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Tag Archives: australian

200 Million Illicit Drug Users Worldwide

Illicit drug usage is practiced by approximately 200 million people globally, Australian researchers reported in the medical journal The Lancet.

Evidence of increasing age of onset of cannabis use among younger Australians

Abstract Aim  To determine whether declines in the prevalence of cannabis use in Australia have been accompanied by changes in age of onset of cannabis use. Design  A retrospective cohort study. To account for right censoring error we contrasted the mean age of onset for comparable age groups across the four surveys conducted from 1998 to 2007

The association between exposure to point-of-sale anti-smoking warnings and smokers’ interest in quitting and quit attempts: Findings from the…

ABSTRACT Aims This study aimed to examine the associations between reported exposure to anti-smoking warnings at the point-of-sale (POS) and smokers’ interest in quitting and their subsequent quit attempts by comparing reactions in Australia where warnings are prominent to smokers in other countries. Design A prospective multi-country cohort design was employed. Setting Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.

The practise and practice of Bourdieu: The application of social theory to youth alcohol research

Abstract: Background: Some years ago Australian anthropologist David Moore criticised the predominant form of understanding youth alcohol consumption for residing with biomedical approaches that individualise and ultimately stigmatise drinking behaviour and ‘ignore’ the social context of consumption. Of interest here is the ongoing insufficient integration of alternative approaches to understanding young people’s drinking.Methods: This paper presents theoretically informed qualitative research that investigates why young Australian females (aged 14–17) drink and how social and cultural context form the basis, rather than the periphery, of their drinking experience.Results: We demonstrate the utility of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological framework for delving beyond the dichotomy of young people’s drinking decisions as either a determination of their cultural environment or the singular result of a rational individual’s independent decision-making. The paper is presented in two parts

Vested interests in addiction research and policy. Alcohol industry use of social aspect public relations organizations against preventative health…

ABSTRACT Aim  It has been proposed that alcohol industry social aspects/public relations’ organizations (SAPROs) serve the agenda of lending credibility to industry claims of corporate responsibility while promoting ineffective industry-friendly interventions (such as school-based education or TV advertising campaigns) and creating doubt about interventions which have a strong evidence base (such as higher taxes on alcoholic beverages).

Cannabis use and Cognitive Function: Eight Year Trajectory in a Young Adult Cohort

Abstract Aim:  To evaluated the relationship between change in cannabis use and changed cognitive performance over eight years. Design:  We used survey methodology with a cohort design

Drug Addiction And Salt Appetite Linked

A team of Duke University Medical Center and Australian scientists has found that addictive drugs may have hijacked the same nerve cells and connections in the brain that serve a powerful, ancient instinct: the appetite for salt…

Implications For Safety As 1 In 20 Australian Workers Confess To Drinking At Work

A national survey has found that more than one in twenty Australian workers report using alcohol while at work or just before work, and more than one in fifty report taking drugs during or just before work. These findings, published online in the journal Addiction, have implications for workplace safety…

Intoxicated workers: findings from a national Australian survey

ABSTRACT Aims  To identify prevalence of alcohol and drug use and intoxication at work. Participants  A total of 9828 Australian workers 14 years old. Setting  Australia 2007

How do Australian news media depict illicit drug issues? An analysis of print media reporting across and between illicit drugs, 2003–2008

Abstract: Background: Media reporting on illicit issues has been frequently criticised for being sensationalised, biased and narrow. Yet, there have been few broad and systematic analyses of the nature of reporting