It is common for clinicians, researchers, and public policymakers to describe certain drugs or objects (e.g., games of chance) as “addictive,” tacitly implying that the cause of addiction resides in the properties of drugs or other objects. Conventional wisdom encourages this view by treating different excessive behaviors, such as alcohol dependence and pathological gambling, as distinct disord...

Religion and spirituality are often related to various addictive behaviors, such as substance use disorders, excessive internet pornography use, Gambling Disorder. However, presently, very few ...

The bulk of studies pertaining to addiction among delinquents have been conducted on male subjects. However, the few studies examining female inmates show that a significant proportion of them present an addictive disorder. Furthermore, the HIV infection rate is higher among these women than among incarcerated men. This study attempts to verify if women presenting a combination of criminal and ...

BACKGROUND This study seeks to address analytical issues regarding the joint usage of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, focusing on incomes, taxes, and gender-related differences. AIMS OF THE STUDY Many studies analyze a single addictive substance, with the maintained assumption (often due to data inadequacies) that the use of other addictive substances does not matter. Using a database that is un...

Regulator of G protein–signaling (RGS) proteins are a family of more than 30 intracellular proteins that negatively modulate intracellular signaling of receptors in the G protein-coupled receptor family. This family includes receptors for opioids, cannabinoids, and dopamine that mediate the acute effects of addictive drugs or behaviors and chronic effects leading to the development of addictive...

Newly emerging links between sugar and addiction raise challenging issues for public health policy. What was once a naturally occurring food ingredient is now a highly concentrated food additive. If foods containing artificially high levels of sugar are capable of triggering addictive behaviors, how should policymakers respond? What regulatory steps would be suitable and practical? This paper e...