TY - JOUR
T1 - Unrestricted access to methamphetamine or cocaine in the past is associated with increased current use
AU - Culbertson, C.
AU - De La Garza, R.
AU - Costello, M.
AU - Newton, T. F.
PY - 2009/6
Y1 - 2009/6
N2 - Laboratory animals allowed to self-administer stimulants for extended periods of time escalate drug intake compared to animals that self-administer under temporally limited conditions. To our knowledge, this phenomenon has not been systematically investigated in humans. We interviewed 106 (77 male, 29 female) methamphetamine (Meth) and 96 (81 male, 15 female) cocaine (Coc) users to determine if they had experienced discrete period(s) of unrestricted access to unlimited quantities of Meth or Coc in the past. Fifty-eight Meth users and 53 Coc users reported having a discrete period of unrestricted access in the past, but not in the present. Meth-using participants with a prior history of unrestricted access reported significantly more current Meth use, compared to Meth users with no prior history of unrestricted access. Specifically, these participants reported more days used in the past 30 d, more days of use per week, greater use per day and greater total use per week (p<0.05 for each). Coc-using participants with a prior history of unrestricted access also reported significantly more current Coc use, compared to Coc users with no prior history of unrestricted access. This was true across all measures of current use for these participants, including more days used in the past 30 d, more days of use per week, greater use per day, and higher total use per week (p<0.02 for each). Taken together, these results suggest that a history of unrestricted access to stimulants is associated with long-lasting increases in stimulant use.
AB - Laboratory animals allowed to self-administer stimulants for extended periods of time escalate drug intake compared to animals that self-administer under temporally limited conditions. To our knowledge, this phenomenon has not been systematically investigated in humans. We interviewed 106 (77 male, 29 female) methamphetamine (Meth) and 96 (81 male, 15 female) cocaine (Coc) users to determine if they had experienced discrete period(s) of unrestricted access to unlimited quantities of Meth or Coc in the past. Fifty-eight Meth users and 53 Coc users reported having a discrete period of unrestricted access in the past, but not in the present. Meth-using participants with a prior history of unrestricted access reported significantly more current Meth use, compared to Meth users with no prior history of unrestricted access. Specifically, these participants reported more days used in the past 30 d, more days of use per week, greater use per day and greater total use per week (p<0.05 for each). Coc-using participants with a prior history of unrestricted access also reported significantly more current Coc use, compared to Coc users with no prior history of unrestricted access. This was true across all measures of current use for these participants, including more days used in the past 30 d, more days of use per week, greater use per day, and higher total use per week (p<0.02 for each). Taken together, these results suggest that a history of unrestricted access to stimulants is associated with long-lasting increases in stimulant use.
KW - Cocaine
KW - Methamphetamine
KW - Unrestricted access
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=69749091998&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=69749091998&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1461145708009668
DO - 10.1017/S1461145708009668
M3 - Article
C2 - 19220922
AN - SCOPUS:69749091998
SN - 1461-1457
VL - 12
SP - 677
EP - 685
JO - International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
JF - International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
IS - 5
ER -