Abstract: Epidemiological studies routinely collect quantitative data on gender differences in drug use (e.g. prevalence, mortality), but far less is published on the qualitative aspects of female drug problems. This review presents quotations gleaned from interviews with women in eight countries. Through these testimonies, the report illustrates how qualitative research can provide glimpses into the experiences and perceptions of women facing drug issues that statistics alone cannot provide.

Abstract: There is a substantial evidence base on the effectiveness of different policies in reducing the harm done by alcohol. Policies that regulate the economic and physical availability of alcohol are effective in reducing alcohol-related harm. Enforced legislative measures to reduce drinking and driving and interventions individually directed to drinkers already at risk are also effective. The evidence shows that information and education programmes do not reduce alcohol-related harm; nevertheless, they have a role in providing information, reframing alcohol-related problems and increasing attention to alcohol on the political and public agendas. In all parts of the European Union, population-based interventions represent a highly cost– effective use of resources to reduce alcohol-related harm. Brief interventions for individual high-risk drinkers are also cost–effective, but are harder to scale up because of their associated training and manpower needs.

Abstract: Trends in injecting drug use in Europe is the title of the latest EMCDDA Selected issue publication. This volume brings together data from a wide variety of sources as it describes Europe’s current drug injecting problem and plots its trends in recent years. Responses to drug injecting and measures to reduce the harm caused by this form of drug use are also reviewed. The report finds that the available data point to a stable or declining trend of injecting in most European countries, with effective treatment and harm-reduction measures now reaching many users. Despite this, there is still a large population of drug injectors in Europe, and there continue to be signs of recent recruitment in some countries.

Abstract: Focusing on European countries where amphetamine or methamphetamine is an important part of the drug problem, this Selected issue looks at the current situation in the light of the historical development of amphetamines use since the introduction of these substances as medicines in the 1930s. The history of amphetamines use is the result of an interplay of global forces, such as the spread of recreational drug use in the 1960s and the arrival of heroin on the European drug scene in the 1970s, and local events such as the rise of small-scale pervitin (methamphetamine) production in what was then Czechoslovakia. The outcome of this is that, in the present day, problem amphetamines use across Europe is marked by strong national characteristics, possibly more so than any other of the major illicit drugs.