Episodes
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In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor David Hammond about vaping. They discuss policy differences between the Canada, the UK and the US as well as changes relating to disposable vapes and the use of nicotine salts. They cover the environmental impact of some of these products before talking about the different choices available to policymakers when developing regulations.
“What the change has meant in England is that there’s probably more room for regulating some of these [vaping] products without undermining their use as a cessation aid”Original article: Use of disposable e-cigarettes among youth who vape in Canada, England, and the United States: repeat cross-sectional surveys, 2017-2023 by David Hammond and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024).
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Dr Aleksi Hamina from the Norwegian centre for addiction research at the University of Oslo and the Niuvanniemi Hospital in Finland. They discuss a recent paper co-authored by Dr Hamina in which the team matched large national datasets to identify excess mortality among people who use drugs that can be attributed to cancers. They found increases in incidences and mortality according to liver, lung, larynx and pancreas cancers.
They highlight the impact of smoking, alcohol use and hepatitis, and discuss the policy implications of knowing the impact that these issues have on the mortality of people who use drugs. These include ensuring good access to healthcare and reviewing the thresholds for onwards referral when symptoms of cancer are identified.
“There is a more than twofold relative increase in cancer mortality in this population”Original article: Increased cancer incidence and mortality among people with opioid use-related disorders: A nation-wide cohort study by Emil Kostovski and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024).
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Missing episodes?
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In this episode, Dr Rob Calder talks to Dr Lindsey Hines about her study using longitudinal data to examine links between cannabis use, cannabis potency and psychotic experiences. Dr Hines talks about using Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) data - also known as 'Children of the Nineties' and discusses why psychosis and cannabis potency are important to measure and some of the challenges of doing so with both.
"In unregulated markets like the UK where it's illegal to use cannabis....better health messaging and better awareness among those using cannabis of those potential outcomes is the way that we can go".Original article: Incident psychotic experiences following self-reported use of high-potency cannabis: Results from a longitudinal cohort study by Lindsey A. Hines and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
Also in this podcast: Testing the validity of national drug surveys: comparison between a general population cohort and household surveys by Hannah Charles and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2021)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor Jonathan Caulkins about self-reported cannabis use in the US between 1979 and 2022 and how those trends compare with alcohol use over the same period. The research focused on four specific time points, measuring cannabis prevalence against US policy changes. Dr Wadsworth and Professor Caulkins then talk about differences between cannabis and alcohol as intoxicants and the impact that cannabis regulations have on cannabis use and the intensity of cannabis use.
Professor Caulkins also discusses the limitations of self-report when it comes to substance use, and how this is amplified when asking people about the impact that substance use is having on them and their families. He suggests instead asking people how other people’s substance use is affecting them in order to estimate harms from cannabis use.
“Back in 1992 it [cannabis] was essentially a recreational or party drug, sort of a weekend activity and now it has morphed into something that is part of the daily routine for about 40% of its current users.”Original article: Changes in self-reported cannabis use in the United States from 1979 to 2022 by Jonathan Caulkins and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Ben Scher talks to Dr Kathleen Page about her evaluation of an integrated care van that ran in Baltimore offering healthcare interventions and buprenorphine prescribing. Dr Page discusses using a cluster randomised trial to compare outcomes in different neighbourhoods (those where the van did and didn't go) and to explore whether the van was effective at improving health outcomes for people who inject drugs.
Dr Page also talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the research as well as the specific needs of people who accessed the van.
"When you go out on the van you really are serving a different group, a much more under-served group of people who generally mistrust or don't access the health system unless it's an emergency."Original article: Integrated care van delivery of evidence-based services for people who inject drugs: A cluster-randomized trial by Kathleen Page and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Rob Calder talks to Dr Germán Carrasquilla about his study assessing whether smoking cased increases in abdominal obesity or belly fat. They discuss the implications of this kind of fat and note the importance of the findings for people who struggle to quit smoking. Germán talks about using Mendelian randomisation to identify a causal association between smoking and abdominal obesity. The findings, that 'smoking initiation and higher lifetime smoking may lead to increased abdominal fat', add evidence and important detail to the known health benefits of quitting smoking.
"People who might be afraid of quitting smoking due to putting on weight find these findings motivating to quit smoking because smoking increases this problematic internal fat which is a risk factor for many other diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease."Original article: Estimating causality between smoking and abdominal obesity by Mendelian randomization by Germán Carrasquilla and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Dr Adam Bakker, Professor Michael Liebrenz and Dr Alexander Smith about their commentary in response to a previous paper by Domzaridou and colleages (2023). They discuss the complexities of providing treatment for people who use, and are prescribed, opiates, opiate agonist medications and benzodiazepines. They talk about using a combination of medical and non-medical treatments when working with people who use benzodiazepines as well as the research needed to bring clarity to this pressing clinical issue.
"This population is notoriously difficult to engage, but we should go the extra mile to retain them in treatment because of this high mortality."Original Article: Comment on Domzaridou et al.: Recognising the complexities of co-prescriptions and lifestyle factors in opioid agonist treatment by Adam Bakker and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024).
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Ben Scher talks to Dr Gabriela Khazanov, Professor James McKay and Professor Richard Rawson. They discuss what contingency management is and how effective it can be in treatment settings. They also talk about how contingency management can be used for stimulant use disorders; an area where there are relatively few evidence-based treatments.
the team goes on to discuss implementation of contingency management in the US and the barriers faced by practitioners such as predominant ethical concerns. They also cover how attitudes towards contingency management have changed over the past decade. The paper that was published in Addiction looked at ways to improve dissemination and implementation of contingency management.
Often patients are not able to re-engage in contingency management if they drop out or they’re not allowed to repeat contingency management. And all of that was done to prevent fraud and waste and those kinds of concerns. But we don’t limit other kinds of treatment. We don’t limit behavioural therapy, typically we don’t limit the ability to take medications that could potentially be effective.Original article: Should contingency management protocols and dissemination practices be modified to accommodate rising stimulant use and harm reduction frameworks? by Gabriele Khazanov and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024).
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Dr Caroline Copeland about her work analysing drug death data to identify drug use trends, harms and to inform policy. Caroline talks about how xylazine first entered the US drug market but has been increasingly identified in Europe and the UK, even being identified in vapes sold as containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Caroline covers the harms from xylazine and the implications for public health practitioners before relating the UK issues to wider global drug markets.
"The other really nasty thing that xylazine does is that it can cause blood vessels to contract, and our tissues need blood.....to survive, and if we're closing off those blood vessels, that tissue is going to die and it's going to turn into sores on your skin. And if they get infected it can lead to amputation"Dr Caroline Copeland is a senior lecturer in pharmacology and toxicology at King’s College London and the director of the National Programme on Substance Use Mortality.
Original article: Broad evidence of xylazine in the UK illicit drug market beyond heroin supplies, triangulating from toxicology, drug testing and law enforcement by Caroline Copeland and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Paul Griffiths about synthetic drug production in Europe including the differences between lab-made substances and diverted medical drugs. They discuss organised crime and its impact on cocaine production, drug availability and the potential for drug contamination. They also cover fentanyl and the potential for a heroin drought resulting from changes in opium production in Afghanistan.
Paul talks about the complexities of European drug markets explaining how they commonly respond to changes in both supply and demand. Elle and Paul then discuss how researchers can monitor drug trends through wastewater analysis and other methods.
“These are often very small labs, but because of the potency of these drugs, it means very small production runs can have quite a big impact on local drug consumption patterns and mortality and morbidity. So we saw a few years ago, ten or fifteen years, one lab in central Europe we had a very brief outbreak of deaths in about three countries all related to a very very small, a kitchen lab it was actually in someone’s kitchen but it had an impact.”Paul Griffiths is the scientific director for the EMCDDA – the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Original article: Opioid problems are changing in Europe with worrying signals that synthetic opioids may play a more significant role in the future by Paul Griffiths and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Dr Merve Mollaahmetoglu talks to Dr Molly Bowdring about her recent article on the impact of alcohol-free drinks such as zero-percent beers, wines and mocktails. Molly talks about using survey data to explore different patterns, such as using non-alcoholic drinks to slow alcohol consumption, to alternate days or as part of someones recovery. Merve and Molly discuss the occasional differences between how people think non-alcoholic drinks change their alcohol consumption and what actually happens to their overall use.
If you're somebody who already uses them, be reflective about how is this impacting your desire for alcohol and your consumption in that same night or across the week and just be curious about the relation between your non-alcoholic beverage use and your alcohol use.Original article: Non-alcoholic beverage consumption among US adults who consume alcohol by Molly Bowdring and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2024)
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Rob Calder talks to Dr Philip Newall about how the gambling industry frames the evidence on gambling advertising. Philip talks about researching the kinds of bets that are commonly advertised, explaining how they are often projected to be 'good' bets when the chances of winning are very small.
"It's really got the two sides of the coin there in that it appears really attractive, but actually it's the bookmaker that's really winning the most. And that's the underlying psychology in how they're able to offer things that seem good but are actually really profitable for them."Philip also talks about how difficult it can be corralling 50 people into co-writing a short letter.
Dr Philip Newall is a lecturer in psychological science at the University of Bristol, a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (although speaking on this podcast in an independent capacity) and the joint winner of the Society for the Study of Addiction’s Impact Prize in 2023.
Original article: No evidence of harm’ implies no evidence of safety: Framing the lack of causal evidence in gambling advertising research by Philip Newall and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Zoe Swithenbank talks to Professor Robert West about his work on ontologies within addictions. Robert begins by summarising the definitions and constructions that relate to addiction, as well as their meanings and the implications for treatment. He also explains how different definitions can frustrate progress in addiction-related research.
Zoe and Robert then discuss how the addictions sector can learn from other sciences - particularly the biological sciences - about how to use those definitions, labels and ontologies to aid research. Robert covers the work on AddictO Vocab (https://addictovocab.org/) and explains the goal to develop a well-defined construct for anything that anyone might want to refer to in a research paper.
"Ontologies are very specific ways of representing the world that have been developed primarily for use in computer science and data science.... They are very formal systems for representing things called entities. Entities are literally anything you can imagine whether it's real or not real. So 'unicorn' for example, can be an entity for example, as can 'addiction' - as can 'horse'."Original article: Achieving consensus, coherence, clarity and consistency when talking about addiction by Robert West and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Sammie Back and Emese Kroon about nitrous oxide. The discussion happened on 8 November 2023, on the day that possession of nitrous oxide became a Class C substance in the UK. The group discuss the existing evidence for harms, addiction and other disorders, exploring this relatively under-researched area.
They cover the lack of research and how researchers can begin to understand what's happening when a drug's popularity rapidly increases. They also talk about how people use nitrous oxide and in which circumstances use might be more likely. Finally, they relate nitrous oxide against criteria for substance use disorders taken from DSM-5 and discuss the implications from their findings.
"We just need more data.... For a drug used this regularly, it's honestly quite astounding that we have so little scientific evidence to inform the public also healthcare professionals and policy makers." Emese Kroon
Original article: Does nitrous oxide addiction exist? An evaluation of the evidence for the presence and prevalence of substance use disorder symptoms in recreational nitrous oxide users by Sammie Back and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and presenters and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Professor Gerald (Jerry) Cochran about his article based on a randomized multisite pilot trial investigating the impact of Patient Navigation. Jerry begins by describing Patient Navigation, explaining how it works and how it can help people stay engaged in care. The research team explored whether this approach helps pregnant people to stay in contact with treatment services.
Jerry then go on to discus the next steps for his research and explains how his research findings might be scaled up to influence policy. Jerry describes how Patient Navigation could be implemented within US Medicaid programmes summarising the data that would be needed to scale up the intervention. They then reflect on the economic implications for Medicade or state insurers.
"That's really exiting and it's really satisfying when you're able to identify a partner like a Medicaid programme or a large pharmacy chain.... and help them integrate into their workflow into their systems something that might help patients and think 'oh wow'. You know, not only could we help patients in a single clinic but we could help people in a state or across the country"
Original article: Patient Navigation for Pregnant Persons with Opioid Use Disorder: Results of a Randomized Multisite Pilot Trial by Gerald Cochran and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the hosts and authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Rob Calder talks to Francesco Manca about his research on Scotland's Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) policy for alcohol, and specifically about the impact that MUP has had on road traffic accidents. Francesco discusses how the research team selected appropriate comparitors to assess whether changes to road traffic accidents could be attributed to MUP. He also talks about how this study compares with previous studies that used similar datasets yet drew different conclusions. He describes how understanding the subtle differences between time frames and outcomes can aid researchers to gain an in-depth understanding of alcohol regulation.
"The original 50 pence as a floor price .... maybe too low over the years as it can be eroded by external factors such as inflation - so maybe indexing with inflation may create a more consistent effect of the policy over time"Original article: Evaluating the impact of minimum unit pricing for alcohol on road traffic accidents in Scotland after 20 months: an interrupted time series study by Francesco Manca and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the presenter and interviewee and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Zoe Swithenbank talks to Drs Amy O'Donnell and Kat Jackson about their recent study on how to improve care for people with coexisting heavy drinking and depression. The discuss the theoretical concept of Relational Autonomy and how it influenced their research.
Amy and Kat describe how they set up the research, and in particular the challenges of recruiting participants from groups where your research is not their priority. They also talk about how much work it takes to conduct effective PPI (Patient and Public Involvement) and how important it is to do it well.
They then go through their findings, discussing how they can inform theory and clinical practice:
"A lot of people who we spoke to literally didn't have anybody. They'd been turned away from every formal health and social care service that they needed to access and they also didn't have any family relationships or friendships for various reasons. How are you supposed to get better if you don't have those?"Original article: Understanding people's experiences of the formal health and social care system for co-occurring heavy alcohol use and depression through the lens of relational autonomy: A qualitative study by Katherine Jackson and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the interviewer and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.
The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode, Rob Calder talks to Zoe Swithenbank about her recent article looking at how to improve research reports on smoking cessation trials. Zoe talks about the challenges of organising an international meeting of experts before the COVID-19 pandemic (before people were used to online working). She talks about some common errors and omissions that researchers make when reporting smoking cessation trials and how these can place limits on scientific progress. She talks about developing the CONSORT-SPI tool to help improve the ability of researchers to draw conclusions across studies.
"It was important to get that balance and try and get a good range, and we did have quite a variety of people...different backgrounds, different expertise which made for some interesting debates."Original article: Tailoring CONSORT-SPI to improve the reporting of smoking cessation intervention trials: An expert consensus study by Zoe Swithenbank and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Professor Laurence Lalanne about drug consumption rooms and the recent publication based on the COSINUS cohort study. They cover the range of interventions available in drug consumption rooms and how they can increase people's access to psychiatric support alongside barriers to accessing drug consumption rooms. Laurence talks about the epidemiological point of view in relation to the more biomedical aspects of drug consumption rooms, their objectives in reducing overdose and their impact on hospitals and the wider health-care system.
"You need a very long follow-up....we need to follow for two years and three years to show important results about mental health and to see how they improve their well-being and access to other care."This is the second of a two-part podcast. The first, featuring Dr Marie Jauffret-Roustide, can be found here.
Original article: Drug consumption rooms are effective to reduce at-risk practices associated with HIV/HCV infections among people who inject drugs: Results from the COSINUS cohort study by Laurence Lalanne and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this episode Ben Scher talks to Dr Marie Jauffret-Roustide about drug consumption rooms and the recent publication based on the COSINUS cohort study. They cover a range of issues including the history of drug consumption rooms, the evidence on effectiveness and the challenges of studying this particular intervention.They also reflect on the social determinants of health and how drug consumption rooms can have a positive impact
"We have 1% of people who attend drug consumption rooms who declared having ever shared injecting equipment in the last month before the interviews compared to 11% for people who were not exposed to drug consumption rooms"This is the first of a two-part podcast. The second, featuring Professor Laurence Lalanne can be found here.
Original article: Drug consumption rooms are effective to reduce at-risk practices associated with HIV/HCV infections among people who inject drugs: Results from the COSINUS cohort study by Laurence Lalanne and colleagues. Published in Addiction (2023).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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