Abstract: This research project was undertaken in the second half of 1998 with a view to examining the character and extent of hepatitis C prevention education being undertaken in Australia particularly among injecting drug users (hereafter, ‘HCV/IDU prevention education’). The study consisted of four components: • an Australian and international literature review; • a series of initial consultations with interested agencies in each State and Territory; • a national activity survey of agencies undertaking HCV/IDU prevention education; • a series of key stakeholder interviews. In addition, an action research project undertaken in collaboration with educators in three agencies was conducted over a three-month period. The research revealed that there is a large amount of HCV/IDU prevention education going on in Australia, mainly geared to offering injecting drug users (hereafter, ‘users’) information about the hepatitis C virus (HCV), its major routes of transmission and how to prevent that transmission. However, it is also clear that injecting drug users face a range of related health issues that require an educational response broader than hepatitis C prevention alone, and that improving HCV/IDU prevention education across the sector will best be achieved in the context of broader health education programs for users. Many agencies are already delivering educational programs beyond a focus on HCV transmission and other services beyond prevention education. These efforts are important and need to be encouraged by new initiatives in developing programs and by providing better training programs for educators in the sector. The provision of information on hepatitis C occurs in a diverse range of agencies in the sector from large public health services and correctional services departments to small non-governmental organisations, some of which are focused on hepatitis C and others which offer a range of services such as needle and syringe provision programs or work in related fields such as HIV/AIDS organisations. It is clear that the sector is not as coordinated and does not possess a sense of identity as a sector in the way that gay men’s agencies in Australia, for example, have developed a clear sense of the scope of their HIV/AIDS work and of the other players in that sector. This diversity of agencies will require a multifaceted approach in any further policy and programmatic initiatives developed to enhance the sector’s efforts at HCV/IDU prevention education. The capacity of these agencies to enhance their current programs will require an examination of their basic infrastructure needs. There is a great deal of willingness on the part of educators to improve their educational programs, but there are currently significant resource and infrastructure constraints on their capacity to effect change. The educators are developing a wide range of educational styles and activities in an effort to meet the growing needs of users and they utilise an impressive range of evaluation methods to assess their effectiveness. However, there are difficulties in matching evaluation methods appropriately to educational activities and the overarching hepatitis C education curriculum is in need of additional systemisation and development. This report recommends a number of initiatives designed to improve the curriculum framework of hepatitis C education and to strengthen the workforce of educators in the sector to provide even better HCV/IDU prevention education. The major mechanism to achieve this is the institution of a HCV Education Curriculum Development Unit for a three-year period. Its major activities and focus are detailed below. Finally, a number of small research needs have been identified that will enhance the sector’s awareness of its target populations and strategic approaches. These utilise an action research approach in the main and seek to encourage the sector to undertake research and become involved in research that focuses more on its educational needs. In all, there is good educational practice occurring across Australia in HCV/IDU prevention education. This provides a substantial basis for Australia’s efforts at hepatitis C prevention among users through enhanced health education. There is room for improvement but much to work with in order to achieve this.

Abstract: This research has tested a social disintegration model in conjunction with risk and protection factors that have the power to differentiate relative, weighted interactions among variables in different socially disintegrated groups. The model was tested in a cross-sectional sample of 1082 at-risk youth in Switzerland. Structural equation analyses show significant differences between the social disintegration (low, moderate, high) groups and gender, indicating that the model works differently for groups and for gender. For the highly disintegrated adolescents results clearly show that the risk factors (negative mood, peer network, delinquency) are more important than the protective factors (family relations, secure sense of self). Family relations lose all protective value against negative peer influence, but personal variables, such as secure self, gain protective power.

Abstract: This report was compiled as a supporting document for the evaluation of the 2005-12 EU drugs strategy and its two action plans: 2005-08 and 2009-12. It reviews the main trends and changes in the European drug situation and in the responses developed by the EU Member States. Four main areas are covered by the report: drug use and drug-related problems; drug supply; drug policies; and demand reduction interventions.

Abstract: This report presents the results and outlines the key achievements for 2010 on the information exchange, risk-assessment and control of new psychoactive substances. In 2010, 41 new psychoactive substances were officially notified for the first time in the European Union through the Early-Warning System (EWS). Of those, 15 were synthetic cathinones and 11 were synthetic cannabinoids. Substances belonging to more established chemical families were also reported – five phenethylamines, one tryptamine and one piperazine. The list of newly notified substances was rather diverse and also included a plant-based substance, a synthetic cocaine, a ketamine derivative, a phencyclidine derivative, an indane, a benzofuran, as well as a substance which can be seen as a designer medicine. The report also describes the increased availability of ’legal highs’ and the EMCDDA’s activities in monitoring the online shops selling these products, as well as the risk assessment of mephedrone, which was submitted to control measures and criminal penalties throughout the European Union.

Abstract: This report is the third in a series of European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)–Europol joint publications dedicated to prevalent illicit drugs. It focuses on amphetamine, a substance belonging to the family often referred to as amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), which covers two main groups of substances: the ‘amphetamines’, which includes amphetamine, methamphetamine and related substances, and the ‘ecstasy-type’ drugs, which includes methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its close relatives methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) and methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA). This study focuses on amphetamine production and markets in Europe, set in a global context. The first two EMCDDA–Europol joint publications were dedicated to methamphetamine and cocaine, while ecstasy-type substances, heroin and cannabis will be addressed in future publications.