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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2006.04.002 Byline: Patrick Peretti-Watel (a)(b)(c), Sandrine Halfen (d), Isabelle Gremy (d) Keywords: Smoking cessation; Intention to quit; Beliefs; Risk denial; France Abstract: In most developed countries, a significant part of the population is still smoking despite comprehensive tobacco control policies. Among other reasons, many smokers may endorse self-exempting beliefs that help them to deny the smoking hazards for themselves. We investigated the relationship between smokers' risk denial and their readiness to quit making use of a French cross-sectional survey conducted in the Paris Ile-de-France Region (N =939 smokers). Self-exempting beliefs were quite widespread among participants and two of them were significant predictors of a low readiness to quit: considering that one's cigarette consumption is too low to be harmful and believing that one's way of smoking can protect from smoking-related diseases. Future tobacco control messages and interventions should specifically address these self-exempting beliefs that reduce smokers' cognitive dissonance and then inhibit their willingness to quit. Author Affiliation: (a) Centre for Disease Control of South-Eastern France, 23 rue Stanislas Torrents, 13006 Marseilles, France (b) National Health and Medical Research Institute (INSERM), Research Unit 379, Marseilles, France (c) French National Cancer Institute (INCA), 52 avenue Andre Morizet 92513 Boulogne Billancourt Cedex, France (d) Health Monitoring Centre of Paris Ile-de-France Region (ORSIF), 21-23 rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France

The use of cannabis to enhance sportive and non-sportive performance among French sport university students is studied. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was administered to a sample of students from six Sport Science Universities from southern France and information on sport practice and cannabis use was collected.

The prescribing of an ineffective dosage of buprenorphine or a potentially dangerous treatment by many general practitioners (GPs) from southeastern France is reported. The results highlight the necessity for clear guidelines, especially concerning situations of polyaddition and psychiatric comorbidity, and to extend and improve buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT) training in France with a renewed involvement of health authorities for quality control of such training.