The urgency of this study has become vivid in the light of the growing problem of prevalence and use of new synthetic drug types. Lately there has been a tendency of expanding the range of psychologically active substances (PAS) used by addicts with the purpose of their illegal taking. The aim of this research is an attempt of systematizing and…

Aim: Young people who are socially engaged with people who inject drugs are at higher risk of transitioning to injecting drug use. We aimed to examine rates of exposure to injecting among young people in an online survey, and whether exposure to injecting was related to hepatitis C(HCV) knowledge. Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey was…

This study investigated the relationships among sleep problems, learning difficulties and substance use in adolescence. Previous research suggests that these variables share an association with executive functioning deficits, and are intertwined. The sample comprised 427 adolescents (M age = 16 years) attending remedial schools and 276 adolescents…

Drug use in mainstream rave parties has been widely documented in a large number of studies. However, not much is known about drug use in underground raves. The purpose of this study is to find out the polysubstance use patterns at underground raves. Two hundred and fifty-two young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who went to underground raves…

Young people's participation in sexual risk behaviours is commonly linked with participation in a range of other risky behaviours, and in particular with substance use behaviours. This cross-sectional analysis of the sixth sweep of the Belfast Youth Development Study aimed to examine associations between substance use and sexual activity and…

This article shares the story of Lucy Bryson, who was hooked on crack cocaine and heroin when she was 17, and was working the streets to fund her addiction. Her future looked bleak when she was imprisoned four years ago but a project that builds trust and responsibility in young people by teaching them to work with animals has transformed her…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the research evidence on recent British trends in the use of heroin and/or crack-cocaine by young people in order to appraise the scale and nature of the contemporary health problem they pose. Design/methodology/approach: The approach consists of a narrative review of the main current data sources on…

This report presents the 2008 National Drug Control Strategy of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The overarching goal of the President's Strategy is to reduce drug use in America through a balanced approach that focuses on stopping use before it starts, healing America's drug users, and disrupting the market for illegal…

This paper aims to provide surveillance information about the extent and consequences of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use by adolescents for three sentinel sites in South Africa (Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng province). From 1997 to 2001, data were gathered from multiple sources, including specialist treatment centres, trauma units, school…

Traditionally U.S. drug policy and antidrug action has been focused on blaming traffickers and fighting suppliers. Only recently have people in the United States begun to acknowledge the part played by U.S. demand for illegal drugs. Past antidrug policy emphasized the foreign origin of the drugs, and tended to blame Latin American producers and…

The first National Drug Control Strategy set ambitious two and five-year performance based goals: (1) to lower the rate of drug use by 10 percent over 2 years among both youth and adults; and (2) to lower the rate by 25 percent over 5 years. The chapters in this updated version are keyed to the strategies three priorities: (1) Stopping Use Before…