Month: July 2017

Editor’s Note: Frequent readers may be familiar with the blog’s ongoing promotion of new, relevant dissertation research, but periodically we also highlight work published in journals and other peer-reviewed outlets. Each of the articles below appeared in recent issues of the journal Contemporary Drug Problems, concerning drug withdrawals, substitution, and maintenance. All titles contain links to the respective articles. Enjoy!

Addiction, Drugs, and Experimentation: Methadone Maintenance Treatment Between “In Here” and “Out There” (2015)

Bjarke Nielsen, Esben Houborg

Abstract: In Denmark, outpatient substitution treatment has traditionally been associated with a great deal of ambivalence and control. Until the late 1990s, a condition for entering substitution treatment was that the user ceased using illicit drugs. Failure to comply would in many cases mean expulsion from treatment. However, since the late 1990s/early 2000s, a more liberal substitution treatment policy has developed, which recognizes continued attachments to illicit drugs and drug scenes for many drug users. With this shift in treatment rationality, treatment encounters between social workers and drug users can be analyzed as experiments enacting new relations between legal and illegal drugs, bodies, and environments. Drawing analytical inspiration from material semiotics and actor-network theory, this article focuses on how “outside” relations are articulated and become visible “inside” outpatient treatment encounters. Against this backdrop, we analyze the trial and error involved in stabilization as a set of ongoing processes relating to configurations of heterogeneous material networks. The article presents by way of a case study a detailed analysis of these entanglements, drawing on data from two qualitative studies of outpatient substitution treatment in Denmark.

Opiate Substitution Treatment: Poisoned Bodies and the History of Substitution (2013)

Ian Walmsley

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Editor’s note: In today’s post, we highlight a few recent dissertations on drug use among college students and its regulation by authorities. These entries are part of an ongoing drug-related dissertation bibliography being compiled by Jonathon Erlen, which was formerly published in the Social History of Alcohol and Drugs journal but is now periodically featured on the Points blog. Contact Dr. Erlen through the link above.

E-Cigarette Adoption and Use Intention Among College Students: Determinants and Warning Label Effects

Author: Lee, Hsiao-Yun

Abstract: The electronic nicotine delivery system (also known as the e-cigarette) is a recently-invented battery-operated device that mimics smoking by delivering nicotine without burning tobacco. Without governmental regulation, the e-cigarette has been heavily promoted in the United States (US) and have aroused a vigorous debate over its health effects. Supporters believe that the e-cigarette is a safer alternative for smokers because it does not contain toxicants such as tar and carbon monoxide, while opponents are concerned that e-cigarettes will re-normalize smoking behavior and may serve as a gateway to traditional cigarettes. According to a national report, the percentage of use of non-traditional tobacco products is increasing among college students, implying that more college students are at risk of being addicted to nicotine. Previous studies also show that this age group has the highest rate of ever-use e-cigarettes, indicating an urgent need to investigate college students’ e-cigarette use. Because e-cigarettes are not currently regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), manufacturers are not obligated to include warning labels on their packages. Nevertheless, some e-cigarette companies have created their own warning labels without examining their effects. This study consists of two sub-studies. Sub-study 1 investigated college students’ e-cigarette use by examining differences in characteristics at different e-cigarette adoption levels based on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Sub-study 2 aimed to investigate the effect of e-cigarette warning labels on college students’ intention to use e-cigarettes by examining two warning labels, one generated by the FDA and one by e-cigarette companies. A total of 1,198 undergraduate college students at a Midwestern university, aged eighteen to twenty-five, were surveyed in September and October 2015. Multinomial logistic regression and Heckman two-step selection procedures were conducted to examine the influence of determinants on levels of e-cigarette adoption and transition. Structural equation modeling analyses were implemented to examine the effect of warning labels on college students’ intention to use e-cigarettes. The findings of this study show that e-cigarette users are more likely to be current substance users and that flavor is a strong factor inducing college students to use e-cigarettes. Rather than seeking to reduce stress, college students use e-cigarettes for positive sensory experiences and care more about their appearance than their health. Regarding warning label effects, the warning label proposed by the FDA was found to reduce college students’ intention to use e-cigarettes via increasing their perceived risk of e-cigarette use. The FDA warning is more effective than the warning label created by e-cigarette companies. The resultant findings not only could be used as references for future e-cigarette regulations and interventions, but also could serve as direct evidence for establishing future mandates, including the regulations of label content and design.

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