Bibliography: Prevalence

This report on Needle Exchange Provision in Ireland is aimed at improving needle exchange coverage and enhancing service delivery as a way of reducing rates of new HCV and HIV infection and charts a way forward in identifying potential care pathways for drug and alcohol services in this country (HSE)

This report focuses on the seven Merseyside custody suites which carried out drug tests between April 2013 and March 2014, the demographic details captured during the drug testing process and the times at which drug tests were carried out (Centre for Public Health)

Past-year data in England and Wales shows a drop off in drug policing. But, with figures still well above where they were a decade ago, and an abundance of evidence showing that policing possession has little impact on use rates, why is the government still funneling resources into this futile practice? (Talking Drugs)

Now in its sixth year, the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s (FARE) Annual alcohol poll 2015: Attitudes and behaviours provides valuable trend data and insights into community perspectives on alcohol (FARE)

Report: Analysis of Deaths occurring in 2013 (ISD)

The police recorded 178,719 drug offences in the year ending December 2014, a decrease of 11% compared with the previous year (ONS)

The past five years has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of these psychoactive drugs (BMJ)

This report is one of several designed to update SAMHSA’s Analytic Series A–29, Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs, published in 2007 (SAMHSA)

This study aims to explore the gender dimension of non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) in Europe and the Mediterranean region and continues to build on the corpus of knowledge on the subject and also help identify gaps (Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit trafficking in Drugs)

Drugs and imprisonment (Penal Reform International)

This bulletin is the fourth in a series by the Drug Trends Unit that provides analysis of trends over time in the availability and type of substances sold via the internet to Australia. The current bulletin reports for the time period July 2014 to December 2014 (NDARC)

An updated and amended status report on new psychoactive substances (NPS) and ‘club drugs’ in the UK (DrugScope)

An update from the EU early warning system (IDPC)

Drugusing prisoners are suffering from physical and mental health conditions and their chances of rehabilitation are slim. Society is suffering through addicted prisoners committing crime to fund their habits on release. One of the chief purposes of prison is to reduce crime. In this regard they are clearly failing (Centre for Social Justice)

Examines alcohol consumption trajectories, reporting both average weekly volume and frequency, using data from cohorts with repeated measures that cover different and overlapping periods of life (BMC Medicine)

Insight into the drug-related problems faced by six countries in the region, through the available data gathered by a range of partners and the EMCDDA

Prisons in England and Wales have a serious drug problem – It does not have to be this way. It is very possible to change this situation and ensure prisons are a place where people battling addiction recover ( Centre for Social Justice)

Report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) reviewing the use of cocaine powder and its impact on British society

This short report provides an update on new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Europe for 2014. It highlights recent developments, including the growth of the market over the past few years, as illustrated by seizures by law enforcement and other indicators, as well as the growing number of serious harms that are being reported as a result (EMCDDA)

A mixed-methods study of online drug discussion (Doctoral thesis, National Drug Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Melbourne, Australia)

HIV is spreading at a dangerous rate in nations around the Black Sea, passing a record 100,000 new cases yearly (euobserver)

Before health professionals can communicate effectively with these clients about the potentially stigma-laden issue of HCV they need to develop an awareness of the various elements of risk in the ChemSex environment (BMJ)

The number of police incidents involving ‘legal highs’ has almost trebled across England in a year )Centre for Social Justice)

This bulletin presents alcohol-related death figures for the UK, its constituent countries and regions of England for 2013 (Office of National Statistics)

This paper examines the overall number of lives lost due to drug use. All-cause mortality among problem drug users is investigated by means of cohort studies, which link data from death registries to drug treatment records (EMCDDA)

Since laws were passed in Romania in 2010 and 2011, prohibiting the trade in previously legal highs and any other commercial products with psychoactive effects, the sale and use of these substances has gone down significantly. Nevertheless, amphetamine-like stimulants and other previously legal highs are still readily available, via a number of different routes, to users who are in the know (Drug Reporter)

One in six people using prescribed opioids for chronic pain also use cannabis, a study of 1,500 Australians led by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre

The speed with which the Internet is transforming drug markets poses a major challenge to law enforcement, public health, research and monitoring agencies. This is according to Internet and drug markets (EMCDDA)

HIV is spreading at a dangerous rate in nations around the Black Sea, passing a record 100,000 new cases yearly (EU Observer)

Monthly update of class A, B and C drug seizure incidents and arrests by (Police Service of Northern Ireland)

Postmarketing surveillance indicates that the diversion and abuse of prescription opioid medications increased between 2002 and 2010 and plateaued or decreased between 2011 and 2013. These findings suggest that the United States may be making progress in controlling the abuse of opioid analgesics (NEJM)

Most of us understand that people who are homeless, or offenders or drug misusers must also face a wider set of challenges. It is hard to imagine a person who has fallen into a hard drug problem, for example, who isn’t dealing with early problems stemming from childhood or who isn’t facing a new set of problems as a result of their drug taking (LankellyChase Foundation)

The latest Street Drug Survey reveals the ever more diverse range of illegal and legal drugs being used by vulnerable groups in society, with pregabalin, gabapentin and synthetic cannabinoid use of particular concern. Interviews with frontline workers also highlighted fears that drug-related deaths may continue to rise as street drug purities increase (DrugScope)

This policy brief examines the expansion of drug markets on the Dark Net or ‘hidden web’ and the challenges they pose for both law enforcement agencies and the international legal framework within which those agencies ultimately operate (GDPO)

This study provides support for the ecological relationship between alcohol-related mortality and alcohol consumption (BMC Public Health)

(Centre for Public Health)