The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The DRAM Vol. 5(4) – Benefits of Housing the Homeless

The chronically homeless, especially those with substance use problems, represent a tremendous cost to states’ public health care, criminal justice, and other social welfare systems. Abstinence-based housing programs do not always prove effective in dealing with this population sector and sometimes fail to prevent substance abuse relapses (Culhane & Metraux, 2008). This week’s DRAM reviews a study about the cost-effectiveness of a housing program, Housing First, which does not require sobriety, allowing residents to drink in their rooms while still receiving food, shelter, healthcare, and substance abuse counseling (Larimer et al. 2009). Methods Researchers recruited participants by rank-ordering a list... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 14(3) - The early bird is even earlier: predicting gambling behavior in kindergarten

Youth gambling is a potential precursor and a possible indication of pathological gambling later in life (Pagani, Derevensky, & Japel, 2009; Proimos, DuRant, Pierce, & Goodman, 1998). In a prospective longitudinal study, Pagani et al. (2009) examine the correlation between early childhood (i.e., kindergarten) impulsive behavior and youth (i.e., sixth grade) gambling activities. Methods Researchers recruited the children and parents from the kindergarten cohort from the Montreal Longitudinal Preschool Study The authors followed 377 children exclusively selected from intact families The final sample (n= 163) included children with complete youth and parental gambling involvement information from both kindergarten and sixth... Read more →

STASH, Vol. 5(3) - Gender Disparities: What Traumatic Events Place Young Adults at Risk for Substance Use Disorders?

Recent research indicates that a number of risk factors are linked to the development of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) (Kilpatrick et al., 2000); these risks include traumatic events (Breslau, Davis, & Schultz, 2003; Simpson & Miller, 2002). Most of the research suggests that traumatic event(s) increase the risk for SUDs for young women, but not for young men (Becker & Grilo, 2006; Breslau et al., 2003; Lipschitz, Grilo, Fehon, McGlashan, & Southwick, 2000). However, this week’s STASH reviews a study of young adults (Danielson et al., 2009) that reports an association between traumatic events and SUDs among both young men... Read more →

Division on Addictions Creates First Ever Public Data Repository and Exchange

The following was a featured article for the World Online Gambling Law Report Vol. 8 (3). In a move to make addiction research more open and accessible, the Division on Addictions at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has created a data repository called “The Transparency Project”. This data repository allows scientists from around the world to engage in a free exchange of data from privately-funded research. Open access to information from research supported by private interests will promote evidence from this resource to take its place alongside that from government sponsored research. Ultimately, to... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 5(3) - On the one hand: In support of Cognitive Enhancing Drugs

In an earlier science review, we noted the increase in college student use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement. This growing trend has not only sparked a debate within the medical and legal communities about drug safety and prescription drug abuse (Greely et al., 2008); it also has raised broader cultural issues about competitiveness, fairness, and what it means to “cheat.” In this issue and the next issue of Addiction and the Humanities, we examine both sides of this debate and hope that you will also weigh in with your opinion. First, we present the Greely and colleagues case for... Read more →

Op-Ed/Editorials - Gambling and the Law®: Don't Finish This Book

I. Nelson Rose There ought to be a law prohibiting anyone from writing a book about gambling who does not know how to make a bet. (There also ought to be a law against writing books if you can't write, but that is a different subject.) Gambling has been at the heart of many stories. The best, inevitably, are by writers who know gamblers, because they are gamblers themselves. Among the first, and most famous, is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Gambler. The story centers on a game, roulette, and is written in a style that are out-molded today. But reading it... Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 5(3) - The No-Nicotine Blues: Investigating Why Some Smokers Feel Depressed While Trying to Quit.

Recent research has identified a correlation between nicotine withdrawal and depression. Scientists suggest that this association is related to changes in the function of serotonin transporter proteins, known to play a role in regulating mood, during periods of nicotine abstinence. This week’s ASHES reviews an animal study investigating both the biological mechanisms underlying the appearance of depressive signs, and a potential treatment (Semba & Wakuta, 2008). Methods Researchers implanted adult male rats with a pump that administered either nicotine or a neutral solution (control) at a constant rate for a period of 12 days. A separate group of rats also... Read more →