In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Joshua Garfield, a research fellow at Monash University and Turning Point, Australia. The interview covers Joshua’s research article on the efficacy of a personalised alcohol ‘approach bias modification’ smartphone app in people accessing outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorders.

• What is ‘approach bias modification’ [01:51]
• The smartphone app and how it works [04:30]
• The recruitment process of the randomised controlled trial [07:20]
• The key findings of the study [09:20]
• How did the participants of the study feel about using the app? [10:37]
• The implications of the study for practice [12:33]
• The next steps for this app and using the app in different populations [13:54]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei 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).

About Joshua Garfield: Joshua completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology at the University of Tasmania in 2002, and then a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of New South Wales in 2008, where he studied animal learning theory. Following a brief post-PhD role in depression research, he moved to Melbourne to work for Monash University at Turning Point, an addiction treatment, research, and workforce training institute. Since 2015, he has managed Turning Point’s cognitive bias modification research program, led by Professor Victoria Manning.

Original article: Efficacy of a personalised alcohol approach bias modification smartphone app in people accessing outpatient alcohol use disorder treatment: A randomised controlled trial https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70184

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 Phong Thai, an Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, Australia. The interview covers Phong’s research article on a wastewater study measuring illegal drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam, to determine the feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country.

Note: The acronym ‘UNODC’ used in this episode stands for the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’. 

• Why looking at illegal drug use in Vietnam is important [01:07]
• Wastewater analysis and its utility in a low-income country [02:00]
• The biomarkers of focus [03:55]
• Why the authors chose Hanoi, Vietnam, to pilot wastewater analysis in South East Asia [05:38]
• Vietnam’s location and relation to drug trafficking in South East Asia [07:12]
• The Golden Triangle [08:22]
• The main findings of the study [08:48]
• Ketamine’s rise in popularity in Vietnam [10:16]
• The impact of COVID-19 on the consumption of drugs in Vietnam [11:18]
• Why are synthetic drugs becoming more popular? [12:30]
• The feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country [13:33]
• The take-home messages of the study [15:34]

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.

About Phong Thai: Phong is an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow and Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). His research focus involves the expansion of wastewater-based epidemiological approach to estimate community consumption and exposure to a range of legal and illegal substances (including tobacco and alcohol) and pharmaceuticals, as well as the monitoring of community infection to COVID-19 during the last pandemic. He is a member of the team who manage the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program in Australia and has helped pioneering wastewater drug monitoring in several countries.

Original article: Significant changes in preference of illicit drug use in a population of Hanoi, Vietnam – A 6-year wastewater study (2018–2023) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70147

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 Zachary Bryant, a PhD candidate at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Australia. The interview covers Zachary’s research report on the relationship between MDMA (or ecstasy) use in youth adulthood and anxiety or depressive disorders in later adult life.  

• The effects of MDMA [1:20]
• The prevalence of MDMA use and reasons why people take it [02:00]
• The relevance of MDMA for depression and anxiety [03:05]
• The use of the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study to answer Zachary’s research question [04:17]
• The key findings of the study [06:50]
• Some reasons to explain the relationship found between MDMA use and anxiety but not depression [07:43]
• The self-medication hypothesis [10:04]
• The implication of the findings for clinical practice [11:02]
• The importance of replicating the findings in different cohorts and with more recent data [14:03]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei 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).

About Zachary Bryant: Zachary is a PhD candidate and research officer at the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. His doctoral research examines the relationship between MDMA (ecstasy) use and mood, with a focus on implications for therapeutic applications. More broadly, his work explores the epidemiology of psychedelic use and applies advanced causal approaches to substance use research. He is particularly interested in emerging data collection and analysis methods, including intensive longitudinal designs such as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA).

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Original article: The relationship between 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use in young adulthood and anxiety or depressive disorders in the mid-30s: Findings from the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study - https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70173

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 Albert Burgess-Hull, the Scientific Director of SUDx and Head Data Scientist at MATClinics, US. The interview covers a short report examining treatment retention in opioid use disorder comparing subcutaneous injectable versus sublingual buprenorphine. 

·      What is buprenorphine and what it is used for? [01:00]

·      The benefits and drawbacks of sublingual versus subcutaneous injectable buprenorphine [01:38]

·      An overview of the study [04:41]

·      Statistically matching sublingual buprenorphine patients with subcutaneous injectable buprenorphine patients [06:05]

·      The main findings of the study [08:34]

·      The contrast of Albert’s findings with findings in previous literature [10:03]

·      The implications of the findings for clinicians [12:28]

·      The take home messages of the study [14:03]

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 Albert Burgess-Hull: Albert is an addiction scientist and machine-learning researcher, and is currently the Scientific Director of SUDx and Head Data Scientist at MATClinics. His research focuses on the development and deployment of digital health frameworks to improve medical decision-making, operational efficiency, and the delivery of substance use disorder treatments. Dr Burgess-Hull received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed postdoctoral fellowship training at the National Institute on Drug Abuse IRP at the National Institutes of Health.

Declarations of interest: Dr Burgess-Hull is employed by MATClinics Services LLC. MATClinics are clinics serving outpatient treatment for opioid, alcohol and stimulant use.

Original article: A comparative study of treatment retention in opioid use disorder: Subcutaneous injectable versus sublingual buprenorphine https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70105

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 Chloe Burke talks to Dr Monika Halicka, a Senior Research Associate at the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK. The interview covers a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder. 

·      An overview of Monika’s paper [1:00]

·      The different types of psychosocial interventions found in the review [02:55]

·      What ‘inactive controls’ and ‘non-specific controls’ are with regards to psychosocial interventions [04:30]

·      Deciding on the outcomes of focus for the study [06:00]

·      The results of the meta-analysis in which psychosocial interventions had clinically meaningful improvements in abstinence [07:31]

·      The potential adverse events occurring from psychosocial interventions [09:31]

·      Recommendations for clinical practice and the hesitancy in making these recommendations [10:41]

·      The take home message of the study [12:24]

About Chloe Burke: Chloe is a Senior Research Associate in Evidence Synthesis based in the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol. Her current role applies evidence synthesis methodologies (e.g. network meta-analysis) to health-related topics, including addiction. She has a background in psychiatric epidemiology with a focus on applying causal inference methods (e.g. Mendelian randomization) to the topic of substance use and mental health. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Bath, which investigated the co-use of cannabis and tobacco and depression risk. She is currently co-chair of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Genetics and Omics Network.

About Monika Halicka: Monika is a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Evidence Synthesis Group and works as a senior research associate in evidence synthesis at Bristol Medical School (University of Bristol, UK). With a background in psychology and neuroscience, her previous research focused on applying experimental psychology and statistical modelling approaches to health-related problems, largely in the context of chronic pain. Having transitioned to evidence synthesis, she is interested in robust statistical synthesis methods.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Original article: Effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70084

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 Wei Deng, an assistant professor from McMaster University and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Canada. The interview covers the research article Wei led examining externalising as a common genetic influence for a broad spectrum of substance use and behavioural conditions using a large UK longitudinal dataset.

‘Externalising’ is a type of outward-directed behavioural expression, such as risky substance use, aggression, and hyperactivity.

‘Polygenic risk scores’ are numbers that estimate a person’s inherited risk for a disease, trait, or condition (in this case, addiction) based on the presence of many genetic variants.

·      Why studying genetics is important for addiction [01:12]

·      How we study the genetics of addiction [01:57]

·      Polygenic risk scores and their importance in addiction [3:49]

·      The origin of Wei’s research questions [05:32]

·      The headline findings of the paper [08:06]

·      How the findings affect the way we currently think about addiction [09:22]

·      Common genetic components shared between behavioral and substances addictions [11:11]

·      The importance of the environment in the genetic risks of addiction [13:15]

·      How the findings can contribute to clinical practice [13:37]

·      How big data and artificial intelligence (AI) can help us understand addiction [14:42]

·      The exploration of whether genetic factors are the root cause of addiction [18:06]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Dr 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).

About Wei Q Deng: Dr Deng is a statistical scientist who investigates how genes, brain function, and environment shape long-term health risks. Her research focuses on delay discounting and related self-regulation processes that influence decisions about health, substance use, and long-term planning. She studies how these traits contribute to addiction and chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. Using large-scale data and molecular tools, she uncovers why some people are more vulnerable and how those risks can be reduced. Based at McMaster University and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, she leads interdisciplinary projects bridging genomics, behavior, and public health.

Original article: Externalizing as a common genetic influence for a broad spectrum of substance use and behavioural conditions: a development perspective from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70163

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 Owen Bowden-Jones from Central North-West London NHS Foundation and Mr Arun Sahai from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Trust, both in the UK. The interview covers an editorial they wrote with Professor Paul Dargan on responses to non-medical and medical ketamine use, including concerns about the increasing harms from illicit ketamine and excitement about the potential therapeutic value of ketamine.  

We apologise for the sound quality at points during this episode, but we promise its worth the listen!

·      Ketamine and its uses [01:15]

·      Why ketamine is listed as an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation [01:59]

·      The differing uses of ketamine: an essential medicine, a novel therapeutic drug, and a recreational drug [3:00]

·      Ketamine’s damage to the urinary tract and the liver [04:30]

·      Available treatments for the physical harms of ketamine [07:45]

·      Whether substance use treatment services in the UK are fit-for-purpose when it comes to ketamine [11:06]

·      Some of the reasons why is ketamine a popular drug now [15:38]

·      The potential therapeutic value of ketamine for many disorders [17:29]

·      The importance of communicating information to people who use ketamine [19:19]

About Arun Sahai: Mr Arun Sahai, PhD, FRCS (Urol), BSc (Hons.), is a Consultant Urological Surgeon in Functional urology (bladder dysfunction, incontinence, uro-neurology and urinary tract reconstruction) at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals NHS Trust and an Honorary Reader within King’s College London. He is the current chair of the section of functional and reconstructive urology at the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS). He is the lead for undergraduate education in surgery for King's College London. His research interests include various aspects of benign bladder dysfunction and prostate cancer survivorship. He is active in both commercial and non-commercial clinical trials and has published more than 100 peer reviewed international papers and more than 15 book chapters.

About Owen Bowden-Jones: Professor Owen Bowden-Jones CBE is a Consultant in Addiction Psychiatry at the CNWL Club Drug Clinic, London and an Honorary Professor at University College London. In 2010, Owen founded the CNWL Club Drug Clinic, an innovative service offering treatment for emerging drug problems, including novel psychoactive substances and club drugs. National roles include President of the Society for the Study of Addiction, Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge, trustee at the charity Student Minds and Registrar at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Owen is the past-Chair of the Faculty of Addictions at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and was previously a national clinical adviser to Public Health England.

Original editorial: Responding to medicinal and non-medicinal ketamine use https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70075

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 Katie East, an Associate Professor in Public Health within the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the UK. The interview covers her and her co-authors research report on a randomised online experiment evaluating the impact of vaping fact films on vaping harm perceptions among UK young adults, as well as discussing the broader misconceptions around vaping and the importance of expert-led health messaging. 

·      How vapes differ from conventional tobacco smoking [1:31]

·      Some misconceptions around vaping [02:07]

·      What do people know about nicotine? [03:20]

·      The vaping fact films and addressing the common myths around vaping [04:20]

·      The key findings of the study [06:06]

·      The importance of expert messaging in correcting perceptions on vaping [07:27]

·      Where can we find the vaping fact films? [08:22]

·      How can we combat misconceptions in vaping? [09:30]

·      Whether governments have a role in addressing vaping misconceptions [10:52]

·      The strategies to help people quit smoking that include vapes [12:13]

·      The evidence on these strategies [13:10]

·      How the collaborators found the experience in creating the videos [14:14]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei 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).

About Katie East: Katie is an Associate Professor in Public Health within the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. She also has a visiting appointment at King's College London (KCL), where she recently completed her SSA Fellowship on the topic of vaping harm perceptions. In 2024, she was awarded the SSA's Fred Yates Prize for significant contributions to work in the field of addiction. Her research focuses on nicotine and tobacco product use, perceptions, and policies.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Original article: Evaluating the impact of vaping facts films on vaping harm perceptions among young adults in the UK: A randomized on-line experiment - https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70119

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 Zoe Swithenbank speaks to Dr June Leung, a senior researcher at the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre at Massey University in New Zealand. The interview covers June’s systematic review and meta-analysis on the association of parental or caregiver alcohol use with child maltreatment.

·      An overview of the review and the definition and forms of child maltreatment [01:00]

·      Why it is important to look at all forms of child maltreatment [03:48]

·      Quantifying the harms of alcohol and identifying preventable risk factors [05:00]

·      The take home messages of the study [06:23]

·      What June’s findings do and do not suggest for the wider alcohol literature [07:28]

·      What the implications of the findings are for policy and practice [08:29]

·      The challenges in conducting the review [11:02]

·      The limitations of the study [13:08]

·      The surprising aspects of conducting this review [15:12]

About June Leung: Dr Leung is Senior Research Officer at SHORE & Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Her research focuses on global alcohol policy, alcohol industry influence, and the epidemiology of chronic diseases. She is also a public health physician by training and a fellow of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine and the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine. She completed her undergraduate medical degree (MBBS), Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) at The University of Hong Kong. Dr Leung has no conflicts of interest to declare.

About Zoe Swithenbank: Dr Zoe Swithenbank is a senior research associate at Lancaster University, currently working on a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded research project exploring treatment pathways for co-occurring alcohol and mental health problems. She recently completed her SSA funded PhD at Liverpool John Moores University on behavioural interventions for smoking cessation in substance use treatment services. Prior to starting her academic career, Zoe worked in health services including substance use, mental health, and homeless services, and these experiences shaped her research interests, as well as her commitment to the inclusion of people with lived experience in research.

Original review: The association of parental or caregiver alcohol use with child maltreatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70055

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 Lavinia Baltes, Head of Research at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Switzerland. The interview covers her research report on a randomised control trial of public health-oriented recreational cannabis access compared to illegal market access in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.

·      The current legal landscape in Switzerland with respect to cannabis [01:12]

·      The difference between cannabis obtained legally and illegally [02:30]

·      The potential benefits of legal cannabis compared to illegal cannabis [03:25]

·      The key findings of the study [04:20]

·      Speculations about why the people who used drugs other than cannabis were more likely to reduce their cannabis use [05:31]

·      The findings that surprised the author [06:52]

·      How the findings contribute to policy or practice [07:37]

·      Could access to legal cannabis increase initiation among those who have never used cannabis? [08:32]

·      The importance of harm reduction strategies for cannabis [10:50]

·      The difficulties in conducting a randomised control trial [11:35]

About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei 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).

About Lavinia Baltes: Dr Baltes studied psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and completed her PhD in health psychology at the University of Basel and at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin in 2015. She then worked at the University of Mannheim and later as deputy head of the Addiction Department of the Canton Basel-Stadt, contributing significantly to the ‘Weed Care’ study on regulated cannabis sales in Basel. Since 2022, she has been Head of Research at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Services Aargau, and continues as deputy study head of ‘Weed Care’.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Original article: Effects of legal access versus illegal market cannabis on use and mental health: A randomized controlled trial - https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70080

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.