Talk:Substance abuse

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The TRIP database provides clinical publications about evidence-based medicine.
Other potential sources include: Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and CDC

On 2 October 2023, it was proposed that this article be moved to Substance use and misuse. The result of the discussion was not moved.

Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Policy Analysis

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 March 2022 and 30 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Zebang Chen (article contribs).

Not in the ICD

"The term ‘abuse’ is sometimes used disapprovingly to refer to any use at all, particularly of illicit drugs. The term is not used in ICD-10 because of its ambiguity and to avoid including social consequences in the definition of a diagnosis. Harmful use is the closest equivalent in ICD-10. In other contexts, abuse has referred to non-medical or unsanctioned patterns of use, irrespective of consequences. Thus the definition published in 1969 by the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence was ‘persistent or sporadic excessive drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice’. The term drug use is often preferred as it is non-judgemental."^[1]

References

^ Csete, Joanne; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; et al. (2 April 2016). "Public Health and International Drug Policy". Lancet (London, England). 387 (10026): 1427–1480. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00619-X. ISSN 0140-6736.

(t · c) buidhe 04:11, 9 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

nicotine, cannabis, and THC

Why is nicotine not mentioned as one of the addictive chemicals in the introduction? Cannabis is also not considered a substance that has the likelihood to create an addiction. The statement should be changed from cannabis to THC. Even though THC is also not considered as highly of an addictive chemical, it is still more addictive than cannabis. Although nicotine may not be considered a drug in every country, it is still considered a stimulant and a problematic and addictive substance. Although there are many suicides associated with substance abuse, some of the wording should be changed to explain the difference in suicides and overdose. Also speaking about the increased risk factors of substance abuse, gun violence is an aspect that should be added to the possible risks as the National Institute of Health states that those involved in drug and alcohol abuse have an increased chance and percentage of being involved in gun violence.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5567686/

—-Sld99 (talk) 01:31, 15 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The terminology controversy

Some editors have objected to terms like substance (instead of drugs) or use (vs. "abuse") - I'm not going to debate whether this is good or bad; rather, I plan to describe the controversy.

A movement seems to have arisen to move away from judgmental language (implying personal irresponsibility or character flaws) toward non-judgmental language, on the grounds that the latter would be a more effective means of freeing people from harmful dependence.

The NIH has a nice web page ways to reduce stigma and negative bias.

Words Matter, National Institutes of Health

I'm not saying we should change our usage; I don't want to push POV. Rather, I'm suggesting the addition of a new section of the article about how and why medical professionals, etc., decided to start using new terminology. --Uncle Ed (talk) 15:41, 22 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

[Csete-1] Csete, Joanne; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; et al. (2 April 2016). "Public Health and International Drug Policy". Lancet (London, England). 387 (10026): 1427–1480. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00619-X. ISSN 0140-6736.

[1]