The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Addiction & the Humanities, Vol. 8(3) - Has anyone seen Molly? Club music and ecstasy

Celebrity DJ, Deadmau5 recently called out Madonna through Twitter for alluding to ecstasy during a music festival. The DJ contended that Madonna irresponsibly promoted ecstasy use by asking the crowd how many of them had “seen Molly” – a slang term for ecstasy. This incident made headlines around the world and strengthened the perceived association between club music and ecstasy. This week, Addiction & the Humanities reviews a study that examined the potential connection between music preferences and drug use behavior among visitors to European dance, club, and rock musical events (Van Havere, Vanderplasschen, Lammertyn, Broekaert, & Bellis, 2011). Methods... Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 8(3) – One at a time: The relative roles of physical and cognitive effects on the process of smoking cessation among teenagers

The path to smoking cessation can take many different forms for different people. The research, however, tends to focus on only one outcome: complete cessation. This is at the expense of other intermediate outcomes, such as short-term abstinence and smoking reduction. Understanding these other outcomes is useful, as it provides a more nuanced and realistic view on how people actually work to quit smoking. Today’s ASHES reviews a study exploring the effects of various physical and cognitive factors on three different cessation-related outcomes (Schuck, Otten, Engels & Kleinjan, 2011) Methods Eight hundred and fifty (850) Dutch adolescent smokers enrolled in... Read more →

The DRAM, Vol. 8(3) - Express lane to drinking problems: Rapid development of alcohol dependence in individuals with anxiety disorders

Past studies consistently have shown that alcohol disorders and anxiety disorders co-occur more frequently than can be explained by chance alone (Boyd et al., 1984; Shaffer et al., 2007). Neurobiological theories of dependence suggest that individuals who have anxiety disorders are especially vulnerable to developing alcohol dependence. This week, the DRAM reviews a study that compared the onset and development of alcohol dependence among individuals with and without anxiety disorders (Kushner et al., 2011). Methods The researchers recruited seventy-eight individuals who had alcohol dependence from an adult inpatient chemical dependency treatment program and assessed them for presence of anxiety disorders.... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 17(2) –Do impulsive kids make problem gamblers?

Research suggests that the development of gambling problems is associated with other impulsive behaviors and might relate to underlying impulse control deficits (Carlton and Manowitz 1992; Leeman and Potenza 2012). However, most of this research is cross-sectional and relies on retrospective reporting. This week, the WAGER reviews a longitudinal study that investigated how childhood impulsivity relates to gambling problems in adulthood (Shenassa, Paradis et al. 2012). Methods The study cohort originated from the Collaborative Perinatal Project (CPP), a pre- to postnatal study of expectant mothers and their offspring investigating the causes of neurological defects. (N = 15,721 Mother/Child pairs, recruitment... Read more →

Op-Ed/Editorials: List of selected recipients for February giveaway "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption"

The Division on Addiction is pleased to announce the following people will receive the book Symptoms of Withdrawal: Mark Albanese, Eddie Chiu, Art Cortes, Joseph Coyne, Mary Eaton, Joanne Fendall, Louise Patrick, Andy Roberts, Gene Rutkauskas, Curt Tweedy, Steve Whiting, Trish Wright, and eight others. http://bit.ly/DOA20th_February. Thank you for celebrating our 20th anniversary with us! Read more →