Drugs and genetics

Why is it that some people who have experienced a difficult childhood have very few problems in adulthood? Others have a happy family life and yet they develop problems during adolescence or adulthood. Drug and alcohol dependence, which affects people from a whole range of backgrounds, tends to run in families.

Many studies have found that genetics are important in alcohol dependence and, although less is known about drug dependence, there is strong evidence that genes play an important role. This is also true for a range of other mental health problems.

However, not all of these problems can be explained by genetics; research also suggests that childhood experiences are important. So far, the research studies have been too small to tell us much about how genetics and childhood experience combine to cause drug and mental health problems.

We know a little bit about the genetic influence upon the development of some drug problems, but our knowledge is limited largely to the legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol.

The available evidence suggests that there is some genetic effect upon some people’s vulnerability to developing a problem with their drug use if they begin use; in other words, there is a tendency for a vulnerability to having problems with alcohol to be passed down through family lines.

Although this influence has been identified for alcohol, the picture remains much less clear for drugs that are illegal. This is largely because illicit drug use is much less common, and much of the work done in this area has been conducted in the US, where the focus has been on the legal drugs.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre is running a large research project to try to find out more about the genetics of drug problems and associated mental health problems. The study will look at which childhood experiences are important in the development of drug problems. It will also look at the type of mental health problems experienced by regular drug users.

In addition to recruiting people with drug use and mental health problems, NDARC is looking for a large group of participants who do not have these problems (a control group). This group will be used as a comparison group to try to determine which genetic characteristics and childhood experiences are risk factors for drug use and mental health problems.

If you’re interested in alcohol and other drug research but have never fitted the criteria necessary to take part, NDARC researchers are now looking for male participants, with or without a history of drug use. If you are keen to be a part of this valuable project and would like more information, please call the project hotline on 9385 0283 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Remember: if you do not want any negative consequences, do not use the drug and, no matter how many times you have used a substance, never be blas?/p>