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. 2024 Jul:162:105691.
doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105691. Epub 2024 May 10.

New trends of drug abuse in custodial settings: A systematic review on the misuse of over-the-counter drugs, prescription-only-medications, and new psychoactive substances

Stefania Chiappini  1 , Giorgia Vaccaro  2 , Alessio Mosca  3 , Andrea Miuli  4 , Gianfranco Stigliano  4 , Giulia Stefanelli  4 , Giulia Giovannetti  4 , Rosalba Carullo  4 , Giacomo d'Andrea  4 , Francesco Di Carlo  4 , Clara Cavallotto  4 , Mauro Pettorruso  4 , Gilberto Di Petta  5 , John Martin Corkery  6 , Amira Guirguis  7 , Jacqueline L Stair  6 , Giovanni Martinotti  1 , Seena Fazel  8 , Fabrizio Schifano  6
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Free article

New trends of drug abuse in custodial settings: A systematic review on the misuse of over-the-counter drugs, prescription-only-medications, and new psychoactive substances

Stefania Chiappini et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2024 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

The article presents a systematic literature review on the use and the psychiatric implications of over-the-counter drugs (OTC), prescription-only-medications (POM), and new psychoactive substances (NPS) within custodial settings. The searches wer carried out on 2 November 2022 on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in line with PRISMA guidelines. A total of 538 records were identified, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. Findings showed the most prevalent NPS and OTC and POM classes reported in prisons were synthetic cannabinoids receptor agonists (SCRAs) and opioids, respectively. NPS markets were shown to be in constant evolution following the pace of legislations aimed to reduce their spread. The use of such substances heavily impacts the conditions and rehabilitation of persons in custody, with consequent physical and mental health risks. It is important to raise awareness of the use and misuse of such substances in prisons (i) from an early warning perspective for law enforcement and policy makers (ii) to prompt doctors to cautiously prescribe substances that may be misused (iii) to improve and increase access to treatment provided (iv) to add such substances to routine toxicological screening procedures (v) to improve harm reduction programmes.

Keywords: Abuse; Custodial setting; Drug abuse; Drug misuse; Inmates; NPS; New psychoactive substances; OTC; POM; Prisoners.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest S.F. was a member of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD; 2011–2019) and is currently a member of the EMA Advisory Board (Psychiatry). Se. F. is a member of the UK’s Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody. M.G. has been a consultant and/or a speaker and/or has received research grants from Angelini, Doc Generici, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfiser, Servier, Recordati. C.J.M. is a member of the ACMD’s Novel Psychoactive Substances and Technical Committees. C.S., V.G., M.A., Mi. A., S.G., G.G., d’A.G, D.C.F., C.R., C.C., P.M., G.A.: nothing to be declared.

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