Wayne Hall

• Professor at The University of Queensland

Introduction and Aims: Personal vaporisers are gaining popularity as an alternative route of administration for a range of substances. Online cryptomarkets are becoming increasingly popular among people who use substances due to their perceived anonymity, ease of use, and reduced risk of violence compared to traditional face-to-face dealers. We ex...

Introduction There has been an increase in potency of cannabis over the last two decades and a novel method of administration – vaping. The popularity of cannabis vaping may be driven by exposure to materials that promote cannabis use on the Internet, an aspect that remained relatively understudied. Aims This study aims to identify cannabis vap...

Neuroscientific explanations of gambling disorder can help people make sense of their experiences and guide the development of psychosocial interventions. However, the societal perceptions and implications of these explanations are not always clear or helpful. Two workshops in 2013 and 2014 brought together multidisciplinary researchers aiming to i...

There is a growing view that certain foods, particularly those high in refined sugars and fats, are addictive and that some forms of obesity can usefully be treated as a food addiction. This perspective is supported by a growing body of neuroscience research demonstrating that the chronic consumption of energy-dense foods causes changes in the brai...

This editorial considers the findings of the systematic review of heroin-assisted treatment, with six different studies from six different countries, published in this issue. The meta-analysis focuses on supervised injected heroin and reports significant crime reduction and an overall cost-effectiveness of treatment. Despite this body of evidence,...

Objective: To investigate if parental disapproval of alcohol use accounts for differences in adolescent alcohol use across regional and urban communities. Design: Secondary data analysis of grade-level stratified data from a random sample of schools. Setting: High schools in Victoria, Australia. Participants: A random sample of 10273 adolescents fr...

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of binge drinking in adolescence and its persistence into adulthood in an Australian cohort. Design: 15-year prospective cohort study. Setting: Victoria, Australia. Participants: 1943 adolescents were recruited from secondary schools at age 14–15 years. Primary outcome measures: Levels of past-week 'binge' drin...

Neuroscience research has improved our understanding of the long term consequences of sports-related concussion, but ethical issues related to the prevention and management of concussion are an underdeveloped area of inquiry. This article exposes several examples of conflicts of interest that have arisen and been tolerated in the management of conc...

Aims To estimate the global prevalence of cocaine and amphetamine dependence and the burden of disease attributable to these disorders. Methods An epidemiological model was developed using DisMod-MR, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, using epidemiological data (prevalence, incidence, remission and mortality) sourced from a multi-stage systematic re...

This paper summarizes the most probable of the adverse health effects of regular cannabis use sustained over years, as indicated by epidemiological studies that have established an association between cannabis use and adverse outcomes; ruled out reverse causation; and controlled for plausible alternative explanations. We have also focused on advers...

Examine changes in causes of death in a cohort treated for opioid dependence, across time and age; quantify years of potential life lost (YPLL); and identify avoidable causes of death. People in New South Wales (NSW) who registered for opioid substitution therapy (OST), 1985-2005 were linked to a register of all deaths in Australia. NSW, Australia....

To examine the prevalence of binge drinking in adolescence and its persistence into adulthood in an Australian cohort. 15-year prospective cohort study. Victoria, Australia. 1943 adolescents were recruited from secondary schools at age 14-15 years. Levels of past-week 'binge' drinking (5+ standard drinks on a day, each 10 g alcohol) and 'heavy bing...

To estimate the contribution that people who inject drugs (PWID) make to population-level use of prescription opioids in Australia. Data on prescriptions of oxycodone, morphine and methadone tablets were obtained for New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland, and time series analyses used to characterise the trends from 2002 to 2010. Estim...

Introduction and Aims. Perceived risks of cannabis use have rarely been researched in Australia. This paper reports on the beliefs about the adverse effects of cannabis use on health, social well-being, driving, mental health and changes in cannabis over time. Design and Methods. Survey of 918 Australian adults was conducted as part of a quarterly...

The major adverse acute psychological effects of cannabis use are as follows: ♦ Anxiety, dysphoria, panic, and paranoia, especially in naive users ♦ Impairment of attention, memory, and psychomotor performance while intoxicated ♦ An increased risk of accident if an intoxicated person attempts to drive a vehicle. The major psychological effects of d...

This document summarises cross-sectional and prospective research on the possible effects of cannabis on educational outcomes. It presents an overview of cannabis use among Australian youth, and looks at the relationship between cannabis use and educational performance. A correlation has been found between cannabis use and poor school performance,...

Staff at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) first became aware of reports of significant decreases in the availability of heroin in Sydney in the second week of January 2001. A simplified form of the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) was implemented in mid February to examine the credibility of these reports. This study serves...

To review and summarize existing prospective studies reporting on remission from dependence upon amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine or opioids. Systematic searches of the peer-reviewed literature were conducted to identify prospective studies reporting on remission from amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine or opioid dependence. Searches were limited to pub...

Method: Using comparative analyses of similar evidence for the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and amphetamine use, we considered the relation between observational evidence and action on cannabis. We examined arguments on the grounds of public health prudence for discouraging cannabis use by young individuals. With the assumption that the rel...

To compare the burden of alcohol-related harm and underlying factors of this harm, by age and sex, for Indigenous and general population Australians. Population attributable fractions are used to estimate the disability adjusted life years (DALYs) for alcohol-related disease and injury. The DALYs were converted to rates per 1,000 by age and sex for...

To conduct a comprehensive search of the peer-reviewed literature to assess risk of cannabis-related mortality. Systematic peer-reviewed literature searches were conducted in Medline, EMBASE and PsycINFO to identify data on mortality associated with cannabis use. Search strings for cannabis and mortality were used. Searches were limited to human su...

Aims: To report the results of a comprehensive literature search of studies of mortality among people who use amphetamines. Design and setting: Three electronic databases were searched (EMBASE, Medline and PsycINFO) and "grey" literature was located. Shortlists of papers were circulated to experts to ascertain whether any important papers had be...

The estimated impact of illicit drug use and mental disorders upon population health needs to be understood because there is evidence that they produce substantial loss of life and disability, and information is needed on the comparative population health impact of different diseases and risk factors to help focus policy, service and research plann...

Over the past five years, the release of cohort studies assessing the link between cannabis and psychosis has increased attention on this relationship. Existing reviews generally conclude that these cohort studies show cannabis has a causal relationship to psychosis, or at least that one cannot be excluded. Few studies have evaluated the relative s...

The small size of previous studies of mortality in opioid dependent people has prevented an assessment of the extent to which elevated mortality risks are consistent across time, clinical and/or patient groups. The current study examines reductions in mortality related to treatment in an entire treatment population. Data from the New South Wales (N...

A rational cannabis policy would arguably be one that minimized the harms of both cannabis use and the legal policies adopted to control its use. We, therefore, review recent epidemiological evidence on the harmful effects of cannabis use and social research on the costs and benefits of cannabis prohibition. Epidemiological evidence suggests that c...

PurposeThis paper will review literature examining the association of benzodiazepine use and mortality.Methods An extensive literature review was undertaken to locate all English-language published articles that examine mortality risk associated with use of benzodiazepines from 1990 onwards.ResultsSix cohort studies meeting the criteria above were...

The purpose of this study was to estimate the revenue gained from consumption of alcohol by adolescents for each beverage type for the year 2005. Secondary analysis of self-reported alcohol use in the 2005 Australian Secondary School Surveys Alcohol and Drug Use. Australia. Over 506,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years (29% of all Australia...

Aim: To examine birth cohort trends in the prevalence of use and the age of initiatbn of use of: alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, amphetamines, LSD, and heroin. Method: Data were taken from the 1998 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, a survey of a representative sample of Australians aged 14 years and over. Nine five–year cohorts were examined amo...

The aim was to examine the temporal relationships over 10 months between cannabis use and symptoms of psychosis and depression in people with schizophrenia and related disorders. The design was a prospective study of 101 patients with schizophrenia and related disorders who were assessed monthly over 10 months on medication compliance, cannabis and...

...it is important to note that even cannabis-based therapeutic drugs do cause psychotic symptoms.5 Authorities should formulate a culturally acceptable mode of health education, provide healthy recreational tools on reserves-these areas are viewed as emotional and inspirational deserts by Aboriginal youths I have interviewed-provide employment com...

Both alcohol and cannabis use carry health risks. Both are commonly initiated in adolescence. To date little research has described trajectories of adolescent cannabis or alcohol use or compared their respective consequences in young adulthood. The design was a 10-year eight-wave cohort study of a state-wide community sample of 1943 Victorians init...

Coronary heart disease is a major health priority area in Australia. Cholesterol-lowering agents are generally considered to be cost effective for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease. There is growing evidence, however, that the effectiveness of statins varies from one individual to another. The Taq1B polymorphism is an example of a...

To assess whether cannabis use in adolescence and young adulthood is a contributory cause of schizophreniform psychosis in that it may precipitate psychosis in vulnerable individuals. We reviewed longitudinal studies of adolescents and young adults that examined the relations between self-reported cannabis use and the risk of diagnosis with a psych...

To explore the implications for mental health services, for health education about the risks of cannabis use, and for public policy toward cannabis use of observational evidence that cannabis use is a contributory cause of psychosis. Using comparative analyses of similar evidence for the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and amphetamine use, we...

Australian heroin markets have recently undergone dramatic change, sparking debate about the nature of such markets. This study aimed to determine the onset, peak and decline of the heroin shortage in New South Wales (NSW), using the most appropriate available methods to detect market level changes. The parameters of the heroin shortage were determ...

Increasing heroin use in Australia over the past 30 years has been associated with a decline in the age of initiation to heroin use. The 2001 Australian heroin shortage was used to assess the effects of a reduction in heroin supply on age of initiation into heroin injecting. Data collected from regular injecting drug users (IDU) over the period 199...

Heroin use causes considerable harm to individual users including dependence, fatal and nonfatal overdose, mental health problems, and blood borne virus transmission. It also adversely affects the community through drug dealing, property crime and reduced public amenity. During the mid to late 1990s in Australia the prevalence of heroin use increas...

Intervention time series analysis (ITSA) is an important method for analysing the effect of sudden events on time series data. ITSA methods are quasi-experimental in nature and the validity of modelling with these methods depends upon assumptions about the timing of the intervention and the response of the process to it. This paper describes how to...

Wayne Hall summarizes the research evidence on whether cannabis use is associated with psychiatric problems.

In this chapter, we discuss the potential policy implications of the observation that some cannabis users become dependent on the drug in the sense that they lose control of their use, and find themselves unable to cut down or stop using cannabis despite health and personal problems caused by its use. We begin by summarizing the key features of can...

Illicit opiate use, especially injected drugs, contributes to premature mortality and morbidity in many developed and developing societies. The economic costs of illicit drug use are substantial. Fatal overdoses and HIV/AIDS resulting from sharing dirty needles and injecting equipment are major contributors to mortality and morbidity. Illicit opioi...

Objective: To examine whether a reduction in the availability of heroin in New South Wales (NSW) in 2001 was associated with community level changes in heroin and other drug use. Method: Data from the NSW Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) on the number of persons calling about different drug types were used to examine NSW trends in calls...

This paper uses a unique event, the Australian heroin shortage, to see whether an abrupt, substantial and sustained change in heroin supply had different effects on harms related to heroin use among younger and older heroin users. Indicator data were examined by age group on the number of persons entering treatment for heroin and amphetamine depend...

In early 2001, Australia experienced a sudden, dramatic and sustained decrease in heroin availability that was accompanied by sharp increases in price and decreases in street level purity--the so-called "heroin shortage". These unprecedented changes occurred in a context of widespread treatment availability, which made it possible for the first tim...

In early 2001 in Australia there was a sudden and dramatic decrease in heroin availability that occurred throughout the country that was evidenced by marked increases in heroin price and decreases in its purity. This study examines the impact of this change in heroin supply on the following indicators of heroin use: fatal and non-fatal drug overdos...

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A sharp reduction in heroin supply in Australia in 2001 was followed by a large but transient increase in cocaine use among injecting drug users (IDU) in Sydney. This paper assesses whether the increase in cocaine use among IDU was accompanied by increased rates of violent crime as occurred in the United States in the 1980s. Specifically, the paper...

In this paper we outline and evaluate competing explanations for a heroin shortage that occurred in Australia during 2001 with an abrupt onset at the beginning of 2001. We evaluated each of the explanations offered for the shortage against evidence from a variety of sources: government reports, police and drug law enforcement documents and briefing...

In early 2001 Australia experienced a sudden and unexpected disruption to heroin availability, know as the 'heroin shortage'. This 'shortage has been linked to a decrease in needle and syringe output and therefore possibly a reduction in injecting drug use. We aimed to examine changes, if any, in blood-borne viral infections and presentations for i...

In early 2001 there was a dramatic decline in the availability of heroin in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, where previously heroin had been readily available at a low price and high purity.1 The decline was confirmed by Australia's strategic early warning system, which revealed a reduction in heroin supply across Australia and a considerable inc...

Στόχος: Να εξετάσει τις ενδείξεις για τη σχέση μεταξύ κάνναβης και κατάθλιψης και να αξιολογήσει τις διαφορετικές ερμηνείες. Μεθοδολογία: Πραγματοποιήθηκε έρευνα στις βάσεις δεδομένων Medline, Psychinfo και EMBASE. Συγκεντρώθηκαν όλες οι αναφορές που περιείχαν τις λέξεις «κάνναβη» ή «μαριχουάνα» ή «κανναβινοειδή», «διαταραχή της κατάθλιψης» ή «διάθ...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the psychiatry and neuroscience of Cannabis sativa (marijuana), with particular emphasis on psychotic disorders. It outlines developments in our understanding of the human cannabinoid system, and links this knowledge to clinical and epidemiological facts about the impact of cannabis on mental health. C...

The researchers focussed on the impact of the heroin shortage that occurred in early 2001 on three Australian jurisdictions, namely NSW, Vic and SA. They interviewed 82 heroin dependent heroin users and 172 key informants from health and law enforcement agencies. They also examined a range of indicator data such as drug seizures, drug-related arres...

To examine the evidence on the association between cannabis and depression and evaluate competing explanations of the association. A search of Medline, Psychinfo and EMBASE databases was conducted. All references in which the terms 'cannabis', 'marijuana' or 'cannabinoid', and in which the words 'depression/depressive disorder/depressed', 'mood', '...

To model the impact of rising rates of cannabis use on the incidence and prevalence of psychosis under four hypotheses about the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis. The study modelled the effects on the prevalence of schizophrenia over the lifespan of cannabis in eight birth cohorts: 1940-1944, 1945-1949, 1950-1954, 1955-1959, 1960-196...

In Australia people aged 65 years or older currently comprise 12.1% of the population. This has been estimated to rise to 24.2% by 2051. Until recently there has been relatively little research on alcohol and other drug use disorders among these individuals but, given the ageing population, this issue is likely to become of increasing importance an...

Drug overdose is a major cause of premature death and morbidity among heroin users. This article examines recent research into heroin overdose to inform interventions that will reduce the rate of overdose death. The demographic characteristics of overdose cases are discussed, including factors associated with overdose: polydrug use, drug purity, dr...

The present study describes patterns of co-morbidity between alcohol use and other substance use problems in the Australian population using data from the 1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Multiple regression analyses examined whether the observed associations between alcohol and other drug use disorders were explained by other...

To examine the veracity of reports of a substantial decrease in the availability of heroin in Sydney in January 2001. Cross-sectional survey. Sydney, Australia. Forty-one injecting drug users (IDUs) and 10 key informants (KIs). Almost all IDUs (93%) reported that heroin was harder to obtain at the time of interview (mid-February 2001) than it was b...

To determine whether cannabis use in adolescence predisposes to higher rates of depression and anxiety in young adulthood. Seven wave cohort study over six years. 44 schools in the Australian state of Victoria. A statewide secondary school sample of 1601 students aged 14-15 followed for seven years. Interview measure of depression and anxiety (revi...

To compare heroin and other opiate use of heroin overdose fatalities, current street heroin users and drug-free therapeutic community clients. 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)...

There has been considerable debate about the reasons for the association observed between cannabis use and psychosis in both clinical and general population samples. Among the hypotheses proposed to explain the association are the following: 1) common factors explain the co-occurrence; 2 cannabis causes psychosis that would not have occurred in the...

Drug prevention has traditionally focused on influencing individual attitudes and behaviours. In particular, efforts have been directed towards adolescents in the school setting. However, evaluations of school-based drug education have identified limited success. There is increasing recognition that drug abuse is one of a number of risk behaviours,...

To document trends in the price, purity, availability and use of heroin in New South Wales detected by the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS) between 1996 and 2000, and to demonstrate the utility of the IDRS in identifying such trends. The IDRS compares information derived from interviews with injecting drug users, key informants who work in the...

This study examined if (1) there is an association in the general population between cannabis use, DSM-IV abuse and dependence, and other substance use and DSM-IV substance abuse/dependence; (2) if so, is it explained by demographic characteristics or levels of neuroticism? It used data from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-...

Aim . To compare relationships between alcohol, cannabis and tobacco and indicators of mental health problems in the general population. Method . A survey of a nationally representative sample of 10 641 Australian adults (the National Survey of Mental Health and Well‐Being (NSMHWB)) provided data on alcohol, cannabis and tobacco use and mental hea...

Cannabis has been advocated as a treatment for nausea, vomiting, wasting, pain and muscle spasm in cancer, HIV/AIDS, and neurological disorders. Such uses are prohibited by law; cannabinoid drugs are not registered for medical use in Australia and a smoked plant product is unlikely to be registered. A New South Wales Working Party has recommended g...

Health planning should be based on data about prevalence, disability and services used. To determine the prevalence of ICD-10 disorders and associated comorbidity, disability and service utilisation. We surveyed a national probability sample of Australian households using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and other measures. The samp...

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