Use of Violence as a Strategy of Early Adolescents for Rejecting Drug Offers in Mexican Cities

Drug use and violence are two interconnected problems in violent urban contexts, leading to coercive drug offers. In this study, relationships between drug use, use of violence as a strategy for rejecting drug offers, and exposure to neighborhood violence were analyzed in Mexican students. Data were obtained through a self-report survey and focus groups with lower secondary students in three Mexican metropolitan areas. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated that students who had used or would use violence as a strategy for rejecting drug offers presented a more problematic psychosocial profile, with exposure to neighborhood violence as the main predictor. These results suggest that Mexican students in violent cities may resort to violence as a strategy for rejecting drug offers.

Revisiting a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for cocaine with a forensic scope

A whole-body permeability-rate-limited physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for cocaine was developed and adjusted with the pharmacokinetic data from studies with animals and reparametrized scaling to humans with the aim to predict the concentration-time profiles of the drug in blood and different tissues in humans. Estimated time course concentrations could be used as an interpretation tool by forensic toxicologists. The model estimations were compared successfully with pharmacokinetic parameters and time to peak for some effects reported in the literature. Once developed, the PBPK model was employed to predict the time course tissue concentrations reported in previous distribution studies introducing individualizing data. The heart and brain concentrations estimated by the model match adequately with the time and duration of some effects such as chronotropic and psychoactive effects, respectively. This work is the first attempt for employing PBPK modeling as a tool for forensic interpretation. Future modeling of other cocaine metabolite profiles or interaction when co-administered with other substances, such as alcohol, might be developed in the future.

History of child sexual abuse among women consuming illicit substances in Mexico City

INTRODUCTION

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive problem that has been linked to numerous developmental, social, health, and substance use consequences. Nevertheless, the relationship between CSA and the consumption of psychoactive substances has not been adequately studied in Mexico. The present study aims to examine this association between history of CSA and illicit substance use and associated risk behaviors in a sample of young adult women in Mexico City.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The present study uses a cross-sectional design to examine sexual abuse history among women who use illicit substances. Data collection consisted of a questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews with 101 women who sought treatment for substance use in Mexico City. A bivariate analysis was used to examine women who experienced sexual abuse and those who did not. Odds ratio and relative risk were estimated.

RESULTS

A total of 101 women were interviewed with an average age of 19.2 years. The average age of onset of drug use was 15.4 years. Among participants, 68% reported having been victims of sexual abuse and rape. The average age of reported sexual abuse was 12.2 years. Participants reported a high rate of polydrug use (32.7%), consuming more than two drugs. Sexual abuse was associated with detention by police for drugs, forced prostitution, and consumption of substances during pregnancy.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study found that sexual abuse and rape were highly associated with substance abuse outcomes and associated risk behaviors.

Años de Vida Perdidos (AVP) atribuibles al consumo de alcohol en la ciudad de México

Resumen El objetivo de este artículo es estimar los AVP atribuibles al consumo de alcohol en la Ciudad de México durante 2006 – 2012. Se utilizaron las estadísticas vitales de mortalidad del INEGI atribuibles al consumo de alcohol para obtener los AVP, se obtuvieron ademas promedios de edad de muerte respecto a intervalos de edad por sexo. Se estimaron 168,607 AVP, con una pérdida promedio de 18.32 años para los hombres y 17.54 en mujeres. Se encontró una mayor proporción de AVP en hombres que en mujeres. De acuerdo a la CIE-10 se observó que las enfermedades del hígado atribuibles al alcohol, aportan más del 80% de los AVP al total. Existe una tendencia cíclica en los AVP entre 2006 a 2012. Los AVP atribuibles al alcohol apuntan a que el consumo es un problema de salud pública que implican pérdidas en la productividad y costos económicos, mientras la baja en los AVP podría ser explicada por una disminución en el ingreso provocada por la crisis económica de 2008 al igual que el aumento por la mejoría en el 2012.