Search
Treatment Settings
Various treatment formats, either in a live-in facility or through regular visits to a clinic, are designed for ongoing support, to help maintain recovery, and to prevent relapse.
Scotland and New Psychoactive Substances
A collaborative research project geared towards understanding the patterns of use, motives and harms of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) - commonly referred to as ‘Legal Highs’ - in Scotland has recently published its findings. Amongst the...
Health at a Glance: Europe 2016
The fourth edition of Health at a Glance presents key indicators of health and health systems throughout Europe. The quality of care has generally improved in most EU countries, yet disparities persist. Improved treatments for life...
Declining Addiction One Step at a Time
A new study carried out at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has found that results from drug and alcohol addiction treatment programmes improve amongst teens when they stop smoking. The findings, which have been...
Mental Health and Substance Use: Prevention Guidelines for the Classroom
Mentor ADEPIS has recently released a detailed publication that aims to provide those working within the school setting with practical guidelines for helping to prevent children and young people from developing mental health issues as a...
Specialised Drug Education Programmes Are Growing in Popularity
Combating Alcohol Misuse: Soldiers and the Fight against Addiction
New research published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology argues that telephone-based interventions seem an effective way of helping members of the military overcome alcohol addiction. The study demonstrates that such a...
Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a seven-chapter report covering all forms of drug and alcohol addiction, including public policy recommendations for prevention and treatment. The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and...
Substance Abuse and the Transition to Adulthood
Transitioning from childhood to adulthood can be a particularly difficult time for a lot of young people. A new study published in Emerging Adulthood investigates the way that adolescent substance users view this change in relation to their...
Mental Health Issues and Drug Use Disorder in Young People
This new report analyses treatment services provided to youth with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders across Australia. Awareness of the complex relationship between mental health problems and substance abuse can help...
Smoking and Depression: What's the Relationship?

Almost 20% of American adults smoke cigarettes. Those diagnosed as having a moderate mental health problem are approximately twice as likely to smoke, whereas for those diagnosed as severely ill the risks are roughly three times greater...
Expanding Drug Markets in Australia
Recently sixteen people were hospitalised on the Gold Coast, Australia, after taking a new synthetic drug known as Flakka. One of those taken ill is said to be in a critical condition. Flakka takes the form of a white/pink crystal-like...
Rescued from Hell: Life after the High
This photo story documents the lives of children at a rehabilitation centre in Delhi. The majority of young drug users in India's capital city are addicted to marijuana and heroin. Rajesh Kumar, Executive Director of the Society for...
Contingency Management and Drug Disorders
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) defines contingency management as “a general behavioural intervention technique used in the treatment of drug dependence … designed to weaken drug use and strengthen...
Scottish Courts Rule in Favour of Minimum Price for Alcohol
After more than four years of industry delay tactics, yesterday’s ruling from the Court of Session in Edinburgh has finally paved the way for the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland, a policy approved by MSPs back in...
Afghanistan National Drug Use Survey 2015
This five year survey is a global model for its rigor – the only national prevalence survey that I know of in the world where questionnaires were combined with 100% toxicology testing of three biological samples per person (hair, urine...
Alcohol Abuse Interventions in Primary Care Settings
A recent review of studies focusing on excessive drinkers identified and counselled in primary care settings has found that, when combined with screenings and assessments, brief, regular intervention sessions lead to greater reductions in...
Is There a Biological Link Between Anti-Depressants and the Effects of Alcohol on the Body?
The ‘self-medication hypothesis’ is commonly known to refer to a human behaviour which sees people with depression turn to alcohol as a way of coping. New research published in the journal Nature Communications has now discovered a...
Australia: Social Pressures and Alcohol Consumption
Almost 20% of Australians exceed two alcoholic drinks on average per day. However, the will to cut down or quit drinking can lead to social stigmatisation. A new study published in Drug and Alcohol Review reports that, in many social...
Marijuana and Maternity: What Are the Effects?
Four US states currently allow r
ecreational marijuana use and twenty-four allow medical marijuana. However, little research has been carried out to uncover the drug’s effect on the development of human embryos if smoked or consumed in...
Opioid Abuse Linked to Heroin Use
New research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors has found the likelihood of 18- to 34-year-old nonmedical prescription opioid users having a prescription opioid use disorder has increased between 2002 – 2014. More specifically...
Share the Knowledge: ISSUP members can post in the Knowledge Share – Sign in or become a member