The Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs

Current Issue

February 2023, Volume 42, Issue 3

The February 2023 issue features a commentary on supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to lead the way in alcohol research and an original paper on health utilities among Aboriginal people attending residential rehabilitation services in New South Wales. Other research in this issue focuses on nicotine vaping and EVALI; electronic nicotine delivery system advertising; and navigating social interactions and constructing vaping social identities. There is also a range of papers on cannabis, with research from Canada, France, Israel, Nigeria, Brazil and Australia, on issues such as legalisation, medical cannabis prescriptions, pain relief, risk behaviours and harms, and use intention.

Other papers in this issue focus on oral health care needs among clients receiving alcohol and other drugs treatment; predicting relapse in patients with alcohol use disorder; trauma-related documentation in an Australian substance use treatment service; midwives' knowledge and perceived barriers to screening alcohol use among pregnant women; health and social characteristics of clients reporting amphetamine type substance use; underground ibogaine use for the treatment of substance use disorders; outcome measures used in drug and alcohol inpatient withdrawal treatment research; trends and patterns of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs prescriptions in Australian general practice; substance use and posttraumatic stress disorder; prevalence and factors associated with alcohol consumption in a high school in northern Guinea; alcohol’s harm to others in Japan; investigating the relationship between inaccurate blood alcohol concentration estimates, harm and other negative consequences; the provision of information and health warnings for alcoholic beverages sold online in New Zealand and the United Kingdom; and whether restrictions in sales hours of alcohol associated with fewer emergency room visits in Lithuania.

 

Virtual Issues

Cannabis legalisation and its impact on access, use and public perceptions

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Comprehensive Reviews

The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for family members impacted by another's substance use: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Clare Rushton, Peter J. Kelly, Dayle Raftery, Alison Beck, Briony Larance
6 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13607

A realist review of residential treatment for adults with substance use disorder
Henry F. De Salis, Rachelle Martin, Zara Mansoor, Giles Newton-Howes, Elliot Bell
6 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13615

 

Original Papers

How do patients and staff in an opioid agonist treatment service view smoking cessation medications and e-cigarettes?
Catherine Lobbe, Jade Bahnisch, Chenxi Lin, Apo Demirkol, Bridin Murnion
6 March 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13630

Psychosocial correlates of drinking transitions: A longitudinal study among adolescents in Sweden
Lars Sjödin, Patrik Karlsson, Jonas Raninen
28 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13632

Challenges of methadone maintenance treatment decentralisation from Vietnamese primary care providers' perspectives
Diep Bich Nguyen, Trang Thu Nguyen, Chunqing Lin, Thuy Thi Thanh Dinh, Giang Minh Le, Li Li
27 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13613

Key informant perspectives on the enforcement of police-imposed barring notices and prohibition orders in Western Australia
Clare Farmer, Peter G. Miller
26 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13628

Trends in alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and emergency department visits by age, sex, drinking group and health condition in Ontario, Canada
Brendan T. Smith, Nicole Schoer, Adam Sherk, Justin Thielman, Anthony McKnight, Erin Hobin
26 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13629

COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and facilitators among people in Australia who inject drugs
Olivia Price, Lisa Maher, Paul M. Dietze, Raimondo Bruno, Sione Crawford, Rachel Sutherland, Caroline Salom, Gregory J. Dore, Amy Peacock
21 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13621

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in Aotearoa, New Zealand: Estimates of prevalence and indications of inequity
Jose S. Romeo, Taisia Huckle, Sally Casswell, Jennie Connor, Jurgen Rehm, Valerie McGinn
21 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13619

Media reporting on alcohol and other drugs in Australia and the Mindframe guidelines: Baseline data
Matthew Sunderland, Stephanie Kershaw, Caitlin Ward, Zachary Bryant, Lily Teesson, Rebecca Whittle, Elizabeth Paton, Janine L. Charnley, Jaelea Skehan
16 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13622

Exploring patient experience and satisfaction with depot buprenorphine formulations: A mixed-methods study
Eve Allen, Sona Samadian, Gary Altobelli, Jacinta Johnson, Chris Holmwood
14 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13616

Community pharmacists' roles, attitudes and knowledge regarding provision of screening and brief intervention activities for alcohol use in Catalonia
Berta Torres-Novellas, Jorge Palacio-Vieira, Lidia Segura-García, Estela Díaz, Pilar Rius, Antonio Veciana, Joan Colom
14 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13623

A latent class analysis of patterns of tobacco and cannabis use in Australia and their health-related correlates
Carmen C. W. Lim, Janni K. Y. Leung, Shannon Gravely, Coral Gartner, Tianze Sun, Vivian Chiu, Jack Y. C. Chung, Daniel Stjepanović, Jason Connor, Roman W. Scheurer, Wayne Hall, Gary C. K. Chan
13 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13614

Perceived parental alcohol problems and later dropout and grade point average in high school: A register-based follow-up study
Veronica Sofie Clara Pisinger, Sanne Pagh Møller, Susan Andersen, Janne S. Tolstrup
7 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13617

Brief Reports

Alcohol-related mortality in four European countries: A multiple-cause-of-death study
Agnieszka Fihel, Sergi Trias-Llimós, Magdalena M. Muszyńska-Spielauer, Markéta Majerová
14 February 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13624

Cannabis use and gastrointestinal tract illnesses: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 2005–2018
Alyssa Vanderziel, Omayma Alshaarawy
2 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13609

 
Commentaries

The impact of tableside ordering technologies on alcohol sales to the intoxicated
Michala Kowalski, Michael Livingston, Claire Wilkinson, Alison Ritter
8 March 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13639

Temporary abstinence challenges: What do we need to know?
Anna Butters, Inge Kersbergen, John Holmes, Matt Field
19 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13625

 

Upcoming Special Section - Drinking in the home: New perspectives on everyday practices

Cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of Australians who use alcohol home delivery services
Stephanie Colbert, Claire Wilkinson, Louise Thornton, Xiaoqi Feng, Anna Campain, Robyn Richmond
28 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13627

Home drinking practices among middle-class adults in midlife during the COVID-19 pandemic: Material ubiquity, automatic routines and embodied states
Antonia C. Lyons, Jessica Young, Denise Blake, Penny Evans, Christine Stephens
9 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13610

Drinking in the home: What does it entail for younger and older Finns?
Pia Mäkelä, Janne Härkönen, Tomi Lintonen
7 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13612

Home alone: Patterns and perceptions of solitary home alcohol consumption in an Australian convenience sample
Megan Cook, Sarah MacLean, Sarah Callinan
16 January 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13600

Home drinking during and post-COVID-19: Why the silence on domestic violence?
Ingrid M. Wilson, Carly Lightowlers, Lucy Bryant
14 November 2022 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13572

Expert stakeholders' views on the potential nature and impacts of autonomous alcohol home delivery
Simone Pettigrew, Leon Booth, Victoria Farrar, Branislava Godic, Charles Karl, Julie Brown, Jason Thompson
12 November 2022 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13574

 

Upcoming Special Section - How substance use is portrayed in digital media and what impacts can it have

What is the hype on #MedicinalCannabis in the United States? A content analysis of medicinal cannabis tweets
Carmen C. W. Lim, Tianze Sun, Coral Gartner, Jason Connor, Marco Fahmi, Wayne Hall, Sam Hames, Daniel Stjepanović, Gary Chan, Janni Leung
21 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13618

Subjective norms as a mediator between exposure to online alcohol and marijuana content and offline use among adolescents
Julie V. Cristello, Dana M. Litt, Matthew T. Sutherland, Elisa M. Trucco
14 February 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13620

Content and sentiment analysis of gabapentinoid-related tweets: An infodemiology study
Stephanie Mathieson, Mary O'Keeffe, Adrian C. Traeger, Giovanni E Ferreira, Christina Abdel Shaheed
20 December 2022 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13590

Alcohol corporations and the metaverse: Threats to public health?
Taisia Huckle, Sally Casswell
29 October 2022 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13566

 

Call for Papers

Call for Papers – How substance use is portrayed in digital media and what impacts can it have
This Special Section aims to bring together contributions that look at how substance use is portrayed in digital media on diverse platforms, what impact it has, what new innovative methods are available to measure exposure and its impact, and whether these platforms can be used to reduce substance use.
Read more here
 
Call for Papers Vale Jude Byrne
A special section of Drug and Alcohol Review with articles on peer researchers; hepatitis C virus and injecting drug use; ageing and drug use; women who use drugs; parents who use drugs; and international advocacy and human rights
Read more here
 

Drug and Alcohol Review - Clinician's Corner

DAR Front Cover

The emerging issue of Kamini: A new source of opioid dependence

   

 

 


The market for novel recreational substances continues to grow, and with it comes new and unique clinical presentations secondary to their use. In our recent commentary in Drug and Alcohol Review we discussed two recently published case series that highlighted the issue of opioid dependence related to a herbal product, Kamini. Kamini is a herbal medicine that is usually imported from India. In contains opiates that come from the opium poppy such as codeine, morphine and papaverine. Kamini is often sold in smaller grocery stores and can also be bought online. One of the challenges with Kamini is that it is often not labelled as containing opioids, so people who use it may not realise that with regular use they could develop opioid use disorder. Even more counterintuitively, while Kamini contains opioids, which are sedating, Kamini is often taken for its stimulant and aphrodisiac effects.


The reason we wrote our commentary is because two unrelated case series, from two different states of Australia (Victoria [1] and Queensland [2]), both highlighted increasing treatment presentations for opioid use disorder in people who had been regularly using Kamini. The two different groups of patients described in these case series had a number of things in common even though they came from unrelated parts of Australia. The people seeking treatment after using Kamini often came from Southeast Asian communities and almost all the people were males. The people described in the two different reports used wide ranging doses of Kamini, and there was various degrees of awareness from patients into the harms of its use. Nonetheless, patients were largely responsive to buprenorphine treatment at typical doses.

For clinicians, particularly those working with communities from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and followers of Ayurvedic medicine, it is worth being aware of these treatment presentations, and screening for use in these at-risk communities, especially when a patient presents with symptoms suggestive of opioid withdrawal. It isn’t clear at this stage how many people use Kamini regularly enough to be at risk of experiencing opioid use disorder, but for those who are using it regularly, it would be appropriate to review if they experience opioid withdrawal symptoms when they have a break from using it, or if they experience difficulties in reducing or stopping Kamini. Existing treatments for opioid dependence appear to be effective in usual doses, but given that the contents of Kamini seem to vary in the opioid doses they contain, some caution may be needed in initiating treatment due to differing degrees of opioid tolerance. There may also be a need to develop culturally appropriate resources to share information about Kamini, as it appears that some people who use it are not aware of the opioid content or the risks associated with its use.

Suzanne Nielsen1 and Chris Tremonti2,3,4

  1. Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  2. Edith Collins Centre (Translational Research in Alcohol Drugs and Toxicology), Drug Health Services, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia
  3. St. Vincent's Hospital Alcohol & Drug Service, Sydney, Australia
  4. Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

 

A complimentary PDF of the article is available to APSAD members by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Tremonti C, Nielsen S. The emerging issue of Kamini: A new source of opioid dependence. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022 [Epub ahead of print]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13552

 

References

  1. Naren T, Silkoff D, Forsythe M, Cook J. Case series on treatment of dependence to Kamini Vidrawan Ras with opioid substitution therapy. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022;41:1408-11. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13505
  2. Khan T, Ariyawansa P, Quinn J, Hayllar J. Kamini, a little recognised source of illicit opioid: A case series of 12 patients. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2022;41:1404-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13475