The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

ASHES Vol. 6(5) – Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are: Social networks and smoking

A previous BASIS DRAM described a study about the relationship between friendship and addiction-related behavior, specifically, alcohol abuse. Continuing this topic, this week’s ASHES reviews a study that examined how social networks predict long-term changes in smoking behavior (Pollard, Tucker, Green, Kennedy, & Go, 2010). Methods Pollard et al. used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The research sample included students who were interviewed three times (i.e., wave I, wave II, wave III) during a six year period. The students were in grades 9 to 11 at the last wave of interviews (N = 837... Read more →

The DRAM, Vol. 6(4) - Alcohol2O: The Effect of Oxygen-enriched Drinks on Blood Alcohol Concentration

It takes three oxygen molecules for humans to metabolize one molecule of alcohol (i.e., ethanol). This week the DRAM reviews a study that compares the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of participants after drinking oxygen-enriched drinks to their BAC level after drinking normal drinks (Baek, Lee, & Kwon, 2010). Methods Participants (n=49) were healthy adults who volunteered for up to three experiments that comprised this research. Investigators used thirty participants for each experiment; ten participants participated in one experiment, nineteen participated in two, and eleven participants participated in all three. In each experiment, participants completed two phases in which they... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 15(4) – Sports Wagering Policies: European Athletes v. NCAA Athletes

On April 15, 2010, the European Elite Athletes Association, in conjunction with the European Gaming and Betting Association and the European Sports Security Association, announced the development of a sports betting code of conduct and educational campaign for professional athletes ("EU Athletes & European betting industry launch educational campaign to support integrity in sports," 2010). In the U.S., the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has a long-standing policy regarding gambling activities for its student athletes (National Collegiate Athletic Association). This week, the WAGER examines the newly released policy targeting European athletes and the NCAA policy governing sports wagering by student-athletes.... Read more →

STASH, Vol. 6(4) – Taking the Good with the Bad: The Role of Psychiatric Distress in Substance Abuse Treatment Seeking

Needle-exchange programs (NEPs) hold the potential to reduce drug-related harms by promoting safer drug-injection practices and by serving as a bridge to treatment for substance abuse. Yet, few NEP participants (5-11%) take advantage of available treatment referral services (Kidorf et al., 2005; Riley et al., 2002). This week’s STASH reviews a recent study that investigated a potential moderator of substance abuse treatment enrollment among NEP participants (Kidorf et al., 2010). Based on data from national epidemiological studies (e.g., Cohen, Feinn, Arias, & Kranzler, 2007), Kidorf and colleagues (2010) hypothesized that NEP participants who have concurrent psychiatric distress are more likely... Read more →