The BASIS Year-In-Review: 2024 - BASIS (The Brief Addiction Science Information Source)

Welcome to the annual BASIS Year-In-Review! It’s our pleasure to look back on our activities over the past year and look ahead to next year.

In 2024, we continued to spotlight high-quality original research regarding addiction in its many forms, and we produced op-eds written by a diverse group of addiction experts. To start us off, here are some highlights from 2024.

2024 Science Reviews
We like to use these end-of-year reflections to spotlight our most-read posts.

ASHES: The most-read ASHES of the year was a review of a study that examined smoking cessation outcomes among people with varying severities of alcohol use. In their study, Benjamin Wong and colleagues found that more severe levels of alcohol use were associated with lower odds of smoking cessation. These findings suggest that alcohol use may make recovery from smoking more difficult, and that it is important to implement alcohol reduction strategies for those in tobacco addiction treatment who are experiencing problematic alcohol use.
The WAGER: Readers were interested in our review of a study that investigated youth perceptions of celebrities and social media influencers in gambling advertisements. Hannah Pitt and colleagues found that gambling ads featuring celebrities and influencers are appealing to young people, make gambling appear more socially acceptable, and reduce the perceived risks associated with gambling. Increased regulatory efforts and more public awareness campaigns are needed to protect youth from the influences of gambling marketing.
The DRAM: The DRAM’s most-read review of 2024 considered the associations between exposure to alcohol-related content on social media, self-posting about alcohol, and alcohol consumption among youth. The study it reviewed, by Brandon Cheng and colleagues, revealed that both exposure to, and self-posting of, alcohol-related content on social media were associated with greater average alcohol consumption. These findings point to the need for educational initiatives to increase media literacy among youth, coupled with regulatory efforts to restrict alcohol-related content on social media.
STASH: Readers were interested in a study by Brandon del Pozo and colleagues that explored awareness of and comfort with access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in primary care settings among a nationally-representative sample of adults in the United States. As our review summarized, while most people felt comfortable going to or referring someone they care about to their primary care physician for MOUD, the majority did not know that is an option. Primary care practices should make more efforts to inform and educate their patients about the availability of MOUD, and take steps to integrate MOUD into their practice.

2024 Op-eds
Our op-ed writers shared their perspectives on a wide range of issues.

In recognition of the widespread public health impact of addiction, two of our op-ed writers focused on access to treatment services. Dr. Deborah Haskins called for underserved communities to have more equitable access to culturally competent addiction care, and Dr. Debi LaPlante offered suggestions for addressing the shortage of behavioral health providers trained to manage gambling-related problems.
Two more op-ed writers shared their perspectives as researchers. Dr. Timothy Edson considered the findings he and others have generated regarding big wins and other risky gambling experiences and called for the media to do more to promote responsible gambling. Dr. Kahlil Philander invited gambling researchers to be more transparent about the moral sentiments and assumptions they bring to their work.
Gambling Disorder Screening Day was the focus of two of our 2024 op-eds. Ms. Debbie Thompson, Family Resource Network Director of the Pleasants County (West Virginia) Committee on Family Issues, shared her first-hand experience of this annual and ever-expanding event. And Dr. Debi LaPlante shared her vision for Gambling Disorder Screening Day in the year 2034.

Diversifying The BASIS
We have taken efforts to diversify the group of scholars whose work we elevate. In 2022, we set the goal that at least half of the studies we review on The BASIS would be written by a member of a group traditionally underrepresented in science.¹ During 2024, at least 57% of our summaries featured research authored by individuals representing at least one traditionally underrepresented group. We look forward to continuing and advancing this approach during 2025.

What’s Coming to The BASIS in 2025?
Speaking of looking ahead, we’re happy to announce some changes coming to The BASIS!

Ms. Kira Landauer, Community Health Education Supervisor at the Division on Addiction, will become Senior Editor of The BASIS.
Dr. Seth McCullock, Research & Evaluation Scientist at the Division on Addiction, and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, will become Editor of STASH.

Free Continuing Education Opportunities
Did you know that you can earn continuing education credits by reading The BASIS? Click here to enroll for free in The BASIS Microlearning Course and other courses!

In 2025 and beyond, we invite you to join us in our mission to increase awareness about addiction, reduce addiction stigma, and improve lives.

– Heather Gray and Kira Landauer
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1. We defined “writers” as the first or last author of every journal article we reviewed. The U.S. National Institutes of Health specifies three underrepresented groups: (1) individuals from minoritized racial/ethnic groups, (2) individuals with physical or mental disabilities, and (3) individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. We added a fourth category, (4) individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.