Issue 2/2025

Shared knowledge, shared responsibility: The addiction challenges in a global context

Dear readers and researchers,

In this issue, we bring you again several interesting studies that were created as an outcome of the authors’ own scientific and research work and carry strong messages aimed not only at improving healthcare systems, but also at preventing processes both at the individual and institutional levels.

In the first research study, the authors present the findings of a survey analysis of the health system and an integrated medical and psychosocial support primarily for HIV infected persons who inject drugs and persons who use drugs. The authors’ ambition was to inform policyholders of the problems and issues related to access to healthcare of a hidden, stigmatized, and discriminated key population of HIV patients, who inject or use drugs. The study reveals several factors of a favourable environment for HIV prevention and treatment as well as for drug rehabilitation.

The second published study is a Protocol Study. The authors focused on the less researched, but very important field of comorbidities of people with addictive behaviour. The Study Protocol is an appeal to a lack of such research in the Czech Republic. The authors’ ambition was to identify the prevalence of dual disorders of patients at the Department of Addiction Medicine of the General University Hospital in Prague. The advantage of situating the research in this environment is access to more deeply structured data primarily, allowing us to reveal the relationships between sociodemographic factors, duration of treatment, frequency of visits, length of hospitalisation on the one hand, and the presence of comorbid disorders in patients on the other hand. Although the dissemination of the study results is expected in the year 2026 in the form of publication outputs, the study protocol already clarifies all the important research processes of the authors in its form and content and predetermines interesting outcomes that can subsequently be directly applied in practice.

In the third research study, we move from the Czech research environment to Nigeria, one of the countries in the world known for the production and use of synthetic drugs, but only a few studies in this field clarify the facts important for understanding the synthetic drug market as well as quantitative rates of addiction in the Nigerian population. This study also has an attractive research objective that is represented by evaluating of the level of knowledge of law enforcement officers and public health experts about synthetic drugs, the perception of the risk of synthetic drug use in both these groups, the perception of the legalisation of synthetic drugs, the root causes of their use, as well as the associated risks. The study outcomes represent an appeal for the creation of preventive interventions and policies aimed at reducing drug addiction to synthetic drugs in this country.

The fourth research study again comes from a different geographical environment. The authors highlight the limited evidence on the current patterns of substance use among patients diagnosed with substance use disorders in a selected rehabilitation and treatment facility in Dubai. The authors performed a descriptive, cross-sectional study and applied structured questionnaires to obtain responses from patients. The study outcomes make a strong case for the development of culturally adapted evidence-based interventions and regional oversight to guide treatment and public health strategies in the United Arab Emirates.

In the fifth research study, the authors offer the outcomes of the first qualitative study on stimulant use in the Republic of Croatia and thus, provide valuable insights into the perspectives of hardto-reach stimulant users. The aim of the study was to better understand the needs of this group of drug users and to support the development of more effective and targeted interventions. An interesting finding from the research results was that many participants expressed distrust in the public health system and cited the lack of psychological support as the main reason for not seeking treatment. These outcomes also have a strong message for policymakers and health intervention programmes in the field of drug addiction.

The sixth research study is republishing of the original paper with this citation format:
Calvo, F. (2025). Why we serve (and drink) alcohol at substance abuse events and why we should stop: An autoethnography (English republication of the original Spanish article published in Pedagogia i Treball Social, 14(2), 7–39).

This research study addresses the unconventional and under-researched issue of normalisation of alcohol use, which is evident in family gatherings and social events, but also in academic and professional events, where the expectation to drink is widespread. This expectation occurs even in training and scientific contexts specialized in drug dependence. The author precisely analyses his experiences and observations at several congresses and describes the counterarguments he received in response to his request to interrupt the administration of alcohol at the main Spanish international congresses on drug dependence as well as one of the longest-running master’s programmes in Europe aimed at drug addiction. The author applied a qualitative autoethnographic design in combination with his personal testimonies from four congresses on drug addiction and the outcomes, which he obtained, raise many questions for discussion as well as for initiating further research in this field. The author of the study brings new attractive research elements to the research environment, which can uncover several problems in drug use in previously unexplored areas, and creates a strong discussion field on this topic. Hence, we are very pleased that we can also help open up this research field in this form - by republishing the author’s original paper - and encourage other research teams and researchers to continue research in their countries and share research knowledge at the international level.

Prevention programmes and the necessity of sharing research findings, high-quality communication and systematic creation of discussion platforms for the development of research fields are already the standard message of our individual issues of Addictology. Nevertheless, the high level of originality of research studies, strong geographical coverage, as well as attractive research trajectories presented in these studies are a strong benefit of this issue of Addictionology. We believe that with this issue of Addictology we will also help create a strong appeal for the creation of effective prevention programmes and active policies in this field. The outcomes presented in the studies will also help to create an international comparative platform and to create international research communities focused on solving the issue of addiction not only within individual regions, but also continents.

Prof. Beata Gavurova
Executive Editor of Addictology
beata [dot] gavurova [at] lf1 [dot] cuni [dot] cz