39. Canadian journal gives global view of addiction

By Tom O'Connell

The Journal of the Addiction Research Foundation in Toronto keeps an eye on worldwide trends in addiction. Here are some insights gleaned in a review of recent issues:

"Global view: About 140 million of the world's population (3.3 to 4.1 percent) consume illicit drugs, at least 20 percent use tobacco, and 50 percent drink alcohol....Between 1982 and 1992, world opium production more than doubled and world output of coca leaves increased by 300 percent." (World Drug Report)

"Alcohol and facial injuries: Almost one in four facial injuries in emergency units was related to alcohol use, a British study found....Of the 6,000 cases, 22 percent involved alcohol, mostly associated with assaults or road accidents." (Acquire)

"Smokers lose hearing: Smokers have a 70 percent higher risk of hearing loss than non-smokers, a study of 4,753 adults found. Hearing of non-smoking family members is also affected....The exact cause hasn't been determined." (Washington Post)   

"College athletes drink more: University athletes drink more alcohol than other students, a study conducted by Southern Illinois University found. On average, male athletes consume five more drinks weekly...female athletes take one more drink per week than other females. The study interviewed 51,483 students at 125 U.S. colleges."

"Smoking, depression linked: Casual smokers with a history of major depression are more likely to progress to daily smoking....The study also revealed that individuals who smoke daily had a higher risk of developing major depression than casual smokers. (Archives of General Psychiatry)  

"Breast cancer risk rises with drinking: The studies involved more than 300,000 women, of whom more than 4,000 had breast cancer. The analysis found that women who consumed more than 30 grams of alcohol per day, which equals 2.3 bottles of beer, 2.8 glasses of wine, or two shots of liquor, had a 41 percent higher risk of breast cancer than non-drinkers....reduction of regular alcohol consumption in women is likely to reduce breast cancer risk." (Journal of the American Medical Association)

"Smoke exposure makes kids sick: Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) increased risk in respiratory illnesses, especially asthma, in young children....The effect was seen at 20 or more cigarettes smoked a day. Among children two months to two years of age, 40 to 60 percent of the asthma or chronic bronchitis was felt to be caused by ETS exposure." (Pediatrics)

"Alcohol associated with ski injuries: More than 60 percent of injured skiers at a ski resort clinic had consumed alcohol in the past 24 hours....only alcohol consumption, and not sensation seeking, predicted ski injuries. Injured skiers were more likely to be female, to have less skiing experience, to score lower on sensation seeking, and to have been drinking in the past 24 hours." (Journal of Studies on Alcohol)

"Alcohol linked to date rape: Alcohol was the most common substance found in urine samples of sexual assault victims, according to a study presented at the Academy of Forensic Sciences' annual meeting....testing (578 samples) found 243 samples contained no drugs, 208 contained alcohol, 93 contained marijuana, and 40 contained cocaine."

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