A researcher at Oregon State University has used a new method of combining multiple sources of data to identify counties in Oregon with high numbers of methamphetamine-related problems per capita, giving officials a new tool in fighting the illegal drug.

The New York Times on recent increases in treatment admissions for 40+ year old women: The actress Tatum O’Neal was arrested recently on charges of buying crack cocaine from a man on the street near her New York City home. She is a 44-year-old mother of three. She has spent years in and out of drug abuse treatment (which she chronicled in her 2004 memoir), and according to her publicist she will continue to “attend meetings” for drug and alcohol abuse. Ms. O’Neal illustrates a disturbing trend among those being admitted to substance abuse treatment services: a growing percentage of older women are being treated for harder drugs. Data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration revealed that the total number of admissions to treatment services from 1996 to 2005 (the last year for which detailed data are available) stayed about the same among people under 40, but jumped 52 percent among those 40 and older. Of the 40 and older group, the rise in admissions among men was 44 percent. Among women, it was 82 percent. (Source: Addiction and Recovery News)

From "Rethinking Substance Abuse." In the closing chapter of their 2006 book, "Rethinking Substance Abuse,” editors William R. Miller and Kathleen M. Carroll attempt to sum up what has been learned about the science of addiction. Their useful contribution, entitled Drawing the Science Together, offers "Ten Principles" that are designed to synthesize the welter of recent scientific research on addiction and help make sense of what we know. In vastly truncated form, they are as follows: 1. Drug Use is Chosen BehaviorAt least in the beginning, people choose to take drugs, as one of the behavioral options available to them.   2. Drug Problems Emerge Gradually "Dependence emerges over time, as the person's life becomes increasingly centered on drug use," the authors write. "The diagnostic criteria for classifying people with 'drug abuse' and 'drug dependence' represent arbitrary cut points along a gradual continuum" (p.296). 3. Once Well Established, Drug Problems Tend to Become Self-Perpetuating Once regular drug use has caused dysregulation of limbic reward systems, addictive behaviors "take on a life of their own," and become "surprisingly resistant to ordinary forces of persuasion, religion, punishment, and self-control. It can be challenging to destabilize such a self-organizing system" (p.296). 4. Motivation is Central to Prevention and Intervention Miller and Carroll write: "Taking action also predicts change. Better outcomes follow from attending more sessions or staying longer in treatment, going to more 12-step meetings, adhering to treatment advice, or faithfully taking one's medication. It appears that actively doing something toward change may be more important than the particular actions that are taken" (p.297). 5. Drug Use Responds to Reinforcement "Drug use tends to be associated with a foreshortening of time perspective, so that longer term delayed rewards are discounted in value.... People who more steeply discount delayed rewards are at higher risk for drug use and problems; moreover, drug use exacerbates discounting. Some effective medications reduce the reward value of drug use, which can enhance the appeal of alternative reinforcers" (p. 298). 6. Drug Problems Do Not Occur in Isolation, but as Part of Behavior Clusters In young people, drug abuse often co-exists with mood disorders, behavioral problems at school or the job, and anti-social behaviors. As Miller and Carroll remind us, the same is true of adults. Family violence, health problems, unemployment, and child neglect are frequently associated with cases of active addiction. 7. There Are Identifiable and Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors for Problem Drug Use "It is clear that heredity contributes to risk for alcohol problems, and evidence is mounting for genetic predispositions for or against other drug use" (p.299). 8. Drug Problems Occur within a Family Context In addition to the evidence pointing to a direct genetic mode of transmission, parental drug use is also a risk factor. Anything that delays an addiction-prone young person from first use of alcohol or other drugs decreases the risk of long-term addiction. 9. Drug Problems Are Affected by a Larger Social Context "Social isolation is both a promoter and a consequence of the progression of drug dependence, and social bonding with nonusers can be an antidote" (p.301). 10. Relationship Matters In formal treatment settings, effectively matching counselor to client is crucial. Confrontational counselor styles are generally "countertherapeutic." Graphics Credit: University of Utah, Genetic Science Learning Center

A Clinical Biochemist called for more education about anabolic steroid drug abuse at a conference in Birmingham (UK). Speaking at the annual conference of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry, Dr Michael Wheeler spoke out about the unknown side effects of drug abuse in sport. Already many media outlets are discussing androgen abuse in advance of this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing and the London Olympics in 2012.

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