In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Igor Marchetti, an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Florence, Italy. The interview covers Igor’s research article that tests which personality traits are necessary conditions for problematic alcohol use, with insights from a 23-year longitudinal study.Why is understanding personality important for alcohol use? [01:18]The personality traits that are associated with problematic alcohol use [02:06]Why Igor and colleagues are looking at the necessary personality traits [03:16]The dataset used in the study [05:15]The key findings from the study [06:29]Low conscientiousness and problematic alcohol use [08:03]The link between impulsivity and conscientiousness [09:31]The necessary conditions to develop problematic alcohol use [11:29]Whether we can change parts of our personalities [13:42]The implications of the findings for policy and practice [15:01]The next steps for Igor and his team [17:00]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About Igor Marchetti: Igor is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Florence, Italy. His research focuses on vulnerability to psychopathology, particularly depression, anxiety, and addiction. More recently, he has introduced the study of necessary conditions into mental health research.Original article: Which personality traits are necessary conditions for problematic alcohol use? Insights from a 23-year longitudinal study https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70417 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music provided by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Amy Peacock, an Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, and Dr Monica Barratt, an Associate Professor at Australia's National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University. The interview covers Amy and Monica’s research article examining the availability of nitazenes via cryptomarkets and surface web shops.What are nitazenes? [01:30]What are cryptomarkets? [03:00]Why did Monica and Amy look for nitazenes on cryptomarkets? [04:40] Why nitazenes are popular now [06:12]The key findings of the study [07:41]The change of the main country of origin for nitazenes [10:55]The turnover of cryptomarkets [12:11]The implications of the findings for policymakers in Australia [14:20]The next steps in this research area [17:20]About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK. About Amy Peacock: Amy is an Associate Professor, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Fellow and Deputy Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. She is also Program Lead for Drug Trends, a national monitoring system identifying trends in illicit drug use, markets and harms that is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.About Monica Barratt: Monica is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership fellow at Australia's National Drug Research Institute (Curtin University), recognised internationally for generating policy and practice relevant insights into the reduction of health harms for people who use unregulated drugs. Monica has published 158 peer-reviewed articles with over 10K Google Scholar citations. Monica's research has been supported domestic and international competitive health-related funds. Her key partners include organisations that represent people with lived-living experience of drug use and peak bodies. She holds editor roles at the International Journal of Drug Policy and Drug and Alcohol Review.Declarations of interest: Monica holds four voluntary roles for community organisations engaged in harm reduction service provision and advocacy. She is the National Research Lead for The Loop Australia, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in Australia. She serves on the boards of directors of three harm reduction charities: Bluelight Communities Ltd (Chair), Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia (Treasurer), and the Australian Psychedelic Society (Member). Amy has no interests to declare. Original article: Availability of nitazenes via cryptomarkets and surface web shops: An observational study https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70350 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Samatha Salim, a PhD candidate, and Dr Benjamin Riordan, a research fellow, both at the Centre for Alcohol policy Research at La Trobe University, Australia. The interview covers Samatha and Benjamin’s article comparing the accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) models to detect alcohol in video images.What are AI models? [01:18]The context of why this research was undertaken [02:40]Why is it important to detect alcohol in video images? [04:05]The regulations surrounding alcohol in media content [05:57]The three AI models used in the study [08:10]The key findings from the study [11:00]Are AI models better than humans in detecting alcohol in media content? [13:15]The implications of the findings for policy and practice [15:30]The key takeaways from the study [19:29]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About Samatha Salim: Samatha is a PhD candidate at Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe University in Australia, working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and public health. Her research focuses on quantifying alcohol exposure in films and digital media using scalable AI approaches, including multimodal large language models. By analysing large media datasets, she generates population-level evidence on the prevalence and patterns of alcohol portrayals and their potential influence on behaviour. Her work aims to bridge methodological innovation in AI with public health impact, supporting surveillance systems and informing policy interventions to reduce harmful alcohol exposure in media environments.About Benjamin Riordan: Benjamin is a research fellow in the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR). His research interests are broad, but predominantly, he focuses on using emerging and new technologies to understand and intervene with young adults who use alcohol. At CAPR, he co-leads the research stream on alcohol, media, and emerging technology, which focuses on understanding: 1) How is alcohol depicted or discussed in media (e.g., social media, films, music)? 2) What is the impact of exposure to alcohol-related content in the media? 3) What are the opportunities for policy change or interventions?Original article: Comparing the accuracy of artificial intelligence models to detect alcohol in video images  https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70337The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music provided by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Michelle Priest, a research project specialist at RAND, US. The interview covers Michelle’s data insight looking at psilocybin microdosing in the US with insights from a nationally representative survey.What is microdosing? [01:09]The importance of looking at the prevalence of microdosing psilocybin in the US [02:52]The state and local policy landscape of psilocybin in the US [03:35]The nationally representative survey that Michelle and colleagues used [06:20]The key findings of the study [07:15]The reasons for microdosing psilocybin [08:26]The temporality of the microdosing questions [09:30]Why people didn’t know whether they microdosed [10:36]Who is microdosing psilocybin [12:02]Some surprising findings from the study [12:55]The implications of the findings for policy [14:00]The next steps in the RAND team for psychedelics [14:29]The take home messages of the study [15:32]About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an research fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. About Michelle Priest: Michelle is a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization committed to the public interest. Her work focuses on the regulation of emerging markets, especially psychedelic substances. Michelle is a mixed methods researcher with specialized skills in human-centered design and survey methodology. She has B.A.s in economics and linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles as well as an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in policy analysis from the RAND School of Public Policy.Original article: Psilocybin microdosing in the United States: Insights from a nationally representative survey https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70368The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Music by Jack Shakespeare.