Since the 1930s, the response to drug addiction has moved from one that focuses on the need to punish users to another that recognises the importance of prevention and treatment approaches.

In other words, thanks to scientific advances, substance abuse has evolved from a judicial to a heath issue.

Drawing on the latest evidence-based knowledge, Drugs, Brains and Behavior: The Science of Addiction, a new publication from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), looks to explain why people become dependent on drugs, as well as how changes in the brain can foster drug addiction.

It also...

UNODCs online eLearning courses deliver trainings to a community of over 50,000 Member State officials on international security threats such as transnational organized crime, terrorism, illicit drugs, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, wildlife and forest crime, cybercrime as well as provide training on border control, intelligence analysis, gender issues, anticorruption, HIV/AIDS and human rights.

These courses, developed by leading international experts, enable law enforcement officers and other professionals to expand their knowledge and stay up to date with the...

Drug and Alcohol Findings have announced the top five studies in the field of drug education. 

The five studies describe drug prevention curriculum and techniques that have been tried and tested, with varying degrees of success, in Western countries. The authors of the five studies analyse the evidence base and highlight discrepancies in the research. The pros and cons of the different programmes are discussed and the authors of the five studies go on to make recommendations as to whether the different forms of drug prevention curriculum could be successfully implemented within the British...

The science of addiction is complicated, and it continues to be a field where the debate over definitions, models, theories, and the most appropriate ways to respond continues. 

EMCDDA's Insight Review provides a critical analysis of the different models of addiction.

The researchers explore ways in which the different models could be arranged into a collected structure that can be used to guide prevention, assessment and treatment practices.

The authors hope that the report will support the reader in developing an understanding of the complicated issues surrounding addiction and that it...

This guide presents information on raising children to be drug free.

It includes:

• An overview of substance use among youth, with a focus on how it can affect academic performance
• Drug descriptions
• Risk factors that could make youth more susceptible to drug, alcohol and/or tobacco use
• Suggestions on how to talk to youth about drugs
• Tips about what to do if you suspect your child to be using substances

Click here to access the document.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention for Early Childhood (2017) is a special volume that supplements the organisation’s Preventing Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents, released in 2003.

It reflects “a growing body of research […] showing that providing a stable home environment, adequate nutrition, physical and cognitive stimulation, warm supportive parenting, and good classroom management in the early years of a child’s life (prenatal through age 8) can lead the child to develop strong self-regulation”.

The document goes on to assert...

اقوام متحدہ کے دفتر برائے منشیات و جرائم (یو این او ڈی سی)  اور عالمی ادارہ صحت کی جانب سے شائع ہونے والی منشیات کے استعمال کی روک تھام کے بین الاقوامی معیارات کا دوسرا ایڈیشن جاری کر دیا گیا ہے۔ یہ دستاویز پالیسی سازوں اور عالمی اسٹیک ہولڈرز کے لئے رہنمائی فراہم کرتی ہے جو منشیات کی روک تھام اور منشیات کی روک تھام کی حکمت عملی پر عمل درآمد میں دلچسپی رکھتے ہیں۔ 

یہ اشاعت روک تھام کی سائنس، پالیسی، حمل کے دوران اور خاندانوں کے اندر روک تھام سمیت بچپن کی نشوونما کے مختلف مراحل کو ہدف بنانے والی مداخلت، اسکول پر مبنی پروگراموں اور بلوغت میں روک تھام جیسے موضوعات کو چھوتی ہے۔ اس کے علاوہ مختلف...

A recent video produced by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration highlights the harmful consequences of underage and excessive alcohol consumption, and provides evidence-based strategies that can be used in a university setting. The video follows the efforts of Frostburg State University Alcohol Task Force - a group established to reduce underage, harmful campus drinking. The video describes Frostburg State University’s three-tiered strategy for addressing drinking issues within the university; in hope that action will promote student wellbeing and reduce the negative...

The Ninth EUSPR Conference and Members’ Meeting took place October 24th – 26th 2018, Lisbon, Portugal.

The focus of the event was Prevention Technologies – Improving the Use of Evidence in Prevention Practice. 

Academics, researchers, policy and decision makers, practitioners and prevention coordinators from around the world attended the event, which sought to open up a discussion about ways in which to introduce research findings into prevention policy and practice. 

Presentations from keynote speakers can be found here!