About this episode

Dr Elle Wadsworth interviews Dr Amy Peacock and Dr Krista Siefried about the use and harms of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in Australia.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Amy Peacock, an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, and Dr Krista Siefried, a Clinical Research Lead and Deputy Director, of the National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs at the University of New South Wales, Australia. The interview covers two research articles: 1) Amy’s article on trends in gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) use, harms and treatment in Australia and 2) Krista’s article on emergency department presentations, hospitalisations and police seizure data related to GHB in New South Wales, Australia. What is GHB? [01:30] Why is GHB an important drug to examine in the Australian population [02:30] The data sources Amy used in her study [04:20] The data sources Krista used in her study [06:45] The key findings of the study [08:21] Metabolites of GHB and risks of consuming GHB with alcohol [13:20] The implications of the findings for policy and treatment in Australia [14:04] The reasons behind the recent increase of GHB in Australia [16:30] The take home messages [19:14] About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society…

People in this episode

Host: Elle Wadsworth

Guests: Amy Peacock, Krista Siefried

Topics covered

• gamma-hydroxybutyrate
• drug use trends
• emergency department presentations
• hospitalisations
• drug policy
• treatment implications

Keywords

• GHB
• drug harms
• Australia
• emergency services
• drug treatment
• research findings
• alcohol risks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs

Places: Australia, New South Wales

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