS awareness and use is higher in those in employment but is unaffected by the level of education. This highlights the need for targeted drugs education intervention by policy-makers in schools and universities.Peer reviewe

Compulsory detention, forced detoxification and enforced labour are not ethically acceptable or effective ways to treat addiction

Univ Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Womens Hosp Site, UQ Ctr Clin Res, Herston, Qld, AustraliaUniv Connecticut, Sch Med, Dept Community Med & Hlth Care, Farmington, CT 06030 USAKings Coll London, Inst Psychiat, Addict Dept, London SE5 8AF, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilDeakin Univ, Sch Psychol, Geelong, Vic 3217, AustraliaUniv Uyo, Dept Psychol, Uyo 520003, NigeriaUniv Connecticut, Sch Med, Calhoun Cardiol Ctr, Farmington, CT 06030 USAIHPP, CAS, Muang, Nonthaburi, ThailandUCL, Dept Epidemiol & Publ Hlth, CRUK Hlth Behav Res Ctr, London, EnglandUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

All at sea? Maritime dimensions of Europe's relations with Africa

The article examines three dimensions of Europe’s maritime relations with Africa: first, the notion that Europe’s strategic maritime frontiers are linked to Africa; second, the coherence or ‘actorness’ of the European Union’s (EU) anti-piracy force operating off the Horn of Africa; and third, the relationship between the EU’s own military and naval objectives and its wider regional policies in Africa. While the EU adopted a ‘Maritime Security Strategy’ in 2014, the article notes that, in practice, the EU’s strategy at sea has focused on two groups of ‘non-state actors’: the Africans who are ‘pirates’; and the migrants crossing the Mediterranean, who are the object of the EU’s Frontex patrols. As such, the initial question examined charts the somewhat fluid notion of the sea as a maritime frontier: where do Europe’s strategic interests in terms of its maritime frontiers lie? Is the EU’s anti-piracy mission defending them? Is this first-ever maritime mission a more tangible manifestation of EU’s common foreign and defence policy than some of the other shorter and smaller military and policing missions in Africa

Pesticides in cannabis: A review of analytical and toxicological considerations

A review of the literature surrounding the use, analysis, and detection of pesticide material for cannabis cultivation is presented. The use of pesticides in crop cultivation is not new, and cannabis crops are no exception. Studies have found that the use of these are common and that high levels of the pesticides are transferred into the cannabis smoke. The most common pesticide classes associated with cannabis are insecticides, acaricides, and fungicides. Over 350 different pesticide products may be used on cannabis materials and of these, 16 pesticides and three plant growth regulators (PGR) are considered to be the main candidates. Many of the pesticides found in cannabis samples destined for consumption are classed as moderately hazardous by the World Health Organization. Analytical methods for pesticide detection on cannabis are being developed with a view to implementing quality control of cannabis, where it is legal, before being sold. However, no standardized protocol exists. The pesticide levels found in the cannabis samples tested were generally low (less than μg/g), these results do not, however, provide information on chronic low‐dose adverse effects of pesticides in relation to cannabis consumption. Currently no research exists on the toxicity of pyrolyzed pesticides in humans from smoking cannabis. More studies are needed to further understand this potentially harmful health threat

Unfamiliar face matching with photographs of infants and children

Background Infants and children travel using passports that are typically valid for five years (e.g. Canada, United Kingdom, United States and Australia). These individuals may also need to be identified using images taken from videos and other sources in forensic situations including child exploitation cases. However, few researchers have examined how useful these images are as a means of identification. Methods We investigated the effectiveness of photo identification for infants and children using a face matching task, where participants were presented with two images simultaneously and asked whether the images depicted the same child or two different children. In Experiment 1, both images showed an infant (<1 year old), whereas in Experiment 2, one image again showed an infant but the second image of the child was taken at 4–5 years of age. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we asked participants to complete shortened versions of both these tasks (selecting the most difficult trials) as well as the short version Glasgow face matching test. Finally, in Experiment 4, we investigated whether information regarding the sex of the infants and children could be accurately perceived from the images. Results In Experiment 1, we found low levels of performance (72% accuracy) for matching two infant photos. For Experiment 2, performance was lower still (64% accuracy) when infant and child images were presented, given the significant changes in appearance that occur over the first five years of life. In Experiments 3a and 3b, when participants completed both these tasks, as well as a measure of adult face matching ability, we found lowest performance for the two infant tasks, along with mixed evidence of within-person correlations in sensitivities across all three tasks. The use of only same-sex pairings on mismatch trials, in comparison with random pairings, had little effect on performance measures. In Experiment 4, accuracy when judging the sex of infants was at chance levels for one image set and above chance (although still low) for the other set. As expected, participants were able to judge the sex of children (aged 4–5) from their faces. Discussion Identity matching with infant and child images resulted in low levels of performance, which were significantly worse than for an adult face matching task. Taken together, the results of the experiments presented here provide evidence that child facial photographs are ineffective for use in real-world identification

Epidemiology of acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Norway, 1992-2009

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Norway is classified as a low prevalence country for hepatitis B virus infection. Vaccination is only recommended for risk groups (intravenous drug users (IDUs), Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), immigrants and contacts of known carriers). We describe the epidemiology of reported cases of hepatitis B in Norway, during the years 1992-2009 in order to assess the validity of current risk groups and recommend preventive measures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used case based data from the national surveillance system on acute and chronic hepatitis B. The Norwegian Statistics Bureau provided population and migration data and the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research the estimated number of active IDUs between 2002-2007. Incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) for acute hepatitis B and notification rates (NR) and notification rate ratios (NRR) for chronic hepatitis B with 95% confidence intervals were calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The annual IR of acute hepatitis B ranged from 0.7/100,000 (1992) to 10.6/100,000 (1999). Transmission occurred mainly among IDUs (64%) or through sexual contact (24%). The risk of acquiring acute hepatitis B was highest in people aged 20-29 (IRR = 6.6 [3.3-13.3]), and in males (IRR = 2.4 [1.7-3.3]). We observed two peaks of newly reported chronic hepatitis B cases in 2003 and 2009 (NR = 17.6/100,000 and 17.4/100,000, respectively). Chronic hepatitis B was more likely to be diagnosed among immigrants than among Norwegians (NRR = 93 [71.9-120.6]), and among those 20-29 compared to those 50-59 (NRR = 5.2 [3.5-7.9]).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>IDUs remain the largest risk group for acute hepatitis B. The observed peaks of chronic hepatitis B are related to increased immigration from high endemic countries and screening and vaccination of these groups is important to prevent further spread of infection. Universal screening of pregnant women should be introduced. A universal vaccination strategy should be considered, given the high cost of reaching the target populations. We recommend evaluating the surveillance system for hepatitis B as well as the effectiveness of screening and vaccinating immigrant populations.</p

Detection of newly emerging psychoactive substances using Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics

A novel approach for the identification of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) by means of Raman spectroscopy coupled with Principal Components Analysis (PCA) employing the largest dataset of NPS reference materials to date is reported here. Fifty three NPS were selected as a structurally diverse subset from an original dataset of 478 NPS compounds. The Raman spectral profiles were experimentally acquired for all 53 substances, evaluated using a number of pre-processing techniques, and used to generate a PCA model. The optimum model system used a relatively narrow spectral range (1300 -1750 cm-1) and accounted for 37% of the variance in the dataset using the first three principal components, despite the large structural diversity inherent in the NPS subset. Nonetheless, structurally similar NPS (i.e., the synthetic cannabinoids FDU-PB-22 & NM-2201) grouped together in the PCA model based on their Raman spectral profiles, while NPS with different chemical scaffolds (i.e., the benzodiazepine flubromazolam and the cathinone -PBT) were well delineated, occupying markedly different areas of the three-dimensional scores plot. Classification of NPS based on their Raman spectra (i.e., chemical scaffolds) using the PCA model was further investigated. NPS that were present in the initial dataset of 478 NPS but were not part of the selected 53 training set (validation set) were observed to be closely aligned to structurally similar NPS within the generated model system in all cases. Furthermore, NPS that were not present in the original dataset of 478 NPS (test set) were also shown to group as expected in the model (i.e., methamphetamine and N-ethylamphetamine). This indicates that, for the first time, a model system can be applied to potential ‘unknown’ psychoactive substances, which are new to the market and absent from existing chemical libraries, to identify key structural features to make a preliminary classification. Consequently, it is anticipated that this study will be of interest to the broad scientific audience working with large structurally diverse chemical datasets and particularly to law enforcement agencies and associated scientific analytical bodies worldwide investigating the development of novel identification methodologies for psychoactive substances.Peer reviewe