Daniele Zullino
MD; PhD; FMH; Chief of Department at University Hospital of Geneva - Addictology Department
Abstract:
The use of psychoactive substances can occur for a variety of mutually non-exclusive reasons. The understanding of these consumption motives can be relevant for anthropological, social, preventive, therapeutic, harm reduction and/or policy-related reasons. Among various standardized questionnaires investigating about consumption motives, those derived from the Drinking Motives Questionnaire (e.g., Marijuana Motives Measure) are the most common used in research.
In the present study, 100 psilocybin users were asked about their motives for magic mushroom use via an online questionnaire, and the motives-profile then compared with data from similar studies concerning alcohol and cannabis use.
The comparison between cannabis and alcohol users revealed for the former especially social and enhancement motives, for the latter primarily social motives. Compared to cannabis and alcohol, psilocybin users listed the motives social, conformity, and coping considerably lower. Enhancement clearly stood out as the main motive.
Bio:
He studied medicine at the University of Basel and did his doctorate on family risk factors for tobacco addiction. He continued his training in Basel, Königsfelden, Zurich and Lausanne and obtained the title of FMH specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy in 1997. Head of the Addictology Service of the Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry at the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) since 2005, Daniele Zullino was appointed privat-docent in 2006 and lecturer in 2009. His field of expertise is addiction and more particularly the evaluation and treatment of automated behaviors. He collaborates with the WHO, in particular on the development and validation of screening and early addictology intervention tools.