Abstract: A collection of narratives from substance users in Europe about their attempts to control or reduce their consumption is released today by the EMCDDA. Entitled Users’ voices, the paper illustrates how qualitative research can provide glimpses into the experiences and perceptions of substance users that statistics alone cannot provide.Organization in 1986 (WHO, 1986). Quotations, gleaned from interviews with substance users in Europe, help to focus on their total needs by providing glimpses into the different ways individuals attempt to control or reduce their consumption of drugs or alcohol. This paper does not attempt to assess the relative efficacy of any specific drug or alcohol approach or intervention: its purpose is to highlight the fact that there is enormous heterogeneity in different individual experiences and the quotations used give voice to some of these very different experiences. In this way, quotations provide important insights and meaning into the figures on prevalence of drug use and treatment statistics.