Legal and illegal psychoactive compounds that alter brain function, leading to changes in perception, mood, consciousness, and behaviour.
Psychoactive Substances
Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Online Data Visualisation Tool
CSUCH’s data visualisation tool can be used to estimate substance use trends across the country. The data helps inform programs, practices, and research to protect communities, save lives, and improve the well-being of people in Canada...
Perceived impacts of North Americas first de-medicalised safer supply program
Background A non-medicalized safer supply model called a “Compassion Club” has recently been evaluated. The model involved providing rigorously tested and accurately labeled illicit substances to members at cost. Operating for 14 months in...
VCU researchers are developing a long-acting medication for opioid addiction
Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have developed a new version of a medication for opioid use disorder that could offer longer-lasting treatment. Current medications for opioid addiction often require daily doses, but...
The changing DNA of serious and organised crime
Europol’s EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) 2025, published today, reveals how the very DNA of crime is shifting – reshaping the tactics, tools and structures employed by criminal networks. The EU-SOCTA offers one...
Substance Use Monitoring and Surveillance: Challenges faced by LMICs
Substance use surveillance has emerged as a crucial public health strategy across Africa, particularly in light of the alarming rise in substance use among adolescents (1). This trend poses significant health risks that require a...
Nonmedical Benzodiazepines in Canada
The Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (CCENDU), co-ordinated by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), publishes this newsletter regularly to inform people living in Canada about emerging substance use...
#ScaleUp - UNODC initiative on promoting scalable and effective interventions for the treatment of stimulant use disorders
The UNODC #ScaleUp Initiative is a vital response to the growing global challenge of stimulant use disorders, which affect millions of individuals worldwide. In 2021, approximately 78 million people used substances like amphetamines...
National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS) 2023: Data on Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Mental Health Treatment Facilities
The National Survey of Substance Use and Mental Health Services (N-SUMHSS) is a voluntary, annual survey that collects data from all active substance use and mental health treatment facilities across the United States, its territories, and...
The anomalous pharmacology of fentanyl
Fentanyl is a key therapeutic, used in anaesthesia and pain management. It is alsoincreasingly used illicitly and is responsible for a large and growing number of opioidoverdose deaths, especially in North America. A number of factors have...
ISSUP Nigeria Knowledge Update Series (25th Session): Non-Conventional Psychoactive Substances in Nigeria: Understanding Trends and Implications for Public Health
ISSUP Nigeria presents the 25th session of its bi-monthly webinar in the Knowledge Update Series. This webinar focuses on the topic of 'Non-Conventional Psychoactive Substances in Nigeria: Understanding Trends and Implications for Public Health'.