Using Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain: A Social-Ecological Framework.

Early studies suggest medical cannabis (MC) has the potential to benefit people who suffer from chronic pain by offering a less addictive alternative to opioids; however, most investigators agree more research is indicated. Today, in 2023, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug and is an illegal substance in the United States under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Despite this designation, as of February 2022, 37 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia allowed using cannabis products to treat certain painful medical conditions.

Pain Management During West Virginia's Opioid Crisis.

Purpose: Opioid use disorder has caused significant morbidity and mortality resulting in opioid prescribing limiting laws, such as State Bill 273 in West Virginia. The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of a restrictive opioid prescription law on physicians in medical practice in West Virginia.

Methods: A qualitative study with open-ended semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of physicians in West Virginia.

"The DEA would come in and destroy you": a qualitative study of fear and unintended consequences among opioid prescribers in WV.

Background: West Virginia has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose related deaths and is known as the epicenter of the opioid crisis in the United States. In an effort to reduce opioid-related harms, SB 273 was signed in 2018, and aimed to restrict opioid prescribing in West Virginia. SB 273 was enacted during a time when physician arrests and convictions had been increasing for years and were becoming more prevalent and more publicized.

Care to the end: a retrospective observational study of aged care facility residents transferred to hospital in the last day of life.

Background: While transfer of aged care facility (ACF) residents to an acute hospital is sometimes necessary, for those at end of life this can cause fragmented care and disruption.

Aim: To explore the characteristics of ACF residents transferred to hospital in the last 24 h of life and factors that might influence this decision, including access to medical review, advance care planning (ACP) and pre-emptive symptom management prescribing, an area not previously researched.

Methods: A retrospective observational audit of ACF residents transferred to a metropolitan hospital between 2012 and 2017 who died within 24 h of transfer.

Sexual Assault in the Ivory Tower: Public Opinion on University Accountability and Mandatory Reporting.

Highly publicized college sex crimes have recently captured public and policy attention. In response, greater discussion has turned to institutional accountability and controversial reforms such as mandatory reporting (MR). No study to date has measured public perceptions of campus sex assault procedures, however.

Drug Generations in the 2000s: An Analysis of Arrestee Data.

Much empirical evidence indicates that the popularity of various drugs tends to increase and wane over time producing episodic epidemics of particular drugs. These epidemics mostly affect persons reaching their late teens at the time of the epidemic resulting in distinct drug generations. This article examines the drug generations present in the 2000s among arrestees in the 10 locations served by the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring-II program.

The opiate pain reliever epidemic among U.S. arrestees 2000-2010: regional and demographic variations.

The increasing rate of opiate pain reliever (OPR) use is a pressing concern in the United States. This article uses a drug epidemics framework to examine OPR use among arrestees surveyed by the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program. Results demonstrate regional and demographic variation in use across nine focal cities.

Measuring the stability of illicit drug markets: why does it matter?

Contemporary drug policy in the United States favors a balanced approach including a supply side dimension. The supply side dimension is grounded in the assumption that the disruption of illicit drug markets will result in diminished capacity of the markets to provide for consumer demand and thereby a reduction in the use of illicit drugs and a related increase in demand for treatment. In this paper we consider the disruption of methamphetamine markets in 10 cities in terms of the relative stability of those markets.

Trauma, drugs and violence among juvenile offenders.

Trauma typically occurs when one experiences a situation where life has been threatened or lost. If the trauma is not resolved, negative residual effects may result in alcohol and drug use, involvement in violent activities as well as the development of mental health problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Findings from a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study examining the link between trauma, drug use and violence among youth are presented.

Alcohol-related homicides committed by women.

In this paper we use data derived from interviews with female homicide offenders either incarcerated or on parole in New York to examine those cases (N=35) that the respondents believed were related to their use of alcohol at the time of the homicide. We found four basic types of these homicides based on victim-offender relationships and the circumstances of the incidents. Women who committed each type of alcohol-related homicide reported a variety of motives for committing these acts.

Drugs and homicide by women.

In this paper we use data derived from interviews with 215 female homicide offenders incarcerated or on parole in New York to examine their drug use prior to and at the time of the homicide, their victims' drug use, and their perceptions as to the drug-relatedness of the homicides. We found that about 7 out of 10 respondents had been regular users of some drug at some point in their lives prior to their incarceration, while over half had been addicted to a substance. Over one-third of the respondents who were present at the scene were "high" on a drug at the time, while about half of the victims of these homicides used drugs before the homicide.

Substance involvement among juvenile murderers: comparisons with older offenders based on interviews with prison inmates.

We evaluated substance involvement among incarcerated juvenile offenders convicted of murder of manslaughter. Patterns of substance involvement among juvenile offenders were compared with patterns found in older offenders. Irrespective of age group, close to one-third of all homicide perpetrators reported that they were affected by alcohol prior to the offense.

Drug use by homicide offenders.

This article uses data derived from interviews with 268 homicide offenders incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities to examine their drug use prior to and at the time of the homicide, and their perceptions as to whether and how the homicides were related to their drug use. Most respondents who used a drug were not hard-core users of that drug. About one in five of the respondents could be considered polydrug abusers.

The role of marijuana in homicide.

In this paper we examine the relationship between marijuana use and homicide. Data derive from interviews with 268 individuals incarcerated in New York State correctional facilities for homicides that occurred in 1984. We found that in terms of lifetime use, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug in this sample; that about one-third of respondents who had ever used marijuana used the drug in the 24-hour period before the homicide; and that almost three-quarters of those respondents were experiencing some type of effect from the drug when the homicide occurred.

Prevalence of anemia and correlation of hemoglobin with age in a geriatric screening clinic population.

A retrospective review of 1,024 charts of Geriatric Screening Clinic patients was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of anemia and degree of correlation of aging with changes in hemoglobin (Hgb) level in a healthy, elderly population (age range, 60 to 96 years; mean age, 70 years). Twelve per cent of participants were anemic overall, although there was a sex difference; more males (17.7%) were anemic than females (8.

Anthropometric measurements for Asian and Caucasian elderly.

While differences in height and weight were observed, the results of this study indicate that there are similarities between Caucasian and Asian-American elderly in skin-fold measurements and prevalence of obesity. These results illustrate the value of skinfold thickness as a more accurate measure of adiposity than indexes on the basis of weight for given height. In addition, our results provide evidence for ethnic similarities in the distribution of subcutaneous fat and the prevalence of obesity in elderly Caucasians and Asian-Americans.

Aspects of medical care of Soviet Jewish Emigrés.

Soviet Jewish emigrés are a recently arrived refugee group in San Francisco and in other cities in the United States. They have frequently been perceived as a demanding and complaining population, particularly the elderly, often chronically ill members. These behaviors can also be seen as positive survival mechanisms that have evolved in response to the Soviet health care system and cultural background.

Geriatric education in a teaching hospital: the role of geriatric services.

Geriatric education and training are most successful when taught in a setting that provides the medical and social services that elderly persons often require. At Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center, medical students and trainees participate in several geriatric services that introduce them to the special health needs of the elderly, including the ambulant and the homebound. In the Mount Zion/University of California, San Francisco, geriatric education and training program, we have defined three principles of geriatric medicine that are unique to the field and are best applied directly within the service setting.