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Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
49 articles
Newest firstSince federal legalisation in November 2016, Australia’s medical cannabis regulation has evolved into a complex framework that involves the Therapeutic Goods Administration, state health departments, and multiple professional oversight bodies. This narrative review examines the policy hurdles and coordination gaps that have emerged between 2016 and 2024, providing a longitudinal perspective on the ongoing debate.…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background Medical cannabis is now commonly prescribed for a range of chronic health conditions. Many medical cannabis products contain delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the intoxicating component in cannabis, though it is unclear whether these products produce impairment when used as prescribed and at therapeutic doses. With current Australian laws prohibiting driving with any amount of THC in one's system, thi…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction People who inject drugs (PWID) face a high risk for serious infections, yet International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes fail to identify this population. Large language models (LLM) offer a promising alternative by extracting information from unstructured clinical text. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of off-the-shelf LLMs in identifying PWID and related attributes from hospit…
School-based health promotion is a key setting for fostering positive youth health behaviours. Digital and immersive technologies offer promising opportunities to engage young people. This study explores a virtual reality (VR) intervention designed to prevent alcohol, vaping, and cannabis use among secondary school students. The intervention allowed students to navigate realistic, branching scenarios simulating pe…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction As cannabis policies become more liberal, and products increasingly potent, it is important to monitor changes in rates of cannabis use and those at risk of harm. We used data from the largest national mental health survey in Australia to examine changes in prevalence, associations and comorbidity of past 12-month cannabis use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) from 2007 to 2020-22. Methods Data were dra…
Aim To explore the practices, confidence and perspectives of community pharmacists in deprescribing high-risk psychotropic medicines, including opioid analgesics, benzodiazepine, gabapentinoids and medicinal cannabis. Methods An anonymous, cross-sectional national online survey was conducted between January and April 2025 among Australian community pharmacists. The survey captured data on pharmacist demographics,…
ABSTRACTIntroductionOlder adults exhibit unique risks associated with poor mental health and substance use. The Beyond 50 study is a longitudinal cohort investigating the determinants of healthy ageing, including relationships between physical and psychosocial health and substance use. We aim to characterise the Beyond 50 cohort and explore patterns of physical and psychosocial health and substance use.MethodsBase…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction Non-medical use of prescription stimulants is increasing globally, yet Australian population-level data on its prevalence and associated sociodemographic and substance use correlates remain limited. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from the 2022-2023 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (n = 21,663). Logistic regression models estimated associations between non-medical use of prescription s…
Introduction We are at a critical juncture for drug policy reform. Toxic drug supply is driving unprecedented deaths in North America, with countries calling for decriminalisation. Policy reform in Australia has occurred in some states (e.g., decriminalisation in the Australian Capital Territory), stalling in others (e.g., the second supervised injecting facility [SIF] in Victoria). The objectives of this paper ar…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent and disabling mental health conditions and are associated with impairments in quality of life (QoL). Previous studies have examined medicinal cannabis for anxiety and QoL using short-term follow-up or cross-sectional surveys. However, there is little longitudinal qualitative research examining how patients experience QoL changes. Aim To explore the percei…
BackgroundGuidelines on pre-pregnancy counselling are primarily clinical, and although recommendations and policy documents on preconception care exist in Australia, they place little or no emphasis on preconception health of adolescents and young adults. ObjectiveTo identify and prioritise unanswered questions and evidence uncertainties concerning preconception health needs of adolescents and young adults residin…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction We aimed to determine whether the trend in the rate of drug-induced hospitalisations and deaths changed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Methods Data comprised crude monthly rates (per 1,000,000 persons) of hospitalisations and deaths directly attributable to illicit drugs, prescription medicines, or medicines available without a prescription, nationally from 2011 to 2021.…
Open article record in new tab ↗Aims To identify variation in identification of medical consumers using alternative self-reported measures and assess whether differences in these rates exist across jurisdictions with different medical policy approaches using evidence from an international study on cannabis use. Design Secondary analysis of wave 4 (2021) of the International Cannabis Policy Study (ICPS) cross-sectional survey. Setting United Stat…
Introduction Residential clients frequently report high psychological distress at intake, but little is known about changes in distress throughout treatment. This study aimed to identify in-treatment trajectories for psychological distress and factors associated with trajectory classes. Methods A retrospective cohort of adults attending Australian non-government residential substance use treatment between 2012 and…
Issue addressed Adolescent e-cigarette use is increasing and is associated with subsequent smoking. This study examines potential protective factors associated with not vaping among First Nations adolescents in Australia to inform community programs. Methods The 'Next Generation: Youth Wellbeing Study' is a cohort study of First Nations adolescents aged 10-24 years from urban, rural and remote communities in Centr…
Introduction Assessing unmet demand for alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment requires accurately counting those in treatment and determining those in need of treatment. Using updated epidemiological and treatment data, this study sought to provide an updated estimate of the unmet demand for AOD treatment in Australia. Methods Australian prevalence rates for alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine and opioid use disor…
Open article record in new tab ↗Introduction Policymakers and advocates often rely on public opinion to support or oppose certain policies, with national surveys providing an important data source. Different geographic areas have socio-political specificity and are impacted by drug policies in different ways; yet there has been little analysis of public opinion accounting for geographic specificity. This study aimed to understand geographic diff…
Open article record in new tab ↗Electronic cigarette (e-cigarettes or vapes) use is becoming increasingly common, including among adolescents aged 12-15 years, who are often targeted through marketing and flavoured products. We aimed to investigate associations between individual, social, and environmental factors and e-cigarette never-use (hereafter referred to as never-use) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in 2018. This…
We report the presence of the emerging plant pathogen 'Xanthomonas cannabis' in Australia through a comprehensive analysis of five historical isolates and all publicly available genomes of the species. Using comparative genomics, we characterized four isolates collected from Zinnia spp. and one from Cucurbita pepo. Our findings show that the Zinnia isolates form a distinct phylogroup with the pathotype strain of '…
Objective Substance use and use disorders are elevated among people accessing mental health treatment, but the nature and patterns of use are unknown. The current study aimed to identify the prevalence of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and problematic AOD use (i.e. hazardous, harmful, risky, misuse, abuse, dependence, disorder) in Australian mental health settings and conduct a meta-analysis of studies where suf…