"We want everything in a one-stop shop": acceptability and feasibility of PrEP and buprenorphine implementation with mobile syringe services for Black people who inject drugs.

INTRODUCTION: A recent surge in HIV outbreaks, driven by the opioid and stimulant use crises, has destabilized our progress toward targets set forth by Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America for the high-priority community of people who inject drugs (PWID), particularly Black PWID. METHODS: In order to ascertain the acceptability and feasibility of using a mobile syringe services program (SSP) for comprehensive HIV prevention via PrEP and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), our mixed methods approach included a quantitative assessment and semi-structured qualitative interviews with Black PWID (n = 30) in Miami-Dade County who were actively engaged in mobile syringe services. RESULTS: Participants felt that delivery of MOUD and PrEP at a mobile SSP would be both feasible and acceptable, helping to address transportation, cost, and stigma barriers common within traditional healthcare settings. Participants preferred staff who are compassionate and nonjudgmental and have lived experience. CONCLUSIONS: A mobile harm reduction setting could be an effective venue for delivering comprehensive HIV prevention services to Black PWID, a community that experiences significant barriers to care via marginalization and racism in a fragmented healthcare system.

Harm Reduction Policy Support among Students at Two U.S. Universities.

Background: The U.S. is undergoing an opioid overdose crisis. Harm reduction (HR) policies are associated with decreased overdose deaths and incidence of communicable diseases, yet legality of HR policies differs across U.S. jurisdictions. College student perceptions of HR policies are underexplored, even though their voting behavior has increased in recent years. We sought to compare their support of different HR policies and to explore relationships between demographic characteristics and support for HR policies. Methods: We collected cross-sectional, convenience sample survey data from undergraduate students at two large public universities, one in the Midwest and one in the Southeast, during Fall 2018/Spring 2019. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and logistic regressions. Results: The final sample included 1,263 respondents. Good Samaritan laws (n = 833, 66%) and naloxone distribution (n = 476, 37.7%) were most commonly supported, while heroin maintenance treatment (n = 232, 18.4%) and heroin decriminalization (n = 208, 16.5%) were least supported. Democrat/liberal or less religious/spiritual respondents supported HR policies more than their Republican/conservative or religious/spiritual counterparts. Midwestern students were more likely to support syringe services programs. Conclusion: HR education initiatives could target religious and/or Republican/conservative students, as they have lower HR support. Among HR policies, Good Samaritan policies may be easiest to pass in college communities.

College students' perceived knowledge of and perceived helpfulness of treatments for opioid use disorder at two American universities.

Background The U.S. is experiencing an opioid overdose health crisis, largely driven by opioid use disorder (OUD). College students have relatively high rates of substance use disorders. Objectives To identify perceived knowledge of and perceived helpfulness of various OUD treatments, including medications for OUD (MOUD), among college students. Methods A convenience sample of students enrolled at two public universities during Fall 2018/Spring 2019 were recruited for an online cross-sectional survey. Questions examined reported knowledge of and perceived helpfulness of MOUD (i.e. methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone) and non-MOUD treatments for OUD (e.g. peer support groups, individual counseling, group counseling, outpatient treatment). Logistic regression examined associations between knowledge, perceived helpfulness, and demographic variables. Results We received 1,439 responses and kept 1,280 (39% male; 61% female). Respondents were significantly more likely to report knowledge about non-MOUD treatments than MOUD treatments (48.7% of respondents reported being very knowledgeable about individual counseling, 4.4% about methadone, 3.8% about naltrexone, and 3.4% about buprenorphine). Among those reporting at least some MOUD knowledge, few perceived MOUD as helpful/very helpful (methadone 14%, naltrexone 14%, and buprenorphine 11%). Among those reporting at least some counseling knowledge, 71% felt counseling was helpful/very helpful. Perceived treatment knowledge was significantly and positively associated with perceived treatment helpfulness. Conclusions Students had more positive attitudes toward non-MOUD treatments than toward MOUD despite greater efficacy of the latter for OUD. Colleges could provide information about MOUD during orientation, in course work, through student extracurricular organizations, or through college health clinics.

Heroin Use and Injection Risk Behaviors in Colombia: Implications for HIV/AIDS Prevention.

BACKGROUND: Heroin production in Colombia has increased dramatically in recent decades, and some studies point to an increase in local heroin use since the mid-1990s. Despite this rapid increase, little is known about the effects of these activities on heroin injection within Colombia. One of the biggest concerns surrounding heroin injection is the potential spread of HIV through drug user networks. OBJECTIVES: This article examines injection risk behaviors among heroin injectors in the Colombian cities of Medellín and Pereira to explore the implications for possible increased HIV transmission within this group. METHODS: A cross-sectional study used respondent-driving sampling to recruit a sample of 540 people who inject drugs (PWID) over 18 years of age (Medellín: n = 242, Pereira: n = 298). Structured interviews with each participant were conducted using the World Health Organization Drug Injection Study Phase II Survey. An HIV test was also administered. RESULTS: Information regarding the socio-demographics, injection drug use, HIV risk and transmission behaviors, injection risk management, and HIV knowledge and prevalence of participants are reported. The study identified many young, newly initiated injectors who engage in risky injection practices. The study also found that HIV prevalence is fairly low among participants (2.7%). CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Findings indicate a potential risk for the spread of HIV among PWID in Colombia given their widespread sharing practices, high rate of new injector initiation, and unsafe syringe cleaning practices. Colombia has a possibly time-limited opportunity to prevent an HIV epidemic by implementing harm reduction interventions among young, newly initiated PWID.

The Social Practice of Harm Reduction in Argentina: A "Latin" Kind of Intervention.

"Harm reduction" is a public health model that places emphasis on reducing the negative effects of drug use rather than on eliminating drug use or ensuring abstinence. Based on sixteen months of ethnographic research, this article examines how harm reduction in Argentina is both envisioned and observed as a social practice by analyzing how local harm reductionists position their work in relation to "social context." My informants consider this social emphasis to be characteristic of a "Latin" kind of intervention, which they differentiate from an "Anglo-Saxon" approach focused on individual behavior change. Differentiating between these "cultural" models of intervention helps Argentine harm reductionists guide their social orientation to drug use, risk, and harm by situating interventions in the contexts in which users live and operate. It also allows them to distinguish their social form of harm reduction from a neoliberal one that they associate with the global north. The construction of these distinct cultural models of intervention is a means of critiquing neoliberal approaches to health that advocate technical solutions to changing individual behavior. Ultimately, this construct acts as a political commentary on the limits of an individual-oriented harm reduction project when applied to the "Argentine context."

To Be Free and Normal: Addiction, Governance, and the Therapeutics of Buprenorphine.

Methadone maintenance has dominated opiate addiction treatment in the United States for decades. Since 2002, opiate addiction has also been treated in general medical settings with a substance called buprenorphine. Based on interviews and participant observation conducted in northern California, this article analyzes how discourses of freedom and normalcy in patient and provider narratives reflect and affect experiences with this treatment modality. I discuss how buprenorphine treatment, in contrast to methadone maintenance, offers patients and providers a greater sense of autonomy and flexibility in how they receive and deliver treatment. It presents them with new obligations, responsibilities, and choices around care and conduct. It simultaneously perpetuates and shapes a desire to be "free" and "normal." I argue that the therapeutics of buprenorphine govern patients and providers through this desire for freedom and normalcy. Buprenorphine is thus a technology of governmentality that extends neoliberal discourses and values and produces self-governing subjects.

Does Black vs. White race affect practitioners' appraisal of Parkinson's disease?

Black patients are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) at half the rate as White patients. The reasons for this large disparity are unknown. Here, we review evidence that practitioner bias may contribute. A key sign of PD is hypomimia or decreased facial expressivity. However, practitioner bias surrounding facial expressivity in Black people versus White people may lead practitioners to appraise Black patients with hypomimia as having higher levels of facial expressivity. Furthermore, practitioner bias may cause them to characterize reduced facial expressivity as being due to negative personality traits, as opposed to a medical sign, in Black patients with hypomimia. This racial bias in the evaluation of hypomimia in Black versus White patients could profoundly impact subsequent referral decisions and rates of diagnosis of PD. Therefore, exploring these differences is expected to facilitate addressing health care disparities through earlier and more accurate detection of PD in Black patients.

Does brain damage caused by stroke versus trauma have different neuropsychological outcomes? A lesion-matched multiple case study.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke both have the potential to cause significant damage to the brain, with resultant neuropsychological impairments. How these different mechanisms of injury influence cognitive and behavioral changes associated with brain damage, however, is not well understood. Moreover, previous research directly comparing TBI and stroke has not accounted carefully for lesion location and size. Here, using a detailed lesion-matching approach that was used previously to compare neuropsychological outcomes in stroke versus tumor, we compared the neuropsychological profiles of 14 patients with focal lesions caused by TBI to those of 27 lesion-matched patients with stroke. Each patient with TBI was matched to two patients with stroke, based on lesion location and size (except 1 TBI case where only 1 stroke match was available). Demographic attributes (age, gender, handedness, education) were also matched in the TBI: stroke triplets, as much as possible. The patients with TBI versus stroke had similar performances across all cognitive and behavioral measures, with no significant or clinically meaningful differences. A supplemental analysis on developmental- versus adult-onset TBI cases (with their respective stroke matches) also yielded non-significant results, with TBI and stroke groups being statistically indistinguishable. Our results suggest that focal lesions caused by TBI versus stroke have similar neuropsychological outcomes in the chronic recovery phase, when location and size of lesion are comparable across TBI versus stroke mechanisms of injury.

A pilot study of U.S. college students' 12-step orientation and the relationship with medications for opioid use disorder.

Objective: To examine undergraduate college students' attitudes toward 12-step support group utilization for opioid use disorder (OUD) and associations with previous experience with medications for OUD (MOUD). Participants: A convenience sample of undergraduate students at two major U.S. universities during Fall 2018 and Spring 2019. Method: A cross-sectional online survey of agreement with three 12-step orientation measures, MOUD experience, and demographic variables. Results: 1,281 students responded. Among 12-step orientation measures, respondents were most likely to agree that people with OUD should reach out to others in recovery. MOUD experience was significantly and negatively associated with agreement on each 12-step orientation measure. Religiosity/spirituality was positively associated with agreement that people with OUD should accept lack of control over OUD while placing trust in a higher power. Conclusion: Students with MOUD experience may be aware of anti-MOUD stigma in peer support groups and thus less likely to agree with 12-step orientation measures.

The impact of defendants' race in competency to stand trial referrals.

In the United States, competency to stand trial (CST) evaluations ensure that criminal defendants are capable of participating in their defenses, thus ensuring an important legal right. However, some research has suggested that the CST process may be impacted by legally irrelevant factors such as a defendant's race and cultural background. However, the majority of researchers examined factors that are predictive of CST recommendations and decisions. Few studies have focused on potential racial discrepancies in attorney referrals for CST evaluations and whether they are exacerbated by professional experience. The current study examined potential racial disparities in referrals for CST evaluations among 322 law students and 102 attorneys. Participants were randomly assigned to read vignettes describing either African American or Caucasian defendants who varied in their fitness to stand trial. The participants were asked to indicate whether they would refer the client for a CST evaluation and to describe their reasoning. The results indicated that both law students and attorneys were generally more likely to refer unfit rather than fit defendants, indicating an understanding of the legal criteria. Law students displayed a racial bias, only when referring the defendants who were unfit due to the lack of a rational understanding of the relevant legal case, χ2(1) = 4.90, p = 0.03, Φ = 0.13. Fitness condition was the only significant predictor of attorney referrals. The generally encouraging results indicated that professional experience did not increase racial biases.

Experiences of gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) ingestion: a focus group study.

GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) is a significant new drug of abuse added to the United States Controlled Substance Act in 2000. The majority of the published literature on GHB consists of clinical case reports, mainly from emergency departments, and a collection of laboratory-based studies, focused mainly on anesthesia. While comments about the various experiences and behaviors of human users are often included in such studies or reports, these aspects of GHB are only just beginning to be systematically investigated or detailed. Reported here are data from a qualitative study using focus group methods on the consumption habits, experiences, and beliefs of GHB users. A total of 51 people, 30 men and 21 women, mean age of 31.1+/-7.6 years (range 18 to 52 years), who report having used GHB for an average of 4.3+/-2.5 years (range one to 11 years), were interviewed in 10 separate groups held in 2004. This article discusses broadly the general experience of the GHB high, major perceived benefits including sexual responses to the drug, perceived risks and dangers of ingestion, co-ingestion, and various contexts of use. It concludes with a discussion of the implications drawn from this information for clinicians treating patients who use GHB.

An open resource for transdiagnostic research in pediatric mental health and learning disorders.

Technological and methodological innovations are equipping researchers with unprecedented capabilities for detecting and characterizing pathologic processes in the developing human brain. As a result, ambitions to achieve clinically useful tools to assist in the diagnosis and management of mental health and learning disorders are gaining momentum. To this end, it is critical to accrue large-scale multimodal datasets that capture a broad range of commonly encountered clinical psychopathology. The Child Mind Institute has launched the Healthy Brain Network (HBN), an ongoing initiative focused on creating and sharing a biobank of data from 10,000 New York area participants (ages 5-21). The HBN Biobank houses data about psychiatric, behavioral, cognitive, and lifestyle phenotypes, as well as multimodal brain imaging (resting and naturalistic viewing fMRI, diffusion MRI, morphometric MRI), electroencephalography, eye-tracking, voice and video recordings, genetics and actigraphy. Here, we present the rationale, design and implementation of HBN protocols. We describe the first data release (n=664) and the potential of the biobank to advance related areas (e.g., biophysical modeling, voice analysis).

Prescription Drug Diversion: Predictors of Illicit Acquisition and Redistribution in Three U.S. Metropolitan Areas.

OBJECTIVE: Prescription drug diversion, the transfer of prescription drugs from lawful to unlawful channels for distribution or use, is a problem in the United States. Despite the pervasiveness of diversion, there are gaps in the literature regarding characteristics of individuals who participate in the illicit trade of prescription drugs. This study examines a range of predictors (e.g., demographics, prescription insurance coverage, perceived risk associated with prescription drug diversion) of membership in three distinct diverter groups: individuals who illicitly acquire prescription drugs, those who redistribute them, and those who engage in both behaviors. METHODS: Data were drawn from a cross-sectional Internet study (N = 846) of prescription drug use and diversion patterns in New York City, South Florida, and Washington, D.C.. Participants were classified into diversion categories based on their self-reported involvement in the trade of prescription drugs. Group differences in background characteristics of diverter groups were assessed by Chi-Square tests and followed up with multivariate logistic regressions. RESULTS: While individuals in all diversion groups were more likely to be younger and have a licit prescription for any of the assessed drugs in the past year than those who did not divert, individuals who both acquire and redistribute are more likely to live in New York City, not have prescription insurance coverage, and perceive fewer legal risks of prescription drug diversion. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that predictive characteristics vary according to diverter group.