Specialised Drug Education Programmes Are Growing in Popularity
Specialised programmes that look to educate and prepare a new professional workforce have increased in number
Prevention
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...
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...
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...
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...
Identifying At-Risk Personalities
A new substance abuse prevention programme called Preventure uses personality tests to identify children most at risk of indulging in harmful drug-taking behaviour. The traits it has identified amongst at-risk children include: sensation...
Are Smoking Bans Having the Desired Effect?
A new study carried out by researchers at Ohio State University and subsequently published in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour shows how smoking bans in the United States have led to a decrease in social or light smoking amongst...
Adolescence, Alcoholism and Interventions
Substance abuse entails a whole host of social, physical and mental health problems. A recent overview published in the Journal of Adolescent Health evaluates the effectiveness of interventions focused on smoking, alcohol or combined drug...
Is Mass-Media Effective for Drug Prevention?
Mass-media can be a great means for sharing knowledge and information. A study recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) aimed to determine whether such channels are successful in reducing the intention to use, and the...
Alcohol Abuse, Adulthood and ADHD
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the world’s most common developmental conditions. A recent collaborative study conducted in the United States and subsequently published in the journal Addiction shows that greater...