Press Releases
Addiction publishes press releases throughout the year. Please see the date-sorted list below.
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2021 Press Releases
Brief counselling by a doctor can reduce drinking
A new systematic review and meta-analysis has found that alcohol-targeted brief interventions (short, structured, one-to-one conversations about drinking designed to motivate changes in risky behaviour) delivered in doctors’ offices and similar medical settings can produce small but useful reductions in drinking.
Increasing access to an overdose rescue drug does not reduce perceived risk of opioid use
A new study published in the scientific journal Addiction has found that naloxone access laws in the US have not reduced perceptions of how dangerous heroin use is in the US population.
Tobacco and alcohol may increase likelihood of using illegal drugs, new study shows
The use of legal drugs (tobacco and alcohol) may lead to the use of cannabis, a new study led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Addiction has found. The study also found evidence that cannabis use may lead to smoking initiation, and opioid dependence could lead to increased alcohol consumption. Additionally, there might be shared risk factors that influence the use of multiple substances.
New review finds non-invasive brain stimulation may reduce smoking
A new systematic review of randomised controlled trials has found evidence that non-invasive brain stimulation may reduce smoking frequency (number of cigarettes per day) in nicotine-dependent smokers.
New meta-analysis finds cannabis may be linked to development of opioid use disorders
A new systematic review and meta-analysis has found that people who use cannabis are disproportionately more likely to initiate opioid use and engage in problematic patterns of use than people who do not use cannabis. But the quality of the evidence for this finding is low.
Drinking in Europe declined on average in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic
A survey carried out in 21 European countries during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic found significant decreases in average alcohol consumption in every country except Ireland and the UK.
New study of how US recreational cannabis legalization could change illegal drug markets
A new study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of the association between recreational cannabis laws (RCLs) in US states and responses in the illegal markets for cannabis, heroin, and other drugs in those states.
Alcohol and sexist attitudes combine to increase male violence towards women
In a study of men in low and middle income countries, heavy drinking males were more likely to commit violence against their wives and girlfriends (intimate partner violence, or IPV) if they held sexist rather than egalitarian attitudes about women.
Stop-smoking drug Chantix/Champix does not increase risk of psychiatric problems
A new analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial of the stop-smoking drug varenicline (brand name Chantix in the US and Champix elsewhere), has provided clear evidence that varenicline does not increase the risk of psychiatric problems. The study also assessed the risk of psychiatric problems associated with bupropion and the nicotine patch. It similarly found moderate to strong evidence for no increased risk of neuropsychiatric adverse events relative to use of a placebo.
Ethnic minorities in England less likely to report using e-cigarettes to reduce smoking
Ethnic minority groups may be missing out on a means of reducing smoking. A household survey in England has found it is less common for smokers of Asian, Arab, and other ethnicities to use e-cigarettes to try to reduce their cigarette consumption or when they are not allowed to smoke than those of White ethnicity.
2020 Press Releases
Cannabis Use Appears to Encourage, Not Replace, Non-medical Opioid Use
A study published in the scientific journal Addiction suggests that, contrary to what some are claiming, people in the US may not be substituting cannabis for opioids.
How to Strengthen New Zealand’s Proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill
Two drug policy experts have identified gaps and challenges in New Zealand’s proposal for legalizing recreational cannabis. In advance of a widely-watched national referendum vote to be held this September, Associate Professor Chris Wilkins and Dr. Marta Rychert of Massey University argue in the pages of Addiction that New Zealand’s Cannabis Legislation and Control Bill (CLCB) needs to be strengthened in two critical areas.
New study supports the safety of varenicline
A real-world study of over 600,000 adult participants without a history of depression has found that the stop-smoking medication varenicline does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular or neuropsychiatric hospitalization compared with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
New study supports Allen Carr’s Easyway (ACE) method to quit smoking
The largest and most authoritative research trial of its kind testing the Allen Carr’s Easyway (ACE) method of quitting smoking has detected no difference in success rates between ACE and a specialist stop smoking service in the UK.
Daily users account for over 80% of all cannabis consumed in Australia
In Australia between 2007 and 2016, 81% to 85% of all cannabis was consumed by the 16% of all Australian cannabis users who used daily. Weekly users and daily users together accounted for an estimated 98% of all cannabis consumed in Australia between 2007 and 2016.