Article Commentary: Confronting COVID, Racism, and Addiction: The Association of Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing opioid epidemic, rise in substance use, and social and political unrest in the US and globally has impacted how substance use-related health needs are addressed. These issues were driving forces in planning AMERSA's 44th annual conference. True to the multidisciplinary spirit, and with diversity goals and advocacy at the forefront of mind, “together we rise” became the beacon for the AMERSA 2020 conference. This commentary provides an overview of the conference proceedings, topics that were highly relevant for clinicians, educators, researcher, and advocates for change. Abstracts of paper and poster presentations are also provided (Supplemental Material).

Illicit Substance Use and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States: A Scoping Review and Characterization of Research Evidence in Unprecedented Times

“…Such increases in negative overdose outcomes nationwide can potentially be explained when they are considered in conjunction with the aforementioned findings concerning potential increases in risky substance use behaviors, increases in the supply of fentanyl, and evidence of reduced harm reduction service capacities due to pandemic disruptions. The contribution of each factor cannot be disentangled through this review and key structural factors not examined here including housing, unemployment, structural racism, and incarceration also likely played a part in the steep rise in mortality [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. Finally, although data on overdose trends were clear, data on other substance use-related outcomes, such as methamphetamine-related harms (e.g., psychosis episodes), HIV, and HCV outcomes, were not reported in the reviewed studies, as these outcomes are inevitably harder to obtain in comparison to overdose data.…”

Examining Systems, Substance Use, and Disenfranchisement: Overview and Proceedings of the 2022 AMERSA Conference

“…AMERSA’s journal, Substance Abuse, has a long history of publishing accepted oral and poster abstracts of AMERSA’s annual meetings, including abstracts of the last 7 annual AMERSA meetings. 39 -45 See the Supplemental Material for the accepted abstracts of the 2022 AMERSA Annual Conference.…”

“…Most downloaded article was "Long-term buprenorphine treatment for kratom use disorder: A case series" authored by Broyan et al38 Alcohol and Stimulants; and Parents and Families. AMERSA's journal, Substance Abuse, has a long history of publishing accepted oral and poster abstracts of AMERSA's annual meetings, including abstracts of the last 7 annual AMERSA meetings [39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. See the Supplemental Material for the accepted abstracts of the 2022 AMERSA Annual Conference.…”

Qualitative System Dynamics Modeling to Support Community Planning in Opioid Overdose Prevention

“…Although overall stigma towards OUD and MOUD was perceived to be declining (Table 2), various forms of stigma and the lack of community awareness or understanding about OUD remain a common challenge in combating overdose and fatalities. There is growing evidence showing that higher levels of stigma are associated with noncompletion of treatment for substance use (Brener et al, 2010), obstruction of recovery and reintegration of people with substance use disorder (Brewer, 2006; Van Olphen et al, 2009), and escalation of risky drug use behaviors such as needle-sharing (Simmonds & Coomber, 2009). Stigma is not only a major barrier to treating substance use disorder (Copeland, 1997; Digiusto & Treloar, 2007; Semple et al, 2005), but also a barrier to strategies aimed at averting overdose fatality by reducing support for public health-oriented policies such as naloxone distribution (Kennedy-Hendricks et al, 2017).…”

“…In recent years and since the Covid-19 pandemic, African Americans and Latinos have had alarming increases in opioid overdoses (Khatri et al, 2021; Larochelle et al, 2021; Tiako, 2021). To mitigate racial/ethnic disparities in opioid fatalities and access to MOUD, strategies that address root causes of poverty, including strategies that serve to dismantle systemic racism, are warranted (Jones et al, 2019; Mehtani et al, 2021; Mountain-Ray et al, 2021; Peterkin et al, 2021). For example, historical trauma coupled with contemporary experiences of racism, discrimination, and medical mistrust continues to be major barriers for minority populations with OUD to access MOUD (Fisher et al, 2007; James & Jordan, 2018).…”