The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is in many respects the gold standard for demonstrating decision making in drug using groups. However, it is not clear how basic task properties such as the frequency and magnitude of rewards and losses affect choice behavior in drug users and even in healthy players. In this study, we used a variant of the IGT, the Soochow Gambling Task (SGT), to observe choice beh...

INTRODUCTION Research suggests that methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) effectively reduces opiate dependence and related health and social problems. However, few studies have examined its effectiveness among the elderly. This study examined a monthly MMT regime for elderly opium addicts attending the National Addictions Management Service, Singapore. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study used a...

Untreated opiate use is correlated with major social harms and costs in Canada. While methadone treatment has existed in Canada since the 1960s, there is little specific Canadian research on its effects. This paper reports on the one-year follow-up results of a Toronto cohort study of opiate users (N = 114) who were not in treatment at baseline. Sixty-nine people were recruited for re-interview...

AIMS To compare heroin and other opiate use of heroin overdose fatalities, current street heroin users and drug-free therapeutic community clients. DESIGN Hair morphine concentrations that assess heroin use and other opiate use in the 2 months preceding interview or death were compared between heroin overdose fatalities diagnosed by forensic pathologists (FOD) (n = 42), current street heroin ...

The authors explored an age-specific back-calculation approach to estimating long-term trends in the incidence and prevalence of opiate use/injecting drug use (IDU) in England for 1968-2000. The incidence of opiate use/IDU was estimated by combining information on the observed opiate overdose deaths of persons aged 15-44 years with knowledge on the distribution of the time between starting opia...

BACKGROUND Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) of opiate users has been studied in treatment settings, where assistance for drug use was sought. In this study we ascertain factors related to HRQL of young opiate users recruited outside treatment facilities, considering both genders separately. METHODS Current opiate users (18-30 y) were recruited in outdoor settings in three Spanish cities ...

Background & Aims: Methadone maintenance therapy is one of the treatment choices for opiate users. Understanding opiate dependants’ experiences of their treatment period is important for continuing the treatment with methadone and assessing their experiences may help to revise the standards of methadone centers and thus to improve the quality of treatment. This study aims to describe the struct...