Prevalence of drug use before and during imprisonment in seven European countries (2014-2018).

Substance use is a global phenomenon that is particularly affecting the prison population. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of drug use among people in prison before and during incarceration in seven European countries and to compare it with the prevalence in the general population. Individual data collection was carried out between 2014 and 2018 with a model European Questionnaire on Drug Use among people in prison.

Drug supply indicators: Pitfalls and possibilities for improvements to assist comparative analysis.

Interventions to tackle the supply of drugs are seen as standard components of illicit drug policies. Therefore drug market-related administrative data, such as seizures, price, purity and drug-related offending, are used in most countries for policy monitoring and assessment of the drug situation. International agencies, such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, also monitor and report on the drug situation cross-nationally and therefore seek to collect and make available key data in a uniform manner from the countries they cover.

Drug affordability-potential tool for comparing illicit drug markets.

Background: The importance of illicit drug price data and making appropriate adjustments for purity has been repeatedly highlighted for understanding illicit drug markets. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has been collecting retail price data for a number of drug types alongside drug-specific purity information for over 15 years. While these data are useful for a number of monitoring and analytical purposes, they are not without their limitations and there are circumstances where additional adjustment needs to be considered.

Khat use and monitoring drug use in Europe: the current situation and issues for the future.

Aim Of The Study: To review the information available on the use of khat (Catha edulis) in the EU, and to assess the future use of this drug and related substances.

Material And Methods: Khat is not controlled by international law and it has not been systematically included in the list of illicit drugs monitored in the EU. The current principal source of information on khat use in Europe is the early-warning system set up to monitor new and emerging drugs.

Use of supervised injection facilities and injection risk behaviours among young drug injectors.

Aims: To study the use of supervised injection facilities (SIFs) as a predictor of safer injecting practices.

Design: Cross-sectional study conducted with face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire with computer-assisted personal interviewing. Dried blood spot samples were collected for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody testing.

Access to sterile syringes among young drug injectors in Madrid and Barcelona and its association with risk behaviour.

Background And Objective: To evaluate access to sterile syringes and its association with injection risk behaviour in Madrid and Barcelona.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional community study by computer-assisted personal interview in 465 young heroin injectors between 2001 and 2003.

Results: Some 4.

More free syringes, fewer drug injectors in the case of Spain.

International policy on the prevention of HIV and other health problems among drug users should be guided by scientific evidence. However, it has frequently been argued that Needle Exchange Programs (NEPs) have negative effects such as facilitation of injection of illicit drugs, without providing evidence to support this hypothesis. Since the early 1980s Spain has experienced a severe HIV epidemic among drug injectors.

[Prevalence of indirect sharing of drug-injecting paraphernalia in Galicia, Madrid, Seville and Valencia [Spain]].

Objectives: To study drug-injecting practices, particularly indirect sharing of injecting paraphernalia (ISIP), and sexual risk behavior.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 1638 users of needle exchange programs (NEPs). Different types of ISIP were studied: taking diluted drugs in a syringe used by others, placing the needle in a recipient with other used needles, and reusing cleaning liquid previously used by others.

[Estimating mortality attributed to illegal drug use in Spain].

Background And Objective: The impact of illegal drug consumption on general mortality in Spain is unknown. We aimed to quantify this impact for the period 1994-2000.

Subjects And Method: Number of directly drug-related deaths from HIV among injecting drug users as well as others -- both taken from the General Mortality Register (GMR).

Reasons for selecting an initial route of heroin administration and for subsequent transitions during a severe HIV epidemic.

Aim: To identify the most important reasons for selecting a particular route of heroin administration and for subsequent transitions during a period of epidemic HIV transmission. To study temporal trends in these reasons.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Factors associated with non-fatal heroin overdose: assessing the effect of frequency and route of heroin administration.

Aims: To examine risk factors associated with non-fatal heroin overdose, particularly frequency and route of heroin administration.

Design: Data from cross-sectional surveys were analysed as a case-control and as a case cross-over design.

Setting And Participants: 2556 subjects treated for heroin dependence in 164 outpatient facilities in Spain.