In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to: Dr Marilyn Piccirillo from the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Drs Katherine Walukevich-Dienst and Elizabeth Lehinger from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The interview covers their research report on the longer-term efficacy of brief, alcohol-focused personalised feedback interventions among young adults in two universities on the West coast of the US. Note for listeners: The acronym PFI is used throughout this episode, which stands for ‘personalised feedback intervention’. · What is an alcohol-focused personalised feedback intervention? [01:48] · An example of how one of these interventions would work in practice [03:03] · The importance of considering distress [03:46] · The key findings of the study [07:24] · Why ‘less is more’ when it comes to alcohol interventions [12:19] · How the findings contribute to policy or practice [14:46] · The pioneers of personalised feedback interventions [17:41] About Marilyn Piccirillo: Dr Piccirillo is a licensed psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She is also a Core Faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and a member of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center. Dr Piccirillo uses person-centered frameworks to study motivating and maintenance factors for substance use problems, particularly for those experiencing co-occurring anxiety, trauma, and stress. She also examines how digital tools can be used to support treatment and recovery and optimise the design and delivery of treatments for substance use problems and addiction. About Katherine Walukevich-Dienst: Dr Walukevich-Dienst is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on developing and testing digital interventions to reduce substance use and improve mental health among young adults. She uses methods such as ecological momentary assessment to examine real-time behavior and intervention engagement. Dr Walukevich-Dienst has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and leads National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded projects aimed at improving outcomes for cannabis and alcohol use through scalable, evidence-based approaches. About Elizabeth Lehinger: Dr Lehinger is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has two primary areas of research: 1) college student alcohol prevention, and 2) trauma recovery for individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders. Her research focuses on reward processes underlying these research areas. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Original article: Examining the longer-term efficacy of brief, alcohol-focused personalized feedback interventions for individuals with internalizing distress: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70044 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Emma Beard, a lecturer in statistics and quantitative methods at University College London. The interview covers Emma’s research report titled, ‘How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence?’ · How we normally estimate the smoking prevalence reported in official statistics [01:28] · Why it is important to consider the hidden population [01:55] · The consequences of not taking into account the hidden population when estimating smoking prevalence [02:35] · The ‘workbook method’: how we estimate the hidden population [02:55] · The key findings and implications of these findings [03:30] · The size of the hidden population in the UK [04:42] · The huge undertaking of this research project to find these data [05:25] · The consideration of adolescent populations within smoking prevalence statistics [06:44] · What can be done within research to be more inclusive of hidden populations [07:52] · How Emma’s research can contribute to policy and practice [08:44] · The argument for more and better data to include hidden populations [10:00] In Emma’s paper, the hidden population for household surveys was defined as people from or living in communal establishments (e.g. care homes, student residence, prison), immigration detention centres, Gypsy, Roma and Travelling Communities, short-term accommodation, and those experiencing homelessness, including sofa surfing. About Emma Beard: Dr Beard is a Lecturer in Statistics and Quantitative Methods at University College London. She has over 130 publications on a variety of topics, with a key focus on tobacco harm reduction, high-risk alcohol consumption, and statistical methodology. Her research focuses on evaluating smoking cessation interventions and policies. She is a Deputy Methodological and Statistical Editor for the journal Addiction . About Tsen Vei Lim: Dr Tsen Vei Lim is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). Original editorial: How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence? https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70071 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth speaks to Professor Joanne Neale from the Addictions Department at King’s College London and Professor Brian Kelly from the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. The interview covers their editorial titled, ‘Over a decade later and Addiction journal is still committed to publishing qualitative research’. · The origins of the editorial and why it is needed [01:01] · The goal of the changes Addiction is implementing for qualitative submissions [01:44] · The importance of increasing the word limit to 6,000 words [02:49] · Whether similar journals in the addiction field struggle with low numbers of qualitative submissions [04:19] · The increase in qualitative editors at the Addiction journal since 2013 [05:52] · Finding consensus among a diversity of disciplines on the editorial board [07:21] · Semi-quantification over quantification in qualitative research [08:30] · What the authors hope to achieve with this editorial [09:36] · The take-home messages for qualitative researchers [11:04] About Professor Joanne Neale: Jo is Professor of Addictions Qualitative Research based within the National Addiction Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK. She is also Conjoint Professor in the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney, Australia. Joanne trained in social work and is the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Lead for the UK NIHR Addictions Policy Research Unit. Her current research focuses largely on patient perceptions of treatments and interventions for alcohol and other drug use. In the last three years, Joanne Neale has received, through her university, research funding from Mundipharma Research Ltd and Camurus AB and honoraria from Camurus AB and Indivior for presentations. About Professor Brian Kelly: Brian is a Professor of Sociology at Indiana University and also Senior Research Program Leader at the Irsay Institute. His research examines social contextual influences on health, mainly focusing on substance use. His current research projects include the influence of policy contexts on youth substance use trajectories, sibling socialisation processes of adolescent substance use, and the impact of disasters on community drug-related outcomes. Original editorial: Over a decade later and Addiction journal is still committed to publishing qualitative research https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70047 Qualitative guidelines for Addiction : (1) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12408 and (2) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12857 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr James MacKillop, a clinical psychologist and professor at McMaster University in Canada, and director for both the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and the Michael G DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. The interview covers his research report on the diagnostic validity of drinking behaviour for identifying alcohol use disorder (AUD) with findings from a representative sample of community adults and an inpatient clinical sample. · What alcohol use disorder is and how it is currently diagnosed [01:41] · The surprising exclusion of drinking behaviour in AUD diagnosis [03:03] · Unpacking ‘receiver operating characteristic curves’ [04:42] · The key findings of the study [05:45] · Whether James’ findings will change how we think about diagnosing AUD [07:35] · Why clinicians would benefit collecting how much people are drinking in one session [09:32] · Whether an indicator of heavy drinking would be helpful in treatment settings [10:35] · Bringing objective data into clinical application [12:09] · Whether we can use a similar metric to other drugs, such as cannabis [13:09] · What we can learn for policy and further research [15:56] · The barrier of the lack of biomarkers in alcohol use disorder [18:00] · The take-home message of the paper [19:40] About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the SSA, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About James MacKillop PhD, CPsych, FCAHS: Dr. MacKillop holds the Peter Boris Chair in Addictions Research and a Canada Research Chair in Translational Addiction Research at McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. There, Dr. MacKillop directs both the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and the DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Dr. MacKillop trained as a clinical psychologist at Binghamton University and Brown University and studies addiction using a multidisciplinary approach, integrating psychology, economics, neuroscience, and genetics. James receives unrestricted research funding from Canadian Institutes on Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and Correctional Services of Canada and am a senior scientist and principal in Beam Diagnostics, Inc., a technology transfer start-up company. The latter had no relationship to the publication in Addiction. Original article: Diagnostic validity of drinking behaviour for identifying alcohol use disorder: Findings from a representative sample of community adults and an inpatient clinical sample . https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70037 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth speaks to Dr Sandra Jumbe from the School of Social and Health Sciences at Millenium University in Malawi and the Wolfson Institute of Public Health Queen Mary, and Dr Chris Newby from the Medical School at the University of Nottingham. Sandra and Chris discuss their findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis on factors associated with adolescent substance use in Africa between 2000 and 2020. · What do we already know about adolescent use in Africa and why this review was needed [01:40] · The headline findings of the review [03:50] · What the consolidation of findings in this topic area will achieve [05:58] · The themes that came out of the ‘non-familial’ category of factors associated with adolescent substance use [09:00] · The main themes that came out of the ‘socioeconomic or environmental’ category of factors associated with adolescent substance use [10:05] · The regional differences in the drugs consumed across Africa [12:10] · What drugs are captured in standardised surveys [14:29] · The experience of doing systematic reviews and meta-analyses [15:20] About Sandra Jumbe: Dr Jumbe is a health psychologist currently working as a senior lecturer in research at Millennium University in Blantyre Malawi and a health researcher at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London. She is also an African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) fellow with the African Academy of Sciences. She is an expert in behavioural science, enabling her to set the foundations for evidence-based work that informs development of effective interventions and policy decisions to improve human health. She has worked in both clinical and academic settings in primary care and mental health. Dr Jumbe’s long term aspiration is to expand understanding of global mental health and substance use, by advancing research niched on youth mental health in Africa, while training fellow young African scientists. She is also a mental health advocate, passionate about improving mental health literacy at grassroots level using community engagement and culturally sensitive approaches. About Chris Newby: Dr Newby is a senior medical statistician at the Research Knowledge Exchange, at the Medical School at the University of Nottingham. He has worked in NIHR Biomedical Research Units, Clinical Trial Units and is currently a senior quantitative advisor at the Research Support Service Leicester Hub and Partners. His interests are Respiratory, Mental Health and Equality Diversity and Inclusion in Health Research. Sandra, Chris nor Elle have any conflicts of interest to declare. Original article: A systematic review and meta-analysis of factors associated with adolescent substance use in Africa, 2000 to 2020: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70023 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Richard Bade from Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Queensland about his and his co-authors research report on the identification of nitazenes through wastewater analysis, using two-years of data from 22 countries. Richard discusses why a study detecting nitazenes in wastewater was needed and what the future for detecting nitazenes in wastewater looks like, including implications for policy and practice. · What is wastewater analysis and how we use it in the field of drugs [01:21] · What are nitazenes and why they are a problem [02:28] · Why a study detecting nitazenes in wastewater was needed [03:31] · Whether there is a demand for nitazenes [04:08] · How Richard and his team chose the eight nitazenes to study [05:05] · The headline findings of the paper [05:55] · Whether a lack of nitazenes in wastewater means that they aren’t there or they are in too low concentration to be found [08:16] · The benefits of wastewater analysis to detect nitazenes [09:37] · The surprisingly high level of nitazenes in Australia [10:37] · What we can learn for policy and practice [11:47] · The joy and difficulties working with many co-authors! [14:11] About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle is also a senior analyst at RAND Europe, working on projects focusing on national and international drug policies. About Richard Bade: Dr Richard Bade is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) within The University of Queensland. He completed his PhD at the University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain in 2016 before moving to the University of South Australia in 2017 and QAEHS in 2021. He is interested in understanding links between environmental and community health using wastewater analysis. His particular research interests are associated with the surveillance, detection and identification of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in wastewater and other matrices as well as exploring the impact of chemical and pathogen exposure during mass gatherings. Dr Bade currently leads an expanding international consortium exploring the prevalence of NPS worldwide. These data can help provide insights into the emergence of new, potent NPS, and ensure that public harm from their exposure is minimized. Original article: Early identification of the use of potent benzylbenzimidazoles (nitazenes) through wastewater analysis: two-years of data from 22 countries. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70027 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to three generations of tobacco/nicotine researchers: Dr Sarah Jackson and Emeritus Professors Martin Jarvis and Robert West, all from the Department of Behavioural Science and Health at University College London. They discuss a recent editorial, ‘The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life?’ – why the message resonated, what was and is difficult to convey in tobacco research, and how the media coverage has changed for tobacco research over the years. · What the editorial is about [00:56] · Why the editorial resonated with the public and the media [01:40] · What messages were difficult to convey to the public [03:05] · Why the number of ‘20 minutes of life’ has increased since the last estimate and why it is longer for women [07:43] · Choosing persuasive pieces and soundbites to communicate to the public [12:13] · The misinterpretation of research in the media and the difficulty in delivering nuance [14:08] · How the media coverage on tobacco and smoking has changed over the years [16:23] Dr Sarah Jackson is a Principal Research Fellow within UCL’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group. She has authored >100 peer-reviewed articles on nicotine and tobacco. Her research activity focuses primarily on modelling population trends in smoking, evaluating smoking cessation interventions and policies, and advancing the evidence base on vaping. She is President of SRNT Europe, Senior Editor for Addiction , and Social Media Editor for Nicotine & Tobacco Research . Martin Jarvis is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, UCL, having for many years worked with Michael Russell’s smoking research group at the Institute of Psychiatry and then Cancer Research UK’s Health Behaviour Unit. He has researched and published widely on tobacco smoking, with special interests in the role of nicotine, social and family influences on smoking, smoking cessation methods and passive smoking. He was awarded an OBE in 2002. Robert West is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at UCL. He specialises in behaviour change and addiction. He is former Editor-in-Chief of Addiction, and has acted as an advisor to the English Department of Health on tobacco control and currently advises the Public Health Wales Behavioural Science Unit. He helped write the blueprint for the UK’s national network of stop-smoking clinics and is co-founder of the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model of behaviour, the Behaviour Change Wheel framework for intervention development, and the PRIME Theory of motivation. Original article: The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life? https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16757 Authors praised the seminal work of the late Professor Michael Anthony Hamilton Russell (1932–2009). For further reading on the legacy of his landmark research, see here: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14043 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Noa Krawczyk from the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine about her and her co-authors research report on self-reported experiences and perspectives on using psychedelics to manage opioid use among participants of two Reddit communities. Noa discusses the current treatments available for opioid use disorder and why psychedelics are having their moment as an alternative medicine, and what people who use opioids found when taking psychedelics with the intention of reducing or stopping their opioid use. · What is Reddit and why is Noa using it to answer her research questions [01:24] · The headline findings of the study [02:17] · The comparison of demographics of Reddit and the wider population of people who use opioids [03:46] · What the current treatments are for opioid use disorder in the US and why people are seeking alternatives [05:22] · Why Ibogaine stands out as a prominent psychedelic in the discussion [08:12] · The mechanisms of action found in the analysis [09:45] · The benefits and drawbacks of using psychedelics [13:26] · What we can take from the paper for policy and practice [15:28] About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle is also a senior analyst at RAND Europe, working on projects focusing on national and international drug policies. About Noa Krawczyk: Noa Krawczyk, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Associate Director of the NYU Langone Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy. Her research focuses on studying ways to address barriers to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder at the individual, program, and policy levels. Her work centers on bridging research and practice by collaborating with drug user organizations, health system leaders, public health and government agencies, and advancing science that can help inform evidence-based policies and practices that reduce harm and promote well being. About co-author Megan Miller: Megan Miller, MPH, is a Research Coordinator in the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and served as the primary data analyst for the Reddit study. She holds an MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. NK receives fees as an expert witness in ongoing opioid litigation. MM has no conflicts of interest to declare. Original article: Self-reported experiences and perspectives on using psychedelics to manage opioid use among participants of two Reddit communities https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16767 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr James Nicholls from the University of Stirling about an opinion paper he co-authored with Professor Geoffrey Hunt on whether pleasure should receive more attention in public health-oriented alcohol research. They discuss what alcohol researchers and public health professionals can learn about ‘intoxication and pleasure’ from drug research, the different ways that the pleasure of drinking is made more socially acceptable, and what more research on pleasure could do for policy and practice. · Why public health research has historically not explored the pleasure of alcohol intoxication [01:04] · Why this is an important topic to raise with the public health research community now [02:58] · Clarifying what type of pleasure is most neglected [04:55] · Measuring intoxication as pleasure and recognising the limitations of our methodologies [06:50] · Three broad reasons why additional attention should be paid to intoxication as pleasure [08:46] · What learning more about the pleasure of intoxication means for policy and practice [12:06] · The anticipation of publishing an opinion piece for debate [14:28] About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle is also a senior analyst at RAND Europe, working on projects focusing on national and international drug policies. She holds a PhD in public health and health systems from the University of Waterloo (Canada), an MSc in addiction studies from King's College London (UK), and a BSc in chemistry from the University of Bristol (UK). About James Nicholls: James is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at the University of Stirling, specialising in alcohol and drug policy research. Recent projects include leading a needs assessment for a safer drug consumption facility in Edinburgh, and a statutory review of the alcohol licensing system in Northern Ireland. He has also published recently on moral philosophy and drug policy advocacy. James was previously Director of Research and Policy at Alcohol Change UK, and Chief Executive Officer of Transform Drug Policy Foundation. James has no conflicts of interest to declare. Original article: Taking pleasure seriously: Should alcohol research say more about fun? https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16747 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor David Hammond about vaping. They discuss policy differences between the Canada, the UK and the US as well as changes relating to disposable vapes and the use of nicotine salts. They cover the environmental impact of some of these products before talking about the different choices available to policymakers when developing regulations. “What the change has meant in England is that there’s probably more room for regulating some of these [vaping] products without undermining their use as a cessation aid” Original article: Use of disposable e-cigarettes among youth who vape in Canada, England, and the United States: repeat cross-sectional surveys, 2017-2023 by David Hammond and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024). The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode Ben Scher talks to Dr Aleksi Hamina from the Norwegian centre for addiction research at the University of Oslo and the Niuvanniemi Hospital in Finland. They discuss a recent paper co-authored by Dr Hamina in which the team matched large national datasets to identify excess mortality among people who use drugs that can be attributed to cancers. They found increases in incidences and mortality according to liver, lung, larynx and pancreas cancers. They highlight the impact of smoking, alcohol use and hepatitis, and discuss the policy implications of knowing the impact that these issues have on the mortality of people who use drugs. These include ensuring good access to healthcare and reviewing the thresholds for onwards referral when symptoms of cancer are identified. “There is a more than twofold relative increase in cancer mortality in this population” Original article: Increased cancer incidence and mortality among people with opioid use-related disorders: A nation-wide cohort study by Emil Kostovski and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024). The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Dr Rob Calder talks to Dr Lindsey Hines about her study using longitudinal data to examine links between cannabis use, cannabis potency and psychotic experiences. Dr Hines talks about using Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ( ALSPAC ) data - also known as 'Children of the Nineties' and discusses why psychosis and cannabis potency are important to measure and some of the challenges of doing so with both. "In unregulated markets like the UK where it's illegal to use cannabis....better health messaging and better awareness among those using cannabis of those potential outcomes is the way that we can go". Original article: Incident psychotic experiences following self-reported use of high-potency cannabis: Results from a longitudinal cohort study by Lindsey A. Hines and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024) Also in this podcast: Testing the validity of national drug surveys: comparison between a general population cohort and household surveys by Hannah Charles and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2021) The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor Jonathan Caulkins about self-reported cannabis use in the US between 1979 and 2022 and how those trends compare with alcohol use over the same period. The research focused on four specific time points, measuring cannabis prevalence against US policy changes. Dr Wadsworth and Professor Caulkins then talk about differences between cannabis and alcohol as intoxicants and the impact that cannabis regulations have on cannabis use and the intensity of cannabis use. Professor Caulkins also discusses the limitations of self-report when it comes to substance use, and how this is amplified when asking people about the impact that substance use is having on them and their families. He suggests instead asking people how other people’s substance use is affecting them in order to estimate harms from cannabis use. “Back in 1992 it [cannabis] was essentially a recreational or party drug, sort of a weekend activity and now it has morphed into something that is part of the daily routine for about 40% of its current users.” Original article: Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022 by Jonathan Caulkins and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024) The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode, Ben Scher talks to Dr Kathleen Page about her evaluation of an integrated care van that ran in Baltimore offering healthcare interventions and buprenorphine prescribing. Dr Page discusses using a cluster randomised trial to compare outcomes in different neighbourhoods (those where the van did and didn't go) and to explore whether the van was effective at improving health outcomes for people who inject drugs. Dr Page also talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the research as well as the specific needs of people who accessed the van. "When you go out on the van you really are serving a different group, a much more under-served group of people who generally mistrust or don't access the health system unless it's an emergency." Original article: Integrated care van delivery of evidence-based services for people who inject drugs: A cluster-randomized trial by Kathleen Page and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024) The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

In this episode Rob Calder talks to Dr Germán Carrasquilla about his study assessing whether smoking cased increases in abdominal obesity or belly fat. They discuss the implications of this kind of fat and note the importance of the findings for people who struggle to quit smoking. Germán talks about using Mendelian randomisation to identify a causal association between smoking and abdominal obesity. The findings, that 'smoking initiation and higher lifetime smoking may lead to increased abdominal fat', add evidence and important detail to the known health benefits of quitting smoking. "People who might be afraid of quitting smoking due to putting on weight find these findings motivating to quit smoking because smoking increases this problematic internal fat which is a risk factor for many other diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease." Original article: Estimating causality between smoking and abdominal obesity by Mendelian randomization by Germán Carrasquilla and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024) The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…