The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Leading a Public Health Response to the Expansion of Gambling in Massachusetts: Engagement, Equity, and Empowerment

This month's Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the fourth in a series of interviews and op-eds with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their own communities. The Office of Problem Gambling Services, within the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, aims to prevent problem gambling and mitigate gambling-related harms across the Commonwealth. In this op-ed, Victor Ortiz, MSW, LADC I, CADC II, discusses the unique public health response this organization has taken to address problem gambling, informed by the principles of engagement, equity, and empowerment. Read more →

A History of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling

This month’s Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the third in a series of interviews and op-eds with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their own communities. Founded in 1983, The Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling aims to reduce the impacts of gambling disorder by providing education and resources, as well as advocating for responsible gambling practices. In this op-ed, Dr. Howard Shaffer and Kathleen Scanlan reflect on the history of this organization, driven by Tom Cummings’ vision of establishing statewide gambling-related services. Read more →

Learning to cope, together: How my son's experience with addiction inspired me to launch a family support network

This month’s Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the second in a series of interviews with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their own communities. In 2004, Joanne Peterson founded Learn to Cope, a non-profit support network that offers “education, resources, peer support and hope” for family members coping with a loved one’s addiction. Learn to Cope, which includes over 11,000 members, is a nationally recognized model for peer support and prevention programming. Here, Ms. Peterson discusses her efforts to launch and sustain Learn to Cope with Heather Gray, Senior Editor of The BASIS. Read more →

Building bridges to problem gambling solutions: Our experience leading the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling

This month’s Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the first in a series of interviews with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their communities. Ed Talbot and Dot Duda serve as Executive Director and President, respectively, of the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling (NHCPG), which was first incorporated in 1997. The NHCPG became inactive for a number of years, but Mr. Talbot, Ms. Duda, and others brought it back to life. In the following, Mr. Talbot and Ms. Duda discuss their work with Heather Gray, Senior Editor of The BASIS and former member of the NHCPG Board of Directors. Read more →

Introduction to the Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction

Adam O’Malley was at a pub in the northern English city of Leeds when something caught his attention: a coaster that read, “Is there a mate missing around this table? Reach out to him.” O’Malley flipped the coaster over to find another message: “If your mate’s acting differently, it could be a sign of a mental health problem: Reach out to him, be yourself, do what you love together.” Surprised and impressed by this approach to promoting men’s mental health, O’Malley posted photos of the coasters on Twitter, where they went viral. It turns out the coasters are part of... Read more →

Models and Theories: How We Understand Responsible Gambling

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the application of models and theories to our understanding of responsible gambling, was written by Howard Shaffer, Morris E. Chafetz Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Medical School and Distinguished Faculty at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, Robert Ladouceur, Professor Emeritus in the School of Psychology at the Université Laval, and Alex Blaszczynski, Professorial Research Fellow & Co-Director or the Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, at the University of Sydney, as part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

Recognizing Stigma Embedded in Diagnostic Criteria for Substance Use Disorders

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the enduring consequences of the moral model of addiction, was written by Tanya Freedland, MPS, LADC, a Clinical Trainer and Research Associate at the Center for Practice Transformation, and Robert Krueger, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, is part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

A Paradigm Shift

Editor’s note: This op-ed was written by Elda Chan, PhD, the Director of St. John’s Cathedral Counselling Service and the Clinical and Research Consultant for the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Integrated Center for Addiction Prevention and Treatment in Hong Kong, as part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

Introduction to the Special Series on Theories of Addiction

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Howard Shaffer, then Director of the Division on Addiction, warned about “conceptual crises” in the field of addiction. In that paper, he noted that the field was characterized by many “mini-theories,” a “lack of integration between research, theory, and practice,” and a general lack of agreement on the key components of addiction. Though the field has made immense progress in the past three decades, it still struggles with the absence of a single integrated theory of addiction and the presence of multiple definitions and models. But why does it matter? Why do we need... Read more →

Open Science Practices to Support Addiction Research

Editor’s note: This op-ed was written by David Mellor, PhD, of the Center for Open Science, as part of this month’s Special Series on Open Science Practices in addiction research. Being able to replicate a colleague’s reported empirical observations is a central premise of how scientific discoveries are expected to be disseminated. This ideal has been central to the expectations of scientific processes for centuries and separates credible findings from incredible observations. The motto of the Royal Society, “Nullius in verba” or “On the word of no one,” exemplifies this ideal by specifying that demonstrating a finding is more important... Read more →