The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

STASH Vol. 4(4) – You cannot always get what you need: Racial/Ethnic disparities of opioid analgesic prescribing in U.S. emergency departments

Pain lasting more than 24 hours affects over one quarter of Americans each year (National Center for Health Statistics, 2006) and costs approximately $100 billion in lost productivity, lost income, and health care costs (Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Morganstein, & Lipton, 2003). Previous research examining U.S. emergency department visits from 1997 to 1999 found racial/ethnic disparities in the prescribing of opioid analgesics for back pain and migraines (Tamayo-Sarver, Hinze, Cydulka, & Baker, 2003). During 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) established standards of care for the management of pain (Chapman, 2000). This week’s STASH examines the rates... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities Vol 4. (4) - "When I was a kid, I inhaled. That was the point."

Part of what affects politicians’ ability to lead is their use of personal biases and experiences to enrich leadership style and effectiveness, and create a positive public image. The current debate about the legalization of marijuana relates directly to politicians’ personal experiences with substance use. These personal experiences affect the public’s perception of the politician’s image and potentially influence the public’s perceptions of drug use. This week’s HUMANITIES uses Barack Obama’s honesty about drug use to consider the effect that politicians’ personal experiences might have on politics and the public. Experimenting with drugs as a youth is an experience that... Read more →

ASHES Vol. 4(4): Nicotine without All the Smoke: Smokers’ Preferences for Medicinal Nicotine or Smokeless Tobacco

As a result of the many difficulties associated with quitting smoking (e.g., psychological and physiological withdrawal) and even the challenges to reducing smoking (e.g., unintended increase in smoking intensity via deeper puffs), tobacco control experts have recommended the use of pure nicotine products as a “harm-reduction strategy”. Studies show that the use of medicinal nicotine (MN; e.g., nicotine gum, an inhaler) significantly reduces smoking (Bolliger et al., 2000; Wennike, Danielsson, Landfelt, Westin, & Tonnesen, 2003). Alternatively, people occasionally advocate smokeless tobacco (SLT) as another potential aid in smoking reduction; SLT products contain chemical toxins but are arguably less harmful than... Read more →

The DRAM, Vol 4(3) - Famous Last Words: It’s Only a Few Miles

One drinking myth is that people who drink more can handle their alcohol better than those who drink less. This fallacy might provide heavier drinkers with the opportunity to rationalize driving while under the influence of intoxicants. This week’s DRAM reviews a study assessing actual and perceived impairments in psycho-motor functioning among a group of heavy and light drinkers. The Chicago Social Drinking project, a longitudinal study, recruited participants through newspaper advertisements, fliers, and word of mouth. Brumback, Cao, and King (2007) derived their sample of 21-35 year olds from the Chicago project sample. The sample of 132 (77 HD... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 13(3) - Game Preferences of Pathological Gamblers and Odds of Recovery

Researchers have speculated as to whether different types of games have different associations with disordered gambling (Ladd & Petry, 2007; Urbanoski & Rush, 2006). However, few studies have tested this speculation in a rigorous manner. This week’s WAGER takes a second look (see WAGER 13(2) for the first look) at Kessler, Hwang, LaBrie, Petukhova, Sampson, Winters, & Shaffer (2008) who examined the epidemiology of gambling and games played. In this WAGER, we will examine the study’s assessment of the distribution of pathological gambling (PG) and recovery across different forms of gambling. The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NSC-R), a nationally representative... Read more →