The latest figures from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) show that a total of 736 deaths in Ireland during 2016 were linked to drug use.^1,2 The NDRDI reports on poisoning deaths (also known as overdose), which are due to the toxic effect of a drug or combination of drugs, and on non-poisonings, which are deaths as a result of trauma, such as hanging, or medical reasons, such as cardiac events, among people who use drugs.

While research and health-related issues have been given some attention in the public debate around Brexit, they have struggled to gain attention in the heated discussion around trade, free movement, and judicial oversight. A recent paper¹ by a group of public health academics has attempted to highlight the damaging effect that the severing of links with agencies such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol will have on the UK’s capacity to deal with the consequences of illicit drug use. They point out that continued access to EU-generated information and intelligence is not guaranteed in a post-Brexit situation.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the governing body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Essentially, it is the central drug policymaking body of the United Nations (UN). It aims to provide member states and civil society with the opportunity to exchange expertise, experiences, and information on drug-related matters and to develop a coordinated response to the drug situation. Membership is made up of representatives from 53 UN member states, allowing for a spread of geographical representation. Ireland is not currently a member.

In March 2019, representatives from UN member states and civil society met in Vienna for the 62nd session of the CND. As well as plenary sessions, there were approximately 100 side events held.¹ However, a much-anticipated two-day ministerial segment took place at the start of the session; it is this element of the session that is the focus of this article.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); the World Health Organization; and the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy have collaborated with international experts to produce International guidelines on human rights and drug policy.¹ The outputs of this collaboration were launched to coincide with the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2019 – they include a written set of guidelines and an online resource.²

A Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report, Health, rights and drugs: harm reduction, decriminalization and zero discrimination for people who use drugs, was published in March 2019.¹ It recommends implementing evidence-informed approaches to drug policy that are grounded in human rights and which would reduce the spread of HIV and other diseases through injecting drug use. These include harm reduction services and the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use. The report was published in advance of the ministerial segment of the 62nd Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) session and its authors advocated that its recommendations be used to inform that process.²

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published the European drug report 2019: trends and developments¹ on 6 June 2019. This report provides a snapshot of the latest drug trends across the 28 European Union (EU) member states, Norway and Turkey. The Health Research Board (HRB) provides the Irish data.

Research indicates that the most effective alcohol policies are those that regulate the actions of the alcohol industry, including reducing the affordability of alcohol and decreasing its availability.¹ However, national alcohol policies have tended to favour policies that allow the alcohol industry scope for self-regulation and promote non-regulatory measures. This may reflect the influence of the alcohol industry in defining the scope and content of alcohol policy debate. A recent systematic review² published in the journal Addiction investigated the role of the alcohol industry in policymaking and the ways in which the industry attempts to influence this process.

In June 2018, a report that examined community experiences of serious organised crime (SOC) in Scotland was published by the Scottish Government.¹ The study aimed to examine three areas:

• Relationships that existed between SOC and communities in Scotland
• Experiences and perceptions of the scope and nature of SOC among residents, stakeholders, and organisations
• Impact of SOC on community wellbeing, and whether harms linked to SOC can be alleviated.

The launch of The drug economy and youth interventions: an exploratory research project on working with young people involved in the illegal drugs trade was held on 30 April 2019.¹ The study was carried out by Dr Matt Bowden of the Technological University Dublin and is published by CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign. As well as a presentation on the report’s key findings, the launch included:

• The findings of research into the views and experiences of drug dealers by Dr Fiona O’Reilly
• The experiences of those delivering interventions with young people affected by the ‘drug economy’:
  •  Angela Birch of the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource discussing the Easy Street project
  •  Karl Ducque and Gary Lawlor of the Targeted Response to Youth (TRY) intervention
• A closing statement by John Lonergan, former governor of Mountjoy Prison, Dublin.

The National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) is a national surveillance database on treatment for problem drug and alcohol use in Ireland. In March 2019, the NDTRS published its latest alcohol treatment figures, which cover the seven-year period 2011–2017. Over this period, 55,675 cases were treated for alcohol as a main problem.¹

The treatment demand indicator (TDI) is an epidemiological indicator, used in the European Union (EU), with the aim of providing a common format on collection and reporting of data on people seeking treatment for problem drug use. A recent study reviewed the implementation of the TDI and the data analysis and trends it has provided.¹

On 10 December 2018, the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Drug and Alcohol Task Force (DLRDATF) launched their report, ‘Just maintaining the status quo’? The experiences of long-term participants in methadone maintenance treatment.¹ The report documents the findings of a qualitative study examining the experiences of people engaged in long-term methadone maintenance treatment in the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown area of South Dublin.

Opiate use disorder (OUD) is a problem worldwide.¹ European statistics show that there are approximately 1.3 million high-risk opioid users in the EU, where opioids are found in 82% of fatal overdoses.² The most recent Irish data from 2014 estimated that there were 18,988 opiate users in the Republic of Ireland, giving a rate of 6.18 per thousand population aged 15–64 years (95% CI: 6.09–6.98).³

Recent research has shown that the number of emergency hospitalisations among those experiencing homelessness in Ireland has increased significantly in the last 10 years.¹ The profile of those using emergency department services suggests that they are, in the main, chronically or episodically homeless and thus represent a relatively small proportion of the overall homeless population. Nevertheless, these subjects are heavy users of various costly services. Furthermore, a number of Irish studies have suggested that homeless people exhibit relatively high levels of mental health difficulties and may be over-represented in psychiatric settings.^1,2

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. A causal relationship has been established between alcohol and over 60 health conditions, such as female breast cancer, bowel cancer, and high blood pressure.¹ Despite the growing evidence on the contribution of alcohol to the global burden of disease and mortality, research in other countries demonstrates poor public knowledge of the association between alcohol and a range of alcohol-related health conditions, including cancer.^2,3 The aim of this research was to establish public knowledge of six alcohol-related health conditions in Ireland, namely liver disease, pancreatitis, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, female breast cancer, and bowel cancer.

Recent research added to the HRB National Drugs Library website

www.drugsandalcohol.ie