The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

STASH, Vol. 9(5) – Maybe problems don’t last forever: An alternative view of remission from drug dependence

Many people believe that substance abuse and dependence are necessarily progressive illnesses, and that the probability of quitting drugs decreases with each successive year of heavy drug use. This might be a good way to summarize some individuals’ experience with drug use. However, new research using data from a national survey suggests that the number of people who quit using drugs increases steadily over time, regardless of their time spent dependent on drugs. This week’s STASH reviews an article exploring this phenomenon (Heyman, 2013). Methods Heyman (2013) explored the rates of remission from cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and cigarette dependence using... Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 9(4): Curbing Your Craving? Comparing the mood-altering effects of regular and reduced-nicotine cigarettes

In the continuous battle against the negative effects of cigarettes, both on smokers and bystanders, science and technology have given us a number of alternatives to the classic nicotine cigarette, such as the nicotine free, electronic cigarette. However, it is unclear if these alternatives successfully curb smoking cravings. This week’s ASHES reviews a study by Domino and colleagues (2013) that compared the effects of regular and reduced nicotine cigarettes on self-reported craving and release of striatal dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the brain’s reward pathway. Methods The researchers initially recruited 24 male tobacco-dependent participants using newspaper ads and word-of-mouth. From... Read more →

The DRAM, Vol. 9(4) – For Airmen returning from conflict, the risk associated with TBI is anything but mild

Since 2001, the U.S. government has deployed more than 1.6 million military personnel to Afghanistan or Iraq (Tanielian, et al. 2008). Among veterans returning from these conflicts, doctors have observed nearly 200,000 cases of mild-traumatic brain injury (i.e., TBI; Fischer, 2013). Symptoms of mild-TBI include being confused/disoriented or experiencing memory loss for less than 24 hours, losing consciousness for up to thirty minutes, and normal medical imaging results (Fischer, 2013). Left untreated, TBI and other invisible wounds of war can lead to substance use disorders and a variety of psychiatric comorbid disorders (Tanielian, 2008). This week’s DRAM reviews an article... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 18(4) – The influence of expanded gambling opportunities in Iowa on disordered gambling rates

The expansion of gambling opportunities raises some important public health issues. Researchers previously thought that expanded gambling opportunities would lead to increased rates of gambling and gambling problems. A growing body of evidence, however, suggests that the relationship between gambling opportunities and gambling problems is more complicated (LaPlante & Shaffer, 2007). Iowa provides a setting to examine this relationship further. Iowa first legalized riverboat casino gambling in 1990, and then land-based casinos in 2005. There are currently 21 casinos in the state, up from just seven in 1994. . Today’s WAGER reviews a study (Black, McCormick, Losch, Shaw, Lutz, &... Read more →