Objective: There is a substantial literature indicating that brief interventions (BIs) for alcohol use disorder (AUD) are as effective as more extensive treatments. The research assessment reactivity ...

Objective: Murphy et al. (2014) found that university students with a family history (FH) of alcohol problems exhibit a reduced sensitivity of alcohol demand to next-day academic responsibilities. Considering the ongoing replication crisis, the objective of this study was to replicate and extend this research in community adults, including a range of non-academic responsibilities. Method: We conducted a secondary analysis of 461 adults who reported past-year alcohol consumption (39% women; mean age = 38.42 years), recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were coded as FH+ (40%) or FH- (60%) based on reporting if any biological parents or grandparents had a history of alcohol problems. Participants completed alcohol purchase tasks (APT) involving a typical drinking situation or next-day responsibility (e.g., work, caregiving). FH status was examined as a moderator of reductions in observed indices of alcohol demand in separate analyses of covariance, controlling for participant sex and severity of alcohol misuse. Results: Alcohol demand did not significantly differ by FH status on the no-responsibility APT (ps >.56). Compared with FH- participants, FH+ participants showed a smaller magnitude reduction in the responsibility condition for breakpoint (p = .002, ηp2 = .036), Omax (p = .002, ηp2 = .041), and Pmax (p = .001, ηp2 = .040), and nonsignificant effects for intensity (p = .053, ηp2 = .015). Conclusions: These findings replicate and extend Murphy et al. (2014) by confirming that FH confers a greater risk of alcohol consumption despite upcoming responsibilities. People with a FH of problem drinking may require specific interventions that make the impact of drinking on next-day responsibilities more salient. Public health significance statement: This study replicates previous research showing that adults who drink alcohol and report a family history of alcohol problems report that they would continue to consume more alcohol when they have important responsibilities the next morning, compared to adults who drink alcohol and do not report a family history of alcohol problems. These results suggest that people with a family history may need targeted interventions to increase the importance of responsibilities and reduce their alcohol consumption to mitigate risks of adverse outcomes associated with drinking in these situations.

Objective: The blackout rage gallon (BORG) is an excessive drinking trend popular at some colleges in the United States and propelled by social media. Media reports depict harmful consequences of BORG use, but others view this trend as a strategy to reduce drink contamination, control alcohol intake, and minimize hangovers. This study provides the first detailed assessment of college students’ perceptions and use of BORGs, including consequences and motivations for use and nonuse. Method: Participants (ages 18–25 years) were past-year college students (N = 103) from both public and private U.S. institutions who reported weekly binge drinking and completed a survey assessing BORG use, motivations, and drinking-related outcomes. Results: Participants were 20.4 years old, 62% female sex at birth, and their mean Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score was 11.3 ± 5.2. We oversampled college students who reported past-year BORG use (BORG+; n = 63) relative to those who denied BORG use (BORG-; n = 40). BORG+ participants consumed 9–10 standard alcohol drinks during a typical BORG event. Most reported getting buzzed or drunk (98%), nearly one third (29%) experienced a blackout, 17% vomited, and 59% said/did something embarrassing. Regardless of these effects, two thirds endorsed intending to engage in future BORG drinking. BORG-participants cited refraining from BORG use because it was not part of their college culture and was not effective for limiting alcohol intake. Conclusions: The BORG trend presents another challenge for harm reduction efforts focused on curbing excessive drinking in college students. The high-intensity drinking of BORG use, paired with associated blackouts, vomiting, and behavioral disinhibition, renders this phenomenon as living up to its name. Public health significance statement: The blackout rage gallon (BORG) is a binge-drinking trend popular among some college students that facilitates high-intensity drinking and produces acute alcohol-related harm. The present study provides insight into the motivations and outcomes of BORG use, which may inform prevention and education efforts to mitigate its negative consequences.

PISCATAWAY, NJ – A newly popular college drinking trend, the blackout rage gallon (BORG), fosters binge drinking and can lead to a host of alcohol-related harms, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, published at Rutgers University.

The U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance (USAPA) is offering a limited number of registration scholarships for public health professionals who have lost federal or state government positions during the past t...

Background: Binge drinking during the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood remains a significant public health concern. Mental health symptoms may be associated with increased risk for bi...

Objective. Although alcohol is largely consumed socially, experiments rarely test its effects on social language. Guided by the premise that language is a fundamental social behavior that shapes alcoh...

Objectives: Social media influencers significantly shape alcohol consumption norms, particularly in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) where regulatory frameworks lag behind digital marketing inn...

Objective: The 2018 Federal Farm Bill created a loophole allowing intoxicating hemp-derived tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products to be manufactured and sold with limited regulations. Unless restricted ...

Background: Hispanic/Latino American college students report elevated rates of alcohol use and negative alcohol-related consequences compared to non-Hispanic/Latino white students. As cultural experie...

Objective Amid rising cannabis use, declining perceived harm, and policy liberalization over the past 15 years, we examined whether the association between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and past-year suicidal ideation among U.S. adults changed from 2014–2023 and varied by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Method Using data from 415,861 adults in the 2014–2023 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, we examined temporal association change between past-year suicidal ideation and CUD (≥2 of 9 harmonized DSM-5 criteria). Logistic regression models, adjusted for demographic, social, clinical, and geographic covariates, tested whether survey year moderated the CUD–suicidal ideation association overall and in strata by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Results Adults with cannabis use disorder had 57% higher odds of past-year suicidal ideation than those without (OR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.44–1.72) across years. Joint Wald tests showed no evidence that the association changed over time overall (p = 0.12) nor within strata defined by sex or age. Although the joint interaction test suggested some variation among Hispanic respondents (p = 0.01), no individual year-specific interaction terms remained statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. Conclusions Adults with CUD had higher odds of suicidal ideation but, contrary to expectations, the strength of this association remained stable from 2014–2023 and did not differ significantly across sex, age, or racial/ethnic groups despite widespread legalization, increased potency, and shifting norms.

Objective: Although Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) are effective in mitigating substance use and its associated consequences, research on the determinants of PBS use is limited. A previous stu...

Objective: This study cross-sequentially examined three measures of self-reported respiratory symptoms and nicotine e-cigarettes (EC) use adjusting for past 30-day use of cannabis/tobacco, COVID-19, a...

Objective: We examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic context and substance use among U.S. adolescents using nationally representative samples. We further tested whether these associa...

Objective: Sexual minority (SM) people face a heightened risk for alcohol use relative to heterosexual people. SM people experience stressors related to their stigmatized identity that increase their ...

Objective: As the largest payer of addiction treatment in the United States, Medicaid plays an important role in the delivery and quality of AUD treatment. However, little is known about AUD in the Me...

Objective: The global cannabis policy landscape has changed dramatically in recent decades. In the United States, there is significant variation in cannabis tax structures, and there is limited consensus on how to implement cannabis tax policy to mitigate related harms. Therefore, the objective of this rapid review was to synthesize current evidence on the impact of cannabis taxation on purchasing behavior, use, and risk perceptions among U.S. adults. Method: We systematically searched for peer-reviewed studies published in English (2014–present) in PubMed, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. Two reviewers independently screened all relevant articles for eligibility using Covidence software. Out of the 1,342 references identified, 1,337 were not eligible for inclusion. Results: The five included studies examined excise taxes on cannabis. Outcomes measured across the studies included cannabis use, cannabis demand, purchasing patterns, and perceptions. The data sources ranged from participant-level to state-level to nationally representative. One study found a negative association between taxes and past-30-day cannabis use, although it was statistically insignificant. A higher cannabis tax was linked to a decrease in cannabis demand. Another study demonstrated evidence of consumer stockpiling and increased crossborder substitution in response to higher cannabis tax rates. In terms of perceptions, policymakers rated taxes as a highly efficacious public health tool, and cannabis users viewed taxation as an important factor in their purchase decisions. Conclusions: The limited number of articles identified in this rapid review highlights the need for future studies to better understand consumer behavior and inform policy. Public health significance statement: In this review, we found a paucity of evidence on the impact of cannabis taxation on cannabis risk perceptions, purchasing, and use, which hinders policymakers’ decisions to enact evidence-informed cannabis tax policies. As state cannabis legalization continues in the United States, future studies must evaluate the impact different tax policies have on health outcomes.

Objective: Parental behaviors have been suggested to affect substance use in their offspring. The present meta-analysis examines associations between five types of substance-specific parental behavior...

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Objective: Prolonged alcohol consumption is associated with immune system alterations, high blood pressure, and neurotoxicity. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a devastating disease worldwide that leads to several changes in the neurochemical balance within the brain. Moreover, the high incidence of certain cancers and the prevalence of infectious diseases among individuals with AUD demonstrate how alcohol impairs the immune system. Our research offers a new perspective on the important pathways and genes involved in the dynamic alterations of AUD progression. Method: The methods used in this research include microarray data collection from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, functional enrichment analysis of gene sets, weighted gene co-expression network analysis to find regulated modules, and analysis of modules and identification of hub genes. Results: The findings showed that alcohol affects the expression of a wide range of genes, leading to significant changes in the regulation of biological processes and signaling pathways related to the cell cycle and cellular senescence. Some of the pathways significantly affected are polyubiquitination, NF-κB, FOXO, mTOR, P53, calcium, and PPAR signaling. Conclusions: The expression of genes associated with cellular senescence is likely altered by alcohol and its related disorders. Public health significance statement: Alcohol use disorder disrupts genes and pathways that govern immune function and brain signaling. This study identifies key gene networks altered by alcohol, pointing to potential targets for prevention and therapies. In practical terms, these findings could inform the monitoring of molecular changes to guide personalized interventions and public health strategies.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify latent classes of substance use behaviors (i.e., alcohol and illicit drug use) and their correlates among transgender women and transfeminine nonbinary adults. Method: Baseline data (March 2018 to August 2020; n = 1,614) from The LITE Study were used to identify latent substance use classes and report latent class membership probabilities (γ) and item-response probabilities (ρ). We assigned participants to the class with their highest probability of class membership and assessed associations with socioeconomic conditions. We reported adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each correlate. Results: Mean age was 33.0 years (SD = 12.1), and 45.3% were non-Latina/e, White. We identified four classes: no illicit drug use (γ = .63), alcohol misuse and cannabis use (γ = .26), polysubstance use (γ = .062), and opioid and cannabis use (γ = .046). Compared with the “no illicit drug use” class, the need for medical gender affirmation was associated with lower odds of being in the polysubstance use and opioid and cannabis use classes, and housing security and lack of arrest were associated with lower odds of being in the alcohol misuse and cannabis use, polysubstance use, and opioid and cannabis use classes. For example, compared with those who were food insecure most or all of the time, those who were never food insecure had lower odds of being in the polysubstance use class (aOR = 0.22, 95% CI [0.09, 0.52]) versus the no illicit drug use class. Living with HIV was associated with greater odds of polysubstance use. Conclusions: For transfeminine adults, having met need for medical gender affirmation and better socioeconomic conditions may be protective for alcohol misuse and/or polysubstance use. Interventions aimed at improving socioeconomic conditions among transgender women and transfeminine nonbinary adults may improve substance use outcomes. Public health significance statement: Our findings suggest that transgender women and transfeminine nonbinary adults may experience increased risk of substance use, including polysubstance use, in part due to a lack of access to gender affirmation and social determinants of health. Polysubstance use was also more common among people living with HIV. Intervention work for transgender women and transfeminine nonbinary adults may benefit from addressing access to gender affirmation and social determinants of health.