Why do we care? Notes from the periphery.
the case of alcohol dependence, using a range of characteristics, but—with one exception—without data on outcomes, thereby limiting their clinical usefulness [12]. Similar research on subtypes of illicit drug abuse is scarce, e.g. on cocaine dependence [13]. The deficit in identifying symptom clusters (as a basis for typology) within the DSM-V criteria for substance abuse disorders continues to be a handicap for clinical work. This could be part of a future research agenda [14,15]. What can be expected from the proposed changes? European drug policy has a strong focus on all problematic forms of substance use besides dependent use, and prevention as well as treatment have developed interventions tailored to the type of disorder, differentiating harmful and dependent use. In research, the proposed change will impede comparability of earlier findings. All together, the changes might affect the present preference for this instrument.