Press Releases
Addiction publishes press releases throughout the year. Please see the date-sorted list below. Contact information in each press release was correct at the time of publication.
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2018 Press Releases
Alcohol and tobacco are by far the biggest threat to human welfare of all addictive drugs
A new review has compiled the best, most up-to-date source of information on alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use and the burden of death and disease. In 2015 alcohol and tobacco use between them cost the human population more than a quarter of a billion disability-adjusted life years.
Debunking two claims about US medical marijuana
Opponents of medical marijuana argue that such laws increase adolescents' recreational marijuana use while advocates argue medical marijuana helps address the US opioid crisis by reducing overdose deaths. Two papers look at the current evidence and find little support for either claim.
2017 Press Releases
Reversing opioid overdose: Concentrated naloxone nasal spray as good as injection
A concentrated 2mg intranasal naloxone spray delivers naloxone as effectively, over the critical first 15 minutes, as the standard 0.4mg intramuscular (IM) naloxone injection and maintains blood levels of naloxone more than twice as high as the 0.4mg IM levels for two hours after administration.
No magic pill to cure alcohol dependence yet
A new study has found no reliable evidence for using nalmefene, naltrexone, acamprosate, baclofen or topiramate to control drinking in patients with alcohol dependence or alcohol use disorder.
Do we need to reform international drug treaties as more countries legalise cannabis?
The future of international drug control treaties is in doubt because of recent treaty-violating decisions to legalize cannabis use in Canada, the United States and Uruguay. If decriminalization is the way of the future, Professor Wayne Hall outlines a cautious approach to policy reform.
Smokers in clinical studies who say they've quit often haven't
A new US study has found that a high proportion of smokers enrolled in stop-smoking programs during a hospital stay report having quit when in fact they have not. The findings mean that in these kinds of study it is vital to check claims of having quit using an objective measure.
The cost of opioid use during pregnancy
The number of US hospital admissions involving neonatal abstinence syndrome increased more than fourfold between the years 2003 and 2012.
Review confirms link between drug use and poor dental health
Dental patients with substance use disorders have more tooth decay and periodontal disease than the general population, but are less likely to receive dental care. With drug use increasing by approximately three million new users each year, this is a problem that won't disappear soon.
Current controls on alcohol marketing are not protecting youth, warn public health experts
Leading public health experts warn that youth around the world are exposed to extensive alcohol marketing, and that current controls on that marketing appear ineffective in blocking the association between youth exposure and subsequent drinking.
2016 Press Releases
US and Mexican controls on precursor chemicals may reduce cocaine and methamphetamine use in the US
The USA's 2006 regulation of sodium permanganate and Mexico's 2007 closure of a chemical company accused of illicitly importing pseudoephedrine were associated with large, extended reductions in cocaine users and methamphetamine users in the USA.
New study supports link between alcohol advertising and adolescent drinking
A study has found that exposure to several different types of alcohol marketing is positively associated with the amount and frequency of drinking among adolescents across Europe.
New review concludes that evidence for alcohol causing cancer is strong
A new review of epidemiological evidence supports a causal association between alcohol consumption and cancers at seven sites in the body: oropharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colon, rectum and female breast. This is a stronger statement than the long-recognised association between alcohol and cancer.
UK government should fund media campaigns that promote quitting, not films that promote smoking
A letter from leading international tobacco researchers calls for the UK government to stop subsidising films that they claim promote smoking and spend more on media campaigns that promote quitting.
New study shows a generational shift toward lighter drinking in Australia
Alcohol consumption in Australia has declined steadily during the past decade, with per capita consumption in 2013-14 reaching its lowest level since the early 1960s. A new study shows that the overall decline in drinking is due mainly to less drinking among people in their teens and early twenties.
Prohibition 2016: Assessing the UK's Psychoactive Substances Act
Passed in 2016 in the UK, the Psychoactive Substances Act bans all new psychoactive substances (NPS) except those specifically exempted, such as alcohol and tobacco. The Act has attracted much criticism from scientists and experts. But what better alternative exists?