This paper reviews studies examining the pharmacological interactions and epidemiology of the combined use of opioids and benzodiazepines (BZDs). A search of English language publications from 1970 to 2012 was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO(®). Our search found approximately 200 articles appropriate for inclusion in this paper. While numerous reports indicate that the co-abuse of opioids a...

The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used in 1993-1995 to collect information on the use of alcohol and other substances from 1,086 Navajo Indians living on or near their reservation in the southwestern United States. Bivariate and multivariate analyses are used to show that age of first alcohol use has declined over the past 50 years and is a significant risk factor for both alcohol dependenc...

Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious problem on college campuses but may not be adequately captured by traditional methods of defining binge drinking. This study examined a new approach to categorizing alcohol use and its relationship with illicit drug use. A survey was administered to 484 college students ages 18 to 25. Drinkers were divided into three groups based on the number of typic...

Although investigators have established that compulsive polydrug abuse adversely affects intellectual efficiency, the effects of prolonged heroin use remain unclear. The issue was assessed by comparing levels of intellectual functioning, as measured by the Raven Progressive Matrices, with expected levels of visual memory, as measured by the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test (BVRT). Whereas s...

Combined use of an opioid with a psychostimulant is popular among drug abusers. Such “polydrug use” may increase drug effects or attenuate adverse effects of either drug alone. We proposed that a combination of methamphetamine (meth) and morphine may change physical opioid withdrawal symptoms. Adult male rats were chronically injected with cumulative subcutaneous (s.c.) doses of morphine, meth ...

Cannabis use is highly prevalent in late adolescence, but not all users experience significant negative consequences. Little information is available to identify the substance use patterns and risk factors of users who are at greater risk of experiencing negative consequences. In this prospective study, we aimed to empirically identify latent classes of substance use in adolescent cannabis user...