The Federal Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products and the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion released new findings for e-cigarette use among adolescents. Approximately 14% of high schoolers reported current e-cigarette use, and 30% of users reported daily use. Researchers note that e-cigarette use has been the most common form of tobacco use among this demographic since 2014 , and the trend does not appear to be decreasing.

The Maine State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) is pleased to release 2022 Cannabis Use and Housing Insecurity Factsheets. The documents highlight state and national use trends for cannabis use and information about housing instability as a risk factor for substance use.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a study this week that finds a significant correlation between prenatal cannabis exposure and attention, social, and behavioral problems in children in early adolescence. Researchers note that cannabis use even in the fifth or sixth week of fetal development can have lasting effects for pre-teens, 11 and 12 years of age, further supporting caution against cannabis use during pregnancy.

Data from the National Violent Death Reporting System indicates two decades of increases in suicide rates leading up to 2018. However, rates for women have increased faster than those of men. Researchers used blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 g/dL or greater to identify suicides as alcohol-involved. They found significant increases in the proportion of alcohol-involved suicides for women of all age groups, suggesting that alcohol use may be an overall driver of suicide increase.

After leveling off in 2020, during the pandemic, young adult (19 to 30 years old) use of marijuana and hallucinogens have continued an upward trend. A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported that 43% of young adults used marijuana and 8% used a hallucinogen (e.g., LSD, MDMA, mescaline, psilocybin) in the past year (2021). Both statistics are all-time record highs since the NIH began tracking use in 1988. Past month and daily use also recorded statistically significant increases over the previous five-year-average for marijuana use.

The trend of decreasing use of cigarettes and corresponding increase of e-cigarettes use or vaping among adolescents has been established over the last decade. However, a new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics finds that non-tobacco, oral nicotine product use (e.g., nicotine pouches and nontherapeutic nicotine gum, lozenges, tablets, gummies) is now the second most common route of nicotine consumption among youth. Use was also disproportionate among racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minority groups, as well as those with a history of nicotine use.

A recent article from the Annals of Medicine suggests that as adolescence is inherently a stage wherein children/youth learn to take risks to grow - and risk taking is associated with substance use, harm reduction strategies for prevention are a natural fit with the developmental stage. Authors argue this approach can do more to meet the youth where they are, offer strategies to minimize harm, and encourage reduction and abstinence.

The Maine State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) is pleased to release the 2022 Alcohol and COVID19 Factsheet. Using information from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Maine Emergency Medical Services, Data, Research, and Vital Statistics, Department of Transportation, and other sources, the document highlights state and national use trends during the pandemic.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have released new resources for prevention late last month. Most notably, the CDC offers an updated factsheet for alcohol and polysubstance use as well as a new alcohol screening tool which allows adults to anonymously check their drinking and create a custom plan.

The 2022 Quick Reference Guide for alcohol, cannabis, prescription drugs, opioids, and stimulants is now available. The tool is produced by the Maine State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) to help substance use prevention sub-grantees assess risk factors, use trends, and outcomes of substance use in their region and guide future strategies. Data is broken down by public health district. In addition, data are often “rolled up” or averaged over multiple years. Both methods allow for more confidence in the data than county rates or single year estimates.

The Maine Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) co-presented a webinar earlier this month to highlight the importance of mental wellness promotion, suicide prevention, substance use prevention and the intersection with child abuse prevention. Presenters also noted strategies and everyday actions that professionals working within these fields can do to work together to strengthen the prevention continuum in Maine.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recently released an updated version of Rethinking Drinking: Alcohol and Your Health. The booklet provides an evidence-based information about alcohol misuse, including measurements for a “standard drink,”, recommendations about drinking from US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, consequences of misuse, symptoms of alcohol use disorder, and more.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) launched the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on July 16th as a nationally available 24/7 resource for anyone experiencing a suicidal or mental health crisis. Anyone needing support for a suicidal, mental health, and/or substance use crisis may call, chat, or text the number to get help and be connected with trained crisis counselors.

While many state agencies are becoming more transparent with state data, one of the most recent collaborations has been that of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the federal CDC. The two agencies have worked together to develop a dashboard to track emergency department visits where suicidal behavior was a relevant factor for all 33 of Maine’s non-VA hospitals.

As prevention funders and providers look to the US Department Health Human Services for priorities and direction, the release of Healthy People 2030 is a critical part of this guidance. The report outlines more than 350 specific public health objectives and leading indicators for measurement. Of particular note for this new decade, six of the 23 leading indicators (26%) are related to mental health or substance use. Included as indicators, the plan identifies targets for drug overdose, suicide, major depressive orders, tobacco product and cigarette use, as well as binge drinking.

A recent article published by the American Public Health Association (APHA) reports increasing generational ACE scores. Using the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), researchers report ACE scores 1.67 times higher for Generation X and twice as high for Millennials and Generation Z as people of the baby boomer generation. The article calls for policy-level changes to aid future generations, specifically around mental health and substance use treatment.

A study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health examined trends in cannabis vaping using 2017-2019 Monitoring the Future surveys with 51,052 school-attending adolescents across the US. The study finds that vaping prevalence increased across all grades, with the largest increase among high school seniors for whom past-30-day prevalence almost tripled from 5 percent (2017) to 14 percent (2019).

The New England PTTC has launched a resource page for the prevention community to better understand risks related to cannabis use as well as state laws, governing bodies, and resources. Resources also include social media kits, national hubs related to cannabis prevention, and information about policy setting for school administrators.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has published the annual County Health Rankings & Roadmap report for 2022. The dashboard allows users to toggle between health indicator rankings and additional measures, comparing Maine counties to each other and to other states. Users can also download summary reports, maps, and data.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Health Statistics released provisional drug overdose death counts for 2021. Overall US estimates show that overdose deaths increased by 14.9 percent between December 2020 and December 2021. However, the CDC indicates a 26.7 percent change for Maine during the same time period. While drug overdose deaths may involve multiple drugs, data indicates that about two-thirds of deaths involved fentanyl or another synthetic opioid.