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Prevention
Reducing the risk factors and enhancing the protective factors associated with initiating substance use.
Preventing and Treating Tobacco Use among Canadian Youth
The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has issued a new evidence-based guideline for combatting tobacco use by children and young adults aged 5 – 18, suggesting that physicians ought to have a more active role in the prevention...
Can Drug Prevention Programmes Reduce Substance Use by Participants’ Friends?
Besides reducing substance use between its participants one prevention programme also reduced drug use among the friends of those who took part.
Great Resources for Teachers
Are you a teacher? Are you looking for materials or lesson plans on the effects of drugs and drug abuse? The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has created a great database of more than 70 teacher materials on the effects of drugs and...
Drug Misuse Prevention: Targeted Interventions
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released guidelines that cover targeted interventions to prevent misuse of drugs, including illegal drugs, ‘legal highs’ and prescription-only medicines. It aims to prevent or...
Drugs on the Brain: Neurological Scans Predict Future Substance Use
A new study published in the journal Nature has found that brain scans can predict whether or not teenagers will develop drug taking behaviours later in life.
A sample of 14-year-olds was assessed. The investigation reports that, from an...
Sleep and Substance Use: What’s the Link?
A new study reports a link between daytime tiredness and alcohol consumption, together with its related harms, in the future.
Counselling Parents and Teens about Marijuana Use in the Era of Legalisation of Marijuana
Abstract
Many states have recently made significant changes to their legislation making recreational and/or medical marijuana use by adults legal. Although these laws, for the most part, have not targeted the adolescent population, they...
Better Working Memory, Less Temptation: Substance Abuse and Neuro-Mechanisms
New research published in the journal Addiction suggests that poor working memory and the inability to control impulses during adolescence are key predictors for future substance abuse. ‘Working memory’ refers to one’s capacity to...
The Drug Problem in the Americas: Drugs and Public Health
Summary and Findings
Most people do not use illicit drugs and among those who try them, only a fraction will develop patterns of dependence. Still, drug use constitutes a serious health problem for many people in the Americas. Early age...
The Urgent Need to Change the Current Medical Approach on Tobacco Cessation in Latin America
Absract
Despite the accumulation of scientific evidence confirming the health consequences of smoking and the new paradigm of smoking as a disease where nicotine is the drug that modifies the functional and morphological characteristics...
Participation in School Sports and Marijuana Use among Male and Female Students
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit substance among adolescents. There is a paucity in the literature on the relationship between school sports participation and marijuana use.
Reducing Risk: Assessing the Effectiveness of Computer-Based Interventions
A new study reveals that computer-based intervention programmes could reduce the risk of substance use among early adolescents living in an urban setting.
Adfam’s Manifesto for Families: 5 Key Challenges for Supporting Families Affected by Drug and Alcohol Use
“You don’t have to use drugs to be affected by them.”
In 2010 Adfam identified five key challenges for families that the Government should address, identified by stakeholders across England. They were:
- Supporting families in their own...
Multiple Fentanyl Overdoses — New Haven, Connecticut, June 23, 2016
Summary
What is already known about this topic?
Fentanyl and its analogs have been substituted for heroin and other opioids, and are usually marketed to persons seeking opioids. Because of fentanyl’s high potency compared with heroin...
Enzymes Involved in Cocaine Metabolism: A New Pharmacologic Approach to Treat Overdose Due to Cocaine
Abstract English/Spanish
Introduction: New therapeutic strategies against cocaine overdose toxicity have been developed. These new approaches are based on the design and synthesis of proteins involved in the destruction of cocaine before...
Reviewing England's Drug Misuse Treatment System
Public Health England’s recently published review reveals that the country’s drug misuse treatment system is performing well. However, there are still several areas that call for improvements.
Amongst the report’s findings, notable are:
...
Delaying Marijuana Use to Age 17 Is Better for the Teenage Brain
The longer teenagers delay the use of marijuana, the better it is for their developing brains. However, a new study has found that there may be little adverse effect if one starts smoking the drug after the age of 17. According to the...
Plans for a Smoke-Free Finland Gather Pace
Finland plans to cut consumption of tobacco products - in any form – to less than 2% among adults by 2040. As is the case with many industrialised countries, Finland’s smoking rates have decreased in recent years as a result of various...
Carefree Adolescence: A Risky Business
It is widely accepted that adolescents are predisposed to indulge in risky behaviours, more so than adults. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have recently provided us with new insights into the underlying...
Healthy Nightlife Toolbox - Resources for Creating Safer Nightlife Settings
The Healthy Nightlife Toolbox (HNT) is an international initiative that focuses on the reduction of harm from alcohol and drug use among young people.
The Healthy Nightlife Toolbox collects and provides information on evidence-based...
