The Health Research Board have updated their fact sheets relating to drug use and treatment in Ireland.

1. MDMA/ecstasy: the Irish situation
2. Alcohol: the Irish situation
3. Cannabis: the Irish situation.
4. Cocaine: the Irish situation
5. Opioids: the Irish situation
6. Sedatives and tranquillisers: the Irish situation
7. Smoking: the Irish situation
8. Young people, drugs and alcohol: the Irish situation.

Abstract

Background

Dependence to prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs represents an increasing public health and clinical problem both in England and internationally. However, relatively little is known about those affected, particularly in relation to their management at drug dependence treatment centres. This study aimed to explore the views and experiences of health care professionals (HCPs) working in formal drug treatment services in relation to supporting clients with prescription and OTC drug dependence.

Methods

An exploratory, qualitative design was used involving semi...

"Prevention methods using shock tactics are proven to be ineffective. Nevertheless, strategies based on predominantly providing information about the dangers of substance use are widespread in Europe. The European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) is concerned about those so-called prevention strategies. It calls on decisionmakers, influencers and policymakers to use scientific proof of effectiveness as a criterion for exposing our youth to prevention methods and not to spend public money on rather commercial offers, since there are better and less expensive alternatives."

In a recent p...

Social media is being used by the alcohol industry as a platform to promote their products.

This has raised concerns about adolescents’ exposure to alcohol advertising, as social media is extensively used by young people.

Through the Alcohol Act, Finland became the first country in the world to monitor and regulate social media for alcohol-related content.

The Finnish Alcohol Act restricts social media alcohol adverts in the following three ways:

1. the use of interactive games, competitions and lotteries is prohibited
2. the use of user-generated content may not be distributed through the...

Despite efforts to reduce concerning levels of alcohol consumption in Europe through adopting the WHO European Action Plan on Alcohol (EAPA), the region continues to have the highest prevalence of drinkers, heavy episodic drinking, alcohol consumption per capita, and the lowest proportion of abstainers, compared with other regions around the world.

Efforts to introduce policies that prevent and control non-communicable diseases are frequently hampered by trade agreements, conflicting economic interests, or the challenges of controlling online advertising and sales.

On examination of the WHO...

Il servizio sanitario nazionale ha seguito da vicino le tendenze del fumo, del bere e dell'uso di droghe tra i giovani in Inghilterra.

La serie di indagini è iniziata nel 1982. L'indagine più recente del 2018 ha intervistato 13.664 alunni di età compresa tra 7 e 11 anni, per lo più di età compresa tra 11 e 15 anni, provenienti da 193 scuole in tutta l'Inghilterra,  tra settembre 2018 e febbraio 2019. 

I dati sono stati raccolti e analizzati su:

• Prevalenza del fumo e consumo di sigarette
• Giovani che fumano
• I giovani e il fumo: il contesto
• Uso di sigarette elettroniche (vaping)
• Prevalen...

EMCDDA has developed a range of downloadable infographics to illustrate findings from the European Drug Report 2019.

The aim of the report is to provide reliable and detailed evidence of the drug situation in Europes so that practice and new policies can be informed by sound research.

By following trends, conclusions can be drawn and predictions made about how the drug situation might unfold in the future.

L'Osservatorio europeo delle droghe e delle tossicodipendenze (OEDT) ha pubblicato l'ultima relazione europea sulla droga, che fornisce un'analisi dei dati più recenti sulle tendenze in materia di droga nell'Unione europea, in Norvegia e in Turchia.

L'obiettivo della relazione è fornire prove affidabili e dettagliate della situazione della droga in Europa, in modo che la pratica e le nuove politiche possano essere informate da una ricerca solida. Seguendo le tendenze, è possibile trarre conclusioni e fare previsioni su come la situazione della droga potrebbe svilupparsi in futuro.

La...

I premi EUSPR sono ora aperti!

Le candidature possono essere fatte per:

• La medaglia Sloboda per il contributo costante allo sviluppo della scienza della prevenzione in Europa e a livello internazionale
• Il Leading European Prevention Science Practitioner Honour - assegnato per l'eccezionale leadership nell'adozione e nell'attuazione di strategie di prevenzione basate sull'evidenza, compreso il supporto per ulteriori valutazioni di ricerca di alta qualità.

Scadenza per la presentazione delle candidature: 1 settembre alle 17:00 (GMT)

Background

Adolescence is a critical period of vulnerability to substance use. Recent research has shown that gender differences in adolescence substance use are complex and in constant flux. The present study aims to investigate gender differences in substance use and initiation patterns in male and female adolescents, and to assess individual, family, peer, and school associated factors of these patterns.

Methods

We applied latent class regression analysis to a Portuguese representative population sample of 1551 15-year-old adolescents, drawn from the 2010 ‘Health Behavior in School-Aged...