Essential components of physician health program monitoring for substance use disorder: A survey of participants 5 years post successful program completion.

Background And Objectives: Physician health programs (PHPs) have demonstrated efficacy, but their mechanism of influence is unclear. This study sought to identify essential components of PHP care management for substance use disorder (SUD), and to assess whether positive outcomes are sustained over time.

Methods: Physicians with DSM-IV diagnoses of Substance Dependence and/or Substance Abuse who had successfully completed a PHP monitoring agreement at least 5 years before the study (N = 343) were identified as eligible.

Trends in Abstaining From Substance Use in Adolescents: 1975-2014.

Unlabelled: : media-1vid110.1542/5789654654001PEDS-VA_2017-3498 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adolescent substance use is a prevalent modifiable health behavior; understanding long-term trends is essential to inform prevention efforts and public health policy. We investigated changes in the proportion of substance nonuse among adolescents over a 40-year period and associations between abstinence and individual risk and protective factors.

Drug use among youth: National survey data support a common liability of all drug use.

The prevalence of substance use disorders in adults is higher if substance use is initiated during adolescence, underscoring the importance of youth substance use prevention. We examined whether the use of one substance by adolescents is associated with increased risk for using any other substance, regardless of use sequences. In 2017 we examined data from 17,000 youth aged 12-17 who participated in the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a sample of nationally representative data on substance use among the U.

Outcomes for Physicians With Opioid Dependence Treated Without Agonist Pharmacotherapy in Physician Health Programs.

Aims: To compare treatment outcome among substance dependent physicians enrolled in a physician health program (PHP) who have a history of alcohol use only, any opioid use, or non-opioid drug use, in order to determine whether the distinctive PHP system of care management is as effective for individuals with opioid use disorders as for those with alcohol or other drug use disorders.

Methods: A 5-year, retrospective chart review, intent-to-treat analysis was conducted for all physicians admitted to 16 physician health programs (N=702; 85.5% male; age range=24-75).

Random student drug testing as a school-based drug prevention strategy.

Aim: This paper describes the goals and current practice of school-based random student drug testing (RSDT) as part of an overall drug prevention strategy, briefly explores the available literature evaluating its effectiveness and discusses the controversies related to RSDT.

Method: The authors describe the rationale for RSDT programs and the prevalence of RSDT and other drug testing programs in schools. Eight major criticisms and controversies in RSDT are discussed, including those related to acceptance of RSDT, program effectiveness, costs, legality and effects of drug testing on students.

The need for drugged driving per se laws: a commentary.

Objective: Triggered by the new federal commitment announced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONCDP) to encourage states to enact drugged driving per se laws, this article reviews the reasons to establish such laws and the issues that may arise when trying to enforce them.

Methods: A review of the state of drunk driving per se laws and their implications for drugged driving is presented, with a review of impaired driving enforcement procedures and drug testing technology.

Results: Currently, enforcement of drugged driving laws is an adjunct to the enforcement of laws regarding alcohol impairment.

Towards a national model for managing impaired driving offenders.

Aims: To describe a proposed national model for controlling the risk presented by offenders convicted of driving while impaired (DWI) and promoting behavioral change to reduce future recidivism.

Setting: Traditional methods of controlling the risk they present to the driving public are not adequate, as indicated by the fact that approximately 1000 people are killed each year-in alcohol-related crashes involving drivers convicted of DWI in the previous three years. However, stimulated by the success of special drug courts for substance abusers and new technological methods for monitoring drug and alcohol use, new criminal justice programs for managing impaired driving offenders are emerging.