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Concern about the use and abuse of substances of addiction continues to abound not only in North Carolina but also across the nation. Problems associated with ATOD use are astounding. Low birth weight babies, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, lung cancer, date rape, school failure, depression, domestic violence, automobile accidents, and suicide are just a few of the problems resulting from substance abuse.. In addition, health care delivery systems are undergoing dramatic change. Frequently, new managed care approaches provide disincentives to deal with people who are suffering from substance abuse problems. In this milieu, it becomes clear that policy research specialists trained in addiction and social sciences are needed to apply their intellectual tools to help solve these complex social policy issues. Recent problems undertaken by Public Policy Scholars are:
- An analysis of the location of liquor stores and its relationship to the purchase of liquor.
- Alcohol use among female homicide victims and perpetrators in North Carolina.
- Tobacco use during pregnancy.
- The use of substances as a stress coping model among low income, African-American students.
- Parenting skills training for substance abusing parents.
The Public Policy Scholars come from a variety of disciplines including Economics, Public Health, Psychology, Criminal Justice, and others. Each of the disciplines brings a unique perspective to an ATOD problem as well as a particular research methodology or approach for studying it. In the current environment that includes rapid change in health care delivery, an exploding scientific knowledge base associated with the neurobiology of addiction and the neuropharmacology of the brain it is evident that substance abuse is an enormously complex issue which will require sophisticated multidisciplinary approaches as to arrive at a solution.
To assure ourselves that public policy research continues to benefit from the input of multiple disciplines and their interactions— the North Carolina Governor’s Institute on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, established the Public Policy Scholars Program in 1992. It is needed more than ever today.
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