November 2025, Volume 44, Issue 7
The November issue features an editorial on assessing the Early Impact of the Change in the Kava Importation Policy in Australia.
Australian research in this issue focussed on: geographic differences in public opinion on drug policy; improving options and access for people with a substance use disorder; activity-based funding in alcohol and other drug treatment services; creating safer injecting practices through community-led harm reduction; exploring post-cycle therapy, cessation, and recovery discourse and practice in Australian steroid consumer forums; survey questions on quantity and frequency are differentially effective by age in predicting future alcohol consumption; what happened to alcohol consumption in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic; alcohol pricing and discounting in Western Australia; alcohol promotion via user-generated content on Instagram and TikTok; increasing alcohol pharmacotherapy prescribing rates; evaluation of a residential managed alcohol program for Aboriginal peoples experiencing homelessness and alcohol dependence; factors associated with alcohol use among individuals commencing treatment at community-based outpatient treatment centres; understanding the determinants of use of the Australian guide to diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; the short-term health effects of dealcoholised red wine; nitrous oxide sourcing, use and harms; and knowledge and concerns about smoking-related health risks.
Internal research included papers from America on naloxone carriage among people who inject drugs in New York City; point-of-care drug-checking; perceptions of drug checking services and supply information among people who use drugs in Rhode Island; urgent need for pairing training and education with fentanyl test strip distribution; emergence of medetomidine in the unregulated drug supply and its association with hallucinogenic effects; buprenorphine adherence trajectories and their impact on opioid overdose and healthcare costs; and explaining associations between retail availability and use of alcohol and cannabis among youth.
Other research included two papers from Canada on the short-term impacts of decriminalisation of personal possession of select illegal drugs on drug poisonings and alcohol excise taxation, tax share and revenue; research from Denmark on predictors of long-term alcohol use disorder treatment receipt among middle-aged and older adults with problematic alcohol use; a systematic review from Brazil on community-based environmental interventions to prevent alcohol use in adolescents; and a paper from Norway on the normalisation of non-drinking and implications for psycho-social problems.
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Cannabis legalisation and its impact on access, use and public perceptions
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