The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Op-Ed/Editorials: Using Innovation to Engage Intravenous Drug Users in Harm Reduction

Ingrid Maurice Research Coordinator Division On Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance Contributors Heather Gray Research Associate Division On Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance Debi LaPlante Associate Director Division On Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance Howard Shaffer Director Division On Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance According to the Centers for Disease Control, during 2005, drug-induced HIV and viral hepatitis combined to kill more than 51,000 people in the United States; during 2006, there was an increased number of deaths from viral hepatitis ("Deaths: Final Data for 2005"; "Deaths: Final Data for 2006”. Because of unsafe needle practices (e.g., needle sharing, the use of broken or... Read more →

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 5 (7) - Maybe it’s just me: The common relapse experience

Relapse is common for multiple paths of recovery from addiction (e.g., self-guided, treatment assisted, etc.). Various studies have shown that most expressions of addiction carry a significant chance of relapse. For instance, in one 2003 study, 50% of marijuana smokers fit the criteria for relapse (Moore & Budney, 2003). Two other 2005 studies found high relapse rates among those recovering from alcoholism (i.e., 82% of outpatients and 73% of inpatients) (Marlatt & Witkiewitz, 2005)) and quitting smokers (40% of smokers who successfully abstained for one year and 90-97% of smokers who quit alone, (Shiffman, Kassel, Gwaltney, & McChargue, 2005)). Illustrating... Read more →

ASHES Vol. 5(7) - Lighting up to feel thin: How body dissatisfaction and negative affect contribute to the urge to smoke among college women

The urge to smoke is a complex phenomenon that cannot be explained by nicotine dependence alone. A range of psychological factors—thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns—also play an important role in smoking behavior. Among women in particular, smoking appears to be coupled with deep-seated concerns about body image (for a review, see Lopez Khoury, Litvin, & Brandon, 2009). This association can take different forms. For example, women might smoke cigarettes as a direct form of weight control. Less directly, women might light up as a way to cope with the shame of failing to meet cultural standards of thinness (Fiissel &... Read more →

Op-Ed/Editorials - Gambling and the Law®: Another “What Is Poker” Case

I. Nelson Rose Last column I started the discussion of whether the prohibitions on internet gambling should apply to online poker by asking the fundamental question: “What is poker?” Twenty years ago I actually had to answer that question under oath in the “7-card down” case I described in my last column. The fight was about what games were prohibited by an 1885 statute that outlawed “stud-horse poker.” But in my next case, the definition of poker was the central issue in the case. It was ten years later, April 1997, and Florida had recently legalized poker to be played... Read more →

The DRAM Vol. 5(7) – To eat or to drink? That is the question!

Both physiological and behavioral evidence suggest that we might be able to view excessive eating as an expression of addiction. Previous studies suggest that food and alcohol consumption might compete for the same biological pathways (Kleiner et al., 2004). If so, one would expect that engagement in one of these behaviors might lessen engagement in the other. This week’s DRAM reviews a paper that examines the relationship between excessive food and alcohol consumption (Gearhardt & Corbin, 2009). Method Participants and procedure Investigators interviewed more than thirty five thousand participants as a part of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and... Read more →

Op-Ed/Editorials - Gambling and the Law®: What Is Poker?

I. Nelson Rose Should the prohibitions on internet gambling have a carve-out for online poker? The question is much more complicated than it seems. If the argument is that poker is not gambling but rather a contest of skill, should the exemption be limited to poker tournaments? What is “online” – what about people playing against each others at terminals in a club, or linked clubs? Which laws are getting changed, federal or state? And who is doing the changing, legislature, courts or regulators? Let’s start with what should be the easiest question: “What is poker?” I have been asked... Read more →

The Wager Vol. 14(6) - BBGS vs. NODS-CLiP: Which Brief Screen for Pathological Gambling Wins the Battle of Psychometrics?

The process of screening for addictive behaviors is moving from research labs into the mainstream of public health practice (Anderson, Aromaa, Rosenbloom, & Enos, 2008). Most people and programs that consider administering public health screens face significant temporal and financial restrictions. Consequently, the development of brief screens that can identify the most people in need of treatment, without also generating many false positives, is critical. Among the general population, pathological gambling (PG) is a relatively rare disorder (Kessler et al., 2008; Petry, Stinson, & Grant, 2005). As a result, public health workers tend to screen for and detect PG less... Read more →