Recent Findings

A new study from ARG scientists shows a sharp increase in marijuana use in the U.S. since 2005. Marijuana use among women has almost doubled, from 5.5% in 1984 to 10.6% in 2015. Men’s use declined from the 1980s to 2000 but has since increased to 14.7%, matching earlier rates. However, the research suggests that these increases in use were not specifically associated with medicinal or recreational marijuana legalization. “Results are consistent with previous studies that did not show … [Read more...]

People with alcohol use disorders (AUD) who live in poorer neighborhoods in Sweden were less likely to pick up prescriptions to help treat their disease than those living in areas that are more affluent, a new study from ARG found. The study was published online in the journal Addiction. Several AUD medications can play an effective role in addressing this condition. Researchers also found decreased rates of prescription pick-up among individuals with AUD who had lower incomes and less … [Read more...]

According to a new national study, 7.4 percent of surveyed respondents reported that children in their care experienced harm as a result of someone else’s drinking.  By comparison, previous studies in the U.S. have found general child maltreatment rates to be approximately 1 to 2 percent.  The results were published online in the Journal of Pediatrics. Respondent caregivers who experienced alcohol’s harm from a spouse or partner, or if they lived with a heavy drinker, were almost four times … [Read more...]

A new study from ARG Senior Scientist Sarah E. Zemore and colleagues found that people in recovery who attended alternative support groups experienced more cohesion and greater satisfaction when compared with members of traditional 12-step programs. Alternative programs included Women for Sobriety, LifeRing, and SMART Recovery.  Study team members included ARG scientists Lee Kaskutas and Amy Mericle, and research associate Jordana Hemberg. Results also indicated that people who attended … [Read more...]

People who used cannabis while undergoing treatment for an alcohol use disorder (AUD) had significantly fewer days of alcohol abstinence at the end of treatment compared with non-cannabis users, according to a new study from ARG biostatistician Meenakshi Sabina Subbaraman. Study team members included ARG research associate Deidre Patterson, and Jane Metrik and Robert M. Swift of Brown University. Findings showed that one day of cannabis use reduced the number of abstinence days by four to … [Read more...]

County-level suicide rates in the U.S. had a strong positive relationship with county poverty rates, while no relationships were found between county measures of unemployment or foreclosures when poverty rates were controlled, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group,  a program of the Public Health Institute, in collaboration with University of California, Los Angeles; Oregon Health and Science University; Prevention Research Center; and the Centre for Addiction and Mental … [Read more...]

If the vote for marijuana legalization in Washington State were to be held again, Initiative 502 (I-502) would potentially have a stronger majority than it did in November 2012, according to a new study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, published today in Contemporary Drug Problems. Researchers found that among people who voted against I-502, 14 percent would now vote in favor of the measure compared to 4.8 percent of yes-voters who would change their … [Read more...]

Washington State residents who voted in favor of privatizing liquor sales were eight times more likely to express a desire to change their original vote than residents who voted against the measure, according to a study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, published today in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Findings suggested that 20 percent of individuals who voted in 2011 to end the government monopoly on liquor sales have changed their … [Read more...]