Archive for the ‘Harm reduction’ Category
Policy resistance to harm reduction for drug users and potential effect of change
No CommentsDespite good evidence for its effectiveness in HIV prevention, countries such as Russia remain resistant to harm reduction. Tim Rhodes and colleagues show the obstacles to and potential benefits of changing policy on opiate substitution treatment.
A Grounded Theory of Detoxification-Seeking Among Heroin Users in South East Ireland
No CommentsThis study explores a central phenomenon of detoxification-seeking among heroin users in the South East of Ireland, through a grounded theory approach.
The study conceptualises detoxification-seeking as a help-seeking behaviour, experienced by heroin users, but not all, in response to and as a consequence of the complex experience of being heroin dependent, and wanting to become abstinent. The core category, ‘forging a pathway towards abstinence from heroin’, provides an insight into challenges and tasks that research participants undertook when their aim was abstinence.
Study Finds Low Hepatitis C Rates in Methadone Maintenance Participants
No CommentsResearchers at an Israeli clinic offering methadone maintenance treatment have found that the treatment for opiate addiction appears to protect individuals against subsequent hepatitis C infection, Medscape Psychiatry reported April 19.
Medical marijuana users in substance abuse treatment
No CommentsThe rise of authorized marijuana use in the U.S. means that many individuals are using cannabis as they concurrently engage in other forms of treatment, such as substance abuse counseling and psychotherapy. Clinical and legal decisions may be influenced by findings that suggest marijuana use during treatment serves as an obstacle to treatment success, compromises treatment integrity, or increases the prevalence or severity of relapse. In this paper, the author reviews the relationship between authorized marijuana use and substance abuse treatment utilizing data from a preliminary pilot study that, for the first time, uses a systematic methodology to collect data examining possible effects on treatment.
Smoking of crack cocaine as a risk factor for HIV infection among people who use injection drugs
No CommentsLittle is known about the possible role that smoking crack cocaine has on the incidence of HIV infection. Given the increasing use of crack cocaine, we sought to examine whether use of this illicit drug has become a risk factor for HIV infection.
