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Psychoactive Substances
Legal and illegal psychoactive compounds that alter brain function, leading to changes in perception, mood, consciousness, and behaviour.
Supporting the Journey: A Reading List for Addiction Nurses
As we celebrate International Nurses Week, we honour the dedication, expertise, and compassion of nurses around the globe—especially those working on the frontlines of substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery support. Addiction nurses play a crucial role not only in clinical care but also in education, advocacy, and research.
Substance Use Disorders: A Guide for the Primary Care Provider
This practical and up-to-date guide offers comprehensive support for primary care clinicians managing patients with substance use disorders. Covering a wide range of substances and clinical scenarios, the book is organized into four parts...
The role of UK alcohol and drug (AOD) nurses in a changing workforce
Background:
This article shares findings from a study that looked into how alcohol and other drugs (AOD) nurses in the UK view their current career opportunities and the challenges they face. It also explores how changes in health services...
National Training Program on Prevention in Schools: The Paraguayan Experience
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2024, a public call from the Ministry of Education and Science for the contracting of a higher education institution to design and implement a training programme in strategies for preventing psychoactive substance...
Barriers and facilitators to scaling up medications for opioid use disorder in Kentucky: qualitative perspectives of treatment organisation staff
Background
Many people who could benefit from medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) aren’t receiving them. This study looks at how MOUD agencies in Kentucky are experiencing changes in patient numbers and the challenges and supports...
Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Online Data Visualisation Tool
CSUCH’s data visualisation tool can be used to estimate substance use trends across the country. The data helps inform programs, practices, and research to protect communities, save lives, and improve the well-being of people in Canada.
...
Perceived impacts of North Americas first de-medicalised safer supply program
Background
A non-medicalized safer supply model called a “Compassion Club” has recently been evaluated. The model involved providing rigorously tested and accurately labeled illicit substances to members at cost. Operating for 14 months in...
VCU researchers are developing a long-acting medication for opioid addiction
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have developed a new version of a medication for opioid use disorder that could offer longer-lasting treatment. Current medications for opioid addiction often require daily doses, but...
The changing DNA of serious and organised crime
Europol’s EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) 2025, published today, reveals how the very DNA of crime is shifting – reshaping the tactics, tools and structures employed by criminal networks.
The EU-SOCTA offers one...
Overcoming barriers to traditional care delivery and pharmacy challenges: a qualitative study of buprenorphine, telehealth, and a digital therapeutic for opioid use disorder
Background
The opioid epidemic in the U.S. contributes to increased morbidity and mortality from drug overdoses, but barriers to traditional opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment limit access to care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Public...
Substance Use Monitoring and Surveillance: Challenges faced by LMICs
Substance use surveillance has emerged as a crucial public health strategy across Africa, particularly in light of the alarming rise in substance use among adolescents (1). This trend poses significant health risks that require a...
Nonmedical Benzodiazepines in Canada
The Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (CCENDU), co-ordinated by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), publishes this newsletter regularly to inform people living in Canada about emerging substance use...
Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment: Problems and Solutions
This review outlines challenges that face the alcohol field in closing this treatment gap and offers solutions, including broadening end points for the approval of medications for the treatment of AUD
#ScaleUp - UNODC initiative on promoting scalable and effective interventions for the treatment of stimulant use disorders
The UNODC #ScaleUp Initiative is a vital response to the growing global challenge of stimulant use disorders, which affect millions of individuals worldwide. In 2021, approximately 78 million people used substances like amphetamines...
National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS) 2023: Data on Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Mental Health Treatment Facilities
The National Survey of Substance Use and Mental Health Services (N-SUMHSS) is a voluntary, annual survey that collects data from all active substance use and mental health treatment facilities across the United States, its territories, and...
The anomalous pharmacology of fentanyl
Fentanyl is a key therapeutic, used in anaesthesia and pain management. It is alsoincreasingly used illicitly and is responsible for a large and growing number of opioidoverdose deaths, especially in North America. A number of factors have...
ISSUP Nigeria Knowledge Update Series (25th Session): Non-Conventional Psychoactive Substances in Nigeria: Understanding Trends and Implications for Public Health
ISSUP Nigeria presents the 25th session of its bi-monthly webinar in the Knowledge Update Series. This webinar focuses on the topic of 'Non-Conventional Psychoactive Substances in Nigeria: Understanding Trends and Implications for Public Health'.
The Relationship Between Depressive Symptomatology and Alcohol Consumption in the Latin American Population Based on Gender and Age
English:
The comorbidity between depression and alcohol consumption is a public health concern, affecting progression, treatment adherence, and outcomes. Alcohol use in Latin America exceeds the global average. This study examined the...
10 щорічна конференція Асоціації психіатрів України з міжнародною участю «Можливості у сфері психічного здоров’я в країні, що перебуває у стані війни»
10 щорічна конференція Асоціації психіатрів України з міжнародною участю «Можливості у сфері психічного здоров’я в країні, що перебуває у стані війни» відбулася у Києві 10-11 жовтня 2024 р. у гібридному форматі (офлайн і онлайн).
В...
Intellectual Property of Psychedelics for Addiction Treatment: Enabling Access and Protecting Innovation Opportunities Through Preserving the Public Domain
Recent studies highlight the potential of psychedelic-based treatments for addiction. However, certain academic institutions, companies, and individuals are attempting to monopolize these compounds by exploiting the patent system.
This...