The intersection of substance use with broader public health concerns.
Public Health
Scottish Courts Rule in Favour of Minimum Price for Alcohol
After more than four years of industry delay tactics, yesterday’s ruling from the Court of Session in Edinburgh has finally paved the way for the introduction of a minimum price for alcohol in Scotland, a policy approved by MSPs back in...
Parenting Styles and Alcohol Use
Alcohol use is common among children and adolescents despite the fact that this particular form of risk-behaviour can have a negative impact on one’s psychological and social development. A recent article published in the journal Drugs...
Afghanistan National Drug Use Survey 2015
This five year survey is a global model for its rigor – the only national prevalence survey that I know of in the world where questionnaires were combined with 100% toxicology testing of three biological samples per person (hair, urine...
Is There a Biological Link Between Anti-Depressants and the Effects of Alcohol on the Body?
The ‘self-medication hypothesis’ is commonly known to refer to a human behaviour which sees people with depression turn to alcohol as a way of coping. New research published in the journal Nature Communications has now discovered a...
Marijuana and Maternity: What Are the Effects?
Four US states currently allow recreational marijuana use and twenty-four allow medical marijuana. However, little research has been carried out to uncover the drug’s effect on the development of human embryos if smoked or consumed 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...
Alcohol and Health Harm: What Can Doctors, Nurses and Other Professionals Do?
The vision of the Medical Council on Alcohol (MCA) is to have a health workforce educated to reduce health harm from alcohol. In this symposium, the MCA will focus on the ways in which health professionals from different disciplines, sectors and specialties can act to reduce these harms.
Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy
The 11th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) is a unique occasion to present your latest findings to a diverse a