ADAI News

New Journals in the ADAI Library

These journals were recently received by the ADAI Library.  Click on links to connect to tables of contents.

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research 35(3)
Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 29(1)
American Journal of Public Health 101(4)
CrossCurrents: Journal of Addiction & Mental Health 14(3)
Journal of Addictive Diseases 30(1)
Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs 72(2)
Substance Use 32(1)

"Spice," "Bath Salts," "2C-E" -- Legal Highs from Synthetic Drugs

Substances with names like "Spice," "Bath Salts," and "2C-E" are getting a lot of attention in local and national media. “Legal highs” is a broad term referring to substances which are legal -- or seem to be -- and are purchased from head shops/drug paraphernalia stores, convenience stores, the Internet, and drug dealers for the purpose of getting high. What many have in common is that they are synthetic or “designer” drugs composed of substances that are not controlled or banned, as are other drugs of abuse. Because of the way these substances are distributed, it's difficult for users to know what the actual contents of each drug are. This is a large part of the potential danger -- not knowing what drug you are taking or how strong it is.

ADAI's Meg Brunner and Caleb Banta-Green prepared a short Resource Brief about these substances, with links to local and national resources. View Legal Highs Resource Brief

Students & Colleagues of Alan Marlatt for Special Issue in His Honor

The Editors of Addiction Research and Theory are seeking to contact former students and colleagues of Alan Marlatt to participate in a special issue of the journal honoring Alan's many contributions to the field. Specifically, they are seeking authors for broad review and appraisal papers in areas in which Alan made a significant and lasting contribution: 

* Loss of control of drinking and the balanced placebo design
* Relapse prevention
* Harm reduction
* Brief interventions with college student heavy drinkers
* Mindfulness as an adjunct to relapse prevention

The goal of the editors is to have a special section of the journal published in either the last issue of 2011 or the first issue of 2012.  They seek critical analysis, but also want to honor Alan's memory as a tremendous influence on the field. 

For more information, write to Frederick Rotgers: fred_etoh@yahoo.com  or Derek Heim: sdheim@uclan.ac.uk

UW Medical Center to go Smoke-free on May 31, "World No Tobacco Day"

The University of Washington Medical Center, along with Harborview Medical Center and 12 other King County centers announced that they will become smoke- and tobacco-free facilities in conjuction with World No Tobacco Day, starting May 31.

A front page story by Aina Nadia Rafee in the UW campus newspaper The Daily previews the plans for implementing the program, which will provide UWMC staff with assistance in smoking cessation, as well as tobacco screening and counseling for patients admitted to the hospital.

UPDATE:  This news is highlighted in the UW Medical Center SPOTLIGHT for April 21, 2011.  Says Dr. Tom Staiger, UWMC medical director: “I’m very excited that we’re doing this. It’s absolutely the right thing for our patients and for our staff to have a smoke-free environment.” 

UWMC’s smoke-free committee will sponsor an informational fair on the move to being smoke- and tobacco-free from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in the Plaza Café, rooms B & C.

UW Study: Adolescent Drinking Associated with Altered Ability to Evaluate Risk

A new study from researchers at the University of Washington (UW) concludes that adolescent alcohol use corrupts decision-making later in life. It does so by changing the perception of risk but not how rewards are valued. The findings provide insight into the specific consequences of adolescent alcohol use on decision making, according to researchers.

Researchers from UW departments of psychology, psychiatry and behavioral sciences and pharmacology studied decision-making in adult rats that were provided with continuous access to alcohol during adolescence. Consider a choice between two options - a reward of $50 with 100 percent probability or either $100 or zero dollars with a 50-50 probability.  "When you offer these options to people, they tend to take the safe bet," said Jeremy J. Clark, UW acting assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. "They'll take the $50," That is just what the control rats did in this study.

However, the alcohol-treated animals consistently choose the riskier option.

The article by Nicholas A. Nasrallah et al "Risk preference following adolescent alcohol use" was published March 14 ahead of print on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) website.   Funding for the study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and by the ADAI Small Grants Program.

Source: By Mary Guiden in UW News & Information, March 14, 2011.

2010 Washington State Healthy Youth Survey

More Washington students are making healthier choices by avoiding alcohol, according to a recent survey of kids in our state. But declines in cigarette smoking are stalled, and an increase in new candy-flavored tobacco products is a growing concern.

The Healthy Youth Survey (HYS) is anonymous and voluntary; it’s taken every two years by thousands of Washington students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 in more than 1,000 public schools. It focuses on attitudes and health risk behaviors. Topics include drug, alcohol, and tobacco use; gangs; physical activity; suicide; bullying; and more. For the first time, the survey also asked about sexual activity.

“It takes a consistent, coordinated effort to make the healthy choice the easy choice for our kids,” said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. “This survey shows that some of that hard work is paying off and kids are making better choices to improve their health. Of course there are always new generations of kids to reach so the work never ends.”  

News release, March 16, 2011

Reports from the 2010 survey on the Washington State Department of Health web site.

 

Differentiating Recent vs. Residual Cannabis in Chronic Users

Researchers from NIDA, the Washington State Patrol (Rod G. Gullberg) and Harvard University provide a new model for identifying new versus residual cannabis use in chronic, daily cannabis smokers. This model, which took over 18 years to develop, is based upon urinary creatinine-normalized (CN) cannabinoid excretion in chronic cannabis smokers.

These models provide clinicians, toxicologists, probation and parole officers and medical review officers with the first validated method for differentiating new cannabis use from residual cannabinoid excretion in chronic daily cannabis users.  It will be an invaluable assessment tool for cannabis treatment programs, drug courts, probation officers and workplace drug testing programs. View abstract ⇒

New York Times Obituary for Alan Marlatt, 1941-2011

The New York Times published an obituary about Alan Marlatt on March 21, focusing on the themes of his research and his approach to treating addiction, including the controversies that his work sometimes stirred.

"G. Alan Marlatt, a psychologist who challenged the longstanding belief that substance addiction is incurable and that it can be controlled only by abstinence..."  continue reading

* We are collecting memories of Alan from those whose lives he touched. If you would like to leave a personal remembrance, go here and click on the comments link at the bottom.

Alan Marlatt memorial service to be announced later

Many people have asked about plans for a memorial service for Alan.  His family and friends are making plans for the service; as of now, a date in mid-May is a possibility, but has not yet been determined. 

When the date and place for the service are known, it will be announced on this site and also here.  

 
* We are collecting memories of Alan from those whose lives he touched. If you would like to leave a personal remembrance, go here and click on the comments link at the bottom.

Acknowledging G. Alan Marlatt, 1941 - 2011 (continuing tributes)

As the news of Alan Marlatt's death moves through the addiction community and the public media, we'll post links to new articles and tributes here. The original post is here.

"Remembering Alan Marlatt," by Erin Durst, Think of Now.

"We have lost a valued friend and pioneer," UCSD Center for Mindfulness.

The Vancouver Sun (BC) reprinted Jim Brunner's Seattle Times obituary, noting that Alan was born in Vancouver, Canada.  He had many friends and colleagues there.

* We are collecting memories of Alan from those whose lives he touched. If you would like to leave a personal remembrance, go here and click on the comments link at the bottom.