Sonam O. Lasopa

Assessing prescription stimulant use, misuse, and diversion among youth 10-18 years of age.

Purpose of review Assessing the medical and nonmedical use (NMU) of stimulants and diversion is a challenge, especially among youth, with different methods for recruitment and definitions of NMU. The field needs inexpensive, yet effective and reliable, methods of data collection to understand the prescription drug use problem. Most studies of youth are school or web-based, and conducted with teens. Recent findings The National Monitoring of Adolescent Prescription Stimulants Study recruited 11 048 youth 10–18 years of age from urban, rural, and suburban areas in 10 US cities using an entertainment venue intercept study. This review discusses the effectiveness of the method and results from four cross-sections as well as the representativeness of the sample. Lifetime prevalence of any stimulant use was 14.8%, with rates highest among rural 16–18 year olds. The rate of last 30-day use was 7.3%, with over half (3.9%) NMU. Nearly 12% of all youth (whether a user or not) reported lifetime incoming/outgoing diversion of prescription stimulants. Summary Because no study has focused on stimulant use among youth as young as 10 and 11, this study is a landmark for future comparisons and offers a unique strategy for sampling and data collection.

Current patterns of marijuana use initiation by age among US adolescents and emerging adults: implications for intervention

ABSTRACT Background: More recent data are required for effective measures to prevent marijuana use among youth in the United States. Objective: To investigate the risk of marijuana use onset by age using the most recent data from a national sample. Methods: Data for participants (n = 26,659) aged 12–21 years from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (50.4% male, 55.6% White) were analyzed. Patterns of the risk of marijuana use initiation from birth to age of 20 years by single year of age were characterized using hazards survival models. Results: The estimated hazards of marijuana use showed unique age patterns for the overall sample and by gender and racial/ethnic groups. Up to age of 11 years, the hazards of marijuana use initiation were below 0.0500; the hazards after age of 11 years increased rapidly with two peaks at age 16 (0.1291) and 18 years (0.1496), separated by a reduction at age 17 years (0.1112). The age pattern differed significantly by gender (hazards from high to low: male, female) and race/ethnicity (hazards from high to low: multi-racial, Black, White, Hispanic, and Asian). By age of 21 years, 54.1% (56.4% for male and 51.9% for female) had initiated marijuana use with a mean onset age of 16.5 years. Conclusions: This study documented the risk of marijuana use initiation by age. Research findings suggest the timing of marijuana use prevention was no later than middle school. Additional attention is indicated to multi-racial/ethnic youth. Future interventions should be developed for both parents and adolescents, and delivered to the right target population at the right time.

Diversion of prescription stimulant drugs among 10-18-year-olds.

Purpose of review Public health concern regarding the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among youth has generated the need for increased understanding of diversion, which is the illegal sharing and selling of prescription drugs. Although our understanding of nonmedical use of stimulants has increased, the same cannot be said of diversion behavior among youth. Recent findings The aim of this article is to use data from the National Monitoring of Adolescent Prescription Stimulants Study, which assessed prescription stimulant use among 10–18 years old across 10 US cities to report on prescription stimulant diversion among those who misused those medications. Findings indicate that more than one half (52%) of youth had engaged in one of the three forms of diversion (incoming only, outgoing only and both incoming and outgoing diversion). Engaging in incoming diversion only and both incoming and outgoing diversion increased with age and nonmedical use of prescription stimulants. All forms of diversion increased with marijuana use and among 16–18 years old with a friends use of prescription stimulant. Summary Findings provide an understanding of the subtypes of diversion and risk correlates of youth prescription stimulant diverters that has value in preventing prescription stimulant diversion.

Risky Sexual Behaviors, Substance Use, and Perceptions of Risky Behaviors Among Criminal Justice Involved Women Who Trade Sex

This study examined risky sexual behaviors, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV)-defined alcohol and substance use disorders, and perceptions of risky behaviors among community released, justice-involved women, who are currently trading sex (CTS), formerly traded sex (FTS), or have never traded sex. Data were derived from 266 sexually active women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in St. Louis, Missouri. In an adjusted multinomial regression model, being dependent on alcohol and cocaine was the most robust correlate of sex-trading status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: CTS = 4.21, FTS = 4.66). Perceptions of sexual risk and HIV were significantly associated with CTS (AOR = 3.39), however, not FTS. Other significant correlates of sex trading status included age, lifetime injection drug use, lower education, child sexual abuse, and unstable housing. Gender-specific interventions tailored toward currently and formerly sex-trading women are needed.

The Association Between Religiosity and Substance Use Patterns Among Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System

A growing body of research is exploring the association between religiosity and drug use. Thus, this analysis examines the association between religiosity and substance use patterns among females in the criminal justice system. Data derived from 318 women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in St. Louis, Missouri, were used to determine the association between religiosity and substance use patterns. Results indicate that religiosity decreased the odds of cocaine use, observed for both crack/cocaine (CC) use alone (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.41) and crack/cocaine + marijuana (CC + MJ) (AOR = 0.32). Interestingly, this association was not found for MJ use alone. Other variables that were significantly associated with CC + MJ use included being non-Black (CC + MJ: AOR = 0.46; MJ: AOR = 0.28), 4+ arrests (CC + MJ: AOR = 4.66; CC: AOR = 2.64), and <30 years of age (CC + MJ: AOR = 0.37; CC: AOR = 0.16; MJ: AOR = 2.84). Future drug prevention and interventions should consider the potential protective effects of religiosity on substance use.