Illegal drug use is a persistent problem, prescription drug abuse is on the rise, and there is clinical evidence that drug use reduces driving performance. This study describes trends in characteristics of drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes who test positive for drugs, and finds that the profile of a drugged driver has changed substantially over time. An increasing share of these drivers is now testing positive for prescription drugs, cannabis, and multiple drugs.
Adoption of a model statute could help strengthen injury prevention explains Mel Kohn MD MPH, Public Health Director, Oregon Health Authority, in his Critical Opportunities presentation.
This study was conducted with high school football and girls’ soccer athletes playing in fall 2012 and their coaches and parents in 20 urban or rural high schools in Washington State. Sixty-nine percent of concussed athletes reported playing with symptoms, and 40 percent reported that their coach was not aware of their concussion.
This research note explores complications with standard methods to evaluate place-based policing interventions. It identifies and explains issues of boundary misspecification during evaluation as a result of boundary adjustment by police during an intervention.
The study finds that three years after the passage of a concussion law in Washington State, high school football and soccer coaches are receiving substantial concussion education and have good concussion knowledge. The study also shows that concussion education for athletes and parents is more limited, and that football players receive more extensive concussion education than soccer players.
This paper describes the current state of laws across the United States aimed at combatting concussions, commonly referred to as “traumatic brain injuries” or TBIs, among young athletes. Since 2009, 47 states and Washington, DC, have passed legislation designed to reduce the long-term consequences of TBIs in youth sports.
Decal laws have been implemented internationally to facilitate police enforcement of graduated driver licensing (GDL) restrictions (e.g., passenger limit, nighttime curfew) but have not been evaluated. New Jersey implemented the first decal law in the United States on May 1, 2010. This study investigates the impact of that decal law on citation rates, crash rates and prevented crashes.
This study finds that children in counties with unified family courts experienced shorter foster care spells and higher rates of reunification with parents or primary caregivers. Shorter foster care spells translated into improved school performance measured by end-of-grade reading and math test scores. Adult drug treatment courts were associated with lower probability of reunification with parents/primary caregivers.
This new report finds more than 70 Oregon school districts changed their anti-bullying policies last year to better protect students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, but nearly one in three school districts still does not comply with state law.
In a Viewpoint article for the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Swanson discusses gun violence, the role mental illness plays in mass tragedies, and warns against crisis-driven policy.
