Why are rates of alcohol and other substance use, dependence and abuse at least six times higher for pathological gamblers than for the general population? Does gambling hijack the pleasure centers in the brain in the same way as cocaine? Top experts and researchers explore the relationship between alcohol and drug addiction and gambling at a conference on Tues., June 12, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the CASA Wiener Conference Center at 633 Third Avenue, 19th Floor.

The conference is sponsored by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia (CASA), the Century Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. Keynote speakers include Steven E. Hyman, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, and Alan I. Leshner, Ph. D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Panel discussions include: the science of addiction; problem gamblers, substance abusers and the legal gambling boom; and the treatment and prevention of gambling and substance abuse. To register, call Lynn Galligan at 212-841-5227.