Special Populations

Allison Smith, PhD, senior program administrator for the Louisiana Board of Regents, discusses groups within college populations facing a heightened risk of opioid overdose, crafting policy around naloxone administration, and working with university leaders to make colleges safer.

A pair of recent studies resulting from Duke University researchers’ work in New Zealand have found a link between mental health issues in children and poorer physical health in adulthood, suggesting that improved mental healthcare for youth can potentially prevent diseases later in life and thereby lower overall societal healthcare costs.

Adolescents in California reported significant increases in marijuana use in the years following the legalization of adult recreational marijuana use in 2016, according to data published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Mightier, a Boston-based startup developer of a video game system that teaches children emotional regulation, announced that it has received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to collaborate with Magellan Healthcare on a study of the impact of video games on improving children’s mental health.

A recently released study finds that as unemployment rates rise, military veterans are at an increased risk for developing substance use disorders and dying by suicide.

LGBTQ+ individuals were found to be more likely to engage in substance use at an earlier age, use illicit drugs for longer periods, and have more difficulty finding support when seeking treatment, according to a survey published by AAC’s Desert Hope treatment facility.

Flavored products and new nicotine formulations have made vaping products more appealing to younger populations in recent years, says Brian King, PhD, MPH, of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.

Warriors Anonymous, a specialty meeting for active military, veterans, first responders and EMTs, has been created to strengthen peer network for “warriors” in recovery.

Methamphetamine use and HIV, now compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, could create double jeopardy among men who have sex with men, according to an editorial recently published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.

Substance use disorder prevalence rates in local jails can vary significantly between jurisdictions. Periodic monitoring with tools that capture diagnostic data is essential.