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What is the Purpose of Community Alcohol Partnerships?
Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) are local initiatives which aim to reduce alcohol-related harm. They involve forming partnerships between the drinks industry and local governments with a particular focus on alcohol abuse and anti...
Parental Socioeconomic Status and Teenage Smoking Rates: What's the Link?

In what way is parental socioeconomic status associated with nicotine dependence in children?
This is the question a new study conducted in Norway aimed to find out. The study measured parental socioeconomic status by looking at their...
Treating Alcohol Addiction with Positive Relationships
A ‘therapeutic alliance’, or in other words, a positive and trusting relationship between counsellor and patient, could be the key to successful treatment of alcohol addiction, according to a new study. Patients who reported a more positive...
Healthier Alternatives and Natural Highs: The Success of the Icelandic Model
Alcohol Switches the Brain into 'Starvation Mode'
Alcohol has a very high calorie content. Experts, therefore, have long been confused as to why people often eat more after having consumed alcoholic drinks. New scientific tests show spikes in electrical activity in the brains of mice when...
A Sip as a Kid, Alcohol Problems as an Adult?
Introducing children to alcohol by way of their parents allowing them sips or tasters of their own drinks is typically viewed as the presiding method used in European countries.
Published in the journal Psychological Medicine, a new...
Revealed: The Global Cost of Smoking
Smoking and its related harms cost the world more than $1 trillion and claim the lives of around 6 million people each year, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Cancer Institute.
$1 trillion...
Neural Processing, Risky Behaviour and Cocaine Use
According to new research published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuro-science and Neuroimaging, compared to people without a drug problem, cocaine addicts tend to make riskier choices after losing out on a potential...
Alcohol Advertising Linked to Youth Drinking
Health researchers worldwide have provided new evidence suggesting that alcohol advertising is often aggressive, reaching children, and is linked with youth drinking.
The Australian organisation, the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol...
Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America’s Opioid Crisis
The New York Times article traces the impact of America's opioid epidemic on Americans of all backgrounds throughout the country. Photos depict the human face of a tragedy that is taking too many lives.
Is There a Link Between Body-Image and Alcohol Consumption among Teenage Girls?
A study published in the latest volume of Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs has sought to identify whether weight and body-image misconception is associated with alcohol use and heavy consumption.
The investigation found that among...
Maltreatment and Marijuana Use
Is the maltreatment of children linked with marijuana use later in life? Are behavioural problems and tobacco and alcohol consumption during adolescence associated with smoking marijuana?
These are questions that an Australian study...
Suicide and Substance Abuse
New research has found a significant link between suicide risk and simultaneous cocaine and alcohol consumption.
The study examined the drug-taking habits of 874 participants hospitalised for displaying suicidal tendencies, ranging from...
Are Personality-Targeted Prevention Initiatives Successful?
Research has found that one’s personality is a useful predictor of drug and alcohol abuse. One notable programme that approaches substance prevention by focusing on personal characteristics is PreVenture. PreVenture has already been shown...
Returning from Rehab: What Are The Challenges of Re-Integration?
Residential ‘in-patient’ treatment for substance abuse – more commonly known as ‘rehab’ - is the favoured option among those wanting to recover from addiction.
The rate of relapse within the first year following being discharged, however...
Are People Smoking Less and Less?
According to new findings published in the journal Tobacco Control, more than 53 million people in 88 countries have stopped smoking between 2008 – 2014 because of tobacco control measures.
Statistically, this means that during the 4-year...
Police Seize 1,100 kg in Australia's 'Largest Cocaine Bust'
The largest seizure of cocaine has been documented with the arrest of 15 men. The drugs transited through the South Pacific and followed a seizure in French Polynesia. This bust is indicative of a growing concern of increased drug...
EMCDDA Updates on Best Practice
A new European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Best Practice report will be published in early 2017. It will take an in-depth look at substance use prevention in Europe.
The report's stated aim is "not to rate...
OxyContin Goes Global — “We’re Only Just Getting Started”
The LA Times investigates the expansion of pharmaceutical companies internationally which are trying to sell highly addictive OxyContin, an opioid medications, and are utilizing entertainers and sports figures to enter markets around the...
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