Psychiatric News (12/8) reports, “Local changes in opioid-dispensing rates have a direct effect on individuals’ misuse and dependence on prescription opioids, but they do not affect the odds of heroin misuse or dependence,” investigators concluded after analyzing “2006-2016 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which surveys about 70,000 individuals aged 12 and older annually, as well as CDC data on county-level opioid dispensing.” The study team then “specifically focused on whether county-level dispensing rates affected respondents’ substance use, frequency of use, and prescription opioid or heroin dependence.” The findings were published online Dec. 8 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
Related Links:
— “Reduced Opioid Dispensing Found to Stem Opioid Misuse While Not Increasing Heroin Use, Psychiatric News, December 8, 2021