Skip to content

Tag Archives: development

Protect children from alcohol misuse: Turning Point call for early intervention

The health and social care provider Turning Point has said alcohol misuse within families is an escalating concern in its new report “Bottling it up: the next generation” . It says early screening and identification of families is needed urgently to prevent the ‘inter-generational cycle’ of alcohol misuse which blights the lives of children and undermines their life chances.

Scripps Research Study Underlines Potential Of Anti-Stress Peptide To Block Alcohol Dependence

New research by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has underlined the power of an endogenous anti-stress peptide in the brain to prevent and even reverse some of the cellular effects of acute alcohol and alcohol dependence in animal models.

Link Between Cannabinoid Receptor 1 And Dependence On Alcohol And Other Substances

While researchers know that genetic factors play an important role in the development of alcohol dependence (AD), it is challenging to discover which particular genes may be involved. Prior evidence had established that the endogenous cannabinoid system is implicated in AD, with cannabinoid receptor 1 (CNR1) appearing to be the main candidate…

Marijuana Administration Could Prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms

Cannabinoids (marijuana) administration after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms in rats, according to a new study conducted at the University of Haifa and published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology…

Harm reduction for the supply-side: Its time has come

In their article put to rigorous scrutiny the highly relevant question of whether the harm reduction concept could be usefully applied to supply-oriented policies. The question itself is not new.

Returning Veterans’ Alcohol Abuse Addressed In Virtual Reality Study

The spoils of war for returning veterans may include addictions, injury and the constant images of horrific events they witnessed.

Childhood impulsive behavior and problem gambling by adulthood: A 30-year prospective community-based study

ABSTRACT Aims Problem gambling can create major financial, emotional and sometimes criminal problems for an individual.

Explaining drug policy: Towards an historical sociology of policy change

Abstract: The goal of seeking to understand the development over time of drug policies is a specific version of the more general intellectual project of finding ways of explaining social change. The latter has been a preoccupation of some of the greatest thinkers within the social sciences of the last 200 years, from Foucault all the way back to the three nineteenth-century pioneers, Marx, Durkheim and Weber

SimAmph: An agent-based simulation model for exploring the use of psychostimulants and related harm amongst young Australians

Abstract: Background: Computer simulations provide a useful tool for bringing together diverse sources of information in order to increase understanding of the complex aetiology of drug use and related harm, and to inform the development of effective policies. In this paper, we describe SimAmph, an agent-based simulation model for exploring how individual perceptions, peer influences and subcultural settings shape the use of psychostimulants and related harm amongst young Australians.Methods: We present the conceptual architecture underpinning SimAmph, the assumptions we made in building it, the outcomes of sensitivity analysis of key model parameters and the results obtained when we modelled a baseline scenario.Results: SimAmph’s core behavioural algorithm is able to produce social patterns of partying and recreational drug use that approximate those found in an Australian national population survey

Older people advised to drink less than adult guidelines by Royal College of Psychiatrists

A report from the Royal College of Psychiatrists advises people over 65 should not drink more than 1.5 units of alcohol a day – at least half the standard adult daily guidelines . The reduced amount advised for older adults is the equivalent of about half a pint of lager (5%) or a small glass of wine. See the full RCP report Our Invisible Addicts which states: “Current recommended ‘safe limits’ for alcohol consumption are based on work in younger adults.