Addiction Audio

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Tesfa Yimer, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland, Australia. The interview covers Tesfa’s research article taking a regional perspective on substance use related problems in Ethiopia.The importance of examining drug-related problems in Ethiopia [01:00]Commonly consumed drugs in Ethiopia [01:51]Khat and its use in Ethiopia [02:50] The prevalence of Khat [04:08]The relationship between religion and drug use [04:41]The emerging drug-related concerns in Ethiopia [06:05]The transit routes in Ethiopia that make it stand out in East Africa [08:52]The substance use disorder treatment landscape in Ethiopia [09:44]The regulation of tobacco, alcohol, khat and cannabis [11:15]The major research gaps in Ethiopia with regards to drug use [13:19]The take home messages [14:56]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 holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK. About Tesfa Yimer: Tesfa is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland, Australia. Tesfa’s research is focused on addiction epidemiology and drug policy. His research aims to generate evidence-informed policy recommendations to reduce substance-related harms and improve public health outcomes. Tesfa is currently working to understand the social and public health impacts of cannabis policies.Declarations of interest: None Original article: Regional perspectives: Substance use related problems in Ethiopia https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70392The 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 Rachel Lees Thorne, a postdoctoral research associate and Professor Tom Freeman, a professor of psychology, both from the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath, UK. The interview covers Rachel and Tom’s research article estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) unitsWhat are standard THC units [01:25]The importance of using THC units to estimate thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder [02:59]How people who use cannabis can use standard THC units [03:46] The CannTeen study [04:51]Why the authors focused on adolescents and adults rather than young adults [06:02]The key findings of the study [07:00]Translating THC units to harm reduction messaging [09:38]How the THC levels of cannabis were obtained [11:04]The implications of the findings for policy and harm reduction messaging [12:17]The take home messages [13:09]Can the findings be translated out of a UK market? [14:15]The next steps with standard THC units [15:25]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 Rachel Lees Thorne: Rachel is a research associate and associate director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath. She completed her PhD in the same group in 2023, investigating risk factors and treatment for cannabis use disorder. Her current research examines the standard THC unit and its application for harm reduction and public health policy.About Tom Freeman: Tom is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Bath, and Director of the Addiction and Mental Health Group. His research includes characterising changes in cannabis products and their association with health, novel harm reduction strategies such as the standard THC unit, and clinical trials for the treatment of cannabis use disorder. He is funded by a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship, as well as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Addictions, and the NIHR Bath Mental Health Research Group.Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.Original article: Estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) units https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70263 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 Professor Amandine Luquiens, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at the University of Montpellier and the Addiction Department of Nîmes University Hospital, France. The interview covers Amandine’s research article on psilocybin in alcohol use disorder and comorbid depressive symptoms: Results from a feasibility randomized clinical trial.Psilocybin and its recent popularity in clinical trials [01:22]The concerns of using psilocybin to treat psychiatric disorders [03:05]The use of psychotherapy alongside psilocybin in treatment [05:16]The key findings from the study [07:01]The contribution of the findings to policy and practice [10:13]The public’s current opinion for using psilocybin for psychiatric disorders [12:07]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 Amandine Luquiens: Amandine Luquiens is a psychiatrist and addiction specialist, Full Professor at the University of Montpellier and the Addiction Department of Nîmes University Hospital. Her research focuses on patient-reported outcomes and psychotherapy-based interventions in addiction, with a particular interest in mindfulness and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy; she conducted the first clinical trial in France on psychedelics. Her work also addresses alcohol use disorder and gambling disorder, including the use of account-based gambling data to inform evidence-based guidance for policymakers. She is a member of the Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations (CESP) Inserm U1018 team Primary Care, Prevention and Women’s Health, and aims to advance patient-centered addiction care.Original article: Psilocybin in alcohol use disorder and comorbid depressive symptoms: Results from a feasibility randomized clinical trial https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70152Author's declaration of interest: AL has no conflict of interest in the field of psychedelics. She was the recipient of a grant regulated by a public organism “French observatory of addictive behaviors- OFDT” and constraining all French monopolistic gambling service providers to redistribute 0.002% of stakes on their platforms to academic research. The gambling service provider implied in that grant was the “Paris Mutuel Urbain” (PMU). Independency of the research with no constraint on the protocol, the analysis and the publication were guaranteed by a strict convention between universities, hospitals and the PMU. AL signed a data sharing agreement for the “OSE” study, through an academic-private convention with the FDJ: Independency of the research with no constraint on the protocol, the analysis and the publication were guaranteed by a strict convention between the hospital and the FDJ, and no funding was part of the convention.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 Justin Mahlberg, a Research Fellow at Monash University, Australia. The interview covers Justin’s research article on social cognition and decision-making in people with methamphetamine use disorder.Why studying cognition in methamphetamine use disorder is important [01:26]Antisocial behaviour among those with methamphetamine use disorder [02:24]How Justin investigated social cognition within the study [02:55]Basic social cognition processes that Justin looked at in this study [04:29]The key findings from the study [05:41] How Justin examined pro-social decision making through computer games [09:31]How Justin examined anti-social decision making through simulations [12:09]How the findings effect how we understand methamphetamine use disorder [14:14]The implications of the findings for treatment outcomes [15:33]The contribution of the findings to policy and practice [18:17]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 Justin Mahlberg: Justin holds a PhD in Psychology and is currently a Research Fellow in the Addiction & Impulsivity Research Lab within the School of Psychological Sciences and the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Monash University. Justin’s research is interested in uncovering how cognitive and decision-making processes shape human behaviour to help build better individualised, neuroscience-informed approaches to behavioural change. Justin is currently the clinical lead for an umbrella intervention trial focusing on developing brain-informed methods for personalising brain stimulation as a treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder.Original article: Social cognition and decision-making in people with methamphetamine use disorder https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70108The 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 Myfanwy Graham, a Postgraduate Scholar at Monash University funded by the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council. The interview covers Myfanwy’s data insight paper examining differences in the measurement of medical cannabis use. Why definitions and contexts matter with regards to medical cannabis use [01:05]Four measures of medical cannabis use that Myfanwy explored in the study [02:05]The medical cannabis policy contexts of the US, Australia, and Canada [03:30]The importance of using standardised questions across different countries [05:18]The main findings of the data insight [05:48]Interpretations of medical cannabis use [07:49]The implications of the findings for policy and practice [08:23]Myfanwy’s preferred measure of medical cannabis use [09:30]Self perceptions of being a medical cannabis consumer [10:34]The take-home messages of the study [11:56]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 Myfanwy Graham: Myfanwy is a Postgraduate Scholar funded by the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council and a Monash Research Excellence Scholar at the Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University. Her research examines the intersection between drug policy and health outcomes with psychoactive medicines (e.g. medical cannabis, psychedelics). She is also a current Fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California and is a Fulbright Scholar Alumna in public health policy. Myfanwy has completed consultancy work for the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, World Health Organization, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She is also a registered pharmacist.Authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.Original article: Understanding medical cannabis use internationally: Why definitions and context matter https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70117The 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.