Sharon R. Sznitman

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Sharon R. Sznitman (born July 30, 1978) is an associate professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa in Israel. Her research focuses on drug use and drug policy.

Early life and education

Sznitman was born on July 30, 1978 in Oslo, Norway. She received her B.Soc.Sc. in sociology from the University of Manchester in 2002. Sznitman went on to complete an M.A. in sociology at Stockholm University in 2003 and a Ph.D. in sociology from Stockholm University in 2007 under the supervision of Professor Robin Room. Her Ph.D. dissertation was titled "Socially Integrated Drug Users: Between Deviance and Normality".

Career

After completing her Ph.D., Sznitman was a postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania from 2007 to 2010. In 2010, she joined the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa as a research associate. She was promoted to lecturer in 2012, senior lecturer in 2015, and associate professor in 2020.

Sznitman's research examines substance use and drug policy, with a particular focus on cannabis. Major themes in her work include the normalization of drug use among adolescents, school-based drug prevention programs, media framing of medical cannabis, and the therapeutic applications of cannabis and psychedelics. She has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals such as Addiction, the International Journal of Drug Policy, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Social Science & Medicine.

Sznitman has received several major research grants, including a Marie Curie Integration grant from the European Union (2012-2015), a grant from the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (2014-2016), and Binational Science Foundation (2023). She has also supervised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

In addition to her academic appointments, Sznitman has served in various editorial roles, including as associate editor of Drug and Alcohol Review from 2017-2022 and as a senior editor at the International Journal of Drug Policy since 2022.

Awards and honours

In 2013, Sznitman received the Dusty and Ettie Miller Prize for outstanding young scholar from the University of Haifa. In 2017, she received the top four paper award from the health communication division of the International Communication Association for her paper "You Brought it on Yourself: The Joint Effects of Message Type, Stigma, and Responsibility Attribution on Attitudes toward Medical Cannabis", co-authored with Nehama Lewis.

Research

Sznitman's research examines substance use and drug policy, with a particular focus on cannabis and psychedelics. Major themes in her work include the normalization of drug use among adolescents, school-based drug prevention programs, media framing of medical cannabis, and the therapeutic applications of cannabis and psychedelics. She has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals such as Addiction, the International Journal of Drug Policy, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Social Science & Medicine.

Sznitman's research is grounded in the study of substance use, particularly cannabis, from both medical and sociological perspectives. Her work investigates processes of drug normalization, policy development, and the complex relationships between medical cannabis use, health outcomes, and public attitudes. She employs diverse methodological approaches, from large-scale surveys to experience sampling methods (ESM) and policy analysis.

Her research has significantly contributed to the development and testing of drug normalization theory, particularly in the context of cannabis use. Building upon Parker's "normalization thesis," she has conducted groundbreaking multi-country studies examining how societal-level factors influence individual substance use patterns. Her work has also scrutinized school-based drug prevention strategies, demonstrating that positive school climates and supportive teacher relationships are more effective deterrents than drug testing.

In the medical cannabis landscape, her research has explored three interconnected areas: media representation and public attitudes, the relationship between medical and recreational cannabis use, and stakeholder perspectives in policy development. Through studies published in leading journals, she has demonstrated how media framing influences public perception of medical cannabis and documented the complex boundaries between medical and recreational use.

Sznitman has pioneered research on cannabis effects using experience sampling methods. Through several studies, she has examined the relationship between cannabis use and various health outcomes, particularly pain and sleep. Her research has revealed that while cannabis consistently shows strong associations with improved sleep, its relationship with pain management is more nuanced.

In recent years, Sznitman has expanded her research to include psychedelic substances, with a particular focus on ayahuasca and its therapeutic potential. Her work in this area examines how acute psychedelic experiences relate to improvements in wellbeing and mindfulness in daily life. She employs innovative methodological approaches like experience sampling methods to capture real-time data on the effects of psychedelic use. Her research also critically examines safety considerations and ethical frameworks for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Overall, Sznitman takes a unique approach to drug research, emphasizing the importance of understanding both beneficial and challenging aspects of these experiences. She advocates for careful examination of user experiences in natural settings while maintaining rigorous scientific standards.

Selected works

Sznitman, S. R., Kolobov, T., ter Bogt, T., Kuntsche, E., Walsh, S. D., Boniel-Nissim, M., & Harel-Fisch, Y. (2013). Exploring substance use normalization among adolescents: A multilevel study in 35 countries. Social Science & Medicine, 97, 143-151, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.038

Sznitman, S. R., & Lewis, N. (2015). Is cannabis an illicit drug or a medicine? A quantitative framing analysis of Israeli newspaper coverage. International Journal of Drug Policy, 26(5), 446-452, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.01.010

Sznitman, S. R. (2017). Do recreational cannabis users, unlicensed and licensed medical cannabis users form distinct groups?. International Journal of Drug Policy, 42, 15-21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.11.010

Sznitman, S. R., Shochat, T., Greene, T., & Gelkopf, M. (2022). Posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep and medical cannabis treatment: A daily diary study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 92, 102632, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2022.102632

Sznitman, S.R. van Rijswijk, L., Cousijn, J., (2022), Cannabis Use as a Predictor and Outcome of Positive and Negative Affect in College Students: an Experience Sampling Method Study, Addictive Behaviors: 128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107221

Sznitman, S. R., Auer, R., Havinga, J. C., # Casalini, A., Broers, B., (2024), Social Factors Shaping Evidence Production: A Study of the Swiss Cannabis Pilot Trials, International Journal of Drug Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104623

Sznitman, S. R., Behar, Y., Dicker-Oren, S. D., Shochat, T., Meiri, D., Butto, N., Roe, D., & Bernstein, A. (2024). A Prospective Ecological Momentary Assessment Study of an Ayahuasca Retreat: Exploring the Salutary Impact of Acute Psychedelic Experiences on Subacute Affect and Mindfulness Skills in Daily Life. Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Sznitman S, R., Broers, B., Auer, R., Tal, K., (2024), Taking the potential harms of psychedelic-assisted therapy seriously: how do we prevent or mitigate the risks to vulnerable patients? International Journal of Drug Policy, Sept 131, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104521

External links

Faculty page at University of Haifa: https://publichealth.haifa.ac.il/en/

Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fq_0gXcAAAAJ&hl=en

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