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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Substance Abuse and Addiction

University of Central Florida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

2022

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Deadly Combinations: Factors That Are Associated With Simultaneous And Concurrent Polysubstance Use, Laura Lightfoot Jan 2022

Deadly Combinations: Factors That Are Associated With Simultaneous And Concurrent Polysubstance Use, Laura Lightfoot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

Mortality reports show that most overdose deaths include more than one substance. In addition, there is a gap in the literature that discusses risk factors for polysubstance use. The objective of this study was to explore what factors relate to the likelihood of engaging in polysubstance use, defined as using more than one substance. Specifically, the goal was to evaluate predictors of simultaneous (i.e., the use of alcohol and another substance at the same time in the past six months) polysubstance use and concurrent (i.e., the use of any two substances in the past six months) polysubstance use, vs. no …


Evaluating Fatal Overdose Deaths In Orange County Florida From 2019-2021, Brian Hall Jan 2022

Evaluating Fatal Overdose Deaths In Orange County Florida From 2019-2021, Brian Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

This study sought to investigate fatal overdoses in Orange County, Florida during the years of 2019, 2020, and 2021. Data for this project was provided by the Orange County Medical Examiner's office. Each overdose death was coded for age, sex, race, and cause of death. The purpose of the study is to identify trends to inform policy reform. The results reveal that fentanyl overdose deaths are continuing to rise as heroin overdose deaths decrease. Additionally, there is greater upward trends in polysubstance opioid overdose deaths as compared to non-opioid polysubstance overdose deaths. Ultimately, a specific type of overdose death cannot …


An Examination Of Street-Level Drug Enforcement Tactics And Court Outcomes, Nicholas Paul Jan 2022

An Examination Of Street-Level Drug Enforcement Tactics And Court Outcomes, Nicholas Paul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

While there is a substantial body of placed-based evaluations of drug enforcement strategies, little is known about the nature and effectiveness of the routine tactics used by local police to target individual drug offenders. This study used a mixed-method approach to build on existing research on the efficacy of drug enforcement by documenting the nature and consequences of street-level drug enforcement at the local level. First, a focus group of drug enforcement experts was conducted to identify the tactics used to generate arrests and various types of evidence believed to strengthen drug cases. Next, official data in the form of …