bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Short‐term Memory for Hue in Chronic Alcoholics*
Authors: Nelson T. M. , Sinha B. K. , Olson W. M.
Published: January 2006

Chronic sober alcoholics show greatly inferior short‐term memory for hut compared to the general population even when retrieval is made easier through simplification of the memory task. This deficit persists when hue memory is corrected far age, and is greater for advanced alcoholics. Short‐term hue memory deficits seem associated with specific factors, since memory drift is not random. However, the same type of drift is present in all samples', even though the degree of drift differs between normative, and alcoholic samples. Evidence suggests the possibility of central damage involving the temporal colour coding mechanisms.

This research indicates that severity of alcoholism may be ascertained through measurement of deficiencies in short‐term memory for hue.
Causal Attributions, Attitude Similarity, and the Punishment of Drug Offenders*
Authors: Lussier Richard J. , Perlman Daniel , Breen Lawrence J.
Published: January 2006

The present study derived hypotheses from Kelley's attribution model and recent research (Mitchell and Byrne, 1973) showing jurors' attitudes influence the length of sentences they recommend. Psychiatric nursing students (N=79) were presented with eight hypothetical case histories of convicted drug offenders, and were asked the causes of the offenders' behavior. The traffickers' socio‐economic status, consistency of offenses and form of trial (judge or jury) were experimentally manipulated. As predicted the behavior of consistent offenders was attributed to the person himself and subjects recommended more punishment for such individuals. Furthermore, subjects with liberal drug standards recommended less severe punishment for the offenders. Neither the sex nor the locus of control (Rotter, 1966) of the subjects had any significant main effects. Significant form of trial by consistency and drug standard by socio‐economic status interactions were found. Legal implications of the research are presented.
Some Aspects of Nutritional State in ‘hard’ Drug Addicts
Authors: Aylett Pamela
Published: January 2006

Simple measurements of nutritional status, using portable instruments showed that in general, addicts did remain within fairly satifactory nutritional limits. Those preferring heroin were significantly older and heavier than those who preferred methadone by self‐injection.
A Study of Authorized Opium Addiction in Shiraz city and Fars Province, Iran*
Authors: Mehryar A. H. , Moharreri M. R.
Published: January 2006

Based on the official records available at the Provincial Health Department, this paper attempts to summarize the existing evidence on the extent of officially authorized opium use in Fars Province. The main findings are as follows:

Over 52% of the 11,545 registered opium addicts in Pars Province are under sixty years.

More than two thirds of the addicts are residents of Shiraz County.

The eleven counties of Pars Province vary widely in terms of the ratio of registered addicts per 1000 of population. The highest ratios were found in the counties of Neyriz (8.9per 1000) and Shiraz (8.7 per 1000). The lowest ratio (1 per 1000) belonged to the counties of Kazeroon and Mammasani.

Of the 4560 cases of registered addicts with relatively complete files in Shiraz city, only 12.7% were female, and 58 % were below age 60. Thus the majority of registered opium users in Shiraz city have been authorized to continue their drug dependence on bona fide medical grounds. Although the list of authorizing physicians embraces a wide range of specialities, the large majority of addicts have been authorized by general practitioners. Most of the latter are somehow associated with the opium registration administration and have used a large variety of medical labels for justifying opium use by addicts.

The implications of these findings for the drug control policy of the county are discussed.
The ‘Rap’ House and Volunteers: Helpful or Harmful?
Authors: Gregory Robert J.
Published: January 2006

One of the most frequent community level responses to the treatment of the drug abuse problem is the ‘rap’ house. Some 68 staff volunteers from one such program were interviewed to determine what impact the program had on them, and what impact resulted from their work. The ‘rap’ house has both helpful and possibly harmful effects in a community.
Total Alcohol Consumption and Rates of Excessive Use: A Reply to Duffy and Cohen
Authors: de Lint Jan
Published: January 2006

Work on the distribution of alcohol consumption is reviewed. Some fallacies are pointed out and their implications for use of total alcohol consumption in the epidemiological description of drinking habits are considered.
Inducing Low Tar/Nicotine Cigarette Smoking in Women
Authors: Jaffe Jerome H. , Kanzler Maureen , Cohen Miriam , Kaplan Thelma
Published: January 2006

Sixteen female smokers participated in a study of ‘safer cigarettes’ and bought their cigarettes from the experimenters at less than prevailing prices. Half received an economic incentive for purchasing cigarettes delivering progressively less tar and nicotine: the other half paid the same price regardless of brand purchased. Subjects were not required to change brands. Twelve of the sixteen subjects completed the twelve‐week study. Significant reductions in tar and nicotine intake, which persisted for more than six months beyond the twelve‐week study period, occurred in both groups. The differences between the two groups in tar and nicotine intake were not significant. A control group of seven female smokers showed little change in tar and nicotine intake over the same twelve‐week period, and only modest changes in the subsequent six months. Neither the number of cigarettes smoked nor exhaled carbon monoxide levels (measured in a subsample of participants) increased as the subjects switched to lower nicotine levels.
Barbiturate Misuse in ‘Hard’ Drug Addicts
Authors: Aylett Pamela
Published: January 2006

Barbiturate misuse in maintained ‘hard’ drug addicts was compared over two separate annual periods. About two thirds of patients showed some evidence of barbiturate misue, including a third with overt clinical signs. In just under one third there was no evidence of such involvement. Barbiturate misuse did not necessarily occur in the same individuals in the two annual periods.

A high proportion of deaths in both years involved barbiturate overdose as a main or partial factor. The number of deaths was identical. More liberal prescribing of ‘hard’ drugs had little overall effect on the misuse of barbiturates and no appreciable effect on the numbers treated for overdose in the Accident Department.

It is concluded that other measures are needed to prevent or reduce intoxication and death from barbiturates.
Alcoholism Screening Inventory: Replication of Reich and Extension
Authors: Costello Raymond M. , Baillargeon Jacques G.
Published: January 2006

This study is a replication and extension of an earlier study which generated a screening interview for alcoholism with computer assistance. Its goals were to assess the degree of concordant validation (agreement between screening interview decision and clinical diagnosis) and to test the validity of an exit‐path x seventy hypothesis.

Fifty Veterans Administration Hospital patients on an Alcohol Treatment Unit were interviewed with a standardized 22–item inventory which included the eight items comprising the screening inventory.

Eighty‐four per cent concordance of screening interview and clinical diagnosis was obtained. Fifty‐four per cent of the sample was identified with only two items (i.e., positive responses to morning drinking? and blackouts?). The exit‐path x severity hypothesis gained general support although the first two alcoholic exit‐paths showed considerable overlap.

The screening inventory appeared to be an efficient instrument and is recommended for further use. It may lead to under diagnosis, especially with schizophrenic drinkers and episodic‐stress drinkers. Its validity as a prognostic device has yet to be tested.
The Problem of Hepatitis among Drug Abusers in a Forensic/Psychiatric Unit
Authors: Judson D. H.
Published: January 2006

The answers to three questions were sought: In Unit conditions, how infective is hepatitis B? Can its onset be detected by blood tests before the onset of illness? Have adequate precautions been taken?

The risk of cross‐infection based on the precautions was found to be small and no casts were recorded. The measures for prevention were adequate. It proved impossible to predict the onset of hepatitis. Normal blood tests can rapidly change; consequently, every patient must be regarded as an infection risk.
A Note on the Interface Between a Residential Alcoholism Rehabilitation Centre and Detoxication Centres
Authors: Ogborne Alan C. , Clare Gail
Published: January 2006

Details of admissions to Southern Ontario Detoxication Centres were obtained for a sample of 50 skid‐row alcoholics admitted to a rural residential rehabilitation programme (Bon Accord Farm). In the year prior to admission to Bon Accord the men averaged 3.7 detox admissions, while in the year after leaving this average increased to 7.2 admissions. Rates of detox admission after leaving and changes in these rates from the previous year were unrelated to length of stay. It is suggested that Bon Accord should be seen as one of a range of social agencies that made up the social world of public inebriates and that such agencies should be principally valued for their humanitarian and care giving functions. An improved co‐ordination of skid‐row agencies is suggested as is a more careful assessment of candidates for rehabilitation programmes.
Participant Observation: A Methodological Approach to the Study of Halfway Houses for Alcoholics
Authors: Wilmot Richard
Published: January 2006

Participant observation has played an ‘under dog’ role as the methodology of choice in the social sciences in general and social policy evaluation in particular. Part of this reluctance by social science researchers to use participant observation has stemmed from what they see as a lack of clarity and precision practitioners of participant observation have had in defining exactly what it is participant observation does and how it may practically be applied in the field. Thus the value of participant observation has been questioned due to its lack of definitive structure. This paper is an account of how participant observation works, what can be expected from it, and how it is different from other more orthodox methodologies. Participant observation is now being used by the Evaluation Studies Department of the Addiction Research Foundation as one of the methods of inquiry into the nature and structure of recovery homes for alcoholics. The account presented here, uses the application of participant observation in the evaluation of halfway houses as a means of illustrating how participant observation operates in the field.
The Effects of Ethnicity, Age and Sex Upon Processing through an Emergency Alcohol Health Care Delivery System
Authors: Westie Katharine S. , McBride Duane C.
Published: January 2006

This study provides a basic demographic profile of an emergency room alcohol patient population, and examines the relationships of age, ethnicity and sex to type of complaint at admission, likelihood of referral for further aid, type of psychiatric diagnosis given, and ultimate disposition of the case. One thousand, one hundred and eleven consecutive alcohol related admissions were included from the emergency room of a large, inner‐city county hospital of a city in which a substantial proportion of the population is Spanish and Negro. Alcohol admissions were predominantly Caucasian and male, with a modal age of 35 to 49 years. The most common medical diagnoses were, respectively, acute intoxication and chronic alcoholism, followed by organic brain syndromes and psychoses attributed to alcohol use, seizure disorders and alcohol‐related somatic complaints, and suicide attempts and bizarre behaviour under the influence of alcohol. 16.8% of these patients received psychiatric evaluation and only 21.8% were referred for further help with their alcohol related problems. Further breakdowns and relationships of these variables are discussed, and possible reasons for the observations are suggested.
The 16 per cent Solution and other Mysteries concerning the Accuracy of Alcohol Consumption Estimates based on Sales Data *
Authors: Single Eric , Giesbrecht Norman
Published: January 2006

Whether based on production, tax or sales statistics, estimates of alcohol consumption are subject to bias arising from record keeping procedures and from unrecorded consumption. Based on an analysis of the accuracy of consumption estimates derived from sales statistics in Ontario, two significant biases are identified. The first problem concerns the use of 16 per cent as the conversion factor for wine. As the consumption of 12 per cent table wines has increased, this figure is no longer appropriate and results in an over estimation of total alcohol consumption by about 2 per cent. The second major problem is the unrecorded home production of wine and wine brandy, which results in an underestimation of consumption by about 6 to 7 per cent. The available evidence concerning other types of unrecorded production indicates that they are not significant. It is concluded that sales data underestimate ‘true’ alcohol consumption in Ontario by about 4 to 6 per cent at this time.
Screening Tests for Alcoholism – Findings from a Community Study
Authors: Saunders W. M , Kershaw P. W.
Published: January 2006

As an attempt to gauge the sensitivity of questionnaires designed to detect alcoholism two parallel studies were conducted. In the first all persons who had been interviewed during a community survey investigation of alcoholism were screened against the hospital records of the psychiatric services which covered the survey area. It was found that less than 50 per cent of known active ‘alcoholics’ and known active ‘problem drinkers’ were detected by the survey questionnaire.

On the second study all persons identified as either ‘problem drinkers’ or ‘alcoholics’ in the original community study were re‐interviewed using the same questionnaire (the CBQ) plus two established alcoholism screening tests (the SMAST and CAGE). It was found that whereas the CAGE and CBQ showed good agreement in detecting the same people as being ‘alcoholic’, the SMAST appeared to screen out only the more severe cases. The implications of both studies are considered and the utility of screening tests for alcoholism considered.
Drugtaking and Prevention: The Implications of Research for Social Policy
Authors: Plant Martin A.
Published: January 2006

Aetiological theories of drug use are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that many complex factors appear to give rise to drug use in general and to drug dependence in particular. Illegal drug use is sometimes attributable to profound social conditions, ideologies, deprivation of psychological disposition. Such factors may, by their nature, be resistant to traditional methods of health education. It is suggested that future policy might be more successful if aimed at ‘high risk’ groups and based upon a more realistic assessment of the causes of drug use.
Alcoholism in the Army: A Demographic Survey of an Inpatient Population
Authors: Wood P. J. W.
Published: January 2006

One hundred male admissions to the British Army's Alcohol Treatment Unit were interviewed, demographic data being compared with information on the whole army. Findings included a mean age of 29.2 years, arid high rates of marital breakdown, drunkenness offences, drinking and driving offences, poor work performance and abnormal liver Junction tests. The sample tended lo be older than their rank‐peers, were more likely to have enlisted after the age of twenty‐one years, had achieved less in terms of promotion, and were more likely to be serving in duty free areas. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Readdiction Liability Testing: A Proposal
Authors: Sideroff Stephen I.
Published: January 2006

It is proposed that an objective procedure be developed to gauge an addict's ‘readdiction liability’. This instrument could be used to evaluate an addict's susceptibility to his drug environment and probability of readdiction. It could also be used to estimate degree of rehabilitation as a result of a particular treatment, thus providing a framework within which various treatment programs can be compared and contrasted. The proposed ‘Readdiction Liability Test’ could also serve as a basis for desensitization and deconditioning procedures. This paper also presents recent data in support of a conditioning theory of readdiction, which is the rationale behind this proposal.
Alcohol Dependence: Methodological Issues in its Measurement; Reliability of the Criteria
Authors: Chick Jonathan
Published: January 2006

Instruments measuring alcohol dependence have seldom been presented with evidence of their reliability. There are a number of difficulties in designing such instruments which contribute to unreliability. The items in a standard interview, The Edinburgh Alcohol Dependence Schedule, are shown in this paper to have acceptable inter‐rater reliability, although difficulties in operationalizing ‘impaired control’ remain.
The Origins of the Drug‐Free Therapeutic Community
Authors: Glaser Frederick B.
Published: January 2006

In this paper an attempt is made to trace the origins of the drug‐free therapeutic community. Virtually all such programmes in North America may be traced to Synanon, which in turn may readily be traced back through Alcoholics Anonymous to the so‐called Oxford Group. At this point the line of evolution becomes less evident. But an examination of various aspects of the background and career of Dr. Frank Buchman, founder of the Oxford Group, suggests a strong link with the Protestant Reformation and, through it, with the forms and practices of primitive Christianity as embodied in the Dead Sea Scrolls. It is suggested that the present‐day therapeutic community is only the most recent reincarnation of a particular type of religious organization which dates from at least the Intertestamentary Period.
Marital Stability among Wives of Alcoholics: An Evaluation of Three Explanations
Authors: O'Farrell Timothy J. , Harrison Robert H. , Cutter Henry S. G.
Published: January 2006

Sixty women currently or formerly married to alcoholics were interviewed in order to assess the stressfulness of their marriage, stressfulness of their childhoods, and their closeness to divorce. In support of sociological predictions, the more stressful the marriage the closer the wife was to divorce. Contrary to psychoanalytic predictions, personality disturbance, indexed by stressfulness of childhood, did not correlate with closeness to divorce. Factor analytically derived subscales of marital and childhood stressors showed a significant psychosocial interaction; wives shy as children were more likely than their more outgoing counterparts to endure their husbands' verbal abuse of them and their children. In addition, influence by others to separate, positive attitudes toward divorce, fear of violence, and little or no good period early in marriage all correlated positively with closeness to divorce. Possible alternative explanations for the present results and needed future research are discussed.
Trihexyphenidyl Abuse
Authors: Mohan D. , Mohandas E. , Dube S.
Published: January 2006

Trihexyphenidyl, commonly used in neurological and psychiatric practice may be used by certain patients for its euphoriant and hallucinogenic effects. Apart from producing symptoms suggestive of a toxic psychosis due to overdosage, its chronic use may produce dependence. Two cases of Trihexyphenidyl abuse are described.
Alcohol Drinking Reduces Hand Tremor
Authors: Landauer Ali A.
Published: January 2006

A double blind cross‐over experiment showed that a dose of 400 mg/kg of ethanol improved hand steadiness in male social drinkers.
Long‐Term Switching to Low‐Tar Low‐Nicotine Cigarettes
Authors: Russell M. A. H. , Sutton S. R. , Iyer R. , Feyerabend C. , Vesey C. J.
Published: January 2006

Puffing patterns and blood measures of smoke intake were studied in 12 subjects before and after switching to low‐tar (10.9 mg) low‐nicotine (0.7 mg) cigarettes for 12 weeks. Puff rate, puff volume, total volume puffed per cigarette and the number of cigarettes smoked were not changed significantly after switching lo the lower yield cigarettes. The reduction in mouth‐level nicotine intake (calculated from butt content) was identical to the 47 per cent reduction in the machine‐smoked nicotine yields. This is in keeping with the measures of puffing in showing the absence of any tendency to compensate for the reduced yields by increasing the intensity of puffing. In contrast, plasma nicotine and cotinine levels were reduced proportionally less than the nominal yields indicating that the subjects compensated to some extent by increasing inhalation. The average reductions in plasma nicotine and cotinine were identical (30per cent). Plasma thiocyanate and COHb levels were not significantly different after switching to the lower yield cigarettes but the estimated tar intake to the lungs was reduced by about 15per cent. Although the low‐yield cigarettes were rated as slightly too weak, there was no significant loss of satisfaction. The fact that subjects tolerated a 30 per cent reduction in plasma nicotine without loss of satisfaction and without puffing more intensively suggests that the increase in inhalation was not determined by a need to maintain nicotine intake. This and the, discrepancies between natural and experimental switching studies are discussed.
An Investigation of Pre‐Admission Referral Activity to Three Residential Units with a Related Commentary on the Pattern and Range of Services for Problem Drinkers
Authors: Yates Fred E. , Norris Hugh
Published: January 2006

Information on all referral enquiries made to three short‐term residential units for problem drinkers in the Midlands over a 2 year period is presented. Of the 904 first time enquiries, 30 per cent reached the point of being admitted for assessment. The majority of enquiries withdrew over the early period of selection, the largest number dropping out between acceptance of an interview and actual attendance. The main referral source was the Probation Service accounting for 30 per cent of the total number of enquiries. Referral interest from other hostels, Alcoholism Treatment Units and Psychiatric hospitals were more likely to generate positive applications than enquiries from non‐specialist sources. On the basis of these findings and discussions with referral agencies it is suggested that the changes recommended by the DHSS in the Pattern and Range of Services for Problem Drinkers will do little to induce new types of problem drinker outside the client groups of primary agencies to seek help. Specialist services themselves might take on this responsibility.
Drugs and Social Policy: The Establishment of Drug Control in Britain 1900–30
Authors: Berridge Virginia
Published: January 2006

The formation of drug control policy in Britain in the first three decades of the twentieth century is reviewed. Pharmaceutical controls over sales, based on professional self‐regulation gave way to controls on possession and use during the First World War, These war‐time restrictions were the basis of the 1920 Dangerous Drugs Act which fulfilled Britain's international treaty obligations. During the 1920s, the Home Office attempted to establish a penal policy on the American model; the Rolleston Report of 1926 established the ‘British system’ of drug control. The ‘political’ significance of British drug control in this period, in particular its polemical use in the struggles to liberalise American drug policies in the 1960s, has inhibited a more developed analysis of policy. The tensions over policy and the 1926 Report were not simply battles between rival conceptions of control or a ‘victory’ for the ‘medical model’. This approach ignores the control aspects of both penal and medical views and the complexity of the interactions between them. The 1926 Report was not a ‘medical victory’ but the result of an accommodation and collaboration between medical and bureaucratic elites with similar interests at stake.
‘Curses of Civilization’ : Insanity and Drunkenness in Victorian Britain
Authors: McCandless Peter
Published: January 2006

This paper investigates the sources of the common Victorian belief that drunkenness was the most significant cause of insanity. While acknowledging the role of the Temperance Movement in promoting this belief, the paper argues that its development was rooted in the social conditions and prejudices of the time, as well as in the experience and reasoning of Victorian medical men. The asylums which reported the highest proportions of drink‐induced insanity generally lay in urban, industrial areas where drinking was perceived to be a serious problem and catered to a predominately working‐class clientele. The superintendents of the asylums were inclined to conclude from their experience that drink was the most common cause of insanity. Their tendency to do so was increased by medical uncertainty about the exact relationship between drunkenness and insanity, the habit of many doctors of reasoning in circular fashion, and their proneness to link theories of causation to traditional moral imperatives. These tendencies were evident in speculation about the causes of conditions such as paresis and ‘hereditary’ mental disorders.
‘The Cry of the Children’ : The Edwardian Medical Campaign Against Maternal Drinking
Authors: Gutzke David W.
Published: January 2006

In the years 1899–1907 new critique of alcohol evolved which pointed to increasing female insobriety as factor in infant mortality. Exploiting the opportunity of governmental committee appointed to investigate physical deterioration, 14 leading medical doctors, well known for their antipathy to drink, submitted evidence which subsequently formed the basis for the Report's conclusion associating alcoholic abuse with racial deterioration. Between 1905 and 1907 six of these doctors, together with Sir Thomas Brunton and Professor Sims Woodhead, orchestrated concern over drink's deleterious impact on pregnant women and babies. By condemning alcohol as one important source of infant deaths and national inefficiency, these anti‐drink doctors, all except one members of the Society for the Study of Inebriety, encouraged the medical profession to adopt more critical public posture towards drink and compelled the Government to permit hygiene and temperance instruction in elementary schools. They further provided the rationale early in 1907 for George Sims’ newspaper articles, which emphasized the imperial consequences of Britain's high infant mortality. He alone publicized the prevalence of babies and small children taken into public houses, where they were given alcohol or contracted fatal respiratory diseases. Breast milk contaminated with alcohol also endangered their lives. Following these revelations, sympathizers formed the Tribune Committee, and, with the support of the eight anti‐drink doctors and others, helped translate Sims’ proposal to prohibit children under 14 from licensed premises into legislation.
Alcohol and Brain Damage
Authors: Tuck R. R. , Brew B. J. , Britton A. M. , Loewy J.
Published: January 2006

In this review, two forms of alcohol‐related brain damage and their possible pathogenesis are discussed. These are the Wernicke‐Korsakoff syndrome and alcoholic dementia.

There is little doubt that thiamine deficiency is the factor responsible for Wernicke's encephalopathy. However, additional factors might play a role in the development of Korsakoffs psychosis. Many cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy are undiagnosed by clinicians whose awareness of the various manifestations of this disease needs to be increased. Thiamine deficiency may lead to brain damage by blocking the oxidative metabolism of glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. There is no definite evidence that marginal thiamine deficiency causes disease. Certain individuals may be especially prone to the effects of thiamine deficiency for genetic reasons.

There is clearly a spectrum of mental impairment in alcoholics which cannot be attributed to thiamine deficiency. Some of these abnormalities correlate with the neuroradiological and pathological signs of cerebral atrophy. Mental impairment and atrophy in alcoholics are partly reversible with abstinence. Alcohol itself might be neurotoxic which would explain some of these phenomena.
Lifetime Abstainers, Current Abstainers and Imbibers: A Methodological Note
Authors: Goldman Eli , Najman Jackob M.
Published: January 2006

Previous population studies of patterns of alcohol consumption have tended to assume that abstainers are a homogeneous group. As part of a Boston‐area probability sample of 5,320 adults, those persons categorized as abstainers were examined on a variety of dimensions.

The findings suggest that the abstaining population comprises three groups: lifetime abstainers (58 per cent), current abstainers who have not had a previous drinking problem. (34 per cent) and current abstainers who have had a previous drinking problem (9 per cent). This latter group appears, on a number of social and demographic characteristics, to be similar to persons who are frequent drinkers. The assumption of the homogeneity of the abstaining population is refuted and the results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and methodological implications.
Social Policy and Drug Addiction: A Critical Study of Policy Development
Authors: Smart Carol
Published: January 2006

The drug addict or ‘problem drug taker’ is the focus of a number of overlapping systems of regulation from moral to medical and penal. It is consequently difficult to analyse the development of policy in this area without lapsing into oversimplifications which imply either a process of medicalization or the unity of a totalitarian system of social control. It is argued here that we cannot adequately understand the development of policy in the field of drug addiction by reference to the medicalization of social problems and that a more fruitful course is opened up by analyzing developments of ‘rational knowledge’ which underpin policy shifts. In the light of this argument the apparent shifts in policy in the 1960s following the Second Brain Report are re‐evaluated.
Research into the History of Alcohol Use and Control in England and Wales: The Available Sources in the Public Record Office
Authors: Higgs E. J.
Published: January 2006

The relationship between the state and the use and abuse of alcohol has been a long and complicated one. Alcohol has been seen, at one and the same time, as a product to be taxed, a threat to social order, a danger to public health and an economic activity to be fostered. Differing government departments, with their differing responsibilities, have implemented contradictory policies, and this has been complicated by the interaction of parliament, pressure groups and local government.

Records relating to alcohol production and consumption are widely scattered amongst the archives of parliament, local authorities, private companies and individuals. The records of the central departments of state and courts of law on this subject, however, are held together at the Public Record Office, and are an invaluable source for research.

The state has taxed the importation, production and retailing of alcohol for many centuries. A record of this activity can be found in the documents produced by the accounting sections of the Exchequer and by the revenue boards. On the other hand, the threat to public order presented by drunkenness and the congregation of the lower orders in inns is amply documented in Elizabethan wine licenses and in the State Papers. This threat was met by licensing retail outlets, an activity supervised by the Home Office from the mid‐19th century, and by the suppression of disorder, as revealed in the records of the Metropolitan Police. More subtle forms of ‘control’ can be seen in the activities of the Central Control Board, established in 1915 in an attempt virtually to nationalize the alcohol industry in areas where munition workers were active. The CCB came under the authority of the Home Secretary and as such its records have been preserved with those of the Home Office. These records also contain information on the Home Secretary's responsibilities for the supervision of retreats for habitual drunkards under the various Inebriates Acts of the late 19th century. At the same time, however, the records of the Board of Trade, and of the Colonial and Dominions Offices, show the state actively fostering the export of alcohol as a valuable component of British trade. Information relating to the commercial production of alcohol can be found in the records of the Companies Registration Office and of the companies liquidation and winding up proceedings in Chancery and the Supreme Court.

An overview of policy in these matters can be found in the records of the Cabinet Office and of the Treasury, the latter being responsible for the financial sanction of civil service expenditure. The Treasury appears to have been more interested in the quiet manipulation of price and alcohol content than in outright intervention.

The records of many of these bodies are complex and voluminous and the PRO provides readers with explanatory guides and advice.
‘The Cry of the Children’: The Edwardian Medical Campaign Against Maternal Drinking
Authors: Gutzke David W.
Published: January 2006

In the years 1899‐1907 a new critique of alcohol evolved which pointed to increasing female insobriety as a factor in infant mortality. Exploiting the opportunity of a governmental committee appointed to investigate physical deterioration, 14 leading medical doctors, well known for their antipathy to drink, submitted evidence which subsequently formed the basis for the Report's conclusion associating alcoholic abuse with racial deterioration. Between 1905 and 1907 six of these doctors, together with Sir Thomas Brunton and Professor Sims Wood head, orchestrated concern over drink's deleterious impact on pregnant women and babies. By condemning alcohol as one important source of infant deaths and national inefficiency, these anti‐drink doctors, all except one numbers of the Society for the Study of Inebriety, encouraged the medical profession to adopt a more critical public posture towards drink and compelled the Government to permit hygiene and temperance instruction in elementary schools. They further provided the rationale early in 1907 for George Sims’ newspaper articles, which emphasized the imperial consequences of Britain's high infant mortality. He alone publicized the prevalence of babies and small children taken into public houses, where they were given alcohol or contracted fatal respiratory diseases. Breast milk contaminated with alcohol also endangered their lives. Following these revelations, sympathizers formed the Tribune Committee, and, with the support of the eight anti‐drink doctors and others, helped translate Sims’ proposal to prohibit children under 14 from licensed premises into legislation.
Understanding the Nature of Investigations into Alleged Fraud in Alcohol Research: A Reply to Walker & Roach
Authors: Doob Anthony N.
Published: January 2006

The major points of the ‘Critique’ written by Walker and Roach are reviewed and examined in light of information presently available to any interested follower of the controversy relating to the research published by Doctors Mark and Linda Sobell. The criticisms of the Report of the Committee are found to be unpersuasive and in each instance do not challenge the approach, findings, or conclusions of the Committee.
Drinking in Longitudinal Perspective: Career and Natural History
Authors: Edwards Griffith
Published: January 2006

Longitudinal studies of drinking are now of great importance. Two concepts need to be distinguished. Career is the evolution of the individual's role, while Natural History pertains to the sequential development in tissue or body‐system reactivity to alcohol. The richness of ideas and research opportunities relating seperately to each of these dimensions is discussed, and also the need for synthesis.
The Relationship Between Coping Behaviours, their Effectiveness and Alcoholism Relapse and Survival
Authors: Litman Gloria K. , Stapleton John , Oppenheim A. N. , Peleg Michelle , Jackson Paul
Published: January 2006

The results of a Principal Components analysis of the Effectiveness of Coping Behaviours Inventory (ECBl) administered to 256 hospitalized alcoholic patients are compared with the results of the Coping Behaviours Inventory (CBI) administered to the same sample and also compared with a reanalysis of data obtained from‘a different sample 5years ago. The results indicate that the factor structure of the ECBI and CBI are similar. The four factors emerging from the present study, accounting for 59 per cent of the variance were:

1. Positive Thinking

2. Negative Thinking

3. Avoidance/Distraction

4. Seeking Social Supports

While the scores on the CBI at intake did not discriminate between subsequent relapsers and survivors, the factor scores on the ECBI at intake on‘Positive Thinking'and ‘Avoidance/Distraction’ were found to be predictive of subsequent outcome 6 to 12 months later. The clinical implications are discussed in terms of coping strategies for relapse prevention treatment.
Wine Production in the European Community since 1975
Authors: Kortteinen Timo
Published: January 2006

The article deals with the production of wine in the European Community since 1975. The Common Wine Policy of the Community is part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EC. Production of wine has increased in the Community at an average of 1 per cent a year since the beginning of the 1960s. At the same time consumption has remained stable which has resulted in a permanent surplus in wine. The policies of the EC aim to cope with this surplus and reduce it. The structure of wine production, the price system and the intervention procedures taken by the Community bodies are analysed in the article. The success of these efforts to control, reorganize and restructure the production of wine is discussed and evaluated.
Alcohol and Hypertension
Authors: Potter J. F. , Bannan L. T. , Beevers D. G.
Published: January 2006

Although a link between excessive alcohol consumption and hypertension was first suggested early this century, little attention was paid to this and it is only in the last decade that the association has become established. Support for the concept of alcohol as a cause of hypertension derives from (1) the demonstration in general population samples that blood pressure is significantly correlated with alcohol intake, (2) the high prevalence of hypertension in alcohol–dependent subjects which is reversible on abstinence, (3) the high frequency with which elevated MCV, serum transaminase and serum γGT levels are found in hypertensive patients and (4) the recent finding that alcohol has a direct pressor effect in such patients. There are probably at least two different mechanisms underlying alcohol–induced hypertension. In alcohol–dependent patients, hypertension is particularly common during withdrawal from alcohol and this may reflect stimulation of corticosteroid, catecholamine and vasopressin production. The direct pressor effect may be due to alcohol induced arteriolar vasoconstriction. Alcohol–induced hypertension is a common clinical problem. More emphasis should be placed on its detection, for with reduction or cessation of alcohol consumption, blood pressure will return to normal in many patients and antihypertensive drug therapy can thus be avoided.
Physiological Reactivity to Alcohol Cues and the Awareness of an Alcohol Effect in a Double‐Blind Placebo Design*
Authors: Kaplan Richard F. , Meyer Roger E. , Virgilio Lynn M.
Published: January 2006

Skin conductance level (SCL) was recorded during the presentation of a beer drink in 16 alcoholic patients. The instructions to subjects stated that the ‘beer’ that was to be consumed‘may or may not contain alcohol. ‘Following consumption of either real beer or placebo (non‐alcoholic malt beverage) the subjects were asked if they thought they had just consumed an alcoholic drink. SCL increases to the presentation of beer stimuli prior to consumption were highest among alcoholics who perceived the drink as ‘real beer’ following consumption. Perception of the drink as‘real bee' was not related to receiving real beer. The data suggest that autonomic reactivity to alcohol‐related cues can facilitate and/or interact with the expectations surrounding alcohol consumption in alcohol dependent individuals.
The Use of the Short‐Form Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire (SADD) in Brazilian Alcoholic Patients *
Authors: Jorge Miguel Roberto , Masur Jandira
Published: January 2006

The possibility of applying the short‐form Alcohol Dependence Data questionnaire (SADD) to an interview situation was tested in an alcoholic sample. This was in contrast to using the self‐completion questionnaire as was originally proposed.

The correlation between the SADD, when applied to an interview situation and the SADD, when used as a self‐completion questionnaire, as evaluated by the Spearman correlation coefficient, was r= 0.81. A test‐retest reliability using the self‐completed form provided a correlation of r= 0.90. Split‐half reliability obtained far both the interview and self‐completion questionnaire yielded correlations of r= 0.88 and r= 0.82 respectively. The interview version of the SADD can, therefore, be utilised with illiterate subjects. Furthermore, it has provided data showing that the SADD clearly discriminated between a sample of normal volunteers (n= 55) and a sample of alcoholics (n= 50).
International Review Series: Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Research 5. Australia
Authors: Drew L. R. H.
Published: January 2006

In Australia interest and skills in alcohol‐related research mirrored the growth in alcohol consumption and its related problems from 1950–1974, but have increased in the last decade, despite a levelling out of consumption. The public debate stimulated by the Baume report promoted research interest, as did the specific allocation of funds by the brewers and the NH & MRC. Nevertheless, research still lacks coordination, is dependent on the interest of individuals, and is heavily weighted in favour of the biological. Less attention has been paid to social research, or to the evaluation of treatment programmes. However with the increasing overall level of funding, the development of specialised college courses and innovative medical school curricula, and the existence of a specialised journal for the publication of findings, the future for alcoholism research in Australia looks quite promising.
The Organisational Politics of Alcohol Control Policy ⋆
Authors: Casswell Sally
Published: January 2006

An increasing emphasis on the stabilisation or reduction of alcohol consumption levels in order to prevent alcohol‐related problems highlights the conflicts of interest in the alcohol arena.

The role of national organisations established to deal with alcohol policy issues is constrained by the need to reconcile conflicts with and between a variety of vested interests, of which major ones include the alcohol industry and government. The structure and funding of such an organisation is an important aspect of its ability to carry out its role.

The recent New Zealand experience of the Alcoholic Liquor Advisory Council is considered as a case history illustrating the likely obstacles to implementation of a ‘control of consumption’ prevention policy.
An Integrated Value‐Expectancy Theory of Alcohol and Other Drug Use
Authors: Hays Ron
Published: January 2006

The internal‐external locus of control construct, Health‐Belief Model, Theory of Reasoned Action, Differential Association‐Reinforcement Theory, and Problem Behavior Theory all stem from general value‐expectancy theory. Ironically, none of these theories contain a full account of social learning, from developmental process to current personality. In this theoretical paper, these value‐expectancy theories are integrated into a conceptual framework which provides a common basis for understanding the usage of alcohol and other drugs.
International Review Series: Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Research 2. Japan
Authors: Suwaki Hiroshi
Published: January 2006

In Japan, alcohol consumption and alcohol‐related problems have rapidly increased since the industrial development after World War II, and in 1980, 1.9 per cent of the total Japanese population were estimated to be heavy drinkers, while 6‐per cent of psychiatric beds were occupied by alcoholics. The number of women alcoholics and incidence of the fetal alcohol syndrome are, however, extremely low in Japan mainly due to cultural restraints on drinking in women. The ratio of alcoholic liver disease to total liver disease was 10.7 per cent in a nationwide survey in 1977, and high percentages of hepatic fibrosis and mild alcoholic hepatitis were the chief histological features of Japanese alcoholic liver disease.

Racial and individual differences in the alcohol flushing response are of interest, and half of the Japanese exhibit facial flushing after drinking a small amount of alcohol. Japanese subjects with a low Km deficient isozyme of ALDH showed a high level of blood acetaldehyde and facial flushing.

Danushukai, Cyanamide and Naikan Therapy have had the greatest impact on the development of alcoholism treatment in Japan. Regarding mortality among alcoholics, liver disease, suicide, accidents and cerebro‐vascular disease showed higher death rates than in the general population.
Vasopressin Concentrations during Alcohol Withdrawal
Authors: Eisenhofer Graeme , Lambie David G. , Whiteside Edwin A. , Johnson Ralph H.
Published: January 2006

Blood samples were obtained from 44 alcoholics during withdrawal and analysed for plasma vasopressin, osmolality and ethanol. Control samples were obtained from 23 normal subjects and 28 abstinent alcoholics. Urine samples were also collected and analysed for vasopressin, sodium, creatinine and osmolality. Alcoholics showing symptoms of withdrawal had elevated plasma and urine vasopressin concentrations compared to control subjects and withdrawing alcoholics without symptoms. No significant difference in plasma osmolality was evident. Raised plasma vasopressin concentrations during alcohol withdrawal may be due to dehydration, nausea or liver disease, or may be a direct consequence of alterations in central nervous system function associated with the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Whether increased plasma vasopressin concentratons contribute to water retention and overhydration during alcohol withdrawal remains to be determined.
Intravenous Nicotine Simulation of Passive Smoking to Estimate Dosage to Exposed Non‐Smokers
Authors: Russell M. A. H. , West R. J. , Jarvis M. J.
Published: January 2006

To estimate nicotine intake from passive smoking, six subjects received slow intravenous infusions of known doses of nicotine at a steady rate over one hour. The plasma and urinary nicotine concentrations produced by the infusions were compared with those found in previous studies of non‐smokers exposed to tobacco smoke, in non‐smokers in the general population, and in smokers during and after smoking their first cigarette of the day. It was estimated that the average rate of nicotine absorption was 0.23 mg/hr in a group of non‐smokers exposed in a poorly ventilated public house, 0.36 mg/hr in non‐smokers exposed to more extreme conditions in a smoke‐filled unventilated room, and that the average daily‐life exposure of a sample of 188 urban non‐smokers was 0.014 mg nicotine per hour. In contrast, the dose absorbed by three smokers from their first cigarette of the day averaged 1.4 mg nicotine. The results indicate that when passive exposure of non‐smokers results in carbon monoxide intake equivalent to the active smoking of one cigarette, the amount of nicotine absorbed is much less ‐ equivalent to about one third of a cigarette dose. In view of the small samples and various assumptions in deriving these estimates, they can only be viewed as approximate.