Bupropion Diversion and Misuse in the Correctional Facility
Publication: Journal of Correctional Health Care
Volume 19, Issue Number 3
Abstract
The antidepressant bupropion plays an important role in the treatment of mental health disorders. It is well known that incarcerated individuals are at increased risk of experimenting with psychiatric medications and it is imperative for prescribers and clinicians to understand the misuse potential of these medications, including bupropion. The mechanism of reinforcement of misuse of bupropion is related to the effect on dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter systems. When bupropion is crushed and ingested via nasal insufflation, a faster and higher affinity for neurotransmitters occurs, heightening the misuse potential. A literature search and illustrative case studies are presented demonstrating the misuse potential, along with a review of the clinical implications. This article concludes that in the incarcerated population, bupropion is a medication with significant misuse and diversion potential.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Correctional Health Care
Volume 19 • Issue Number 3 • July 2013
Pages: 211 - 217
PubMed: 23788587
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2013.
History
Published in print: July 2013
Published online: 1 July 2013
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Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors disclosed no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article. For information about JCHC’s disclosure policy, please see the Self-Study Exam.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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