Treating addiction may not be easy, but it is possible. Volume 37, Issue 4 of Substance Abuse offers a lot of insight into how treat addiction safely and ethically. Themes mentioned in this issue are bipartisanship, medication assisted treatment, racial disparity, homelessness, and more.

The most viewed manuscript in this issue was:

Co-prescribing naloxone does not increase liability risk

Corey S. Davis, JD, MSPH; Scott Burris, JD; Leo Beletsky, JD, MPH; & Ingrid Binswanger MD, MPH, MS

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The Authors’ Own Words: We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Co-prescription of Naloxone as a Universal Precautions Model for Patients on Chronic Opioid Therapy – observational study

Mikiko Y. Takeda, PharmD, MS; Joanna G. Katzman, MD, MSPH; Ernest Dole, PharmD; Melissa Heinz Bennett, MPH; Amal Alchbli, MD; Daniel Duhigg, DO, MBA; & Howard Yonas, MD

Substance Abuse Vol. 37, Iss. 4, 2016

“Since opioid overdose death is such a pressing public health issue, harm reduction innovations to prevent overdose death are critical to study. The ambulatory co-prescribing of naloxone is a universal precaution model for all patients prescribed chronic opioid therapy. This can be adapted universally for all patients treated with chronic opioid therapy in an ambulatory setting so that there is increased availability and utilization in the case of an opioid overdose.”

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The Authors’ Own Words: We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Medication Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorders within a National Community Health Center Research Network

Traci Rieckmann, PhD; John Muench, MD, MPH; Mary Ann McBurnie, PhD; Michael C. Leo, PhD; Phillip Crawford, MS; Daren Ford, LCSW, CADC II; Jennifer Stubbs,Conall O’Cleirigh, PhD; Kenneth H. Mayer, MD; Kevin Fiscella, MD, MPH; Nicole Wright, PsyD, CSAC, ICADC; Maya Doe-Simkins, MPH; Matthew Cuddeback, LCSW; Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar, MD, MPH; & Christine Nelson, PhD, RN

Substance Abuse Vol. 37, Iss. 4, 2016

“Our manuscript details a descriptive research study about care for substance use disorders in non-specialty settings; we examine prevalence rates, patient characteristics, utilization of medication assisted treatments, and screening for safety net patients from a national network of community health centers. Findings from this study provide important information about the low rates of use of medication assisted treatments in primary care settings, and also provide insights into the characteristics and care for uninsured patients, a population often overlooked in most studies utilizing insurance claims data. The implications of these findings include a focused understanding of the treatment needs and future steps that need to be taken in order to adequately address substance use disorders in safety net populations.”

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The Authors’ Own Words: We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Vicarious Trauma and Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth among Substance Abuse Treatment Providers

Merith Cosden, PhD; Ashley Sanford, PhD; Lauren M. Koch, BS; & Caitlin E. Lepore, MA

Substance Abuse Vol. 37, Iss. 4, 2016

“Many clients who are in treatment for substance abuse also have a history of trauma. Treatment providers acknowledge the role that trauma plays in substance abuse and many provide integrated treatment for trauma symptoms and substance abuse. Unfortunately, programmatic changes have proceeded faster than has our understanding of the impact of this work on substance abuse treatment providers. In particular, we know that working with clients who have experienced trauma can result in vicarious trauma and/or vicarious posttraumatic growth. This study examined factors associated with vicarious trauma and vicarious posttraumatic growth for counselors working with clients in substance abuse treatment. Counselors who were in recovery were more likely than other counselors to report a history of trauma; they also reported higher levels of vicarious trauma and vicarious posttraumatic growth. This study identified risk factors for counselors’ experiencing vicarious trauma and vicarious posttraumatic growth, and points to the importance of preparing counselors, both personally and professionally, for addressing trauma within substance abuse treatment programs.”

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The Authors’ Own Words: We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.

Intoxication and Binge and High-Intensity Drinking Among US Young Adults in Their Mid-Twenties

Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath, MSA & Megan E. Patrick, PhD

Substance Abuse Vol. 37, Iss. 4, 2016

“The likelihood of discussing alcohol use with a doctor or other health professional has been shown to decrease sharply after age 24, but empirical studies of high-risk alcohol use among this group have not been available to indicate if such decreased clinician communication overall is warranted. Our study, which estimated the prevalence of a range of alcohol use behaviors among US young adults aged 25/26, found that 39.9% of these young adults reported being intoxicated at least once in the past 30 days and 25.6% reported usually experiencing a sustained high of 3 or more hours when drinking alcohol. In the past two weeks, binge drinking (5+ drinks in a row) was reported by 36.3% of respondents, and 12.4% reported high-intensity drinking (10+ drinks in a row). These rates of age 25/26 alcohol use remained stable over the ten years of data examined, in contrast to significant declines over historical time in alcohol prevalence rates among these same individuals at age 18. Results suggest that high-risk alcohol use prevention approaches to reach young adults in their mid-twenties are needed, as are efforts to increase proactive screening to identify young adults participating in high-risk alcohol use.”

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