Dirk Hanson

Are fMRIs truly useful in addiction medicine What would it take to make neuroimaging a truly valuable tool for addiction medicine Pictures of brain regions lighting up have always been exciting, as the early phase of neuroimaging predictably inspired rapture. Phase 2 arrived when a group of U.S. pos...
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Smoke pot, shoot smack The Great Gateway Hypothesis has had a long, controversial run as a central tenet of American anti-drug campaigns. As put forth by Denise B. Kandell of Columbia University and others in 1975, and refined and redefined ever since, the gateway theory essentially posits that soft...
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Assess your drinking risk with this easy test. The more you drink, the less likely you are to accurately perceive the risks of heavy drinking, according to a survey by Screening for Mental Health SMH, a Boston-area non-profit group. The phone survey of 1,000 adults in the U.S. indicated that 7 out o...
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Heavy tokers at higher risk, but alcohol is the hidden confounder. Young people dont suffer from strokes, as a rule. And when they do, at least half the time there is no obvious cardiovascular explanation. So its not surprising that drugs are often invoked as the culprit. A New Zealand study earlier...
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How adolescent risk becomes adult addiction. Pediatricians have often remarked upon it Give one adolescent his first cigarette, and he will cough and choke and swear never to try another one. Give a cigarette to a different young person, and she is off to the races, becoming a heavily dependent smok...
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