Key Findings
This is a quick summary of the main discovery for each research paper we have published, organized issue by issue. Each key finding is below the article title, with a link to the abstract.
Search key findings View Previous Lists
December 2017
Who achieves low risk drinking during alcohol treatment? An analysis of patients in three alcohol clinical trials
Low-risk drinking is achievable for some individuals as they undergo treatment for alcohol dependence.
The experience of initiating injection drug use and its social context: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis
Injection drug use initiation is a dynamic process shaped by social and structural factors. Interventions should seek to modify the contexts for initiation.
Self-reported cognitive scales in a US National Survey: reliability, validity, and preliminary evidence for associations with alcohol and drug use
Impairments in attention and executive functioning are positively associated with substance use in the US general population.
Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of active tuberculosis in Taiwanese adults: a nation-wide population-based cohort study
In Taiwan, heavy and regular alcohol consumption are associated with higher risks of active tuberculosis.
A pilot randomized clinical trial testing integrated 12-Step facilitation (iTSF) treatment for adolescent substance use disorder
A novel integrated 12-Step facilitation treatment for adolescent substance use disorder showed benefits in terms of 12-Step attendance and consequences and may provide an integrated evidence-based option compatible with existing practices.
Structural neuroimaging correlates of alcohol and cannabis use in adolescents and adults
Alcohol use severity is associated with widespread lower gray matter volume and white matter integrity in adults, and with lower gray matter volume in adolescents.
Rates, characteristics and circumstances of methamphetamine-related death in Australia: a national 7-year study
Methamphetamine death rates doubled in Australia from 2009 to 2015. While toxicity was the most frequent cause, natural disease, suicide and accident comprised more than half of deaths.
Associations between anhedonia and marijuana use escalation across mid-adolescence
In mid-adolescence, anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure) is associated with subsequent marijuana use escalation, but marijuana use escalation does not appear to be associated with subsequent anhedonia.
Variation in cannabis potency and prices in a newly legal market: evidence from 30 million cannabis sales in Washington state
In the state of Washington, USA, the legal cannabis market is currently dominated by high-THC cannabis flowers, with growing expenditures on extracts. For cannabis flowers, both THC and cannabidiol concentration are associated with higher per-gram prices.
A free ride? An analysis of the association of casino bus tours and problem gambling among older adults
Older adults who use bus tours to access Canadian gambling venues have an increased likelihood of problem gambling.
Mapping medical marijuana: state laws regulating patients, product safety, supply chains and dispensaries, 2017
The US federal ban on marijuana has manifested as a patchwork of regulatory strategies not uniformly consistent with the approach usually taken by the Federal government and of unknown effectiveness.
Effectiveness of intensive practice nurse counselling versus brief general practitioner advice, both combined with varenicline, for smoking cessation: a randomized pragmatic trial in primary care
In people seeking help to stop smoking, one-off brief advice from a GP appears to be as effective as several sessions of behavioural support from a practice nurse when smoking cessation medication is provided.
Accuracy of self-reported smoking abstinence in clinical trials of hospital-initiated smoking interventions
In the United States, high rates (40%) of recently hospitalized smokers enrolled in smoking cessation trials fail biochemical verification of their self-reported abstinence.
Setting research priorities in tobacco control: a stakeholder engagement project
Stakeholders in tobacco control and smoking cessation research identified electronic cigarettes, addressing inequalities, and mental health and other substance abuse as key areas for research.
The association between personal income and smoking among adolescents: a study in six European cities
In the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Finland, adolescents' personal income is related positively to smoking behaviours independent of family socio-economic status.