Ian Hamilton explains why the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have missed a trick by not updating their 2007 guidance on psychosocial interventions for substance misuse.
[read the full story...]Supervised injectable heroin for refractory heroin addiction
Eleanor Kennedy considers a new systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs of diamorphine-prescribing as treatment for refractory heroin addiction.
[read the full story...]Away from crime and into treatment: diversion and aftercare for drug-using offenders
Can we steer drug-using offenders away from crime and into treatment? Chris Sampson explores a study of the cost-effectiveness of diversion and aftercare programmes for offenders using class A drugs.
[read the full story...]How does buprenorphine fair as an alternative to methadone for treating opioid dependence?
Meg Fluharty summarises a recent Cochrane review, which tells us that high-dose buprenorphine is an effective maintenance treatment for heroin compared to placebo, but fixed flexible-dosing methadone is superior to buprenorphine at participant retention.
[read the full story...]Illicit drug use: personality and poverty
A considerable amount of research has attempted to shed light on the key antecedents of drug use. The role of personality traits, in particular, has been explored in great detail; indeed the idea of “the addictive personality” has often been discussed. Although we elves feel that the addictive personality is a simplification of a much [read the full story…]