How to Inform Policy and Decision Makers About Evidence-Based Substance Use Policy and Prevention.

Matej Košir

Prevention Talks is a new online discussion hosted by APSI with speakers who will explore some of the current issues and their potential impact on prevention research and practice. 

Speakers will represent a variety of stakeholders in the field including prevention decision-makers at the state and regional level; prevention scientists discussing recent findings with practice implications; and prevention and practice experts working in the primary contexts of prevention services—community coalitions; family programs; and school-, media- and environment-based programming.

Objective: This webinar marks the official launch of the EMCDDA’s foresight toolkit for the drugs field entitled How to run a trends workshop in the drugs field. The event also aims to promote a foresight approach and increase foresight literacy among the EMCDDA’s stakeholders and to take stock of current initiatives in this area and reflect on possible ways forward. Background: We live in an era of fast and fundamental changes. The pace of social transformation and technological innovation is accelerating and can outpace existing policies and responses. In such an interdependent and complex...

INTRODUCTION:

The European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC) and The Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) are paradigms of the efforts to achieve an international standardised training for drug demand reduction. Both curricula are based on evidence-based knowledge and practice and follow the quality standards established by important international institutions such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). In addition to training directly aimed at professionals, it...

Background

Substance use among youth (ages 12–24) is troublesome given the increasing risk of harms associated. Even more so, substance use services are largely under utilised among youth, most only accessing support when in crisis. Few studies have explored young people’s help-seeking behaviours to address substance use concerns. To address this gap, this study explored how youth perceive and experience substance use services in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods

Participatory action research methods were used by partnering with BC youth (under the age of 30) from across the province...