Psychostimulant abuse is a serious social and health problem, for which no effective treatments currently exist. A number of review articles have described predominantly 'clinic'-based pharmacotherapies for the treatment of psychostimulant addiction, but none have yet been shown to be definitively effective for use in humans. In the present article, we review various 'hypothesis'- or 'mechanism...

INTRODUCTION We examined the prevalence of substance use disorders among homeless and vulnerably housed persons in three Canadian cities and its association with unmet health care needs and access to addiction treatment using baseline data from the Health and Housing in Transition Study. METHODS In 2009, 1191 homeless and vulnerably housed persons were recruited in Vancouver, Toronto, and Ott...

Drug addiction can be a devastating and chronic relapsing disorder with social, psychological, and physical consequences, and more effective treatment options are needed. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has been assessed in a growing number of studies for its therapeutic potential in treating addiction. This review paper offe...

: Biological drug testing is a tool that provides information about an individual's recent substance use. Like any tool, its value depends on using it correctly; that is, on selecting the right test for the right person at the right time. This document is intended to clarify appropriate clinical use of drug testing in addiction medicine and aid providers in their decisions about drug testing fo...

Patients with opioid addiction who receive prescription opioids for treatment of nonmalignant chronic pain present a therapeutic challenge. Fifty-four participants with chronic pain and opioid addiction were randomized to receive methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone. At the 6-month follow-up examination, 26 (48.1%) participants who remained in the study noted a 12.75% reduction in pain (P = 0.04...

In Hong Kong, methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was launched in the 1970s, almost 30 years before the counterpart programme's inauguration in Mainland China. Both were established in response to perceived public crises-addiction-related crime and HIV outbreak, respectively-and both are now regular services under two systems in the same country. Effectiveness of MMT in achieving the stated g...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The most popular recreational pastime in the U.S. is television viewing. Some researchers have claimed that television may be addictive. We provide a review of the definition, etiology, prevention and treatment of the apparent phenomenon of television addiction. METHODS Selective review. RESULTS We provide a description of television (TV) addiction, including its negativ...

In mental health and addiction treatment settings, failure to treat tobacco dependence has been rationalized by some as a clinical approach to harm reduction. That is, tobacco use is viewed as a less harmful alternative to alcohol or illicit drug use and/or other self-harm behaviors. This paper examines the impact of providers' failure to treat tobacco use on patients' alcohol and illicit drug ...

addiction to drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and alcohol, exacts great human and financial costs on society. various evidence-based pharmacological and psychosocial interventions are currently used in the treatment of drug addiction but they do not produce adequate therapeutic benefits in every patient. further, barriers such as financial cost, lack of availability, or perceptions of existing tr...