Canadian Journal of Addiction Medicine

I've just received my third edition of the Canadian Journal of Addiction Medicine. It's Vol. 1 Number 3, ISSN 1923-1210. November 2010. The editor is Michael Varenbut, MD It's the official journal of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine. I read the previous two editions cover to cover and thoroughly loved them.
I've been a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine for a number of years and can't recall ever reading any of that journal cover to cover. It's had it's good editions though and I've enjoyed some of the articles.
I've been a member of CSAM since long before they actually had a journal, when people like Dr. Nady el Guebaly sent around his notes or emails to keep members informed of what was happening next. The Canadian Journal of Addiction Medicine, is simply that much better. It's even glossy and attractive thanks to the sponsorship of the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres.
The Canadian Journal of Addiction Medicine is a real mix of information from research, academia and certainly from the clinical side of things. I read so much in Addiction Medicine about the brain and so often can't see a body, and god forbid, a mind in all the chemistry. I love this journal because it's real.

This months feature article "Yin and yang in regulation of alcohol and sucrose intake by CRF1 and CRF2 receptors by Elena Timofeeve, Faculty of Medicine, Psychiatry and Neuroscience , University Laval, Quebec is cutting edge science, the sort of read I usually get in my Nature magazine. Fascinating stuff for those of us who love to follow afternoon television Prefrontal Glutamate and Accumbens GABA Accumbens in their threesomes with VAT "Dopamine". It's a regular unfolding drama of the first order. Elena has added another piece in the middle east story of CRF1 antagonists and CRF2 agonists.

The Vienna Declaration addresses the criminalization of illicit drug users fueling the HIV epidemic. Who would know the sociology of drug addiction and health and bring forward better the controversies of public health and policies than my colleagues in Addiction Medicine. This is very hot stuff. Scientists, Drs. Montaner, Werb and Wood take up where Elliott Ness got bogged down in ego and machine guns boy bling.

The CSAM 2010 Basics and Beyond Abstracts summarizes the October 2010 conference very well and makes me simply wish I was there. I just love this kind of reporting. Reams of information, whole talks reduced to a paragraph with the critical gist of what has been said summarized by people in the know. I can go to the source then when I need more in depth information.

News from Across Canada gives us the views of Dr. Bill Doran from Nova Scotia, Dr. Jeff Daiter and Dr. Sharone Girone from Ontario and Dr. Paul Sobey from British Columbia.

That's followed by only a couple of pages of committee information brief and to the point. I think this must reflect the journals excellence in editing. Committee reports can contribute to stimulant addiction as much as committees themselves so it speaks highly of these committee members and their reports that they actually have limited themselves to relevant information.

Finally there is information from the doctors working with Corrections Canada and workplace medicine.

In the Bulletin by CSAM President Dr. Brian Fern he noted that the annual CSAM conference was in Vancouver in November this year. No doubt the next edition fo the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine will report on the success of that conference. He also reports the next conference of the International Society of Addiction Medicine as Sept 6-11 2011 in Oslo Norway. Having just attended the ISAM 2010 conference in Milan I was so impressed with the science, politics, clinical relevance and challenging information presented there, I can only think Oslo will be as exciting.

The back cover lists the Board of Directors of CSAM so we all know who we can approach for membership renewal and how to connect with others in the field across Canada.

This is a great journal. I love this 3rd edition as much as the ones before. I've actually taken it home to read on the weekend. It's all so clinically relevant and interesting. Addiction is such a disturbing and depressing issue yet this journal is up lifting and hopeful. Well done!!

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