Publications by authors named "Sean B Dolan"

Studies suggest that reduced-nicotine cigarettes decrease nicotine intake and dependence. However, questions remain about reduced-nicotine cigarette abuse liability, whether reduced-nicotine cigarette exposure lowers reduced- and full-nicotine cigarette use, and whether reduced-nicotine cigarettes substitute for full-nicotine cigarettes. This randomized, double-blind laboratory study used operant behavioral economics to examine abuse liability of cigarettes with varying nicotine content.

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Introduction: The Tobacco Control Act gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to establish a reduced-nicotine content standard in combusted cigarettes.

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Delay discounting and operant demand are two behavioral economic constructs that tend to covary, by degree, with cigarette smoking status. Given historically robust associations between adverse health outcomes of smoking, a strong preference for immediate reinforcement (measured with delay discounting), and excessive motivation to smoke cigarettes (measured with operant demand), researchers have made numerous attempts to attenuate the extent to which behaviors corresponding to these constructs acutely appear in smokers. One approach is episodic future thinking, which can reportedly increase the impact of future events on present decision making as well as reduce the reinforcing value of cigarettes.

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As fatal overdoses from synthetic opioids continue to rise, we need to understand decision-making processes underlying heroin and synthetic opioid use. This study evaluated the influence of sample impurity and fatal overdose risk on hypothetical heroin use. Individuals who currently use heroin (n = 69) were recruited online.

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Background: Mescaline is a naturally occurring psychoactive phenethylamine found in several cacti and historically used ceremonially by Indigenous and Latin American populations. Broader recognition of its possible therapeutic value in Western science began in the 1950s; however, knowledge of the safety profile of mescaline and the extent of its use remains limited. The primary aim of this study is to examine the epidemiology of mescaline use among English-speaking adults.

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Cannabis products available for retail purchase are often marketed based on purported plant species (e.g., "indica" or "sativa").

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Behavioral processes underlying sexual behavior are important for understanding normal human functioning and risk behavior leading to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This systematic review examines delay and probability discounting in human sexual behavior through synthesis of 50 peer-reviewed, original research articles. Sixteen studies focusing exclusively on monetary delay discounting found small effect size positive correlations with sexual risk behaviors.

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As cannabis policy changes, there is an urgent need to understand interactions between cannabis and alcohol couse. An online sample of 711 adult past-month cannabis and alcohol users completed both single-item hypothetical purchasing tasks for cannabis and alcohol and cross-commodity purchasing tasks assessing adjusting-price cannabis with concurrently available, fixed-price alcohol, and vice versa. Participants provided information about cannabis and alcohol use patterns, and completed the Alcohol and Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Tests (AUDIT and CUDIT, respectively).

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Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with increased risk of detrimental life outcomes. Recent research also indicates that ADHD is associated with sexual risk behavior, such as unprotected sex. Some risky sexual behaviors may be driven, in part, by preference for immediate rewards, referred to as delay discounting, which is prominent in etiological models of ADHD.

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Background: Cannabinoids may potentiate opioid analgesia and therefore could be used to reduce reliance on opioids for analgesia.

Aims: The current study evaluated whether the concurrent availability of cannabis influences opioid consumption using a behavioral economic demand framework.

Methods: An online survey assessed cannabis and opioid use frequency and dependence measures, pain severity, and demand for both cannabis and opioids alone and when concurrently available using hypothetical purchase tasks.

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Hypothetical purchase tasks allow for rapid assessment of behavioral economic demand for numerous commodities and are useful in evaluating reinforcer pathologies, such as substance and behavioral addiction. Currently, there is not a task for evaluating demand for sex without requiring implicit engagement in sex work. The current study used a novel purchase task with hotel rooms for sex as the hypothetical commodity to assess demand for sex in individuals with disordered cocaine use, a population that frequently engages in risky sexual behavior.

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Background: Ecstasy typically contains adulterants in addition to, or in lieu of, MDMA which may pose a greater risk to users than MDMA itself. The current study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of adulterant-related informational prompts in reducing Ecstasy use using a novel probability discounting task.

Methods: An online sample of past-month Ecstasy users (N = 278) were randomized to one of four different framing prompt conditions: no prompt; a prompt describing MDMA's effects; a prompt describing adulterants as inert "filler"; or a prompt describing adulterants as pharmacologically-active, potentially-harmful compounds.

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Synthetic cathinone derivatives are commonly considered quasi-legal alternatives for stimulant drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine, but some derivatives are increasingly being detected in club drug formulations of Ecstasy or 'Molly' as substitutes for methylenedioxymethamphetamine (±-MDMA). Although several studies have evaluated the psychostimulant-like effects of synthetic cathinones, few cathinone compounds have been assessed for MDMA-like activity. In order to determine their likelihood of interchangeability with entactogenic club drugs, the discriminative stimulus effects of methcathinone, 4-fluoromethcathinone, 4-methylmethcathinone, 4-methylethcathinone, 3-fluoromethcathinone, pentedrone, and ethylone were assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats trained to discriminate 1.

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Understanding factors associated with cocaine use disorder is important given its public health impact. One factor is delay discounting (devaluation of future consequences). Cocaine users have shown greater delay discounting of money rewards than non-cocaine users.

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Background: There has been growing interest in using oxytocin as a pharmacotherapy for psychiatric disorders, including substance use disorder. Limited data exist regarding oxytocin's reinforcing efficacy, which is a necessary consideration for novel pharmacotherapies, especially in substance-using populations.

Aims: This study aimed to determine the potential reinforcing effects of intranasally administered oxytocin by assessing behavioral economic demand and subjective effects.

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Background: The development of novel synthetic psychoactive substances continues to accelerate. There are little or no data on the pharmacological mechanisms, behavioral effects, or abuse liability of many of the newer compounds, despite increasing reports of severe adverse effects in recreational users.

Methods: The current study investigated the discriminative stimulus and locomotor stimulant effects of a group of synthetic cathinone analogs: N-ethylpentylone, dimethylone, dibutylone, clephedrone, 3',4'-tetramethylene-α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (TH-PVP).

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Background: Substituted piperazines comprise a substantial proportion of the novel psychoactive substance market. Among the most widely abused piperazine compounds are meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), tri-fluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP), and, especially, benzylpiperazine (BZP), which are commonly incorporated, either alone or in combination, in illicit "party pills" or "ecstasy" formulations. Illicit synthesis of BZP often results in production of an impure by-product dibenzylpiperazine (DBZP), which frequently appears alongside BZP in these formulations; however, despite its ubiquity, little information exists regarding the abuse liability of DBZP.

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This study aimed to address the mechanisms and reinforcing effects of three synthetic cathinone analogs of MDMA commonly reported in "Ecstasy" formulations: methylone, butylone, and pentylone. Whole-cell patch clamp techniques were used to assess the mechanism of each compound at the dopamine and serotonin transporters. Separate groups of rats were trained to discriminate methamphetamine, DOM, or MDMA from vehicle.

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Novel psychoactive substances have maintained a prominent role in the global drug culture, despite increased regulation by governing bodies. Novel compounds continue to become available on the market, often in "Ecstasy" or "Molly" formulations in lieu of MDMA, at a much faster rate than they can be properly characterized. The current study aimed to investigate the discriminative stimulus and locomotor effects of three putatively entactogenic compounds that have become increasingly prevalent on the drug market: 5-(2-aminopropyl)-benzofuran (5-APB), 6-(2-aminopropryl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (6-APDB), and 4-fluoroamphetamine (4-FA).

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There has been increasing use of novel synthetic hallucinogenic compounds, 2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-(2-methoxybenzyl)ethanamine hydrochloride (25B-NBOMe), 2-(4-chloro-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-(2-methoxybenzyl)ethanamine hydrochloride (25C-NBOMe), 2-(4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-(2-methoxybenzyl)ethanamine hydrochloride (25I-NBOMe), and N,N-diallyl-5-methoxy tryptamine (5-MeO-DALT), which have been associated with severe toxicities. These four compounds were tested for discriminative stimulus effects similar to a prototypical hallucinogen (-)-2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM) and the entactogen (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Locomotor activity in mice was tested to obtain dose range and time-course information.

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Rationale: Recent years have seen an increase in the recreational use of novel, synthetic psychoactive substances. There are little or no data on the abuse liability of many of the newer compounds.

Objectives: The current study investigated the discriminative stimulus and locomotor effects of a series of synthetic analogs of cathinone: α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone (α-PPP), α-pyrrolidinohexiophenone (α-PHP), α-pyrrolidinopentiothiophenone (α-PVT), 3,4-methylenedioxybutiophenone (MDPBP), and ethylone.

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5,6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane (MDAI) has become a common substitute for (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in Ecstasy. MDAI is known to produce MDMA-like discriminative stimulus effects, but it is not known whether MDAI has psychostimulant or hallucinogen-like effects. MDAI was tested for locomotor stimulant effects in mice and subsequently for discriminative stimulus effects in rats trained to discriminate cocaine (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), methamphetamine (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), ±MDMA (1.

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Synthetic cathinones, often sold as "bath salts," are a popular class of recreational drugs used as quasi-legal alternatives to cocaine, methamphetamine, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine. The increased prevalence and health consequences of synthetic cathinone use has prompted regulatory agencies to control a number of these compounds; however, a broad class of analogous compounds known as the second-generation cathinones has been brought to the market to take the place of the banned synthetic cathinone derivatives. The current study aims to characterize the behavioral pharmacology of three pyrrolidinylated second-generation cathinones: 4-methyl-α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone (4'-MePPP), α-pyrrolidinopropiobutiophenone (α-PBP), and α-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (α-PVP).

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Background: Dimethylamylamine (DMAA) is a component of many dietary supplements and has recently been associated with numerous adverse effects, prompting the US military and World Anti-Doping Agency to ban its use as a supplement. The current study aimed to elucidate the abuse liability profile of DMAA.

Methods: Dose-response studies of DMAA were performed with Swiss-Webster mice in locomotor and conditioned place-preference assays.

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