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Biomedical subjects

R G Smart

Publications and source records attributed to R G Smart.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

The impact on consumption of selling wine in grocery stores.

This paper examines the effect of introducing wine into grocery stores in Quebec. Beer has been available in Quebec grocery stores for many years but limited wine sales were introduced in 1978. Data on wine sales and total sales of alcoholic beverages were examined for Quebec and Ontario for the years 1967-1983. Neither beer nor wine are sold in the grocery stores of Ontario and it represented a control province. The analyses show that there was no impact on wine sales or total alcohol sales from the introduction of wine into grocery stores. In fact, alcohol consumption fell a little more in Quebec than in Ontario. The reasons for the lack of impact could include depressed economic circumstances, the relative unpopularity of wine compared to other beverages and the long-term trend toward lower alcohol consumption throughout Canada.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1985

Diverging trends in youthful and adult alcohol consumption: a result of preventive programs?

After a long period of rising alcohol consumption in Ontario there was a stabilization in the years 1975-1980 and a slight reduction after 1977. Surveys of alcohol use among adults and students indicate diverging trends. Alcohol consumption stabilized for adults between 1977 and 1983. However, for students there were reductions in the proportions of drinkers, especially frequent drinkers and heavy drinkers. Several changes especially affecting young people are expected to account for the differences. The drinking age was increased in 1979 and alcohol education has been developed and expanded in Ontario schools.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

A comparison of alcohol, tobacco and drug use as determined from household and school surveys.

Comparisons of results from different types of surveys are necessary to establish the best and cheapest methods of assessing drug use. This paper reports results from a school survey and a household survey conducted in Ontario. Both surveys were done in 1983 and used unbiased samples of the population in the same age groups. There are some methodological differences between the two studies. Younger students were more likely to report the use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis in the student survey than in the household survey. Similarly, older students (18 and 19) reported more alcohol use in the student survey. In general, the results indicate that respondents are more likely to give socially desirable answers to questions answered at home than at school. Also, alcohol and drug users may be more likely to be missed in household than in school studies as the former have a much higher non-response rate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Narcotic drug abuse in 152 countries: social and economic conditions as predictors.

This study examines the relationships between the level of narcotic drug abuse and the prevailing socioeconomic and health conditions and education levels in 152 countries. Drug abuse, as classified in this paper, is related to socioeconomics, health, and education in complex ways. The data do not support the proposition that drug abuse is more common among technologically developed societies than among developing ones. The best predictors of drug abuse were those related to health.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed1984

International drug treaties: the connexion between ratification and social and economic conditions.

This study examines social and economic conditions in 152 countries and relates them to ratification of the two major international drug control treaties , the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The findings show that: (i) countries which ratified only the Single Convention had the greatest drug problems; (ii) ratifications were more common among developed countries than developing ones; (iii) ratifications were not more common among larger countries or those having higher expenditures on health and education, but they were more common among older U.N. member countries and those having ratified more non-drug treaties ; (iv) the best predictors of ratifications were a high level of life expectancy, a high degree of economic development and a substantial drug problem. The trend has been for more countries to ratify these treaties over time. However, a shorter-term solution would involve international support for those poorer countries which have not yet ratified them. Technical advice in the form of legal experts and translators is one example of such support.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed1984

The impact of television advertising on alcohol consumption: an experiment.

A videotaped indoor soccer game was shown to 125 men college students, ostensibly to evaluate the sport's televiewing appeal. Different versions of the videotape included zero, four or nine beer commercials. Refreshments, including beer, were available to the subjects. Half the subjects had immediate access to beer, and half had access delayed by one half hour. Exposure to the first few commercials increased consumption; however, continued exposure did not. Over the entire experiment, advertising had no significant effect on total beer consumption. Delayed access to beer led to compensatory beer consumption, notably in the third half hour. The results of the present study were interpreted as not supporting strong concern about television advertising's impact on immediate consumption of available alcohol. The results suggest that experiments on alcohol advertising are likely to produce negative results where drinking is measured over a substantial period (e.g., an hour or more), and positive results where drinking is measured over a brief period (e.g., half an hour or less).

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Risk-taking and drug-use behaviour: an examination.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between several forms of drug-use behaviour and risk-taking propensity. Jackson's (1976) risk-taking measure was employed among a sample of high school students (N = 634) selected from a province-wide probability survey on student drug use. The authors predicted that risk-taking would be associated with: (i) the dependence potential of a given drug; (ii) level of drug use; (iii) polydrug use. No conclusive evidence was found confirming the first two hypotheses; however, the data clearly demonstrated that level of polydrug use was significantly related to risk scores. The authors suggest that risk-taking as a general personality trait may more readily distinguish non-users from users of various drugs than discriminate among degrees of use in the latter.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Drug abuse and affluence in five countries: a study of economic and health conditions, 1960-1975.

Studies have reported a positive relationship between alcohol consumption and general levels of affluence in society. The present paper suggests that drug use and abuse should also be related to affluence since, to some extent, alcohol and drugs are substitute products. Levels of drug abuse and levels of affluence, in society, change over time. Therefore, indicators of affluence (economic and health conditions) and various types of illicit drug abuse in five countries were examined for the period 1960-1975. The results of our investigation show that officially recorded measures of drug abuse, in each of five countries, were related to improvements in economic and health conditions.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1982

Drinking and drug use among Ontario Indian students.

From the sample of Ontario students in grades 7 through 13 surveyed during 1979, 64 students of Native Indian parentage were successfully matched with 64 non-Indian students on five demographic variables. A comparison of alcohol and drug use among the two groups suggested that Indian students use alcohol and drugs in a manner similar to that of their peers in the same geographical locale and socio-economic background.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Alcohol consumption as estimated by the informant method; a household survey and sales data.

The informant method of estimating alcohol use yielded higher rates of drinking and of heavy drinking in the general population than did the standard household survey method. The informant method provided estimates of per capita consumption closer to those based on alcoholic beverage sales. Overall, the informant method appears to obtain higher estimates of heavy and problem alcohol use, is cheaper than survey methods and may overcome some selective reporting problems typical of standard surveys.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Drug use among non-students in three countries.

This paper reports a study of drug use among non-students in three countries: Mexico, Canada and India. In all three countries core items from a World Health Organization questionnaire were used. The results were generally consistent with the expectation that non-students would show greater use than students. The strongest relationship was found for cannabis (all three countries) and amphetamines (Canada and Mexico). The results indicate the need for special preventive programmes for non-students in both developing and developed countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

After how many detoxications is rehabilitation probable?

The outcome of alcohol detoxication programmes was assessed in Ontario and New York. Clinical records showed that less than 40% of patients completed the referral from thier fist detoxication to a rehabilitation programme and that the probability of entering a rehabilitation programme decreased markedly as the number of detoxications increased. Also, as the number of detoxications increased, patients were admitted to the centers more frequently and at shorter intervals. Only a small percentage showed marked benefit from multiple treatments. The success of detoxication facilities in achieving rehabilitation appeared limited.

Alcoholism↗