Journal of Psychoactive Drugs

Stigma is a public health concern. Stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with substance use disorders (SUDs) can adversely impact clinical care and outcomes. Beliefs about SUD, prior experience and familiarity to persons with SUD, and educational curricula drive attitudes among health-care workers. In 2019, nursing and nursing assistant students were recruited through an online survey platform. Participants completed an SUD knowledge test and a survey assessing education, beliefs, personal experience, and confidence in recognizing the signs and symptoms of SUD...

This study aimed to characterize attitudes and identify gaps in trainee knowledge and education that may impact the field's readiness for the reemergence of psychedelic use in psychiatry. A two-part survey was sent out targeting medical and allied professional trainees who may interact with patients using or planning to use psychedelics therapeutically. Collected data for part one characterized demographics, sources of information, attitudes, experiences, and amount and type of education available about psychedelics in training programs...

Identifying typical doses of existing opioid use disorder medications, such as injectable opioid agonist treatment (iOAT), can support client and program needs, and potentially increase iOAT expansion. Longitudinal data from participants in a cohort study ( n  = 131), along with clinic dispensation records from August 2014 to April 2020, were used to examine physician prescribed as well as used doses of injectable diacetylmorphine and hydromorphone. Dosage groups, by medication and prescribed dose per session, were created for both hydromorphone and diacetylmorphine...

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or cannabis poses public health risks. Little is known about DUI of Delta-8 THC, a newer cannabis product. Using 2022 survey data among 189 U.S. adults ages 18-25 (58.73% male, 59.26% non-Hispanic White), multivariable logistic regression examined substance-specific (alcohol, cannabis, Delta-8) DUI perceived likelihood and risk in relation to past-year DUI among those with past-year use of each. Overall, 72.49% reported past-year alcohol use, 50.53% cannabis, and 22...

A California-sponsored, 18-month, tobacco-free intervention in residential substance use disorder (SUD) programs was associated with increases in tobacco-free grounds and tobacco-related client services. The current study examined whether positive results would be replicated in 11 programs participating subsequently. Program directors ( N  = 11) completed surveys of tobacco-related policies pre- and post-intervention. Pre- ( n  = 163) and post-intervention ( n  = 128) cross-sectional staff surveys examined tobacco-related training, beliefs, practices, smoking policy, and smoking status...

This study explores the intentions and experiences of individuals seeking abstinence from heroin use through voluntary rehabilitation, as well as challenges to achieving a positive outcome. This study used semi-structured interviews with 37 individuals (22 female) who used heroin and utilized rational choice theory to guide data analysis. This study found that participants tried both medical and non-medical treatment methods but faced structural and personal barriers that hindered their efforts. While ceasing heroin use would presumably benefit their health and family relationships, individuals perceived the physical, psychological, and social costs of abstinence as outweighing the potential benefits and ultimately resumed heroin use...

Despite common depictions in the media, there is little scientific evidence on microdosing psychedelic drugs. We assessed awareness, prevalence, and dosing practices of microdosing psychedelic drugs among young adults 18-22 years old from Southern California (2018-2019). We examined whether sociodemographic factors, personality traits, mental health, or other substance use behaviors were correlated with having ever microdosed. Among 2,396 participants, 293 (12%) had heard of microdosing and 74 (3%) ever microdosed...

Interest in psychedelics and their possible therapeutic potential has been growing. Metaphysical belief theory asserts that these benefits stem from the adoption of comforting supernatural beliefs following a mystical experience. By contrast, predictive self-binding theory suggests that the beneficial outcomes of psychedelics are primarily driven by psychological insights. The present study tests these competing models of psychedelic benefits. We conducted a quantitative content analysis on unsolicited self-reports of psychedelic users available on Erowid...

The standard protocol in addiction treatment/pain management is to conduct immunoassay screens for major drugs subject to misuse, followed by confirmatory testing of positive results. However, this may miss unscreened or rarely screened drugs that could pose risks, especially to polydrug users. We sought to determine the prevalences of unscreened/rarely screened drugs in a sample of individuals misusing drugs in 7 U.S. states, and to compare the results of urine vs. oral testing for these drugs by direct-to-definitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS)...

Qualitative studies and anecdotal reports suggest that experiences with ayahuasca, a psychedelic brew found in Central and South America, may be followed by individuals enduringly feeling more grateful and connected to nature. Yet, to date, these changes have been understudied. Here, participants ( N  = 54) completed validated surveys related to gratitude, nature relatedness, and nature appreciation one-week before, one-week after, and one-month after attending an ayahuasca retreat center. Compared to baseline, there was a significant increase in gratitude, nature relatedness, and nature appreciation at the one-week and one-month follow-ups...

Despite various interventions available for substance use disorders, relapse rates remain substantial and, therefore, alternative strategies for attenuating dependence are needed. This study examined the associations between exercise frequency, illicit substance use, and dependence severity among a large sample of people who use drugs. The study utilized data from the Global Drug Survey 2018 ( N  = 57,110) to investigate the relationship between exercise frequency, illicit substance use, and substance dependence severity...

Expectancies regarding the sleep-promoting effects of cannabis may exacerbate the propensity to self-medicate sleep problems with cannabis. Given the potential clinical importance of expectancies for the sedative effects of cannabis, Goodhines et al (2020) developed the Sleep-Related Cannabis Expectancies Questionnaire (SR-CEQ). However, concurrent validity of this instrument has not been evaluated. This study aimed to replicate the two-factor structure and internal reliability and explore incremental construct validity of the SR-CEQ...

Cannabis and opioid co-dependence is independently associated with cognitive impairments. We examined neurocognitive dysfunctions in people with concurrent opioid dependence with cannabis dependence (OD+CD) or cannabis use (OD+CU) compared to those with only opioid dependence (OD) and healthy controls (HC). We selected adult participants, any sex, who met the diagnosis of OD ( N  = 268), OD+CU ( N  = 58), and OD + CD ( N  = 115). We recruited 68 education-matched HC...

"Microdosing," defined as the consumption of small, sub-hallucinogenic quantities of psychedelic drugs, has gained recent popularity. Microdosing is a relatively new concept, therefore no scientific recommendations exist on how to prepare and consume microdoses. Many consumers obtain microdosing information online. Few studies have investigated the content of this information; thus, the present study aimed to do so by collecting a large set of online microdosing information. A qualitative approach was taken to compile and characterize online microdosing information...

Research suggests positive changes in both well-being and psychiatric symptoms following a psychedelic experience. One explanation may be the ability of psychedelic compounds to occasion mystical-type experiences. The Revised Mystical Experiences Questionnaire (MEQ30) is designed to assess the intensity and quality of such experiences. We examined the validity, reliability, and factor structure of a Danish translation of the MEQ30 in one sample of healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin in a laboratory setting ( N  = 47) and two samples of recreative users of psychedelics, in which MEQ30 was reported retrospectively through an online survey based on their most recent experience with psilocybin ( N  = 834) or their most memorable experience with any psychedelic ( N  = 500)...

Alcohol use among Biracial adolescents remains understudied. This study examined how parenting and peer factors relate to age of alcohol use onset among Black, White, and Biracial Black-White adolescents and emerging adults. We used Add Health data to produce a final analytic sample of 13,528 adolescents who self-identified as White, Black, or Biracial Black-White. Discrete-time survival analysis implemented within logistic regression indicated Black adolescents showed the lowest probability of alcohol use onset by age 18, followed by Biracial adolescents, and White adolescents...

The relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behavior is complex, with no consensus in the literature. We used electronic health records of national health services to identify individuals who received a diagnosis of Cannabis Use Disorder in the Metropolitan area of Bologna from 2009 to 2019. In this cohort we identified accesses to Emergency Departments for suicide attempts from 2009 to 2019. The Crude Suicide Rate for 1,000 Person Years was 2.5, higher in females, in patients with Alcohol Use Disorders, with any psychiatric diagnosis, within one year from the first visit, and during the COVID-19 period...

Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD) is considered rare in hallucinogen users although there are conflicting reports about its incidence and prevalence. HPPD may be more common in those with trait neuroticism. In this study, we invited hallucinogen and other drug users to complete an online questionnaire about their use of hallucinogens, their experience of HPPD symptoms, and their trait neuroticism and mental health symptoms. We received 802 responses with 415 of these containing adequate data for further analysis...

Cannabis was legalized for adult use in California in 2016 for individuals 21 and older. Among 18-20-years-olds, who can possess cannabis legally as medical cannabis patients (MCP) but not as non-patient cannabis users (NPU), the impact of adult use legalization (AUL) on cannabis and other substance use is unknown. Two cohorts of 18-20-year-old cannabis users (MCP and NPU) were surveyed, one in 2014-15 ( n  = 172 "pre-AUL") and another in 2019-20 ( n  = 139 "post-AUL"), using similar data collection methods in Los Angeles, California...

Using the Arizona State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (AZ-SUDORS), the study aims to identify the social and drug characteristics of illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF)-related overdose deaths. The data include drug overdose deaths from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. Decedents were categorized into four groups by types of opioids detected: (1) IMF-positive; (2) heroin-positive (negative for IMF); (3) pharmaceutical opioid-positive (negative for heroin or IMF); (4) nonopioid. Bivariate statistics were used to compare differences between IMF and other groups...