Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

C igarette smoking, which accounts for 443,000 deaths annually in the United States, has a prevalence rate of 19.8% in the general population and of 40% - 90% in patients with substance use and psychiatric disorders. The results from two smoking-cessation multi-site trials completed by NIDA's Clinical Trials Network, one with adults with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and one with patients with cocaine/methamphetamine-dependence will be presented. It has been hypothesized that smokers with ADHD use nicotine to ameliorate ADHD symptoms (i.e., self-medication hypothesis) and that they experience greater nicotine withdrawal symptoms, relative to non-ADHD smokers, increasing the difficulty of smoking cessation. Results from the smoking-cessation trial in smokers with ADHD provide some support for the self-medication hypothesis but do not support the hypothesized role of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Cigarette smoking is prevalent in cocaine/methamphetamine-dependent patients and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, yet, the provision of smoking cessation treatment in conjunction with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment is not a standard practice. This is due, in part, to concern that combining smoking cessation with SUD treatment could lead to poorer SUD outcomes. Results from the smoking-cessation trial in smokers being treated for cocaine/methamphetamine-dependence suggest that providing SCT will not worsen, and may enhance, SUD outcomes, particularly in cocaine-dependent patients. Clinical implications for the treatment of smokers with ADHD and for smokers with illicit-stimulant dependence will be discussed

Biography

Theresa Winhusen is the Director of the Addiction Sciences Division and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University Of Cincinnati College Of Medicine. Throughout the last 15 years, she has conducted NIDA-funded research to identify effective substance abuse treatments with a particular emphasis on treating nicotine and cocaine use disorders. She has been the national PI or Co-PI for six multi-site clinical trials in NIDAs Clinical Trials network (CTN) since 2001 and has been the PI of a NIDA CTN award since 2011. She is a member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. She has over 60 peer-reviewed publications. In 2010, she was the first recipient of the NIDA CTN Besteman Award, which is given for outstanding contributions to CTN's mission.