The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

STASH, Vol. 5(6) –Self-treatment versus recreation as motivations for prescription drug misuse

Rates of prescription drug misuse in the United States have risen significantly during recent years, with one study reporting an increase of 2.5 million prescription drug users between 2002 and 2007 (SAMHSA, 2007; McCabe, West, & Wechsler, 2007). Prescription drug misuse is of particular concern among adolescents and young adults who have shown higher rates of misuse than other age groups (Kroutil et al., 2006; McCabe, Cranford, & Boyd, 2006). For example, a study by Kroutil et al. found that 18-25 year olds were 4 times as likely to misuse prescription stimulants than those 26 years old and older (2006).... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 5(6) - Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough: How Media Coverage of Michael Jackson’s Death Might Raise Awareness About the Dangers of Prescription Drug Abuse.

On June 25, 2009 at 5:20 p.m., the celebrity gossip web site TMZ.com posted a story titled “Michael Jackson Dies.” Shortly thereafter, the cable news channels went live with footage of an ambulance taking Jackson’s body to the hospital. For the next few hours, news networks covered countless breaking details without pausing for commercial breaks. The non-stop television coverage coincided with a dramatic spike in Internet activity, particularly on social networking sites. The popular communication site, Twitter, slowed considerably—the result of a surge in Jackson-related “tweets”—up to up 5,000 per minute at peak. This rate of tweets represents the biggest... Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 5(6) – Resisting Tempting Foods and Cigarette Smoking.

Many smokers are concerned about gaining weight if they quit smoking. Doctors recommend that individuals concentrate on smoking cessation rather than dieting until they are certain that they will not relapse (Fiore et al., 2008). Imagine you are a cigarette smoker in front of a table full of tempting sweets that you are not allowed to eat. When you finally leave the room, will you be tempted to have a cigarette? This week the ASHES provides a critical review of a study by Shmueli and Prochaska (2009) that raises a similar question and then explains why it might be difficult... Read more →

The Addictiveness of Specific Gambling Games

John W. Welte, Ph. D. Principal Investigator, Research Institute on Addictions, State University of New York at Buffalo With the growth of legalized gambling in the United States in recent decades, concern about addiction to gambling has intensified. In virtually every U.S. state, and in many other countries, there have been acrimonious debates and political controversies over proposed extensions of legal gambling. Video gambling machines have sometimes been at the center of these controversies, as they were placed in racetracks, and also in such venues as bars, restaurants and veteran’s organizations. Proponents argued that the machines provide much-needed revenue for... Read more →

The DRAM Vol. 5(6) – High School Limits and College Drinking: Parental Influence on College Students’ Alcohol Use

Research indicates that alcohol abuse is linked to negative consequences (e.g., drunk driving, physical altercations, etc.) among college students (Hingson, Heeren, Winter, & Wechsler, 2005). Although previous research has shown that parental influence diminishes when adolescents enter college, more recent research suggests that parents still have some influence (Galotti & Mark, 1994; Lehr, Dilorio, Dudley, & Lipana, 2000). This week the DRAM reviews a study that examined the impact of parental permissibility of alcohol use during late high school on alcohol use and negative drinking consequences experienced among college students (Abar, Abar, & Turrisi, 2009). Methods: The researchers randomly recruited... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 14(5) - What’s in a game? Are certain types of gambling more likely to lead to disordered gambling?

At present, research findings are mixed about the impact of specific forms of gambling on gambling-related problems. Using limited samples, some studies have found an association between specific gambling activity and disordered gambling (e.g., Wood & Griffiths, 1998), often implicating gambling machines as especially “addictive” because of their high rate of gambling opportunities. Treatment seekers often report disproportionate rates of play on specific games. However, treatment seekers are not representative of others with similar problems. Therefore, it is not surprising that some researchers (e.g., National Research Council, 1999; Welte, Barnes, Wieczorek, Tidwell, & Parker, 2004) have found that the number... Read more →