For a number of reasons benzodiazepines are often misused by high-risk opioid users and are associated with morbidity and mortality among this group. This analysis considers the significance of this problem and its impact for the health and drug treatment of opioid users.

This year’s report contains a comprehensive overview of Europe’s drug problem and the measures being taken to tackle it.

Ice use jumps by 52 per cent among people who inject drugs.

There are steps that can reduce infection rates and provide women and girls with health care and harm reduction services that are designed with their needs and concerns in mind.

In this issue: New technical report on estimating trends in injecting drug use |EMCDDA: 20 years of monitoring | Memorandum of Understanding with Armenia |EMCDDA launches IPA 5 project with the Western Balkans | New EMCDDA products and services | Selection procedure for new EMCDDA Director.

Poor adherence to treatment diminishes its individual and public health benefit. Financial incentives, provided on the condition of treatment attendance, could address this problem.

These EASL Recommendations on Treatment of Hepatitis C are intended to assist physicians and other healthcare providers, as well as patients and other interested individuals, in the clinical decision-making process by describing the current optimal man- agement of patients with acute and chronic HCV infections.

This analysis aims to provide an objective overview of drug consumption rooms, their characteristics and current provision, and of the effectiveness of this intervention.

Empirical evidence in the research literature suggests that bystander naloxone administration and overdose education programs are associated with increased odds of recovery and with improved knowledge of overdose recognition and management in non-clinical settings.

In New South Wales, Australia, opioid substitution therapy in prison and post-release appears to reduce mortality risk in the immediate post-release period.

Balanced agonist–antagonist opioid modulation represents a novel and potentially clinically important approach to the treatment of MDD and other psychiatric disorders.

Drug injectors are vulnerable to infection with HIV and other blood-borne viruses due to shared use of injecting equipment as well as sexual behaviour. This review aimed to assess the degree to which this risk is affected by opioid maintenance and detoxification programmes involving the prescription of opiate-type drugs such as methadone to dependent injectors to reduce their reliance on illegal drugs such as heroin.

HIV infection continues to have a persistent impact on mortality rates among people who inject drugs in settings with free HIV/AIDS care, although causes of death have shifted markedly from infectious and AIDS-related causes to non-AIDS-related etiologies.

On-site rapid hepatitis C virus and HIV testing in substance abuse treatment programs is cost-effective at a <$100 000/quality-adjusted life year threshold.

In the public mind, the “war on drugs” probably conjures up a male image. In most countries, official statistics would show that men, indeed, are the majority of people who use drugs recreationally, who have problematic use, and who sell drugs. But punitive drug laws and policies pose a heavy burden on women and, in turn, on the children for whom women are often the principal caregivers.

DrugScope, Public Health England (PHE) and the Local Government Association (LGA) convened a national summit on 23 January 2015 to explore the complex causes behind the rise in deaths and produce practical messages for key decision makers who can help prevent future drug-related deaths.

Despite fairly high HRI coverage among Spanish drug injectors, a distressingly high incidence of HCV in a context of high HCV prevalence was found among young heroin injectors.

Extraordinary recent developments in treatment for hepatitis C off er substantial grounds for optimism. A series of new drugs - more effective in viral clearance with fewer side-effects - are changing the landscape for hepatitis C.

Prohibition has had negative outcomes for the millions of individuals who find it worthwhile to use psychedelics in various cultural settings outside of those in the clinic.

This report aims to explore gender differences in Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs in Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Much of this topic is devoted to challenging beliefs that cocaine and especially its smokable form crack are uniquely addictive and their adherents, uniquely hard to treat.

This report on Needle Exchange Provision in Ireland is aimed at improving needle exchange coverage and enhancing service delivery as a way of reducing rates of new HCV and HIV infection and charts a way forward in identifying potential care pathways for drug and alcohol services.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation commissioned the authors of this paper to undertake a series of interviews with senior officials from departments and public bodies with a direct interest in individuals with multiple needs, including the Treasury, Health, Public Health England, Work and Pensions, Justice, and Communities and Local Government.

The aim of this study was to describe benzodiazepine prescription patterns in the United States focusing on patient age and duration of use.

The Federal Guidelines for Opioid Treatment Programs describe the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) expectation of how the federal opioid treatment standards are to be satisfied by opioid treatment programs (OTPs).

Dr Michael Keane writes a review article for the Institute of Public Affairs.

This report by the IDPC discusses a number of points that need to be addressed in debate towards UNGASS 2016

The featured study found that high-coverage participation in needle and syringe programmes was linked to a lower risk of becoming infected with hepatitis C.

The Role of Public Health Programs in Drug User Health

SMMGP Clinical Update 2015 - This narrative review draws together research on the people who ‘did not attend’ for appointments in addiction services. It also pulls in evidence from the broader healthcare literature to suggest interventions that may be worth considering