National Documentation Centre on Drug Use
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Substance use behaviours among sexual and gender minorities with a history of adverse childhood experiences: a systematic review and narrative-synthesis.
No full textBACKGROUND AND AIMS: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to poor behavioural and mental health outcomes, including substance use, and disproportionately affect sexual and gender minorities (SGM). However, the relationship between ACEs and substance use in this population remains underexplored. This review investigates associations between ACEs and substance use outcomes in SGM adults.
DESIGN: Registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024493936), we systematically searched six databases from inception to 13 April 2025. Following PRISMA guidelines, two authors independently screened studies and extracted data comparing substance use outcomes in SGM adults with and without ACEs histories. Due to heterogeneity, we conducted a narrative synthesis. Risk of bias was assessed using the 2019 Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).
PARTICIPANTS AND MEASUREMENTS: Included studies involved SGM adults (≥18 years) who experienced at least one ACEs before age 18. SGM status encompassed lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, non-binary, and other identities. Outcomes included any substance use (drug, alcohol, tobacco), with ACEs exposure as the primary variable.
FINDINGS: Thirty-two studies (N = 43,197) were included. Twenty-nine epidemiological studies showed consistent associations between ACEs and negative substance use outcomes across SGM sub-groups and substances. Three qualitative studies highlighted links between substance use and child sexual abuse, heterosexism, and intersecting oppressions such as racism and institutionalization.
CONCLUSIONS: ACEs are associated with adverse substance use outcomes in SGM adults. Further research is needed on how intersecting marginalizations shape these associations
Dáil Éireann Debate. Question 684 & 685 – Cannabis for medicinal use [13969/26][13970/26] .
No full textAdolescents' exposure to zero-alcohol advertisements and attitudes and consumption intentions towards alcohol: a cross-sectional study.
No full textINTRODUCTION: Exposure to alcohol advertising is a key influence on adolescent alcohol consumption. Zero-alcohol drinks (< 0.5% alcohol by volume) resemble and often share brands with alcoholic drinks, so may function as surrogate alcohol marketing. We examined whether exposure to zero-alcohol advertising was associated with adolescents' attitudes and consumption intentions towards alcohol.
METHODS: N = 382 Australians aged 15-17 years completed a cross-sectional online survey where they viewed zero-alcohol advertisements from four parent alcohol brands and reported past exposure and liking of each advertisement, attitudes and consumption intentions towards alcohol products from the parent brand, general attitudes and consumption intentions towards alcohol, self-reported location-based exposure to zero-alcohol advertising, prior alcohol and zero-alcohol consumption, and demographics. Associations between exposure and liking, attitudes, and consumption intentions were examined using linear mixed effect models and linear regression.
RESULTS: Adjusting for prior zero-alcohol and alcohol consumption, gender and parent presence during survey completion, attitudes towards and intentions to consume alcohol from the parent brand were associated with previous zero-alcohol advertisement exposure (attitudes: B = 0.22, p = 0.005; intentions: B = 0.20, p = 0.002) and zero-alcohol advertisement liking (attitudes: B = 1.42, p < 0.001; intentions: B = 0.67, p < 0.001). No associations were found between self-reported location-based exposure to zero-alcohol advertising and general attitudes and consumption intentions towards alcohol.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Findings that adolescents who see and like zero-alcohol advertisements have more favourable attitudes towards and stronger intentions to consume parent alcohol brands suggest that zero-alcohol advertisements may serve as surrogate alcohol marketing, supporting calls to include them within alcohol advertising regulations
The changing face of addiction: ‘Some people were first using drugs in their 50s and 60s’.
No full textChrysalis is based in Dublin city with centres in Dublin 1 and Dublin 7. The organisation, which is funded by the HSE and the North Inner City Drug and Alcohol Task Force, offers a range of services including individual counselling, group sessions and detox programmes...
The prevalence of multiple addictions makes supporting people much more complex
Minimizing the risk of diversion of pharmaceuticals containing controlled substances from the regulated supply chain. A practitioner’s handbook for effective operational practice.
No full textDrugnet Ireland. Strengthening Ireland’s response to new and emerging trends within the next policy life cycle.
No full text"Who the hell is upstream pushing them all in?" Reclaiming public health's defining metaphor to counter the commercial determinants of health.
No full textPublic health policy and practice are often described by means of a metaphor that depicts interventions as "upstream" efforts to prevent people from falling into a river, from which they must be rescued "downstream" by overwhelmed healthcare services. The upstream-downstream metaphor has been described as public health's defining metaphor. We apply a commercial determinants of health lens to re-engage with the initial intentions of McKinlay's seminal 1975 essay from which this metaphor emerged, and to critique its current uses. We examine how the upstream-downstream metaphor has come to be used in ways that depart radically from its original intent, which was to characterise the practices of powerful commercial actors who profit from the production of harm and disease. The subtle but important shift in language from people being pushed, to falling into the river, among other depoliticising processes, contributes to an individualising and victim-blaming approach to health harms, deflecting from the role of commercial power and practices. There is a pressing need to reclaim public health's defining metaphor as part of the wider agenda to address commercial determinants as the major public health challenges of our time
Breaking bonds, changing habits: understanding health behaviors during and after marital dissolution.
No full textMarital dissolution is a stressful transition that can lead to unhealthy coping strategies, including smoking and drinking. Using fixed effect linear probability models to assess health behavior changes, we analyzed 6,607 women and 6,689 men in the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia data set who were either continuously married or experienced marital separation between 2002 and 2020. We observed 1,376 separations (744 women, 632 men). We found that drinking and smoking increases leading to and in the year of separation, with variability by gender, education, and parenthood status. From Cox proportional hazards models, we showed that among individuals who smoked (N = 337) or drank (N = 756) in the year of separation, cessation was most likely for the highly educated and/or women. Unhealthy coping mechanisms throughout marital dissolution suggests a need for targeted support to those separating, especially for men and those with children and lower education