With adequate intervention, using the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, many of overdose deaths can be prevented. This issue is explored today in a new EMCDDA Preventing opioid overdose deaths with take-home naloxone.
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Brief interventions are psychosocial techniques designed to help recipients recognise harmful patterns of substance use, and to motivate and support them to address that use. Studies suggest that brief interventions in an emergency department maximise the benefit of a unique ‘window of opportunity’ for engaging with people with substance use problems who do not necessarily receive assessment, referral or intervention. This paper considers five systematic reviews and 16 randomised controlled trials and points to the potential benefits of brief interventions, albeit with a need for more research.
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The University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) and the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) will be joining forces this summer to hold the fifth European drugs summer school (EDSS) on ‘Illicit drugs in Europe: demand, supply and public policies’ (1). Registration opens today for the two-week course, which will take place in the Portuguese capital from 27 June to 8 July (2). The initiative is also supported by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
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