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Aim: The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical features of designer-drug-abusing patients through comparisons with methamphetamine-abusing patients and hypnotics/anxiolytics-abusing patients., Methods: Information on 126 designer-drug-abusing patients, 138 methamphetamine-abusing patients, and 87 hypnotics/anxiolytics-abusing patients was extracted from the 2012 database of 'The Nationwide Mental Hospital Survey on Drug-related Psychiatric Disorders' and the clinical variables of designer-drug-abusing patients compared with those of the other two groups., Results: Multivariate analysis indicated the following significant differences between designer-drug-abusing patients and the other two types of patients: designer-drug-abusing patients were younger, included more men, had higher education and fewer relationships with antisocial groups, and included more patients meeting ICD-10 F1 sub-classification categories of 'Harmful use' and 'Psychotic disorders' than methamphetamine-abusing patients. Compared with hypnotics/anxiolytics-abusing patients, designer-drug-abusing patients were younger, included more men and more patients meeting criteria for 'Psychotic disorders', and more frequently cited 'peer pressure', 'unable to refuse', and 'seeking stimulation' as reasons for using the drug., Conclusion: The advent of designer drugs has created a new class of drug abuse, and abuse of designer drugs may carry a strong psychosis-inducing risk, exceeding that of methamphetamine., (© 2014 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2014 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)

Over the past decade, the amount and variety of addiction research around the world has increased substantially. Researchers in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, and western Europe have significantly contributed to knowledge about addiction and its treatment. However, the nature and context of substance use disorders and the populations using drugs are far more diverse than is reflected in studies done in Western cultures. To stimulate new research from a diverse set of cultural perspectives, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has promoted the development of addiction research capacity and skills around the world for over 25 years. This review will describe the programs NIDA has developed to sponsor international research and research fellows and will provide some examples of the work NIDA has supported. NIDA fellowships have allowed 496 individuals from 96 countries to be trained in addiction research. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have recently developed funding to support addiction research to study, with advice from NIDA, the substance use disorder problems that affect their societies. Examples from Malaysia, Tanzania, Brazil, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Republic of Georgia, Iceland, China, and Vietnam are used to illustrate research being conducted with NIDA support. Health services research, collaboratively funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Department of State, addresses a range of addiction service development questions in low- and middle-income countries. Findings have expanded the understanding of addiction and its treatment, and are enhancing the ability of practitioners and policy makers to address substance use disorders.

Abstract: Persons with a substance use disorder (SUD) are less likely to be insured and may have limited access to appropriate care, thereby increasing their reliance on emergency departments (EDs). We investigated whether health conditions and insurance status are significant predictors of admission to a community hospital directly from an ED visit with an SUD diagnosis. We analyzed the 2008 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Lack of health insurance was disproportionately likely in ED visits that carried an SUD diagnosis, whether alcohol- or drug-related. Using regression analysis, most SUD and non-SUD diagnostic categories and many procedure categories were significantly related to subsequent hospital admission. Controlling for clinical characteristics, SUD-related ED visits covered by public or private insurance had substantially higher odds of leading to hospital admission than did uninsured visits. Policies that broaden insurance coverage may improve access to inpatient care for persons with SUDs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]