The impact of legal cannabis availability on cannabis use and health outcomes: A systematic review.

Background: For alcohol, regulating availability is an effective way to reduce consumption and harm. Similarly, the higher availability of medical cannabis dispensaries has been linked to increased cannabis consumption and harm. For recreational cannabis markets, such a link is suspected but still poorly understood.

Parameters for Change in Offline Gambling Behavior After the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Germany.

Introduction: In spring 2020, the first nationwide lockdown in response to the spreading COVID-19 pandemic came into effect in Germany. From March to May, gambling venues, casinos, and betting offices were forced to close. This study explores how land-based gamblers respond to short-term closures of higher-risk forms of gambling.

Controlled administration of cannabis to mitigate cannabis-attributable harm among recreational users: a quasi-experimental study in Germany.

New approaches are required to slow down or reverse increasing trends of levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabis-attributable hospitalizations in Germany. Legal access to cannabis may constitute one viable effective policy response; however, available evidence does not suffice to inform a regulation model for Germany. The proposed study aims to reduce harm for cannabis users through legal access to herbal cannabis through pharmacies.

Do Simulated Gambling Activities Predict Gambling with Real Money During Adolescence? Empirical Findings from a Longitudinal Study.

As technology has developed, the international gambling market has changed markedly in recent years. The supply of internet-based gambling opportunities has become ever more significant. At the same time, the introduction of new gambling opportunities always brings a demand for evidence-based scientific evaluation, with regard to the associated risks of addiction.

Profiles of childhood adversities in pathological gamblers - A latent class analysis.

Despite of high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in pathological gamblers, researchers have rarely studied which types of ACEs often co-occur and how these profiles of ACEs are related to current psychopathology. We aimed to identify profiles of ACEs in pathological gamblers and examined how these profiles were related to gambling-related characteristics and current general psychopathology. In 329 current or lifetime pathological gamblers, diagnosed with the Composite Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV, 10 types of ACEs were measured using the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire.

Comparative Analysis of Potential Risk Factors for at-Risk Gambling, Problem Gambling and Gambling Disorder among Current Gamblers-Results of the Austrian Representative Survey 2015.

The risk of developing a problem gambling behavior is distributed unequally among the population. For example, individuals who report stressful life events, show impairments of mental health or belong to a socio-economically deprived group are affected more frequently by gambling problems. The aim of our study is to investigate whether these risk factors are equally relevant for all gambling groups (social = 0 DSM-5 criteria, at risk = 1 DSM-5 criterion, problem = 2-3 DSM-5 criteria, disordered = 4-9 DSM-5 criteria).

Prevalence of problem gambling among the prison population in Hamburg, Germany.

Despite the increasing research in gambling, the prevalence of problem gambling in the criminal justice population is rarely investigated, especially in Europe. Given the lack in knowledge the Hamburg study aimed at identifying the prevalence of problem gambling in the whole regional prison population. For this purpose two major approaches were used: a 10 months long-term screening of pre-trial detainees at prison entry through the Lie/Bet Questionnaire, and full-scale survey of inmate personnel records of prisoners being in prison on a defined reporting date.

Learning by doing: 'initiated abstinence', a school-based programme for the prevention of addiction. Results of an evaluation study.

The objective of the study was to find out whether the school-based prevention programme 'Initiated abstinence' is suitable to induce pupils to change their consumer behavior and attitudes. The participants of the prevention programme commit themselves 'per contract' to abstain from or considerably reduce their consumption of at least one of their currently used substances (e.g.