Harm Reduction Tool Research Articles

The acute effect of Swedish‐style snus on cigarette craving and self‐administration in male and female smokers

Swedish-style snus (SS) has recently garnered controversy for its proposed use as a smoking cessation aid and/or harm reduction tool. However, to date, little work has been done to evaluate the extent to which SS affects cigarette cravings and smoking behavior under double-blind controlled conditions. During four double-blind placebo-controlled randomized sessions, 15 smokers (8 male) administered SS, placebo (nicotine/tobacco-free) snus (PS), a nicotine-containing lozenge (NL), or a placebo lozenge (PL) for 30 min and assessed their effects using Visual Analogue Scales and the Brief Questionnaire of Smoking Urges. They could then self-administer their usual brand of cigarettes using a progressive ratio task over the next 60 min. Following the completion of their final session, 11 participants (6 male) ranked each of the products used in the study in terms of their preferences. Relative to the other products, SS was associated with a decreased intention to smoke as well as a delayed onset of cigarette smoking in men but not women. However, SS administration was also associated with increased feelings of frustration and irritability relative to NL and SS was ranked as being the least preferred product used in the study. Findings suggest that SS is effective in acutely suppressing craving and smoking in at least some smokers, but that its acceptability may be limited.

‘What a pity!’ – Exploring the use of ‘pitilho’ as harm reduction among crack users in Salvador, Brazil

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the use of ‘pitilho’ (the co-smoking of crack and marijuana in a cigarette-like form) among crack users in Salvador, Brazil as a potential harm reduction measure.Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with two outreach workers who frequently encountered the use of ‘pitilho’ as part of their community outreach programme work, as well as four ‘pitilho’ users who were clients of the programme. Daily field notes were also collected. Transcribed data were analysed for common reasons for ‘pitilho’ use.Findings: Several key reasons crack users have adopted the ‘pitilho’ as a harm reduction tool were uncovered: it was reported to reduce the negative pharmaco-behavioural and physical effects of crack use, is more economical, provides users with better control over their behaviours, and decreases their vulnerability for violence and betters their sub-cultural position.Conclusions: ‘Pitilho’ may offer several relevant short-term benefits to users and therefore may constitute a potentially important ‘harm reduction’ tool in an area where little other targeted prevention measures exist. Our exploratory data need to be investigated in depth by appropriate and rigorous methods.

An epidemiologic review of smokeless tobacco health effects and harm reduction potential

A systematic review of the epidemiologic literature on the health effects of smokeless tobacco (ST) and its relevance to the harm reduction model for smoking was undertaken. Published epidemiologic studies, from the US and European countries, meeting defined inclusion criteria and assessing the health effects of smokeless tobacco products were examined. ST use showed evidence of a slightly increased risk for all-cause mortality. Little evidence was found to support a causal relationship between ST use and risk of oral, pancreatic or lung cancer. ST use was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke incidence, but evidence suggested ST use was associated with increased mortality from these diseases. Clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of ST products in smoking cessation have been sparse, and no standardized method for measuring ST dependence has been used, limiting the assessment of their relationship to ST use. Several studies have examined if ST use increases the risk of smoking initiation, but few have modeled this complex behavior appropriately. Overall, epidemiologic studies have not shown strong evidence of elevated tobacco-related disease risks with ST use. More research is necessary to assess the smoking behavioral consequences of ST use prior to its consideration as a harm reduction tool.

Injection drug use, unsafe medical injections, and HIV in Africa: a systematic review.

The reuse of injecting equipment in clinical settings is well documented in Africa and appears to play a substantial role in generalized HIV epidemics. The U.S. and the WHO have begun to support large scale injection safety interventions, increased professional education and training programs, and the development and wider dissemination of infection control guidelines. Several African governments have also taken steps to control injecting equipment, including banning syringes that can be reused.However injection drug use (IDU), of heroin and stimulants, is a growing risk factor for acquiring HIV in the region. IDU is increasingly common among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa and is associated with high risk sex, thus linking IDU to the already well established and concentrated generalized HIV epidemics in the region. Demand reduction programs based on effective substance use education and drug treatment services are very limited, and imprisonment is more common than access to drug treatment services.Drug policies are still very punitive and there is widespread misunderstanding of and hostility to harm reduction programs e.g. needle exchange programs are almost non-existent in the region. Among injection drug users and among drug treatment patients in Africa, knowledge that needle sharing and syringe reuse transmit HIV is still very limited, in contrast with the more successfully instilled knowledge that HIV is transmitted sexually. These new injection risks will take on increased epidemiological significance over the coming decade and will require much more attention by African nations to the range of effective harm reduction tools now available in Europe, Asia, and North America.

Changing Smokeless Tobacco Products: New Tobacco-Delivery Systems

Smokeless or noncombusted oral tobacco use as a substitute for cigarette smoking has been gaining greater interest and attention by the public health community and the tobacco industry. In order for the product to appeal to smokers, tobacco companies have been manufacturing new noncombusted oral tobacco (i.e., moist snuff) that is lower in moisture content and nitrosamine levels, packaged in small sachets and “spitless.” While the primary motives of the major tobacco companies are to maintain or increase tobacco use, some members of the public health community perceive the use of noncombusted oral tobacco products as a harm reduction tool. Because cigarette smoking is associated with greater toxicant exposure compared to noncombusted oral tobacco, reduced mortality and morbidity are hypothesized to ensue, if cigarette smokers switched completely to these products. However, variability exists in levels of nicotine and toxicants and potential health consequences from use within and across countries. Therefore, promulgating noncombusted oral tobacco products as a safer alternative to smoking or as a substitute for smoking may engender more rather than less harm. To date, limited research is available on the effects of marketing noncombusted oral tobacco products to smokers, to support the use of these products as a harm reduction tool, and to determine the effects of varying levels of tobacco toxicants including nicotine on health. The need exists for manufacturing standards to lower toxicant levels of all noncombusted oral tobacco products, for the formulation of appropriate tobacco-product regulations and for the development of a strategic plan by the public health community to address this controversial topic.

Intérêt d’un programme d’échange de seringues en pharmacie d’officine pour les usagers de drogues par voie intraveineuse

To demonstrate that a syringe exchange program can reduce syringe re-use, to encourage HCV screening by injection drug users (IDUs), and to provide a new harm reduction tool through the pharmacy network. Staff at the volunteer pharmacies were trained before participating in this decentralized syringe exchange program based on making the Steribox (with its single-use Sterifilt filter) injection kit available free to IDUs. They were asked but not required to return used material to a waste container in the pharmacy. Pharmacists also informed them of the risk of HCV contamination and encouraged screening. The number of Steribox kits dispensed by the involved pharmacies quadrupled 6 months after the study began, although the number of IDUs using the pharmacy did not increase and kit sales in other local pharmacies did not decease. The disposal rate was almost 80%. The relationship between pharmacists and users clearly improved, and the dispensing of kits has become an opportunity for dialogue. Four participants who injected Subutex accepted referrals to a methadone maintenance treatment program and began treatment. The pharmacists demonstrated their ability to manage this new harm reduction tool. The 400% increase in the number of kits dispensed is an indicator of the effect of price on use of sterile injection material. Cost is undoubtedly a factor in syringe re-use. Paid syringes were reused nearly ten times each, compared with 4 times for the free ones. Appropriate disposal was a responsible act that most IDUs performed. The improvement of the relationship between IDUs and pharmacists increased the access of the former to the healthcare system and enhanced the local healthcare network. Referral to the methadone maintenance treatment program was an unexpected and happy result. The dialogue established around injection tools allowed the pharmacists to provide advice as they dispensed Sterifilt and to promote its use by IDUs.

Clinical laboratory evaluation of potential reduced exposure products for smokers

Smoking-related cancer and other disease account for more than 400,000 U.S. deaths annually. Smoking cessation reduces smoking-related disease rates, but relapse rates are high. Thus, interest in reducing the harm of continued smoking is growing. Potential reduced exposure products (PREPs) are marketed to reduce smokers' exposure to smoke toxicants such as carbon monoxide (CO) and carcinogens and may be harm reduction tools. New PREPs are proliferating, but past experience with "low-yield" cigarettes that failed to reduce smokers' toxicant exposure suggests that comprehensive evaluation is necessary to predict if these new products are likely to alter the harm caused by smoking. The purpose of the study was to develop clinical laboratory methods for PREP evaluation. Smokers (N = 35) completed four, 5-day conditions that differed by product used: Advance, Eclipse, own brand cigarettes, or no cigarettes. Carcinogen (as assessed by one nitrosamine and one polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon biomarker) and nicotine exposure were assessed via thrice-weekly urine sampling. Withdrawal symptoms were measured daily, and smoking behavior was assessed on the first and last day of each condition. Relative to own brand, Advance reduced exposure to the nitrosamine NNK and CO, and Eclipse reduced exposure to nicotine and the nitrosamine NNK, increased exposure to CO, and resulted in larger, longer, and more frequent puffs. No smoking reduced exposure to the nitrosamine NNK, CO, and nicotine, whereas withdrawal was elevated (all p values <.05). Clinical laboratory evaluation of PREPs for smokers is valuable for measuring users' smoke toxicant exposure, withdrawal, and smoking behavior and should be incorporated into a comprehensive PREP evaluation strategy.

Psychologists and tobacco: attitudes to cessation counseling and patterns of use

Background Psychologists can play an important role in helping their clients stop using tobacco. The extent to which they do so, or quit themselves, has not been reported previously. The utility of snus in reducing smoking prevalence is also questioned and merits study. Method A 36-item self-completion questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 1000 Swedish psychologists. Results The response rate was 85%. Very few psychologists (1%) ‘often’ helped clients to stop using tobacco. While a majority (72%) believed that quitting tobacco use would improve their client's quality of life, most (75%) thought that it was not their responsibility to help clients stop and 74% felt they lacked the necessary skills. About 8% of psychologists smoked cigarettes daily. Use of snus as an aid to cigarette cessation was common in men, but not women, although overall, the percentage of smokers who had quit smoking (72%) did not differ by gender. Conclusions Most Swedish psychologists have stopped smoking, but very few help their clients to quit. Targeted campaigns aimed at encouraging and supporting psychologists to treat nicotine dependence are needed. This could increase cessation rates in the population. Snus helped reduce smoking prevalence among men and is a potentially useful harm reduction tool.

Treatment as harm reduction, defunding as harm maximization: the case of methadone maintenance.

Despite numerous research studies demonstrating the efficacy of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) in general and the value of retention in particular, the increasing defunding of this modality has compromised its potential. From 1990 to 1995 the lead author conducted a longitudinal research project to determine the impact of the cost of treatment on 233 San Francisco Bay Area study participants seeking, enrolled in, or defunded from MMT. This paper reports on selected findings from that study. Using variables of drug use, crime, gender and HIV risk, qualitative and quantitative results comparing those seeking treatment with those enrolled in treatment indicated that MMT functioned as a harm-reduction tool. When clients were defunded, however, drug use, crime and HIV risk increased and harm was maximized.

Ion exchange process for modifying molecular sieves

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, or vaping, is increasing against a backdrop of declining smoking rates. E-cigarettes contain fewer toxicants than cigarettes, but their appearance and mode of use has the potential to satisfy the habitual aspects of smoking. To date, we know little about lay perceptions of the safety of using e-cigarettes in pregnancy.We conducted a thematic discourse analysis of 13 online discussion forum threads that discussed e-cigarette use during pregnancy. We focused on the major discursive strategies that forum posters used to debate the safety of e-cigarette use during pregnancy.We identified three distinct ways in which forum posters debated the safety of using e-cigarettes during pregnancy: 1) quitting (nicotine) cold turkey is unsafe, 2) vaping is the lesser of two evils, and 3) vaping is not worth the risk.Discussions about the safety of e-cigarettes drew on the premise that 1) immediate cessation of nicotine was potentially harmful and unsafe, 2) e-cigarettes were a harm reduction tool, or 3) vaping could be dangerous and should be avoided. Although these arguments are not necessarily specific to pregnancy (beside mentions of fetal-specific risks), this analysis points to the need to educate and support women about harm reduction options.Health professionals should be aware that some women may be currently using or considering using e-cigarettes in an effort to quit or reduce smoking. It is important that health professionals are equipped to educate women with accurate, up-to-date, and balanced information about the risks and benefits of e-cigarette use during pregnancy.

The demedicalization of methadone maintenance.

The institution of methadone maintenance as a treatment modality for heroin addiction in the mid-1960s was part of the growing medicalization of social problems in the United States. The definition of deviance as "sickness" rather than "badness" set the stage for America's first harm-reduction strategy. By the 1970s methadone maintenance was seen as a way to reduce drug-related crime, and federally funded programs proliferated. Accompanying methadone's phenomenal expansion was increased regulation, bureaucratization, and criticism. The early 1980s brought the Reagan era, fiscal austerity, the new "just say no" abstinence morality, and demedicalization of methadone maintenance. By the time needle-sharing was recognized as a major contributing factor in the spread of HIV, methadone had been transformed into a largely fee-for-service, short-term, begrudgingly tolerated treatment modality. Ironically, while other countries were able to use methadone to curb the spread of AIDS, the United States refused to facilitate its expansion, and in fact impeded it. To the frustration of proponents and consumers, this original harm-reduction tool, with the potential to impact the epidemic, was demedicalized and remains marginalized.