HRB National Drugs Library e-newsletter volume 21, issue 5

Our newsletter includes links to Irish and international publications related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. To view our entire collection of research and access our resources visit our website, Ireland's comprehensive substance use research library. And follow us @HRBdrugslibrary

Also, take a look at the NDTRS treatment data tables, services map and alcohol dashboard, among other resources on our site.

Irish-related publications

National Drug Treatment Reporting System: 2024 drug treatment demand.

Lynch, Tiina and Tierney, Paula and Lyons, Suzi (2025) Dublin: Health Research Board.

Deaths among people who were homeless at time of death in Ireland, 2021.

Kelleher, Cathy and Riordan, Fiona and Lyons, Suzi (2025) Dublin: Health Research Board.

ESPAD Ireland 2024: results from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs

Hanafin, Joan et al (2025) Dublin: TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland for the Department of Health Ireland.

DRIVE National awareness campaign 2025. [Webpage]

(2025) DRIVE Oversight Committee.

An examination of support for more diverse alcohol warning labels (awls) in Ireland.

Houghton, Frank et al (2025) Epidemiology Biostatistics and Public Health, 20, (1). doi.org/10.54103/2282-0930/28806

Labelling the debate: a thematic analysis of alcohol industry submissions to the EU consultation on alcohol health warnings in Ireland

Cott, Éadaoin et al (2025) Globalization and Health, 21, 34. doi.org/10.1186/s12992-025-01126-3

Association between childhood adversity and substance use in early adulthood

Mongan, Deirdre (2025) HRB Blog

Barriers to social inclusion in Ireland: change over time and space, 2016-2022

Devlin, Anne et al (2025) Dublin: ESRI

Probable suicide among men in farming and agricultural-related occupations in the Republic of Ireland: exploring coronial data

Cox, Gemma et al (2025) Journal of Agromedicine, Early online. pp. 1-11. doi.org/10.1080/1059924x.2025.2498339

Thoughts of suicide and self-harm: a national study on young people presenting to non-paediatric acute hospitals in Ireland.

Kavalidou, Katerina et al (2025) Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, pp. 1-13. doi.org/10.2989/17280583.2025.2489157

Psychosis survey 2024. Perspectives on breaking stigma & improving support

(2025) Dublin: Shine; Mental Health Reform; Health Service Executive

Mental health service in emergency departments in Ireland

Lucey, James V (2025) Irish Medical Journal, 118, (4), p. 53

An appreciative enquiry of family health support

O'Neill, Debra and El Amin, Dany (2024) Dublin: Finglas Cabra Local Drug & Alcohol Task Force

Webinar recording: Growing up in Ireland: substance use and childhood adversity

(2025) Dublin: Health Research Board

HSE Ketamine update 2025

2025) HSE drugs.ie

HSE MDMA update May 2025

(2025) HSE drugs.ie

Alcohol, sport and domestic, sexual & gender-based violence

(2025) Dublin: Alcohol Action Ireland.

Alcohol Action Ireland submission to the public consultation on the development of the Department of Justice Statement of Strategy 2025 - 2028

(2025) Dublin: Alcohol Action Ireland

Galway City Alcohol Forum strategy (2024-2029)

(2024) Galway: Galway City Alcohol Forum

Behavioural insights into youth vaping in Northern Ireland

Wilmot, Elaine and Hagan, Aine (2025) Belfast: Public Health Agency

The impact of the introduction of universal access to free nicotine replacement therapy on the process and outcome of stop smoking services in Ireland

Naughton, Peter et al (2025) Public Health, 244. doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2025.105758

Disposable vapes banned in the UK from next week – when does Ireland’s ban come into effect? [Audio]

(2025) Dublin: RTE

Using implementation science to support the prevention of substance use in Ireland [presentation slides]

Metz, Allison (2025) In: Using implementation science to support the prevention of substance use in Ireland, 17th April 2025, Tangent, Trinity Business School.

Youth homelessness in the Dublin region, 2023

Maphosa, Pathie and Mayock, Paula (2025) Dublin: Dublin Region Homeless Executive

Sláintecare implementation progress report 2024

(2025) Dublin: Department of Health

Tiglin annual report 2024-2025

(2025) Wicklow: Tiglin

Department of Justice customer service action plan 2025-2028

(2025) Dublin: Department of Justice

Revenue Commissioners annual report 2024

(2025) Dublin: Revenue Commissioners

Ombudsman for Children’s Office annual report 2024: tomorrow starts with us

(2025) Dublin: Ombudsman for Children’s Office

International publications

Key findings from the 2024 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD).

(2025) Lisbon: EUDA and ESPAD

EUDA Consolidated annual activity report 2024 – key achievements and governance: a year in review

European Union Drugs Agency. (2025) Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union

A whole-system response to drug prevention in the UK

(2025) London: Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

How can we support meaningful engagement with community stakeholders in substance use research?

(2025) Edinburgh: Drugs Research Network Scotland.

Commission on Narcotic Drugs: sixty-eighth session. Vienna, 10–14 March 2025. [Webpage]

(2025) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Repairing the “machinery”: recommendations and expectations for the independent review of international drug policy commitments

(2025) London: International Drug Policy Consortium

Non-adherence level of pharmacotherapy and its predictors among mental disorders in a resource-limited life trajectories: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Zewdu, Woretaw Sisay et al (2025) BMC Psychiatry, 25. doi.org/10.1186/s12888-025-06838-9

National guidance on essential specialty substance use disorder (SUD) care

(2025) Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Managing drug use disorder treatment services in line with international ‘Key Quality Standards’: a handbook for managers

Dale-Perera, Annette (2025) United States: International Consortium on Quality in Substance Use Disorders Treatment (ICQ)

Drugs and alcohol workforce knowledge and skills framework. A knowledge and skills framework to support the consistent delivery of substance use services across Scotland

Scottish Government. Population Health Directorate. (2025) Edinburgh: Scottish Government

Evaluation of brief intervention delivery by primary-care providers in the WHO European Region: BRIEF project

(2025) Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

Craving self-reports as outcome measures in drug addiction trials: a systematic review of ClinicalTrials.gov

Toulami, Matin et al (2025) Addiction, Early online. doi.org/10.1111/add.70064

Help-seeking among pregnant and parenting women who use drugs: mitigating stigma through relationships

Nichol, Emily et al (2025) International Journal of Drug Policy, 140. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104818

Prevalence of maternal substance use problems during pregnancy and the first 2 years of life: a whole-population birth cohort of 970 470 Australian children born 2008-2017

Powell, Madeleine et al (2025) Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Early online. doi.org/10.1136/jech-2024-223439

Digital integrated interventions for comorbid depression and substance use disorder: narrative review and content analysis

Jonathan, Geneva K et al (2025) JMIR Mental Health, 12. doi.org/10.2196/67670

Centering peers in design and training for a peer-delivered contingency management program for self-identified harm reduction and treatment goals

Peng, Linda et al (2025) Harm Reduction Journal, 22, (Suppl 1), p. 72. doi.org/10.1186/s12954-025-01213-z

College report CR243 – Co-occuring substance use and mental health disorders (CoSUM)

Royal College of Psychiatrists. (2025) London: Royal College of Psychiatrists

Addiction healthcare goals

Office for Life Sciences, James Lind Alliance. (2025) London: James Lind Alliance.

The cuckoo's nest

Jones, Karen (2025) Drink and Drug News, May 2025. pp. 6-7

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report for 2024

International Drug Policy Consortium. (2025) Vienna: United Nations

Eurojust annual report 2024

European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation

UNODC annual report 2024

(2025) Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

UNODC programme on partnerships for the treatment of drug use disorders

UNODC Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section. (2025) Vienna: United Nations

The costs and benefits of a prison needle and syringe program in Australia, 2025-30: a modelling study

Houdroge, Farah et al (2025) The Medical Journal of Australia, 222, (8), pp. 396-402. doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52640

Community expansion of evidence-based harm reduction strategies for people who use drugs

(2025) Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Harm reduction works! A call to invest in a European healthbased drug policy. Policy paper.

Schiffer, Katrin et al (2025) Amsterdam: Correlation- European Harm Reduction Network

Community overdose reversal medications planning toolkit

(2025) Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Exploring the need for overdose prevention centers in England: a qualitative community-based participatory study on the perspectives of people who use drugs in public and semi-public environments

Scher, Benjamin D et al (2025) International Journal of Drug Policy, 140. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104816

The role of prejudice and prior contact in support for evidence-based interventions to reduce drug-related deaths: a mixed methods study

Miller, Nicole M et al (2025) Drug Science, Policy and Law, Early online. doi.org/10.1177/20503245251334970

The changing role of substances: trends, characteristics of individuals and prior healthcare utilization among individuals with accidental substance-related toxicity deaths in Ontario Canada

Ledlie, Shaleesa et al (2025) PLoS ONE, 20, (5). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0324732

Overdoses involving medetomidine mixed with opioids - Chicago, Illinois, May 2024

Nham, Amy et al (2025) MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 74, (15), pp. 258-265. /10.15585/mmwr.mm7415a1

Psychotropic substances 2024: statistics for 2023 assessments of annual medical and scientific requirements

International Narcotics Control Board. (2025) Vienna: United Nations

Role of ketamine in the treatment of substance use disorders: a systematic review

Janssen-Aguilar, Reinhard et al (2025) Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 175. doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2025.209705

An update on the presence of BTMPS in the drug supply and the discovery of tetramethylfentanyl-related substances

(2025) United States: Center for Forensic Science Research and Education

NDARC drug factsheets

GHB. (2025) UNSW Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43224/

Cannabis. (2025) UNSW Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43228/

Cocaine. (2025) UNSW Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43226/

Fentanyl. (2025) UNSW Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43227/

Heroin. (2025) UNSW Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43225/

Unmet treatment need among heroin and crack users and dependent drinkers

Lloyd, Charlie et al (2025) Birkbeck, University of London, and University of York

Individuals 45 years and older in opioid agonist treatment: a scoping review

Gaulen, Zhanna et al (2025) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22, (3). doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22030458

Fentanyl test strip use and overdose risk reduction behaviors among people who use drugs

Vickers-Smith, Rachel A et al (2025) JAMA Network Open, 8, (5). doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.10077

Patient satisfaction and resource utilization following introduction of long-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAIB) in Scottish prisons.

Sayers, Craig and Mogford, Daniel (2025) Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, 16. pp. 83-93. doi.org/10.2147/SAR.S510467

‘Semi-synthetic’ cannabinoids: cannabinoids related to tetrahydro- cannabinol and cannabidiol

(2025) London: Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Cannabis use disorder and mortality among patients with colon cancer

Cuomo, Raphael E (2025) Annals of Epidemiology, 106. pp. 8-10. doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.04.012

Cannabis use among older adults

Pravosud, Vira et al (2025) JAMA Network Open, 8, (5). doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.10173

Effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Halicka, Monika et al (2025) Addiction, Early online. doi.org/10.1111/add.70084

Getting "The whole picture": a review of international research on the outcomes of regulated cannabis supply

Belackova, Vendula et al (2025) International Journal of Drug Policy, 142. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104796

The cannabis conundrum: a way forward for London

(2025) London: The London Drugs Commission

Alcohol and cannabis as sleep aids among adolescents and associations with sleep quality and problematic use

Sancho-Domingo, Clara et al (2025) Addictive Behaviors, 165. doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108304

The IARC perspective on the effects of policies on reducing alcohol consumption

Gapstur, Susan M et al (2025) The New England Journal of Medicine, 392, (17), pp. 1752-1759. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr2413289

Identifying innovative approaches to the temporal availability of alcohol in Great Britain—a policy analysis

Cook, Megan et al (2025) Drugs: Education Prevention and Policy, pp. 1-11. doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2025.2490580

Alcohol taxes, prices and affordability in the WHO European Region in 2022

(2025) Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe

Alcohol taxation and pricing policies implementation toolkit: a practical guide for selecting, implementing and evaluating policies

(2025) Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe

Restricting alcohol availability in practice: evidence from selected countries. Brief 14

(2025) Geneva: World Health Organization

The price is right: minimum unit pricing for alcohol and the case for a windfall tax

Shepherd, Jake and Dowling, Barney (2025) London: Social Market Foundation

Suboptimal industry adherence to the design specifications of the mandatory pregnancy warning label

Yusoff, Asad et al (2025) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 49, (3). doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2025.100236

The prevalence of mandated and voluntary health information on alcohol products in Australia

Pettigrew, Simone et al (2025) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 49, (1). doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100215

Treatment engagement and healthcare utilization outcomes from a mixed methods study of the implementation of alcohol assertive outreach in the North West of England

Mylonas, Nikolaos et al (2025) Substance Use & Misuse, Early online. pp. 1-10. doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2025.2494807

Predictors of alcohol use disorder risk in young adults: direct and indirect psychological paths through binge drinking

Mauduy, Maxime et al (2025) PLoS ONE, 20, (5). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321974

The association of parental or caregiver alcohol use with child maltreatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Leung, June Yue Yan et al (2025) Addiction, Early online. doi.org/10.1111/add.70055

Health and social benefits from reduced alcohol consumption: when less is more. Alcohol and society 2025

Dangardt, Frida et al (2025) Stockholm: Svensk sjuksköterskeförening, SFAM, SAFF, CERA, IOGT i Norge, Hjärnfonden, Movendi International, SLAN, Junis, UNF & IOGT-NTO

Questionable generalizability of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption scoring warrants caution when used for outcome monitoring: evidence from simulated and real-world trial data

Romero, Danilo et al (2025) Addiction, Early online. doi.org/10.1111/add.70074

Treatment of alcohol use disorder in alcohol-associated liver disease: a meta-analysis

Singal, Ashwani K et al (2025) Hepatology Communications, 9, (5). doi.org/10.1097/hc9.0000000000000686

Prescribed e-cigarette use and access among two samples in Australia who regularly use illicit drugs, 2022-2024.

Chandrasena, Udesha et al (2025) Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre

Information sheet: the role of flavours in increasing the appeal of tobacco, nicotine and related products

(2025) Geneva: World Health Organization

The association of modifiable and socio-demographic factors with first transitions from smoking to exclusive e-cigarette use, dual use or no nicotine use

Findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children United Kingdom birth cohort. Andrayas, Alexandria et al (2025) Addiction, Early online. doi.org/10.1111/add.70076

Determinants of knowledge of risks associated with cigarette smoking among adolescents in Scotland

Adebisi, Yusuff Adebayo et al (2025) European Journal of Public Health, Early online. doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaf024

Mitigating gambling-related harms in children and young people: a scoping review of interventions

Davis, Christina et al (2025) Journal of Gambling Studies, Early online. doi.org/10.1007/s10899-025-10387-x

Kid gamers to adult gamblers? An investigation of gaming in childhood and young adult gambling

Mohan, Gretta (2025) International Gambling Studies, Early online. doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2025.2488867

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