Key Findings
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- ISSUES 2010
- Volume 105 Issue 1 January 2010
- Ethnic differences in drinking outcomes following a brief alcohol intervention in the trauma care setting
Whites, blacks and Hispanics in the United States who received brief interventions for alcohol consumption showed reductions in drinking at 6- and 12-month follow-up. Among Hispanics, brief motivational intervention reduced alcohol intake significantly.- Evidence of a complex association between dose, pattern and timing of prenatal alcohol exposure and child behaviour problems
Children who are exposed to moderate and high levels of alcohol in the womb are more likely to develop child behaviour problems. The dose, pattern and timing of the exposure affect the type of behaviour problems expressed.- Randomized controlled trial of cognitive–behavioural therapy for coexisting depression and alcohol problems: short-term outcome
In the short term, people with coexisting depression and alcohol problems benefit more from treatment that focuses on both problems than from treatment that focuses on either alcohol or depression.- Reducing sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol for patients in substance abuse treatment
Compared with standard HIV education, men who received motivational and skills training for HIV prevention had less sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.- Cannabis and crime: findings from a longitudinal study
Cannabis use in adolescence and early adulthood may cause subsequent involvement in criminal activity, but the association seems to rest on the fact that drugs such as cannabis are illegal.- Consequences of chronic ketamine self-administration upon neurocognitive function and psychological wellbeing: a 1-year longitudinal study
Heavy use of ketamine is harmful to aspects of both cognitive function and psychological wellbeing.- The challenge of external validity in policy-relevant systematic reviews: a case study from the field of substance misuse
Prioritizing internal validity in a systematic review risks producing an evidence base that is not informed adequately by the wider determinants of health and which does not give sufficient consideration to external validity. Institutions that commission systematic reviews must be clear from the outset about how the review will be used.- Randomized controlled trial of dexamphetamine maintenance for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence
People who are dependent on methamphetamine can be safely treated by a maintenance program of daily sustained-release doses of amphetamine dispensed under pharmacist supervision.- Syringe exchange, injecting and intranasal drug use
Syringe exchange programs do not increase injecting drug use.- Smoking cessation patterns and predictors of quitting smoking among the Japanese general population: a 1-year follow-up study
Japanese smokers attempt to quit smoking at a lower rate than smokers in the United Kingdom and United States, but the factors that predict attempts to quit and the success of those attempts are similar.
- Volume 105 Issue 2 February 2010
- Does opioid substitution treatment in prisons reduce injecting-related HIV risk behaviours? A systematic review
For inmates who received opioid substitution treatment, the risk of injecting drug use was reduced by 55–75% and the risk of needle and syringe sharing was reduced by 47–73%.- Estimating driver risk using alcohol biomarkers, interlock blood alcohol concentration tests and psychometric assessments: initial descriptives
Several alcohol biomarkers and assessments could play an important role in the prediction and control of driver alcohol risk when re-licensing.- A dose–response perspective on college drinking and related problems
Many drinking problems among college students are associated with drinking relatively small amounts of alcohol (two to four drinks).- Community alcohol outlet density and underage drinking
Alcohol outlet density may play a significant role in initiation of underage drinking during early teenage years, especially when youths have limited mobility. Youth who reside in areas with low alcohol outlet density may overcome geographic constraints through social networks that increase their mobility and the ability to seek alcohol and drinking opportunities beyond the local community.- Retraining automatic action-tendencies to approach alcohol in hazardous drinkers
Retraining hazardous drinkers to implicitly avoid alcohol, thereby overcoming their automatic action-tendencies to approach alcohol, may help them regain control over their addictive impulses.- Pregabalin, tiapride and lorazepam in alcohol withdrawal syndrome: a multi-centre, randomized, single-blind comparison trial
Pregabalin is a potentially useful new drug for treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. The efficacy of pregabalin is superior to that of tiapride and, for some measures, to lorazepam.- Outcome of long-term heroin-assisted treatment offered to chronic, treatment-resistant heroin addicts in the Netherlands
Long-term heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is effective for chronic heroin addicts who have failed to benefit from methadone maintenance treatment. Four years of HAT is associated with stable physical, mental and social health and with absence of illicit heroin use and substantial reductions in cocaine use.- Can hepatitis C virus prevalence be used as a measure of injection-related human immunodeficiency virus risk in populations of injecting drug users? An ecological analysis
In most settings, reducing Hepatitis C virus prevalence below a threshold (30%) would reduce substantially any HIV risk, and could provide a target for HIV prevention.- The cost-effectiveness of consistent and early intervention of harm reduction for injecting drug users in Bangladesh
A study of the CARE-SHAKTI harm reduction intervention for injecting drug users shows that early intervention is more cost-effective than delaying activities, and that starting harm reduction activities when injecting drug user HIV prevalence reaches as high as 40% is still cost-effective. Continuing harm reduction activities once a project has matured is vital to sustaining its impact and cost-effectiveness.- The outcome of a rapid hepatitis B vaccination programme in a methadone treatment clinic
A hepatitis B vaccination schedule and seroconversion conducted in a group of patients in methadone maintenance treatment showed a high rate of completion of the rapid vaccination schedule but a moderate seroconversion rate.- Reduced nicotine content cigarettes: effects on toxicant exposure, dependence and cessation
Preliminary findings show that 0.05 mg nicotine yield cigarettes may be a useful product to help people stop smoking.- Cognitive test scores in male adolescent cigarette smokers compared to non-smokers: a population-based study
IQ scores are lower in male adolescents who smoke compared to non-smokers and in brothers who smoke compared to their non-smoking brothers. IQs of adolescents who began smoking between ages 18–21 are lower than those of non-smokers.- The impact of cigarette deprivation and cigarette availability on cue–reactivity in smokers
Even under conditions of immediate cigarette availability, deprivation and cue presentations have independent, additive effects on self-reported craving levels in smokers.
- Volume 105 Issue 3 March 2010
- Testing for cannabis in the work-place: a review of the evidence
Urinalysis testing is not recommended as a diagnostic tool to identify employees who represent a job safety risk from cannabis use. Blood testing for active tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can be considered by employers who wish to identify employees whose performance may be impaired by their cannabis use.- Genetic and environmental influences on cannabis use initiation and problematic use: a meta-analysis of twin studies
Vulnerability to both cannabis use initiation and problematic use is influenced significantly by genes, shared environment and unshared environment, with a greater shared environment component and lesser genes component for cannabis use initiation compared to problematic use for females.- Missing data assumptions and methods in a smoking cessation study
No currently available method of inputting missing data can compensate for bias when there are substantial amounts of missing data in smoking cessation studies.- Progression through early drinking milestones in an adolescent treatment sample
Movement through early drinking milestones (first drink, first time drunk, first monthly drinking, etc.) is accelerated in girls and white youth. Youth who reported their first drink at an early age (age 10 or younger) showed slower progression, suggesting the existence of distinct processes underlying early use and drinking transitions within an individual.- Moderators and mediators of two brief interventions for alcohol in the emergency department
A motivational interview to reduce alcohol consumption given to people attending an emergency department appeared to be more effective in those who initially did not attribute that event to alcohol and were not ready to change.- A brief alcohol intervention for hazardously drinking incarcerated women
Among incarcerated women who report hazardous drinking, a two-session brief alcohol intervention increases abstinent days at 3 months, but this effect decays by 6 months and participants continue to drink heavily after return to the community.- Predictors of hangover during a week of heavy drinking on holiday
Hangovers after heavy drinking during holidays are related to time into the holiday.- Social integration in young adulthood and the subsequent onset of substance use and disorders among a community population of urban African Americans
Social integration in young adulthood seems to play a role in later onset of drug use and drug disorders during mid-adulthood, but not alcohol disorders.- The abuse potential of the synthetic cannabinoid nabilone
Although reports of nabilone abuse are extremely rare, follow-up of patients using nabilone for therapeutic purposes is prudent and should include assessment of tolerance and dependence.- Using sensation seeking to target adolescents for substance use interventions
Sensation seeking works moderately well at identifying adolescents at risk for onset of binge drinking and established smoking. This study offers a guide for determining the appropriate targeting cut-off value, based on intervention efficacy, costs and risks.- Exposure to cannabis in popular music and cannabis use among adolescents
Among urban American adolescents there is an independent association between exposure to cannabis in popular music and early cannabis use.- Impact of injecting drug use on mortality in Danish HIV-infected patients: a nation-wide population-based cohort study
HIV-infected injecting drug users in Denmark suffer from substantially increased mortality in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era. The increased risk of death seems to be non-HIV-related and is due probably to the well-known risk factors associated with intravenous drug abuse.- Gender differences in genetic and environmental influences on gambling: results from a sample of twins from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health
Analysis of twins from the the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data suggests that there are significant gender differences in the genetic and environmental underpinnings to gambling behaviors.- Trends in and predictors of second-hand smoke exposure indexed by cotinine in children in England from 1996 to 2006
In the 11 years leading up to smoke-free legislation in England, the overall level of secondhand smoke exposure in children as well as absolute inequalities in exposure declined.- Proposed diagnostic criteria for internet addiction
Internet addiction can be diagnosed by a standard set of criteria based on those found with other addictions.
- Volume 105 Issue 4 April 2010
- Brief screening questionnaires to identify problem drinking during pregnancy: a systematic review
The T-ACE, TWEAK and AUDIT-C brief alcohol screening questionnaires show promise for screening for risk drinking during pregnancy, and AUDIT-C may also be useful for identifying alcohol dependency or abuse.- The Cannabis Use Problems Identification Test (CUPIT): development, reliability, concurrent and predictive validity among adolescents and adults
The CUPIT is a brief cannabis screener that is reliable, valid and acceptable for use across diverse community settings and consumers of all ages.- Mechanisms of behavior change in alcoholics anonymous: does Alcoholics Anonymous lead to better alcohol use outcomes by reducing depression symptoms?
Alcoholics Anonymous attendance appears to lead both to improvements in alcohol use and psychological and emotional wellbeing which, in turn, may reinforce further abstinence and recovery-related change.- How much alcohol do you buy? A comparison of self-reported alcohol purchases with actual sales
In countries with significant cross-border trade, asking how much alcohol a person buys yields better coverage of actual alcohol sales (and thereby also how much is consumed overall) than does asking how much a person drinks.- The effects of binge drinking on college students' next-day academic test-taking performance and mood state
Test-taking performance was not affected on the morning after drinking, but mood state and attention/reaction-time were affected.- Sweet preferences and analgesia during childhood: effects of family history of alcoholism and depression
A family history of alcoholism combined with self-reported depression was associated significantly with a preference for a sweeter taste, while self-reported depression alone was associated with greater liking for sweet-tasting foods and candies and increased pain sensitivity.- The impact of a supervised injecting facility on ambulance call-outs in Sydney, Australia
The burden on ambulance services of attending to opioid-related overdoses declined significantly in the vicinity of the Sydney supervised injecting facility after it opened, compared to the rest of New South Wales.- The added risk of opioid problem use among treatment-seeking youth with marijuana and/or alcohol problem use
Young people seeking treatment for problem use of alcohol or marijuana who also presented with problem use of opioids showed greater comorbidity, higher rates of psychiatric symptoms and trauma/victimization, greater needle use and sex-related HIV risk behaviours, and greater physical distress.- Predicting life-time and regular cannabis use during adolescence; the roles of temperament and peer substance use: the TRAILS study
Peer cannabis use and, to a lesser extent, certain temperamental characteristics affect an adolescent's risk of cannabis use, and should be considered in prevention programmes.- Abuse liability of intravenous buprenorphine/naloxone and buprenorphine alone in buprenorphine-maintained intravenous heroin abusers
Although the buprenorphine/naloxone combination has intravenous abuse potential, that potential is lower than it is for buprenorphine alone, particularly when participants received higher maintenance doses and lower buprenorphine/naloxone challenge doses.- Substance use and periodontal disease among Australian Aboriginal young adults
Substance use is linked with periodontal disease in young Australian Aboriginal adults. Petrol sniffing is linked with periodontal disease in any population.- Human sex differences in d-amphetamine self-administration
Men are more sensitive to the reinforcing effects of a high dose of d-amphetamine than women.- The effect of time spent in treatment and dropout status on rates of convictions, cautions and imprisonment over 5 years in a primary care-led methadone maintenance service
Methadone maintenance treatment delivered in a primary care clinic setting is effective in reducing convictions and cautions and incarceration over an extended period. Continuous treatment is associated with the greatest reductions.- Symptoms of nicotine dependence in a cohort of Swedish youths: a comparison between smokers, smokeless tobacco users and dual tobacco users
Smokeless tobacco users show symptoms of nicotine dependence at least as frequently as cigarette smokers. Symptoms of nicotine dependence and of withdrawal during quit attempts are particularly frequent among users who combine smokeless tobacco with smoking.- Internet-based prevention for alcohol and cannabis use: final results of the Climate Schools course
Internet-based prevention programs for school-age children can improve students' knowledge about alcohol and cannabis, and may also reduce alcohol use twelve months after completion.
- Volume 105 Issue 5 May 2010
- Evidence for the effectiveness of sterile injecting equipment provision in preventing hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus transmission among injecting drug users: a review of reviews
Evidence on the benefits of needle and syringe exchange schemes for heroin users is weaker than has been claimed.- Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE): an instrument based on the World Health Organization family of international classifications
The Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE) tool, which is used to allocate patients to substance abuse treatment, is a comprehensive but flexible measurement tool that is also practical to use and well suited for use in a varied population.- Do maternal parenting practices predict problematic patterns of adolescent alcohol consumption?
Problem alcohol use in adolescence is strongly repdicted by having a mother who changes partners frequently and exerts little parental control- ADH1B*2 allele is protective against alcoholism but not chronic liver disease in the Hungarian population
In Hungarians, the alcohol dehydrogenase 1B 48His allele reduces the risk of alcoholism, but not the risk of chronic liver disease among heavy drinkers.- Methadone maintenance therapy promotes initiation of antiretroviral therapy among injection drug users
Methadone maintenance therapy contributes to more rapid initiation and subsequent adherence to antiretrioviral therapy among opioid-using HIV-infected injection drug users.- Comparative rates of violent crime among regular methamphetamine and opioid users: offending and victimization
Regular methamphetamine use appears to be associated with an increased risk of violent offending, but not victimization, compared with heroin use.- Subjective social status affects smoking abstinence during acute withdrawal through affective mediators
Smokers who report themselves to have lower social status are more likely to relapse early when they try to stop.
- Volume 105 Issue 6 June 2010
- Health outcomes associated with methamphetamine use among young people: a systematic review
There is a consistent relationship between methamphetamine use and depression, psychosis, behavioural problems and concurrent drug and alcohol use disorders. There is insufficient evidence of an association between methamphetamine use and increased risk of HIV/STI infection and onset of dental diseases...
- Modeling missing binary outcome data in a successful web-based smokeless tobacco cessation program
When participants in a scientific study drop out, the choice of method used to impute missing data affect the size and statistical significance of the treatment effect. Multiple imputation methods are recommended, especially those that permit a sensitivity analysis of their impact.- Estimating the number of alcohol-attributable deaths: methodological issues and illustration with French data for 2006
The most realistic estimates of the number of alcohol-attributable deaths are likely to be obtained by adjusting the consumption data for national alcohol sales, and by summing the cause-specific estimates.- Effects of a community intervention to reduce the serving of alcohol to intoxicated patrons
Comprehensive Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) interventions applied at a local community level can be effective in decreasing service to intoxicated clients.- Rumination as a predictor of drinking behaviour in alcohol abusers: a prospective study
Ruminative thoughts such as 'Why can't I handle things better?' and 'Why do I react always in the same way?' can predict a person's return to alcohol use and level of alcohol use after treatment for alcohol abuse.- Ambient temperature and risk of death from accidental drug overdose in New York City, 1990–2006
Accidental overdose deaths involving cocaine rise when the average weekly ambient temperature passes 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit).- Response to first-line antiretroviral treatment among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with and without a history of injecting drug use in Indonesia
Intravenous drug users (IDUs) in Indonesia with HIV/AIDS tend to have more advanced disease but respond similarly to non-IDUs to antiretroviral therapy.- Flashblood: blood sharing among female injecting drug users in Tanzania
Women who use flashblood (a syringe-full of blood passed from someone who has just injected heroin to someone else who injects it in lieu of heroin) are more likely to be married, be heavy drug users, have lived in the current housing situation for a shorter time, and have been forced as a child to have sex by a family member.- The epidemiology of cannabis use and cannabis-related harm in Australia 1993–2007
Prevalence of past-year cannabis use has declined in the Australian population since the late 1990s.- Impairment due to cannabis and ethanol: clinical signs and additive effects
Cannabis impairs driving ability, with higher concentrations producing higher levels of impairment. Drivers with both cannabis and alcohol in their blood are more likely to be judged as impaired.- If you try to stop smoking, should we pay for it? The cost–utility of reimbursing smoking cessation support in the Netherlands
Reimbursement of smoking cessation support is cost-effective from a health care perspective.- Predicting the life-time benefit of school-based smoking prevention programmes
School-based smoking prevention programmes that deter early smoking onset can increase the likelihood of quitting in later life.- Mental disorders as risk factors for substance use, abuse and dependence: results from the 10-year follow-up of the National Comorbidity Survey
Many mental disorders are associated with an increased risk of later substance use, abuse, and dependence with abuse. At particular risk are people with bipolar disorder and some types of anxiety disorder.
- Volume 105 Issue 7 July 2010
- Smoking cessation in severe mental illness: what works?
Treatments for tobacco dependence that work in the general population appear to be equally effective for those with severe mental illness and stopping smoking does not worsen the mental state of those with stable psychiatric conditions.
- Socio-economic status predicts drinking patterns but not alcohol-related consequences independently
People with lower socio-economic status have more alcohol-related problems than those with higher status and this appears to be attributable to their drinking patterns rather than greater susceptibility to problems arising from drinking.
- Changes in alcohol consumption and beverage preference among adolescents after the introduction of the alcopops tax in Germany
A tax on alcopops in Germany led to a partial substitution of spirits and other drinks that are typically associated with riskier drinking patterns.
- Trajectories of resilience over 25 years of individuals who as adolescents consulted for substance misuse and a matched comparison group
Individuals presenting with substance misuse problems in adolescence appear to be less likely to achieve ‘resilience’ over the subsequent 25 years than the general population. Resilience is defined as the absence of substance misuse, lawbreaking, and hospitalization related to substance misuse or mental illness.
- Individuals receiving addiction treatment: are medical costs of their family members reduced?
Successful treatment for alcohol and other drug misuse is related to a reduction in medical costs for the patients’ families which suggests that their health has improved.
- Sexual orientation and substance use trajectories in emerging adulthood
Individuals who self-identify as belonging to a sexual minority group at the onset of emerging adulthood display exponential increases in rates of drunkenness and cannabis use compared with those self-identifying four years later.
- Continuous, categorical and mixture models of DSM-IV alcohol and cannabis use disorders in the Australian community
The range of DSM-IV alcohol and cannabis dependence symptoms can be explained most effectively for each substance by a single underlying dimension.
- Hepatitis C virus risk behaviors within the partnerships of young injecting drug users
Perceiving that one’s partner has hepatitis C virus is associated with a decrease in injecting with their previously used needles or syringes.
- Effect of an antismoking advertisement on cinema patrons' perception of smoking and intention to smoke: a quasi-experimental study
Placing an antismoking advertisement before movies can lead to a higher awareness of smoking in the movies, lower approval levels of smoking in the movies, and a more negative attitude towards smoking in general.
- Smoking-based selection and influence in gender-segregated friendship networks: a social network analysis of adolescent smoking
Both male and female adolescent smokers tend to select other smokers as friends, but it appears that only females are influenced to smoke by this peer group.
- A randomized trial of the effects of two novel nicotine replacement therapies on tobacco withdrawal symptoms and user satisfaction
A new nicotine mouth spray and novel formulation nicotine lozenges are at least as affective as 4mg nicotine gum in relieving cravings. The mouth spray showed the fastest craving relief and may be particularly useful for relieving acute cravings.
- Unplanned attempts to quit smoking: a qualitative exploration
Attempts to quit smoking that were reportedly ‘unplanned’ or spontaneous often involve elements of planning to enable access to facilities that provide support for the quit attempt.
- Areca nut dependence among chewers in a South Indian community who do not also use tobacco
Symptoms of areca nut dependence can be observed in those who chew areca nut without tobacco.
- Volume 105 Issue 8 August 2010
- Computer-delivered interventions for alcohol and tobacco use: a meta-analysis
Minimal contact computer-delivered treatments accessed via the internet may represent a cost-effective means of treating uncomplicated substance use and related problems.- Alcohol use and mortality in older men and women
Consuming four standard alcoholic drinks per day, or two drinks per day for women, appears to be associated with a decreased mortality risk in people over 65, when compared with those who do not consume alcohol every week.- Matching motivation enhancement treatment to client motivation: re-examining the Project MATCH motivation matching hypothesis
In aftercare settings, women and men with low levels of alcohol
dependence, may benefit more from ‘motivational enhancement’ techniques than from ‘cognitive-behavioural’ techniques to reduce their consumption. In out-patient settings, this may also be true of individuals with a low level of motivation to start with.- Alcohol use and non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients in West Africa
Alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking is associated with non-adherence to antiretroviral treatment amongst West African HIV-infected patients.- Requiring suspended drunk drivers to install alcohol interlocks to reinstate their licenses: effective?
Evidence to date does not suggest a benefit for requiring suspended drunk drivers to install 'interlock' systems that prevent driving while intoxicated.- Is Vancouver Canada's supervised injection facility cost-saving?
Insite's safe injection facility and syringe exchange program substantially reduces the incidence of HIV infection within Vancouver's intravenous drug using community, more than offsetting the costs associated with HIV-related medical care.- Modeling the effect of high dead-space syringes on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic among injecting drug users
Injection-related HIV epidemics may not occur when most injecting drug users use ‘low dead-space’ syringes. The effect of blood retained in high dead-space syringes on HIV prevalence appears to be very strong.
- Drug-related behaviors independently associated with syphilis infection among female sex workers in two Mexico–US border cities
Among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, active syphilis appears to be associated more closely with drug-using behaviors than with sexual behaviours.- Individual, partner and relationship factors associated with non-medical use of prescription drugs
Among women, there is evidence that a partner’s prescription drug use is associated with an increased risk for non-medical use of prescription drugs. Among men, the same association is not evident.
- The effect of stopping smoking on perceived stress levels
Among highly dependent smokers who report that smoking helps them cope with stress, smoking cessation is actually associated with the lowering of stress. Smoking may generate or aggravate negative emotional states.
- Pre-cessation nicotine replacement therapy: pragmatic randomized trial
Using nicotine replacement therapy for two weeks before the target quit date is safe but may offer less benefit over starting use on the quit date than has been previously thought.
- Substance use and common child mental health problems: examining longitudinal associations in a British sample
Behavioural problems that involve ‘externalizing’ predict all forms of adolescent substance use, particularly smoking. This association shows a dose-response relationship.
- Volume 105 Issue 9 September 2010
- Meta-analysis of drug-related deaths soon after release from prison
The risk of drug-related death is increased during the first 2 weeks after prison release.- Using the internet to research hidden populations of illicit drug users: a review
Internet research is successful at accessing hidden populations of illicit drugs users, but findings are unlikely to be generalisable to the general public.
- Alcohol, suppressed anger and violence
Alcohol use may cause violent behaviour in those who suppress angry feelings.
- US state alcohol sales compared to survey data, 1993–2006
Although survey data underestimates alcohol consumption, the consistent association between sales consumption and survey data suggests both are useful for monitoring changes in alcohol use.
- Behavioral economic analysis of cue-elicited craving for alcohol
When compared to neutral water related cues, alcohol related cues increase alcohol cravings and the relative economic value of alcohol.
- The influence of cultural orientation, alcohol expectancies and self-efficacy on adolescent drinking behavior in Beijing
Amongst adolescents in Beijing, a western cultural orientation is associated with increased alcohol consumption and risk-promoting beliefs about alcohol use.
- Cost-effectiveness of extended buprenorphine–naloxone treatment for opioid-dependent youth: data from a randomized trial
In treating outpatient opioid-dependent youth, extended buprenorphine–naloxone treatment is more cost effective than brief detoxification.
- Were the changes to Sweden's maintenance treatment policy 2000–06 related to changes in opiate-related mortality and morbidity?
In Sweden, the increase in methadone maintenance treatment for opiate-dependent patients is associated with a decrease in opiate-related mortality.
- Challenges to antagonist blockade during sustained-release naltrexone treatment
Although occasional opioid use is common amongst sustained-release naltrexone patients, regular opioid use occurs only in a minority and in the context of polydrug use and social adjustment problems. Opioid use is an indicator of poor treatment outcomes in sustained-release naltrexone patients.
- The impact of eliminating the global illicit cigarette trade on health and revenue
Eliminating the global illicit cigarette trade would avoid millions of premature deaths and recover billions of dollars for governments, having a particular effect in low- and middle-income countries.
- Association of adolescent symptoms of depression and anxiety with daily smoking and nicotine dependence in young adulthood: findings from a 10-year longitudinal study
Adolescent smokers with depression and anxiety symptoms are at increased risk of nicotine dependence into young adulthood.
- Failure to improve cigarette smoking abstinence with transdermal selegiline + cognitive behavior therapy
Transdermal selegiline does not appear generally effective in aiding smoking cessation.
- Volume 105 Issue 10 October 2010
- Community reinforcement and family training: an effective option to engage treatment-resistant substance-abusing individuals in treatment
Substance abuse treatments based around community reinforcement and family training are more successful than traditional programmes in treating individuals resistant to treatment.- Initial, habitual and compulsive alcohol use is characterized by a shift of cue processing from ventral to dorsal striatum
Visual alcohol cues activate different regions of the brain in light social drinkers and heavy drinkers. The region of the brain involved in behaviour control and decision making is activated more in light social drinkers, which may explain why alcohol use is controlled rather than compulsive.- The importance of family management, closeness with father and family structure in early adolescent alcohol use
Family management, such as parental monitoring and rules, and an emotionally close father-adolescent relationship may contribute to alcohol abstinence in adolescents.- Predictors of injury-related and non-injury-related mortality among veterans with alcohol use disorders
Veterans from the US armed forces with alcohol use disorders die an average of 15 years earlier than veterans without alcohol use disorders and have an increased likelihood of dying an injury-related death. At particular risk of injury-related death are Caucasians and those diagnosed with mental illness.- Deliberate induction of alcohol tolerance: empirical introduction to a novel health risk
Drinking to deliberately induce alcohol tolerance is reported amongst American students, particularly those prone to frequent binge drinking.- Validity of suspected alcohol and drug violations in aviation employees
Physical and behavioral observation represents an efficient screening method for detecting alcohol and drug violations in aviation employees.- Risk factors for drug dependence among out-patients on opioid therapy in a large US health-care system
Opioid misuse and dependence among prescription opioid patients in the United States may be higher than expected.- Proximity to the US–Mexico border: a key to explaining geographic variation in US methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin purity
Within the US, proximity to the Mexican border is associated with higher methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin purity.
- Treatment process, alliance and outcome in brief versus extended treatments for marijuana dependence
In both brief and extended behavioural treatments for marijuana dependence, a good working alliance with the therapist is associated with an improved outcome for participants.
- Withdrawal symptoms in abstinent methamphetamine-dependent subjects
Acute withdrawal from methamphetamine is accompanied by depressive and psychotic symptoms, which tend to resolve within a week.
- Losses disguised as wins in modern multi-line video slot machines
The reinforcing sights and sounds used by slot machines trigger arousal in novice players, even when players have actually lost money on the spin.
- Empirical support for a multi-dimensional model of sensations experienced by youth during their initial smoking episodes
Three dimensions of sensation for initial smoking episodes – ‘pleasant’, ‘unpleasant‘ and ‘buzz’ - appear to be associated with the transition from initial smoking sensations to regular smoking.- A qualitative study of young people's sources of cigarettes and attempts to circumvent underage sales laws
Age restrictions on cigarette sales are easily circumvented by ‘proxy sales’, in which strangers are approached to buy cigarettes for the underage smoker, and the failure of shopkeepers to require identification.
- Peer substance involvement modifies genetic influences on regular substance involvement in young women
In young women, high levels of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use amongst peers is associated with an increased expression of genetic predispositions for regular substance use.
- Volume 105 Issue 11 November 2010
- Which came first: the readiness or the change? Longitudinal relationships between readiness to change and drinking among college drinkers
Contrary to previous findings, “readiness to change” does not appear to predict lower levels of drinking among college drinkers.
- Trajectory classes of heavy episodic drinking among Asian American college students
Among Asian American college students, sub-groups of high-risk drinkers can be identified. High-risk drinking behaviour is associated with the quality of peer relationships and parental awareness.
- Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in men and women with alcohol dependence: results from a cross-sectional study during behavioural treatment in a controlled environment
Metabolic syndrome is more prevalent in men and women with alcohol dependence than other people.
- Alcohol dependence and anxiety increase error-related brain activity
In contrast to previous findings, the ability to monitor one’s behaviour appears to be increased in alcohol-dependent patients, particularly those with comorbid anxiety disorders.
- The effect of survey sampling frame on coverage: the level of and changes in alcohol-related mortality in Finland as a test case
Subgroups often excluded from survey samples – such as the homeless and institutionalised – display higher levels of alcohol-related mortality than the general population.
- Reductions in alcohol and cocaine use following a group coping intervention for HIV-positive adults with childhood sexual abuse histories
Group-based coping interventions can be effective in reducing alcohol and cocaine use in HIV-positive adults with histories of childhood sexual abuse.
- Motor vehicle collision fatalities involving alcohol and illicit drugs in Greece: the need for management protocols and a reassessment of surveillance
In Athens almost a third of car crash fatalities involved alcohol, illicit drugs or both. Victims testing positive for alcohol or drugs may be more likely to die than those with negative toxicology reports, despite comparable injury severity.
- Elevated overdose mortality rates among First Nations individuals in a Canadian setting: a population-based analysis
In British Columbia, First Nation Canadians display higher rates of overdose death and premature mortality compared with the general population.- Mexico's methamphetamine precursor chemical interventions: impacts on drug treatment admissions
Interventions to limit supply of precursor chemicals in Mexico have been associated with a decrease in methamphetamine treatment admissions.
- Changes in smoking prevalence in 16–17-year-old versus older adults following a rise in legal age of sale: findings from an English population study
Raising the legal age of tobacco sales in England was associated with a larger reduction in smoking prevalence in 16-17 year olds than older age groups, suggesting a direct effect of the policy.
- Effectiveness of a mood management component as an adjunct to a telephone counselling smoking cessation intervention for smokers with a past major depression: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial
Adding a mood management component to smoking cessation telephone counselling may increase cessation rates in smokers with past major depression without necessarily reducing depressive symptoms.
- Immediate versus delayed quitting and rates of relapse among smokers treated successfully with varenicline, bupropion SR or placebo
Some smokers receiving treatment to help them stop smoking who do not initially achieve abstinence, can stop successfully with continued treatment: such smokers may account for as much as one third of long-term quitters.
- Peer smoking and the nicotinic receptor genes: an examination of genetic and environmental risks for nicotine dependence
Nicotine dependence in those with a genetic predisposition for smoking appears to be less affected by peer smoking than it is in those not genetically predisposed to smoking.
- Effects of smoking cessation with voucher-based contingency management on birth outcomes
Among pregnant women, smoking-cessation treatment which rewards success with retail vouchers may improve important birth outcomes such as infant weight.
- Volume 105 Issue 12 December 2010
- Methadone dose and neonatal abstinence syndrome—systematic review and meta-analysis
The severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome does not appear to be related to the dose level of the mother’s methadone maintenance therapy.
- Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in Australia: findings of the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing
Alcohol abuse and dependence in Australia is most common among young adult males and is associated with other drug use and anxiety disorders.- Harsh physical punishment as a specific childhood adversity linked to adult drinking consequences: evidence from China
In China, harsh physical punishment during childhood appears strongly associated with alcohol dependence in adulthood.- Change talk sequence during brief motivational intervention, towards or away from drinking
Patient attitude, either towards or away from drinking, rarely changes during brief motivational intervention for excessive alcohol consumption. However, a move in attitude away from drinking at the end of intervention is associated with improved outcomes at follow-up.- Potential consequences of replacing a retail alcohol monopoly with a private licence system: results from Sweden
Privatization of the Swedish alcohol retail market is expected to significantly increase levels of alcohol-related harm, such as instances of drink driving, suicide, homicide and assault.- Quality versus quantity: acquisition of coping skills following computerized cognitive–behavioral therapy for substance use disorders
Incorporating a computerized cognitive-behavioural therapy programme into substance abuse treatment may improve the coping skills of patients.- Victimization and substance use disorders in a national sample of heterosexual and sexual minority women and men
The higher rates of victimization, and particularly childhood victimization, reported by sexual minorities may help explain their increased rates of substance use disorders, when compared to the heterosexual population.- The self-reported personal wellbeing of a sample of Australian injecting drug users
Australian injecting drug users reported much lower levels of personal wellbeing than the general population.- Self-reported side effects in buprenorphine and methadone patients receiving antiretroviral therapy: results from the MANIF 2000 cohort study
Methadone patients receiving antiretroviral therapy report fewer side-effects of the treatment than buprenorphine patients receiving the same therapy.- Pathological gambling recovery in the absence of abstinence
The large majority of those who recover from pathological gambling move to controlled gambling rather than complete abstinence.- Impulsivity and socio-economic status interact to increase the risk of gambling onset among youth
Impulsivity is a risk factor for gambling onset among youth with low socio-economic status, but not those with high socio-economic status.- A multi-level analysis of non-significant counseling effects in a randomized smoking cessation trial
Smoking cessation counselling may increase quitting success at least partly by improving quitting self-efficacy and reducing the perceived difficulty of quitting.- Depressive mood, suicide ideation and anxiety in smokers who do and smokers who do not manage to stop smoking after a target quit day
Smoking abstinence among smokers with a history of major depression does not lead to increased depression, anxiety or suicidal ideation; however, failed attempts to quit may do so.
- Volume 105 Issue 1 January 2010
- ISSUES 2011
- Volume 106 Issue 1 January 2011
- A meta-analysis of alcohol toxicology study findings among homicide victims
A third of homicide victims appear to have been intoxicated with alcohol at the time of their death but this figure has decreased over time.- Reduction in alcohol consumption and health status
A deterioration in health appears to be an important motive for reducing or stopping alcohol consumption; this may at least partly explain the apparently increased risk of ill health in people who abstain from drinking.- Area of residence and alcohol-related mortality risk: a five-year follow-up study
Whilst alcohol-related mortality is higher in the more deprived areas of Northern Ireland, this appears to be due to the characteristics of individuals within the areas, rather than an independent effect of area deprivation.- High alcohol consumption in middle-aged adults is associated with poorer cognitive performance only in the low socio-economic group. Results from the GAZEL cohort study
High alcohol consumption is associated with poor cognitive performance among low socio-economic groups but apparently not higher socio-economic groups.- 'Alcohol, less is better' project: outcomes of an Italian community-based prevention programme on reducing per-capita alcohol consumption
The ‘Alcohol, less is better’ project, which is aimed at changing attitudes to alcohol through the involvement of community leaders, appears to reduce alcohol consumption in participants, particularly women.- Primary care-based intervention to reduce at-risk drinking in older adults: a randomized controlled trial
Although there is evidence to show that interventions reduce unhealthy alcohol use in primary care populations, a multi-component intervention among older adults in primary care did not reduce at-risk drinking, despite reducing alcohol consumption.- Paternal incarceration and trajectories of marijuana and other illegal drug use from adolescence into young adulthood: evidence from longitudinal panels of males and females in the United States
Paternal incarceration is associated with an increase in marijuana use and the risk of other illegal drug use among adolescents and young adults in the United States.- Impact of jail sanctions during drug court participation upon substance abuse treatment completion
A jail sanction for non-adherence to substance abuse treatment is more likely to achieve successful results in individuals not already acclimatized to incarceration.- Hepatitis C virus among non-injecting cocaine users (NICUs) in South America: can injectors be a bridge?
Non-injecting cocaine users in South America are vulnerable to Hepatitis C infection, particularly those in an intimate relationship with an intravenous drug using, or HIV positive, partner.- Mephedrone, new kid for the chop?
A study of users of a UK-based dance and clubbing website suggests that mephedrone use is common, particularly among males with the preferred route being intranasal.- The association between use of snus and quit rates for smoking: results from seven Norwegian cross-sectional studies
Consistent with Swedish studies, Norwegian data shows that snus use is associated with an increased probability of being a former compared with a current smoker, suggesting that in Norway snus may have a role in smoking cessation.- Evening types are more often current smokers and nicotine-dependent—a study of Finnish adult twins
Compared to ‘morning types’, ‘evening types’ are more likely to be current smokers and highly nicotine dependent; ‘evening types’ also have a lower likelihood of quitting smoking.- Declining alternative reinforcers link depression to young adult smoking
The observed association between depressive symptoms and smoking in young adults may be influenced by a decline in the presence of alternative sources of personal reward in depressive young adults.- Associations between weight change over 8 years and baseline body mass index in a cohort of continuing and quitting smokers
Smokers who quit smoking gain more weight than those who continue smoking; the association between quitting and weight gain is particularly pronounced in those who are already obese.- Use of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking reduction and during enforced temporary abstinence: a national survey of English smokers
The use of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking reduction and temporary abstinence does not appear to reduce the number of cigarettes consumed, when compared with those attempting reduction and temporary abstinence without nicotine replacement therapy.- Online video game addiction: identification of addicted adolescent gamers
In the Netherlands, approximately 1.5% of all 13-16 year olds can be considered addicted online gamers. Despite addiction-like problems, an association between addictive online gaming and decreased psychosocial health is not evident.- Common and drug-specific genetic influences on subjective effects to alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use
Individual responses to alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use appear to share common genetic influences; drug-specific genetic influences appear to contribute to individual differences in drug response.
- Volume 106 Issue 2 February 2011
- Can stand-alone computer-based interventions reduce alcohol consumption? A systematic review
Computer-based interventions appear to be effective at reducing alcohol consumption in both student and non-student populations.- Impulse control disorders in patients with Parkinson's disease receiving dopamine replacement therapy: evidence and implications for the addictions field
Dopamine replacement therapy may contribute to the appearance of impulse control disorders such as problem gambling and compulsive eating in patients with Parkinson’s disease.- Effects of restricting pub closing times on night-time assaults in an Australian city
Restricting pub closing times to 3/3:30 am in Newcastle, Australia, was associated with a significant reduction in assaults.- Per capita alcohol consumption and ischemic heart disease mortality in a panel of US states from 1950 to 2002
In US adults, consumption of alcohol, and particularly spirits, appears to be associated with an increased rate of ischemic heart disease mortality while beer consumption appears have a protective effect.- Personal, family and social functioning among older couples concordant and discordant for high-risk alcohol consumption
In couples over 65, high-risk drinking and differences in alcohol consumption do not appear to have a negative effect on the quality of marital relationships or family functioning, as they appear to in younger couples.- The acute effects of caffeinated versus non-caffeinated alcoholic beverage on driving performance and attention/reaction time
Despite the common belief among young drinkers that caffeinated alcoholic drinks enhance alertness, when compared to non-caffeinated alcoholic drinks they do not appear to improve either driving performance or attention/reaction times.- The course of substance use disorders in patients with borderline personality disorder and Axis II comparison subjects: a 10-year follow-up study
Substance use disorders appear to be more prevalent among patients also suffering from borderline personality disorder, although remissions in drug use appear common and relatively stable.- Decreased bone density in men on methadone maintenance therapy
Bone density appears to be lower than normal in men, but not women, taking methadone maintenance therapy.- The roles of law, client race and program visibility in shaping police interference with the operation of US syringe exchange programs
Police interference in American syringe exchange programs is inconsistent, with programs predominantly serving non-white drug users reporting higher levels of police interference.- The STEP into Action study: a peer-based, personal risk network-focused HIV prevention intervention with injection drug users in Baltimore, Maryland
‘STEP into Action’, a peer-based training program using the influence of social networks, appeared to reduce behaviour with a high risk of HIV transmission among active injection drug users.- Cessation of groin injecting behaviour among patients on oral opioid substitution treatment
Although oral opioid substitution therapy can reduce groin injecting in some patients, groin injecting usually persists despite both treatment and severe health complications.- Dopamine release in ventral striatum during Iowa Gambling Task performance is associated with increased excitement levels in pathological gambling
Dopamine release appears to be associated with increased excitement levels in pathological gamblers, regardless of their performance in a gambling task.- Dizziness and the genetic influences on subjective experiences to initial cigarette use
An individual’s initial smoking experience appears to be affected by heritable factors, particularly the experience of dizziness which may be caused by a heritable sensitivity to the chemicals contained in cigarettes.- The relationship between addiction and reward bundling: an experiment comparing smokers and non-smokers
Smokers appear to be more likely than non-smokers to prefer small short-term rewards over larger delayed rewards.- Does extinction of responses to cigarette cues occur during smoking cessation?
For smokers attempting to quit, exposure to available cigarettes is a risk factor for lapsing. However, this risk can be reduced by repeated exposures to available cigarettes without smoking.- Anxiety diagnoses in smokers seeking cessation treatment: relations with tobacco dependence, withdrawal, outcome and response to treatment
Anxiety diagnoses are common among smokers attempting to quit, and appear to be related to an impaired ability to quit.- Teaching community program clinicians motivational interviewing using expert and train-the-trainer strategies
Both ‘expert-led’ and ‘train-the-trainer’ approaches to training clinicians in addiction treatment appear to be more successful than a self-study approach.
- Volume 106 Issue 3 March 2011
- Alcohol as a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Alcohol consumption in parents may increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. However, it is unclear whether this is due to alcohol impairing parental capacity, or alcohol being a proxy for other risk factors, such as smoking.- Brief alcohol interventions for mandated college students: comparison of face-to-face counseling and computer-delivered interventions
Among American college students who had violated alcohol policies, face-to-face counselling reduced alcohol consumption and related problems more than computer-delivered interventions, particularly in female students.- Why target early adolescents and parents in alcohol prevention? The mediating effects of self-control, rules and attitudes about alcohol use
An intervention targeting both young adolescents and their parents appears to be effective in delaying the onset of weekly alcohol use by developing adolescent self-control as well as parental rule-setting.- Effects of alcohol portrayals in movies on actual alcohol consumption: an observational experimental study
The portrayal of alcohol consumption in movies appears to increase the alcohol consumption of young males while they are viewing the movie, but not that of female viewers.- Exploring the emergence of alcohol use disorder symptoms in the two years after onset of drinking: findings from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health
Despite steadily increasing during the first nine months of alcohol use, the emergence of clinical features of alcohol use disorder then appear to plateau or fluctuate during the second year.- Neural correlates of verbal learning in adolescent alcohol and marijuana users
While adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana displayed no difference from non-users in their performance on a verbal encoding task, both binge drinkers and combined marijuana and alcohol users did exhibit different brain response patterns. No main effects of marijuana use alone were found.- Revised dose schema of sublingual buprenorphine in the treatment of the neonatal opioid abstinence syndrome
Administering Buprenorphine to infants was demonstrated to be both safe and effective in the treatment of neonatal opioid abstinence syndrome, with indications of a therapeutic advantage over morphine.- Mortality and HIV transmission among male Vietnamese injection drug users
The mortality rate of male Vietnamese injection drug users is 13 times higher than that of the general population and substantially higher than the mortality rate of injection drug users studied in developed countries.- Opioid dependence latent structure: two classes with differing severity?
Among in-treatment opioid users, there appears to be two separate classes of individuals, exhibiting distinct patterns of opioid dependence, other substance use and mental health disorders.- Predictors and correlates of reduced frequency or cessation of injection drug use during a randomized HIV prevention intervention trial
HIV prevention interventions that encourage injection drug users to take on the role of peer educator may have the additional benefit of increasing the likelihood of injection cessation.- Do cigarette prices motivate smokers to quit? New evidence from the ITC survey
Smokers living in areas with higher cigarette prices and taxes were significantly more motivated to quit and had an increased likelihood of actual quitting.- Cigarette tax and public health: what are the implications of financially stressed smokers for the effects of price increases on smoking prevalence?
Although price increases may reduce smoking prevalence among smokers as a whole, financial stress appears to limit the efficacy of price increases among low-income smokers.- Strength of urges to smoke as a measure of severity of cigarette dependence: comparison with the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence and its components
Among English smokers, a simple ‘strength of urges’ rating appears to be a good predictor of short-term quit success.- An Ecological Momentary Assessment analysis of relations among coping, affect and smoking during a quit attempt
Although stress coping responses during a quit attempt may be effective at lowering stress, they do not appear to protect against smoking or increase the likelihood of quit success.- Effect of compliance with nicotine gum dosing on weight gained during a quit attempt
During the first 30 days of a quit attempt, smokers who use more pieces of nicotine gum experience less weight gain. This relationship is not seen for smokers on nicotine-free placebo gum.- Probability and predictors of remission from life-time nicotine, alcohol, cannabis or cocaine dependence: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions
The vast majority of nicotine, alcohol, cannabis or cocaine dependent individuals achieve remission at some point in their lives, with males, Blacks and those with personality disorders exhibiting the lowest rates of remission.
- Volume 106 Issue 4 April 2011
- Interventions for disorder and severe intoxication in and around licensed premises, 1989–2009
Server training appeared to be successful at reducing alcohol-related violence in and around licensed premises. However, there is limited evidence that premises level interventions are effective at reducing intoxication or related disorder.- The price of a drink: levels of consumption and price paid per unit of alcohol by Edinburgh's ill drinkers with a comparison to wider alcohol sales in Scotland
Drinkers in Edinburgh with alcohol-related illnesses pay an average of £0.29 less per unit of alcohol than the general Scottish population, with those paying the lowest prices consuming the greatest amounts of alcohol.- Inverse association of the obesity predisposing FTO rs9939609 genotype with alcohol consumption and risk for alcohol dependence
The genotype which predisposes to obesity is also associated with protection from alcohol dependence, lower alcohol consumption and less intense cigarette smoking.- Types of drinkers and drinking settings: an application of a mathematical model
The level of social interaction between light, moderate and heavy drinkers and the traffic between low-risk and high-risk drinking venues are important determinants of changes in drinking patterns among US college students.- The effects of a large reduction in alcohol prices on hospitalizations related to alcohol: a population-based natural experiment
In Finland, a reduction in the price of alcohol in 2004 was associated with an increase in chronic hospitalization rates among 50-69 year olds. This increase was largely due to a rise in alcohol-related mental and behavioural disorders.- Impact on alcohol-related mortality of a rapid rise in the density of private liquor outlets in British Columbia: a local area multi-level analysis
The large increase in numbers of privately owned liquor stores in British Columbia between 2003 and 2008 was associated with a significant local-area increase in alcohol-related deaths.- Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs
In contrast to previous findings, there is little evidence of decreased cognitive performance in long-term ecstasy users.- The association between spending on methamphetamine/amphetamine and cannabis for personal use and earnings from acquisitive crime among police detainees in New Zealand
In New Zealand there is a positive correlation between earnings from property crime and levels of both methamphetamine/amphetamine and cannabis use. While this relationship also exists between methamphetamine/amphetamine use and drug dealing, earnings from drug dealing are negatively associated to levels of cannabis use.- Modelling the adverse effects associated with ecstasy use
Long-term ecstasy use increases the likelihood of adverse effects, such as paranoia, poor general health and irritability, particularly when the drug is consumed with alcohol. These adverse effects decrease with the period of abstinence from the drug.- Increasing US mortality due to accidental poisoning: the role of the baby boom cohort
Over the past decade there has been a sharp increase in accidental poisoning deaths in the US. While a baby boom cohort effect is likely responsible for this increase among black Americans, among white Americans it appears that a historical period effect – possibly the rise in non-medical pharmaceutical drug use – has contributed to this rise in deaths.- The population impact of smoke-free workplace and hospitality industry legislation on smoking behaviour. Findings from a national population survey
In the Netherlands, a workplace ban on smoking appears to have been more effective than a hospitality ban in reducing the prevalence of smoking and increasing the rate of successful quit attempts.- Treating heavy smokers in primary care with the nicotine nasal spray: randomized placebo-controlled trial
Treating heavy smokers in primary care with nicotine nasal spray compared with a placebo, significantly increases the rate of successful quit attempts, and is particularly effective among those highly dependent on nicotine.- Adjustment of nicotine replacement therapies according to saliva cotinine concentration: the ADONIS* trial—a randomized study in smokers with medical comorbidities
Among smokers with smoking-related illnesses, tailoring nicotine replacement therapy according to the concentration of cotinine – a biomarker for tobacco smoke exposure – in the patient’s saliva does not appear more effective than standard nicotine replacement therapy.- The role of desire, duty and intention in predicting attempts to quit smoking
Although ‘duty’ – the belief that one ought to quit smoking – appears to be the most commonly reported motive for quitting, both ‘desire’ and ‘intention’ to quit are better predictors of quit attempts, with ‘duty’ even appearing to mitigate their effects.
- Volume 106 Issue 5 May 2011
- A longitudinal analysis of alcohol outlet density and domestic violence
Rates of domestic violence appear to correlate positively with the density of alcohol outlets in the local area, particularly those with off premise alcohol licences.- Randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention for unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized Taiwanese men
In Taiwan, a brief in-hospital interventions has been found to reduce alcohol consumption among hospitalised men who drink heavily or have been diagnosed with alcohol use disorders.- An evaluation of the proposed DSM-5 alcohol use disorder criteria using Australian national data
Alcohol use disorders have a low correlation with the ‘substance-related legal problems’ criterion used in the DSM diagnosis, supporting the removal of the criterion. Although alcohol use disorders have a high correlation with the proposed ‘craving’ criterion, its expression appears to differ between the sexes, suggesting further research is needed before it is included in the alcohol use disorder criteria.- Impaired conditional reasoning in alcoholics: a negative impact on social interactions and risky behaviors?
The capacity for ‘conditional reasoning’ (using if-then rules) of patients being treated for alcohol dependence, including reasoning about social contracts and emotional intelligence, appears to be impaired.- Employment-based abstinence reinforcement as a maintenance intervention for the treatment of cocaine dependence: post-intervention outcomes
Although abstinence-contingent employment appears to reduce cocaine use in cocaine dependent patients, there is a high rate of relapse once the abstinence contingency of their employment is discontinued.- Outreach screening of drug users for cirrhosis with transient elastography
‘Transient elastography’ – a non-invasive procedure - has the capacity to identify severe liver fibrosis in a significant proportion of drug users with hepatitis C infections, making it a feasible screening tool for cirrhosis among drug users.- Clinical experience with the treatment of hepatitis C infection in patients on opioid pharmacotherapy
Treatment for Hepatitis C infection can be successful in patients on opioid substitution therapy, even if they are active injectors, and is not associated with any major safety concerns.- Associations of CYP2A6 genotype with smoking behaviors in southern China
Among Chinese smokers, a variant of the CYP2A6 gene leading to reduced rate of nicotine metabolism is associated with later smoking initiation, fewer cigarettes smoked per day, shorter smoking duration but reduced likelihood of smoking cessation.- Genetics of the association between intelligence and nicotine dependence: a study of male Swedish twins
Nicotine dependence and intelligence are only weakly associated. This association does not appear to be due to common genetic factors.- Influence of traditional tobacco use on smoking cessation among American Indians
When compared with other racial/ethnic groups, American Indians appear to have a low awareness of the use of pharmacotherapy – such as nicotine replacement therapy – to aid smoking cessation.- Comorbid psychiatric disorders and nicotine dependence in adolescence
Psychiatric disorders have a stronger influence on the onset of nicotine dependence in adolescents than nicotine dependence has on the onset of psychiatric disorders. Disruptive behaviour disorders appear to be a particularly important precursor and consequence of nicotine dependence.
- Volume 106 Issue 6 June 2011
- Alcohol's harm to others: reduced wellbeing and health status for those with heavy drinkers in their lives
As is widely believed, heavy drinking adversely affects the health and personal well-being of others who are close to the heavy drinker.- Alcohol expectancy moderates attentional bias for alcohol cues in light drinkers
While light drinkers only show increased attention to pictures that are alcohol-related when they are expecting alcohol, heavy drinkers show a preference for alcohol-related pictures regardless of whether they are expecting alcohol.- The role of person–environment interactions in increased alcohol use in the transition to college
In the transition from high school to college, sensation seeking students from protective high school environments experience more alcohol-related problems than those from less protective environments.- Staff regard towards working with substance users: a European multi-centre study
In Europe, health professionals - particularly those in primary care - appear to have a lower regard for treating substance users than for treating patients with other chronic conditions.- Affective disorders and anxiety disorders predict the risk of drug harmful use and dependence
Patients with affective disorders and anxiety disorders have an increased risk of developing substance abuse problems, although it is unclear whether these disorders lead to substance abuse problems, or whether both are symptoms of a common cause.- The validity of DSM-IV cannabis abuse and dependence criteria in adolescents and the value of additional cannabis use indicators
DSM’s current distinction between cannabis abuse and cannabis dependence has limited use for diagnosing adolescents. The two sets of criteria do not reflect two distinct aspects of cannabis-related problems, but instead constitute a single underlying disorder.- Empirically derived subtypes of opioid use and related behaviors
There are five distinct categories of opioid use and related behaviour, with each category - particularly the most severe, early-onset category - revealing significant genetic influences on the characteristics of an individual’s opioid use.- A randomized controlled trial of a smoking reduction plus nicotine replacement therapy intervention for smokers not willing to quit smoking
In smokers with no immediate plans to quit, smoking reduction programmes with behavioural support and nicotine replacement therapy are more effective than brief advice to quit- Beyond light and mild: cigarette brand descriptors and perceptions of risk in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey
Although the words ‘light’ and ‘mild’ are banned, smokers in western countries continue to believe that some cigarette brands are less harmful than others. These beliefs are based on the descriptive words and designs used in cigarette marketing.- Does improved access and greater choice of nicotine replacement therapy affect smoking cessation success? Findings from a randomized controlled trial
Offering smokers who want to quit a wide range of nicotine replacement therapy does not appear to produce better results than offering a narrower selection of reduced cost nicotine replacement therapy.
- Volume 106 Issue 7 July 2011
- Alcohol-related discussions in health care—a population view
Despite reporting positive feelings about alcohol-related discussions in healthcare settings, relatively few people in Finland are asked about alcohol consumption by healthcare professionals, and even fewer are offered advice.- The prevalence of alcohol use disorders among night-time weekend drivers
The majority of drunk drivers on US roads during weekend evenings and nights do not suffer from alcohol use disorders, but can be considered heavy drinkers.- Does readiness to change predict in-session motivational language? Correspondence between two conceptualizations of client motivation
The use of motivational language by patients during counselling for excessive alcohol consumption does not appear to be a good predictor of their actual readiness to change their drinking behaviour.- Associations between drinking motives and changes in adolescents' alcohol consumption: a full cross-lagged panel study
In the Netherlands, adolescents who are motivated to drink alcohol for social reasons – such as “fitting in” and “having fun” - appear more likely to drink heavily after a year than adolescents who drank to enhance their mood or cope with negative emotions.- Effects of major depression on crack use and arrests among women in drug court
Among women attending drug court, current major depression, but not past major depression, appears to increase the risk of crack cocaine use.- Drug violations and aviation accidents: findings from the US mandatory drug testing programs
Although rare, illegal drug use among aviation employees is associated with a significantly increased risk of involvement in an aviation accident.- Pill content, dose and resulting plasma concentrations of 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in recreational 'ecstasy' users
Among ecstasy users in Australia, the use of multiple ecstasy pills in one session is common, likely resulting in a greater exposure of the brain to MDMA than is predicted in single-dose studies.- Deviant socialization mediates transmissible and contextual risk on cannabis use disorder development: a prospective study
Deviant socialization resulting from transmissible risk (genetic or parental upbringing risk factors) and poor parent–child relationships is integral to the development of cannabis use disorder in young adulthood.- Employment-based reinforcement of adherence to depot naltrexone in unemployed opioid-dependent adults: a randomized controlled trial
Employment-based reinforcement appears to increase adherence to depot naltrexone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids, among unemployed opioid-dependent adults.- Prescribing of smoking cessation medication in England since the introduction of varenicline
Since its introduction in England, varenicline has become the most commonly prescribed smoking cessation medication after nicotine replacement therapy. Despite this popularity, varenicline has not led to an increase in the overall prescription rates for smoking cessation medication.- Relative performance of common biochemical indicators in detecting cigarette smoking
In areas with strong smoke-free laws, a breath carbon monoxide level of 5 parts per million or more is effective at identifying someone as a cigarette smoker.- Prospective predictors of quitting behaviours among adult smokers in six cities in China: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) China Survey
Contrary to findings in other South East Asian countries, neither low nicotine dependence nor high-self efficacy appears to predict successful smoking cessation in China.- Does the introduction of comprehensive smoke-free legislation lead to a decrease in population smoking prevalence?
Across Canada and the US, smoke-free legislation does not appear to have had an impact on existing smoking trends, although it has increased the decline of smoking prevalence is some regions.
- Volume 106 Issue 8 August 2011
- Similar profile of cognitive impairment and recovery for Aboriginal Australians in treatment for episodic or chronic alcohol use
Among Aboriginal Australians, episodic or “binge” drinking is associated with similar patterns of cognitive impairment and recovery as chronic alcohol use.- Gender differences in the impact of families on alcohol use: a lagged longitudinal study of early adolescents
Family environment appears to impact differently upon the alcohol use of male versus female adolescents. While an emotionally close relationship to mothers is associated with less frequent drinking in females, parental disapproval of alcohol is a better predictor of reduced drinking in males.- Mortality among a cohort of drug users after their release from prison: an evaluation of the effectiveness of a harm reduction program in Taiwan
Among ex-prisoners in Taiwan with a history of opiate injecting, enrolment and continued participation in methadone maintenance treatment is associated with substantially lower mortality.- Socio-economic determinants of drugged driving – a register-based study
In Finland, a disadvantaged socio-economic background increases the likelihood of driving while under the influence of drugs for all substance use groups. Low education, unemployment and receiving a disability pension are particularly strong predictors.- The pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profile of intranasal crushed buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone tablets in opioid abusers
The abuse potential of crushed buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone tablets – used in the treatment of opioid dependence – taken by the intranasal route appears low.- Methamphetamine users show greater than normal age-related cortical gray matter loss
Age-related cortical gray matter loss is greater than normal in methamphetamine users, suggesting the possibility of an accelerated decline in their mental functioning.- Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis reactivity to social stress and adolescent cannabis use: the TRAILS study
Among adolescents, low levels of reactivity to social stress are associated with repeated and lifetime cannabis use.- What impact have tobacco control policies, cigarette price and tobacco control programme funding had on Australian adolescents' smoking? Findings over a 15-year period
In Australia, population-based tobacco control policies such as clean indoor air laws and increased cigarette price appear to be associated with a decrease in adolescent smoking.- Plain packaging increases visual attention to health warnings on cigarette packs in non-smokers and weekly smokers but not daily smokers
Among non-smokers and non-daily cigarette smokers, plain packaging appears to increase visual attention towards health warning information and away from brand information.- Prescribing of nicotine replacement therapy to adolescents in England
Despite the recent inclusion of 12-17 year olds in the marketing licence for nicotine replacement therapy in England, prescriptions to adolescents remain low.- Social gradient in initiation and transition to daily use of tobacco and cannabis during adolescence: a retrospective cohort study
Although adolescents from high socio-economic backgrounds are at risk of tobacco and cannabis experimentation, they are less likely to engage in daily use than adolescents from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
- Volume 106 Issue 9 September 2011
- Surveying the range and magnitude of alcohol's harm to others in Australia
Seventy percent of Australians report being negatively affected by other people’s drinking; these negative effects range from noise and fear to physical abuse, sexual coercion and social isolation.- The relationship between serious injury and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in fatal motor vehicle accidents: BAC = 0.01% is associated with significantly more dangerous accidents than BAC = 0.00%
In the US, the severity of life-threatening motor vehicle accidents increases significantly at blood alcohol concentrations that are far lower than the current legal limit of 0.08 percent.- Intoxicated workers: findings from a national Australian survey
In Australia, alcohol use at work appears to be widespread, with more than one in twenty workers admitting to having worked under the influence of alcohol.- Cannabis and social welfare assistance: a longitudinal study
In Norway, the use of cannabis is linked with subsequent receipt of social welfare assistance, although it is unclear whether this welfare assistance is a consequence of cannabis use or of cultural factors and the illegal status of the cannabis.- Physical and mental health in severe opioid-dependent patients within a randomized controlled maintenance treatment trial
Both heroin-assisted and methadone maintenance treatments appear to improve physical and mental health among severe opioid-dependent patients, with heroin-assisted treatment producing the best results.- Age moderates non-genetic influences on the initiation of cannabis use: a twin-sibling study in Dutch adolescents and young adults
Familial similarities in the initiation of cannabis use appear to be influenced by both environmental and genetic factors, with the influence of environmental factors increasing – and genetic factors decreasing – from early adolescence to young adulthood.- Reaching out towards cannabis: approach-bias in heavy cannabis users predicts changes in cannabis use
Heavy cannabis users appear to have an automatically triggered tendency to approach rather than avoid cannabis-related stimuli; those with stronger tendencies to approach are more likely to increase cannabis use.- Nicotine dependence, abuse and craving: dimensionality in an Israeli sample
The various criteria conventionally applied to define dependence on nicotine, such as craving and experience of withdrawal symptoms, appear to be sufficiently closely related to each other as to be regarded as a single underlying condition that varies in severity.- Australian smokers' and recent quitters' responses to the increasing price of cigarettes in the context of a tobacco tax increase
In Australia, an increase in cigarette prices does not appear to result in smokers moving to cheaper cigarette products. Instead, the majority of smokers indicate a positive change in their smoking-related thoughts and behaviours as a result of the prices increase.- Effectiveness of a stepped primary care smoking cessation intervention: cluster randomized clinical trial (ISTAPS study)
In primary care settings, a “stepped” smoking cessation intervention appears to significantly increase smoking abstinence, compared with a brief intervention.
- Volume 106 Issue 10 October 2011
- Brief interventions in routine health care: a population-based study of conversations about alcohol in Sweden
In Sweden, brief interventions to reduce alcohol consumption are more effective when conversations with health-care professionals are longer and include advice on how to cut down on drinking.
- Extended telephone-based continuing care for alcohol dependence: 24-month outcomes and subgroup analyses
The benefits of an extended telephone-based continuing care programme to treat alcohol dependence did not persist after the end of the intervention.- Access to alcohol outlets and harmful alcohol consumption: a multi-level study in Melbourne, Australia
In Australia, an increased number of off-premises alcohol outlets in an area is associated with a greater risk of harmful alcohol consumption.- Sexual transmissibility of HIV among opiate users with concurrent sexual partnerships: an egocentric network study in Yunnan, China
In China, concurrent sexual partnerships are common among both injection drug users and non-injection drug users; these concurrent sexual partnerships may serve as a bridging group to transmit HIV from high-risk populations to the general population.- The social norms of birth cohorts and adolescent marijuana use in the United States, 1976–2007
Individuals in birth cohorts that are more disapproving of marijuana use are less likely to use, independent of their personal attitudes towards marijuana use.- Effects of a randomized contingency management intervention on opiate abstinence and retention in methadone maintenance treatment in China
In China, “contingency management” – the use of motivational incentives – appears to improve opiate abstinence and treatment retention in methadone maintenance treatment clinics.- Cocaine-related attentional bias following trauma cue exposure among cocaine dependent in-patients with and without post-traumatic stress disorder
Cocaine appears to serve an emotion-regulating function among post-traumatic stress disorder patients.- Cost effectiveness of interventions to reduce relapse to smoking following smoking cessation
Treatments aimed at preventing relapse to smoking after a quit attempt (such as nicotine replacement therapy) appear cost effective when used in routine clinical care.- The impact of the introduction of smoke-free legislation on prescribing of stop-smoking medications in England
While prescriptions of all smoking cessation medications in England increased in the months leading up to the introduction of smoke-free legislation, this increase was not sustained afterwards.- The dynamics of the urge-to-smoke following smoking cessation via pharmacotherapy
The chances of success of quit attempts appear to be influenced not only by the strength of urges to smoke but by the way that they change over time- Examining gender differences in emerging tobacco use using the adolescents' need for smoking scale
Canadian girls score higher than boys on measures of emotional dependence and social attitudes associated with tobacco smoking.- Substance use and exercise participation among young adults: parallel trajectories in a national cohort-sequential study
Increased participation in sports, athletics or exercising is related to significantly lower substance use at age 18 and into early adulthood.
- Volume 106 Issue 11 November 2011
- Housewife or working mum—each to her own? The relevance of societal factors in the association between social roles and alcohol use among mothers in 16 industrialized countries
In countries with relatively high gender-income equality, the combination of motherhood, paid labour and partnership appears to be associated with decreased alcohol consumption; in countries with lower gender-income equality, this role combination does not appear to have the same effect.- DSM-IV to DSM-5: the impact of proposed revisions on diagnosis of alcohol use disorders
The proposed DSM-5 revisions to diagnosis of alcohol use disorders would exclude as cases individuals who drink at hazardous levels but show no other signs of dependence or alcohol problems but include individuals with relatively low levels of dependence who are excluded in DSM-IV.- Drinking behaviour among men and women in China: the 2007 China Chronic Disease and Risk Factor Surveillance
Excessive drinking, frequent drinking and binge drinking behaviour have reached epidemic proportions among current drinkers in China.- The role of alcohol in the Russian mortality crisis
Much of the 1990 to 1994 rise in Russian mortality appears to have been due to the increase in population alcohol consumption.- The effect of neighborhood deprivation and residential relocation on long-term injection cessation among injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore, Maryland
Living in a deprived neighbourhood appears to undermine attempts to stop injecting illicit drugs. Relocating out of these neighbourhoods appears to be helpful in promoting behaviour change.- The impact of needle and syringe provision and opiate substitution therapy on the incidence of hepatitis C virus in injecting drug users: pooling of UK evidence
In the UK, opiate substitution therapy and a high coverage of needle and syringe programmes appears to have substantially reduced the risk of hepatitis C virus transmission among injecting drug users.- Mephedrone: use, subjective effects and health risks
Mephedrone has a high abuse and health risk liability, with increased tolerance, impaired control and a compulsion to use being the predominant reported dependence symptoms.- Long-term effects of a community-based intervention: 5-year follow-up of 'Clubs against Drugs'
The ‘Clubs against Drugs’ community-based intervention programme, a systems approach to prevention, appears to increase the frequency and effectiveness of club doormen's interventions to tackle obviously drug-intoxicated guests.- Planned quit attempts among Ontario smokers: impact on abstinence
Among smokers in Ontario, most quit attempts are planned and planners are more likely to use quit aids; however, planning does not appear to increase the likelihood of success.- Electronic cigarette: users profile, utilization, satisfaction and perceived efficacy
E-cigarettes are used both as an aid to reducing and quitting smoking and by former smokers to avoid relapse, in much the same way that people use nicotine replacement therapy.- The timing of smoking onset, prolonged abstinence and relapse in men: a prospective study from ages 18 to 32 years
Even after long periods of abstinence from smoking, relapses continue to erode quit success. Starting to smoke early in adolescence appears to be linked to lower likelihood of quitting later in adulthood.
- Volume 106 Issue 12 December 2011
- Reducing the legal blood alcohol concentration limit for driving in developing countries: a time for change? Results and implications derived from a time–series analysis (2001–10) conducted in Brazil
When Brazil reduced the legal limit for blood alcohol when driving it reduced the numbers of deaths caused by traffic accidents- The Örebro prevention programme revisited: a cluster-randomized effectiveness trial of programme effects on youth drinking
The “Örebro prevention programme”, as currently delivered in Sweden, does not appear to reduce or delay youth drunkenness.- Non-medical prescription use increases the risk for the onset and recurrence of psychopathology: results from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions
The non-medical use of prescription medications that affect the central nervous system increases the risk for the onset and recurrence of psychopathology.- Treatment outcomes of a stage 1 cognitive–behavioral trial to reduce alcohol use among human immunodeficiency virus-infected out-patients in western Kenya
Cognitive-behavioural therapy, delivered by paraprofessional counsellors, appears to be effective in reducing alcohol use among HIV- infected Kenyan out-patients.- Alcoholics Anonymous attendance, decreases in impulsivity and drinking and psychosocial outcomes over 16 years: moderated-mediation from a developmental perspective
Among people attending Alcoholics Anonymous, a decrease in impulsivity is associated with fewer alcohol-related problems.- Co-occurrence of obsessive-compulsive disorder and substance use disorder in the general population
Individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder are more likely to suffer from substance use disorder than those diagnosed with non-obsessive-compulsive psychological disorders; this is particularly true of men.- The increasing mortality burden of liver disease among opioid-dependent people: cohort study
In the 30 years since first entering treatment, liver disease has been found to be the most common cause of death among opioid-dependent people in Australia.- Cannabis use and cognitive function: 8-year trajectory in a young adult cohort
Stopping regular cannabis use appears to improve the ability to remember information that has just been learned.- Impact of the removal of misleading terms on cigarette pack on smokers' beliefs about 'light/mild' cigarettes: cross-country comparisons
Despite the removal of “light/mild” labels from cigarette packaging, alternative labels such as “smooth” and “fine” and design features such as lighter colours are enough to maintain the belief that “light” cigarettes are less harmful than regular ones.- 'Closet' quit attempts: prevalence, correlates and association with outcome
Keeping quiet about the fact that one is trying to stop smoking is very common and does not appear to hinder the chances of success.- A randomized experiment to examine unintended consequences of dietary supplement use among daily smokers: taking supplements reduces self-regulation of smoking
The use of dietary supplements may lead smokers to smoke more cigarettes under the false belief that the vitamins mitigate the risk.
- Volume 106 Issue 1 January 2011
- ISSUES 2012
- Volume 107 Issue 1 January 2012
- The effectiveness of interventions for reducing stigma related to substance use disorders: a systematic review
Stigma associated with substance use disorder can be reduced by a range of interventions including Acceptance Commitment Therapy and communicating positive stories of people with this disorder.- Alcohol consumption and the intention to engage in unprotected sex: systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies
Alcohol consumption increases a person’s intention to have unsafe sex.- The distribution of alcohol consumption and the prevention paradox in Brazil
Most drinking problems in Brazil are associated with low or moderate drinkers. Binge drinking better accounts for the distribution of alcohol problems than total volume consumed.- Alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking and subsequent problems among adolescents in 23 European countries: does the prevention paradox apply?
The prevention paradox, which holds that a majority of alcohol-related problems in a population can be attributed to low and moderate drinkers, seems to be valid among adolescent European boys and girls.- Working hours and alcohol problems in early adulthood
In New Zealand, longer work hours appear to be associated with higher rates of alcohol-related problems, including more frequent alcohol use, higher rates of alcohol abuse/dependence, and a greater number of alcohol abuse/dependence symptoms.- Intelligence quotient (IQ) in adolescence and later risk of alcohol-related hospital admissions and deaths—37-year follow-up of Swedish conscripts
In Swedish men there is an association between low IQ measured in adolescence and later risk of alcohol-related disease and death- Alcohol consumption, problem drinking, abstention and disability pension award. The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT)
In Norway, problem drinkers and those who do not drink alcohol at all are at increased risk of eventually needing disability pensions.- Women's alcohol consumption and risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancies in Russia
Russian women substantially reduce drinking after they know they are pregnant. Russian women who know they might become pregnant or are trying to conceive show no reductions in drinking prior to knowing they have become pregnant.- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus among pregnant women using injecting drugs in Ukraine, 2000–10
Pregnant HIV-infected injecting drug users (IDUs) in Ukraine have worse clinical status, poorer access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) prophylaxis and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), more adverse pregnancy outcomes, and higher risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) than Ukrainian women who do not inject drugs.- Sertraline delays relapse in recently abstinent cocaine-dependent patients with depressive symptoms
Cocaine-dependent patients who achieve at least two weeks of abstinence and are then given sertraline take longer to relapse than similar patients given placebo.- A prospective, randomized, multicenter acceptability and safety study of direct buprenorphine/naloxone induction in heroin-dependent individuals
Direct buprenorphine/naloxone (BNX) induction is a safe and effective strategy for maintenance treatment of opioid dependence.- Positive impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment on antiretroviral treatment adherence in human immunodeficiency virus–HCV coinfected patients: one more argument for expanded access to HCV treatment for injecting drug users
People who are co-infected with HIV and Hepatitis C who also engage in treatment for Hepatitis C show high adherence to anti-retroviral treatment for HIV.- Childhood impulsive behavior and problem gambling by adulthood: a 30-year prospective community-based study
Children who exhibit impulsive behaviour at age seven are more likely to report problem gambling in adulthood.- The association between seeing retail displays of tobacco and tobacco smoking and purchase: findings from a diary-style survey
Among Australian smokers, exposure to retail displays of tobacco increases the probability of smoking and leads to higher levels of smoking.- Genetic variants in the serotonin transporter influence the efficacy of bupropion and nortriptyline in smoking cessation
In the Netherlands, antidepressant therapy seems to be more effective in aiding smoking cessation among people with high-activity variants of a gene that promotes release of serotonin.- Cigarette price, affordability and smoking prevalence in the European Union
Higher cost of smoking does not appear to have affected smoking prevalence in the European Union in recent years.- Cessation assistance reported by smokers in 15 countries participating in the International Tobacco Control (ITC) policy evaluation surveys
There is wide variation across countries in rates of attempts to stop smoking and use of assistance to quit, with medication being more popular than behavioural support.- Psychological dysregulation, white matter disorganization and substance use disorders in adolescence
In adolescents, substance use disorder and psychological dysregulation appear to be associated with reduced frontoparietal network white matter maturation, which is commonly found among adolescents with disruptive behaviour disorders.- Mortality among substance-using mothers in California: a 10-year prospective study
In the United States, substance-using mothers have 8.4 times the mortality of non-substance-using women because of more severe problems of employment, physical health, and psychiatric health.
- Volume 107 Issue 2 February 2012
- Psychosocial therapeutic interventions for volatile substance use: a systematic review
There are no proven treatments to help people stop volatile substance use but three types of intervention merit further study: family therapy, activity-based programmes and some residential approaches.- Determining the relative importance of the mechanisms of behavior change within Alcoholics Anonymous: a multiple mediator analysis
Alcoholics Anonymous helps people recover at least in part by changing its members’ social networks and boosting self-belief in high risk social contexts.- Does sponsorship improve outcomes above Alcoholics Anonymous attendance? A latent class growth curve analysis
Any pattern of AA attendance, even if it declines or is never high for a particular 12-month period, is better than little or no attendance in terms of helping maintain abstinence. Keeping a sponsor over a period of time raises the attendance benefit.- The relation between hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity and age of onset of alcohol use
Adolescents who begin drinking at an early age appear to show reduced activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in response to stress.- Subjective measures of binge drinking and alcohol-specific adverse health outcomes: a prospective cohort study
Drinkers’ own reports of being intoxicated, having hangovers and passing out appear to be useful in identifying drinkers at risk for later health problems caused by drinking.- Age differences in diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV alcohol dependence among adults with similar drinking behaviour
For a given amount of alcohol consumed, young drinkers are more likely to show alcohol tolerance; drink more than intended; and spend time getting, drinking, or recovering from the effects of alcohol. Older drinkers are more likely to experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.- A longitudinal study of substance use and violent victimization in adulthood among a cohort of urban African Americans
Among African Americans, violent victimization appears to drive substance use. African Americans who are not raised in extreme poverty are the most negatively affected by violence.- Factors associated with injection cessation, relapse and initiation in a community-based cohort of injection drug users in Chennai, India
Injection drug users in southern India demonstrate a high rate of quitting, but relapse is common and quitting often coincides with an increase in alcohol use.- Double-blind placebo-controlled evaluation of the PROMETA™ protocol for methamphetamine dependence
The PROMETA protocol is no more effective than placebo in reducing methamphetamine use, keeping patients in treatment, or reducing methamphetamine cravings.- Effect of prison-based opioid substitution treatment and post-release retention in treatment on risk of re-incarceration
In New South Wales, Australia, opioid substitution treatment after release from prison appears to have reduced the average risk of being sent back to prison by one-fifth.- Cannabis use and subclinical positive psychotic experiences in early adolescence: findings from a Dutch survey
Among Dutch school students, there is an association between cannabis use at an early age and psychotic experiences, even after they report having not used cannabis for at least a year.- The effect of methadone on emotional reactivity
Methadone use may blunt emotional responses.- Engagement with opioid maintenance treatment and reductions in crime: a longitudinal national cohort study
Norwegians who are in opioid maintenance treatment appear to commit fewer crimes than when they are not.- Examining the predictive validity of low-risk gambling limits with longitudinal data
As may be expected, low-risk gamblers who shift to high-risk gambling are subsequently more likely to experience future gambling-related harms than those who remain low-risk.- The effect of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths. Findings from the Netherlands SimSmoke Tobacco Control Policy Simulation Model
According to a simulation model, in the Netherlands, smoking and smoking-related deaths can be reduced through tax increases, smoke-free legislation, high-intensity media campaigns, stronger advertising bans and health warnings, comprehensive cessation treatment, and youth access laws.- Delay discounting by adolescents experimenting with cigarette smoking
Like regular smokers, and unlike non-smokers, young people who experiment with cigarettes tend to prefer small immediate rewards over large delayed rewards.- The association between exposure to point-of-sale anti-smoking warnings and smokers' interest in quitting and quit attempts: findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey
Point-of-sale health warnings about tobacco are more prominent in Australia than the USA, UK, or Canada and appear to have some effect in prompting people decide to quit smoking.- Do components of current 'hardcore smoker‘ definitions predict quitting behaviour?
‘Hardcore’ smoking seems to involve both low motivation to quit and high nicotine dependence. Motivational factors, such as the intention to quit and previous quit attempts, best predict whether a smoker will try to quit in the first place. Measures of smoking dependence, such as amount smoked and nicotine dependence, best predict whether a smoker will continue to smoke.- A damage/benefit evaluation of addictive product use
When asked for their opinions of the net societal harm caused by major addictive products, French addiction experts appeared to assign more weight to the products’ benefits than to their harms.
- Volume 107 Issue 3 March 2012
- The effectiveness of opioid maintenance treatment in prison settings: a systematic review
Benefits of opioid maintenance treatment in prison include recruiting problem opioid users into treatment, reducing illicit opioid use and risky behaviours, allowing continuity of treatment as people enter and leave prison, and possibly minimising overdose risks upon release.- Trends in adolescent alcohol use: effects of age, sex and cohort on prevalence and heritability
In the Netherlands, alcohol initiation, frequency, and quantity have increased among adolescents over a 15-year period, but there are no changes in the genetic basis of adolescent alcohol use.- The impact of small changes in bar closing hours on violence. The Norwegian experience from 18 cities
In Norway, each additional one-hour extension to the opening times of premises selling alcohol is associated with a 16% increase in violent crime.- Relationship between personality change and the onset and course of alcohol dependence in young adulthood
Young people who show behavioral disinhibition and negative emotionality before they start using alcohol have an increased risk of developing alcohol use disorders. Development of an alcohol use disorder affects the rate of personality change during emerging adulthood.- The association between the incidence of emergency department attendances for alcohol problems and assault incidents attended by police in New South Wales, Australia, 2003–2008: a time–series analysis
In Australia, there is a clear short-term temporal relationship between emergency department attendances for acute alcohol problems and assaults reported to police.- Alcohol brand appearances in US popular music
One in five songs sampled from US popular music has explicit references to alcohol, and one-quarter of these mention a specific alcohol brand. Specific alcohol brand mentions involve a luxury life-style characterized by wealth, sex, partying, and other drugs.- The relationship between childhood depressive symptoms and problem alcohol use in early adolescence: findings from a large longitudinal population-based study
In the UK, problematic alcohol use in girls (but not boys) is associated with prior depressive symptoms. This association may be caused by family and social factors.- Seeking Safety treatment for male veterans with a substance use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology
‘Seeking Safety’, a manualised treatment approach for substance use disorder, shows better drug use outcomes than ‘treatment as usual' in male veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.- Transition from first illicit drug use to first injection drug use among rural Appalachian drug users: a cross-sectional comparison and retrospective survival analysis
In Appalachia, in the United States, the prescription opioid OxyContin® is widely used non-medically and users show a higher risk of rapid transition to injection drug use compared with the use of other illicit drugs.- Psychiatric comorbidity and the persistence of drug use disorders in the United States
People with antisocial, borderline and schizotypal personality disorders tend to maintain drug use disorders over a three-year period.- Drug use in rural China: a preliminary investigation in Hunan Province
Drug abuse is a substantial problem in both urban and rural areas in China.- The effect of hepatitis C treatment and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection on the disease burden of hepatitis C among injecting drug users in Amsterdam
A high mortality rate, particularly caused by HIV infection, has reduced hepatitis C among injecting drug users in Amsterdam.- Deep brain stimulation compared with methadone maintenance for the treatment of heroin dependence: a threshold and cost-effectiveness analysis
When deep brain stimulation produces 49% of patients remaining heroin-free after 6 months of treatment, it is as cost effective as methadone maintenance treatment in treating opiate addiction.- Eating patterns among heroin users: a qualitative study with implications for nutritional interventions
Heroin users have dysfunctional eating patterns that are amenable to improvement with help.- Impact of in-patient research participation on subsequent heroin use patterns: implications for ethics and public health
Drug users who voluntarily take drugs as participants in research projects do not show subsequent increased heroin use. Some research participants go on to enter treatment and stop heroin use in the short term.- Evidence of increasing age of onset of cannabis use among younger Australians
Cannabis use has declined in Australia since 1998 and the age of first use among those under 20 has increased.- Cost-effectiveness of tobacco control policies in Vietnam: the case of personal smoking cessation support
Brief advice from physicians is a cost-effective intervention for tobacco control in Vietnam. Pharmacological therapies are not cost-effective at current prices.- How much unsuccessful quitting activity is going on among adult smokers? Data from the International Tobacco Control Four Country cohort survey
Smokers think a lot about quitting and make many unsuccessful attempts to quit, relapsing even after extended periods of nonsmoking. It’s important to find ways to translate efforts to quit into long-term abstinence.
- Volume 107 Issue 4 April 2012
- Interventions to prevent substance use and risky sexual behaviour in young people: a systematic review
There is limited evidence that programs designed to reduce both substance use and sexual risk in school children are effective. The most promising programs address several levels that influence risk behaviour (i.e., individual and peer, family, school, and community).- Changes in sobriety in the Swedish population over three decades: age, period or cohort effects?
The proportion of people in Sweden who never drink alcohol has increased from 1968 to 2000 primarily because each successive group has more teetotalers, not because people tend to stop drinking as they get older.- Age and ethnic differences in the onset, persistence and recurrence of alcohol use disorder
Compared with young white men, US-born Hispanics aged 40+ years have a higher risk of developing alcohol use disorder and all younger minority men have an increased risk of developing alcohol dependence. Compared with young white women, older black women and US-born Hispanics have a higher risk of developing alcohol use disorder and alcohol dependence.- Scheduling of newly emerging drugs: a critical review of decisions over 40 years
In the USA, no more than 7 scheduling decisions with respect to the 63 substances studied might be considered errors, and results for other countries are broadly similar.- Use of other opioids during methadone therapy: a population-based study
Many patients receiving methadone maintenance therapy in Ontario, Canada receive overlapping prescriptions for other opioids such as codeine and oxycodone. Many prescriptions may reflect deceitful drug-seeking behavior, either for personal use or for sale to others.- Comparison of intranasal methamphetamine and d-amphetamine self-administration by humans
It appears that d-amphetamine, a frequently prescribed medication, has a similar potential for abuse as methamphetamine.- Cognitive and subjective effects of mephedrone and factors influencing use of a 'new legal high‘
Despite the health risks, young people who continued to use mephedrone after it became illegal would try a new legal high if it were pure and rated highly by their friends or on the Internet.- Would vaccination against nicotine be a cost-effective way to prevent smoking uptake in adolescents?
A preventive nicotine vaccination program is unlikely to be a cost-effective way to stop adolescents from becoming smokers.- Greater prevalence of proposed DSM-5 nicotine use disorder compared to DSM-IV nicotine dependence in treated adolescents and young adults
Proposed changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders would increase the number of young people diagnosed with nicotine use disorder (called ‘nicotine dependence’ under the current DSM) despite no changes in their smoking habits and would introduce potentially problematic new criteria for diagnosis.- Academic achievement and smoking initiation in adolescence: a general growth mixture analysis
Adolescents who do well in school are less likely to smoke, suggesting that it would be cost-effective to focus smoking prevention activities on the unstable low achievers who are more likely to begin smoking at an early age.- A randomized controlled trial of stage-matched intervention for smoking cessation in cardiac out-patients
An intervention based on the Stages of Change model to promote smoking cessation in cardiac patients in China was not effective beyond one year.- Young people's beliefs about the harmfulness of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco for mental disorders: findings from two Australian national youth surveys
In Australia, most people aged 15 to 25 are aware that substance use has a negative impact on mental disorders, but a few high-risk groups remain, including males, young adults (18 to 25) of both sexes, and young people with high levels of psychological distress.
- Volume 107 Issue 5 May 2012
- What is the difference between dependence and withdrawal reactions? A comparison of benzodiazepines and selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors
Withdrawal reactions to selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs, used as antidepressants) appear similar to those for benzodiazepines. There is therefore no basis for claiming that benzodiazepines cause dependence while SSRIs do not.- Does minimum pricing reduce alcohol consumption? The experience of a Canadian province
Increasing the minimum price of alcohol can substantially reduce alcohol consumption.- Individual psychomotor impairment in relation to zopiclone and ethanol concentrations in blood – a randomized controlled double-blinded trial
Zopiclone, a hypnotic agent used to treat insomnia, can impair psychomotor performance at blood concentrations as low as16 µg/l.- Twelve-Step attendance trajectories over 7 years among adolescents entering substance use treatment in an integrated health plan
Over a seven-year period, US adolescents with substance abuse disorders who continued to attend 12-step meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous were more likely to stay off alcohol and drugs than those who did not.- Randomized trial of standard methadone treatment compared to initiating methadone without counseling: 12-month findings
Drug counseling in the first four months of treatment is not essential to a achieve benefit from supervised methadone treatment in adults dependent on heroin.- A randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention for illicit drugs linked to the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) in clients recruited from primary health-care settings in four countries
A brief intervention for illicit drug use that is linked to the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) is effective, at least in the short term, in Australia, Brazil and India.- An increased risk of motor vehicle accidents after prescription of methadone
In Norway, men on methadone maintenance treatment appear to have an increased risk of being involved in motor vehicle accidents involving personal injuries compared with men in the general population.- Abstinence-contingent recovery housing and reinforcement-based treatment following opioid detoxification
People with substance use disorders are more likely to stay off drugs when they have access to drug-free recovery housing and day-treatment programs following detox.- Smokeless tobacco use related to military deployment, cigarettes and mental health symptoms in a large, prospective cohort study among US service members
Members of the US military service increase their probability of taking up smokeless tobacco when they are deployed, exposed to combat, show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, start smoking, or return to smoking after quitting.- Very low rate and light smokers: smoking patterns and cessation-related behaviour in England, 2006–11
In England, very low rate smokers (fewer than one cigarette per day) and light smokers (one to nine cigarettes per day) are at least as motivated to quit as heavier smokers. Although very low rate and light smokers are less likely to use prescription medication to help them stop smoking and are more likely to quit successfully, they still fail in quit attempts to a substantial degree.- Effects of measurement methods on the relationship between smoking and delay reward discounting
Compared with non-smokers, smokers have a greater preference for small, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards. This observation holds true over several methods of measuring this preference.
- Volume 107 Issue 6 June 2012
- Meta-analysis of hepatitis C seroconversion in relation to shared syringes and drug preparation equipment
People who share drug-preparation equipment have the same risk of Hepatitis C infection as people who share needles.- Brief opportunistic smoking cessation interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare advice to quit and offer of assistance
Doctors may be more effective in getting their patients to stop smoking by offering assistance to all smokers rather than by advising all smokers to quit and offering assistance only to those who say they want to quit.- Interactive effects of approach motivational intensity and alcohol cues on the scope of perceptual attention
Showing alcohol-related images to people who are strongly motivated to drink prompts them to focus on the images and ignore peripheral information. It is thus possible that alcohol cues, such as advertisements for alcoholic beverages, can produce a narrow, alcohol-focused mindset that leads to drinking.- Social demography of alcohol-related harm to children in Australia
In Australia, almost 25% of parents and other child carers report that a child for whom they were responsible has been adversely affected by someone's alcohol consumption in the past year.- Venous access and care: harnessing pragmatics in harm reduction for people who inject drugs
Focusing on the immediate priorities of people who inject drugs, such as improving access to injectable veins and minimizing the pain and length of injection time, can re-engage injectors who are jaded or confused by hepatitis C prevention messages.- Collaborative behavioral management among parolees: drug use, crime and re-arrest in the Step'n Out randomized trial
Collaborative behavioral management, which offers incentives for good behavior, may reduce substance use among prison parolees who primarily use marijuana or other "non-hard" drugs without increasing the number of reincarcerations.- Harm reduction interventions for drug injectors or heroin users in Spain: expanding coverage as the storm abates
Spain's expansion of harm reduction services in response to a national epidemic in heroin and injecting drug use was greatly delayed. Medium-level coverage for needle exchange programs and opioid substitution treatment did not occur until 8 years after peak need.- Correlations and agreement between delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood plasma and timeline follow-back (TLFB)-assisted self-reported use of cannabis of patients with cannabis use disorder and psychotic illness attending the CapOpus randomized clinical trial
Among cannabis users in Denmark, self-reported cannabis use using the timeline follow-back technique (which uses a visual calendar to enhance recall) is as accurate as blood sampling in determining cannabis consumption.- Increased incidence of QT interval prolongation in a population receiving lower doses of methadone maintenance therapy
Patients on low daily doses of methadone may show a tendency to prolonged QT intervals, a risk factor for irregular heartbeats and fatal heart attacks.- Influence of acute bupropion pre-treatment on the effects of intranasal cocaine
The atypical antidepressant bupropion appears to blunt the preference for cocaine over monetary reward but increases how much enjoyment is derived from it.- Brief motivational feedback and cognitive behavioral interventions for prevention of disordered gambling: a randomized clinical trial
One session of personalized feedback combined with 4-6 sessions of group cognitive-behavioral therapy may help to reduce compulsive and problem gambling among US college students.- Do larger pictorial health warnings diminish the need for plain packaging of cigarettes?
Plain packaging is probably more effective than larger health warnings in undermining the appeal of cigarette brands and reducing intention to buy cigarettes.- Associations between maternal stress and smoking: findings from a population-based prospective cohort study
In women who stop smoking during pregnancy, anxiety and depression may be a factor in resumption of smoking both during and after pregnancy.- Linking substance use with symptoms of subclinical psychosis in a community cohort over 30 years
Excessive cannabis and multi-drug use in adolescence is associated with psychotic experiences in adulthood.
- Volume 107 Issue 1 January 2012
