Global
Research publications provide useful insights into all aspects of drugs and alcohol, from use prevention to treatment and from family support to local and national policy.
In this section we have listed global reports from 2000 onwards, by year of publication.
If you wish to suggest additional papers for inclusion in this section of our website please contact us at info@drugs.ie or call us on 01 960 3004.

World drug report 2018 Book 5: WOMEN AND DRUGS
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[UNODC] (2018) World drug report book 5 2018. Vienna: United Nations.
World drug report 2018 Book 4: DRUGS AND AGE
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[UNODC] (2018) World drug report book 4 2018. Vienna: United Nations.
World drug report 2018 Book 3: ANALYSIS OF DRUG MARKETS
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[UNODC] (2018) World drug report book 3 2018. Vienna: United Nations.
World drug report 2018 Book 2: GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF DRUG DEMAND AND SUPPLY
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[UNODC] (2018) World drug report book 2 2018. Vienna: United Nations.
World drug report 2018 Book 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[UNODC] (2018) World drug report book 1 2018. Vienna: United Nations.
International Standards on Drug Use Prevention
© United Nations, February 2015. All rights reserved, worldwide.

WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: thirty-eighth report.
World Health Organization. [WHO] (2017) WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: thirty-eighth report. Geneva: World Health Organization. 56 p. WHO
World drug report 2017.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. [UNODC] (2017) World drug report 2017. Vienna: United Nations.
Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2016.
International Narcotics Control Board. [INCB] (2017) Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2016. New York: United Nations. 132 p.
Good Policy And Practice In Health Education: Education Sector Responses To The Use Of Alcohol, Tobacco And Drugs
UNESCO/ UNODC/ WHO (2017).Good Policy And Practice In Health Education: Education Sector Responses To The Use Of Alcohol, Tobacco And Drugs
Global SMART update 2017. Fentanyl and its analogues - 50 years on
Global SMART Programme. [UNODC] (2017) Global SMART update 2017. Fentanyl and its analogues - 50 years on. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 12 p

Do no harm. Health, human rights and people who use drugs.
UNAIDS. (2016) Geneva ,UNAIDS
The health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use.
Hall, Wayne and Renstrom, Maria and Poznyak, Vladimir, eds. (2016) World Health Organization
How does the alcohol industry attempt to influence marketing regulations? A systematic review.
Savell, Emily and Fooks, Gary and Gilmore, Anna B (2016) Addiction, 111 (1). pp. 18-32.
Aim: To systematically review, using a qualitative, narrative synthesis approach, papers examining alcohol industry efforts to influence alcohol marketing policy, and compare with those used by the tobacco industry.
Results: Five main political strategies and five main frames were identified. The alcohol industry argues against marketing regulation by emphasizing industry responsibility and the effectiveness of self-regulation, questioning the effectiveness of statutory regulation and by focusing on individual responsibility. Arguments relating to industry responsibility are often reinforced through corporate social responsibility activities. The industry primarily conveys its arguments through manipulating the evidence base and by promoting ineffective voluntary codes and non-regulatory initiatives.

HIV and young people who inject drugs. Technical brief.
World Health Organization. (2015) World Health Organization, Geneva .
Key populations at higher risk of HIV include people who sell sex, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who inject drugs. Young people who belong to one or more of these key populations – or who engage in activities associated with these populations – are made especially vulnerable to HIV by widespread criminalisation, discrimination, stigma and violence, combined with the particular vulnerabilities of youth, power imbalances in relationships and, sometimes, alienation from family and friends. These factors increase the risk that they may engage – willingly or not – in behaviours that put them at risk of HIV, such as frequent unprotected sex and the sharing of needles and syringes to inject drugs.
This brief aims to catalyse and inform discussions about how best to provide health services, programmes and support for young people who inject drugs. It offers a concise account of current knowledge concerning the HIV risk and vulnerability of young people who inject drugs; the barriers and constraints they face to appropriate services; examples of programmes that may work well in addressing their needs and rights; and approaches and considerations for providing services that both draw upon and build the strengths, competencies and capacities of young people who inject drugs.
World Health Organization. (2015) Preventing youth violence: an overview of the evidence. World Health Organization, Geneva .
Twenty-one strategies to prevent youth violence are reviewed, including programmes relating to parenting, early childhood development, and social skills development, as well as policies related to the harmful use of alcohol, problem oriented policing, and urban upgrading.
2015 global reference list of 100 core health indicators.
World Health Organization. (2015) World Health Organization, Geneva.
Report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2015: raising taxes on tobacco.
World Health Organization. (2015) World Health Organization, Geneva.
Alcohol advertising and sponsorship in formula one: a dangerous cocktail.
Eurocare, Institute of Alcohol Studies, Monash University. (2015) Eurocare. 18 p.
Effectiveness of bystander naloxone administration and overdose education programs: a meta-analysis.
Giglio, R. E. and Li, G. and DiMaggio, C. J. (2015) Springer. Injury Epidemiology, 2 (10) 10.1186/s40621-015-0041-8
World health statistics 2015.
World Health Organization. (2015) World Health Organization, Geneva .
2015 represents the target year for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). By assessing the progress made based upon data available up to 2014 this report provides a clear indication of whether the regional and global targets set for 2015 are likely to be met. It should be noted, however, that the progress assessments reported below may change for some countries once the 2015 data have been taken into account in upcoming final analyses.
Women’s injection drug practices in their own words: a qualitative study.
Tuchman, E. (2015) BioMed Central. Harm Reduction Journal, 12 (6)
Global state of harm reduction 2014.
Stone, Katie, ed. (2015) Harm Reduction International.
In 2008, Harm Reduction International released the Global State of Harm Reduction, a report that mapped responses to drug-related HIV and hepatitis C epidemics around the world for the first time.(1) The data gathered for the report provided a critical baseline against which progress could be measured in terms of the international, regional and national recognition of harm reduction in policy and practice. Since then, the biennial report has become a key publication for researchers, policymakers, civil society organisations and advocates, mapping harm reduction policy adoption and programme implementation globally.
In the second and third editions, the Global State of Harm Reduction 2010: Key Issues for Broadening the Response(2) and The Global State of Harm Reduction 2012: Towards an Integrated Response,(3) important harm reduction issues were explored in a series of chapters on key topics, such as the response to amphetamine-related harms, harm reduction in prisons, effective harm reduction services for women who inject drugs, and access to harm reduction services by young people.
The Global State of Harm Reduction 2014 continues to map the response to drug-related HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis. It also integrates updated information on harm reduction services into each regional chapter, including on needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) and opioid substitution therapy (OST) provision; harm reduction services in the prison setting; access to antiretroviral therapy for people who inject drugs; regional overdose responses; policy developments; civil society developments; and information relating to funding for harm reduction.

Community management of opioid overdose.
World Health Organization. (2014) World Health Organization.
An estimated 69 000 people die each year from opioid overdose. Opioid overdose is easily reversed with the opioid antidote naloxone and with basic life support. Such care is generally only available in medical settings, however. These guidelines recommend that people who are likely to witness an opioid overdose, including people who use opioids, and their family and friends should be given access to naloxone and training in its use so that they can respond to opioid overdose in an emergency if a medical response is not available.
Determining the impact of opioid substitution therapy upon mortality and recidivism among prisoners: A 22 year data linkage study.
Gisev, N., Larney, S., Kimber, J., Burns, L., Weatherburn, D., Gibson, A., Dobbins, T., Mattick, R., Butler, T. and Degenhardt, L. [NDARC] , (2014) National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. 45 p. NDARC Technical report no. 330
Prisoners experience very high rates of drug dependence, health problems and premature mortality. Without intervention they are highly likely to come into further contact with the criminal justice system, creating further health risk. Opioid dependence is a common problem among prisoners, and opioid substitution therapy (with methadone and buprenorphine) for opioid dependence may be an effective intervention in preventing morbidity, mortality and offending. Using retrospective data linkage, this study evaluated engagement with treatment, patterns of offending, incarceration and mortality among opioid-dependent people who received OST in New South Wales, Australia, at some time between 1985-2010. We linked all OST records with data on all court appearances 1993-2011, custody episodes 2000-2012, and mortality 1985-2012.
The impact of alcohol use disorders on family life: a review of the empirical literature.
Hutchinson, D. M. & Mattick, R. P. & Braunstein, D. & Maloney, E. & Wilson, J. (2014) National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. 110 p. NDARC technical report number: 325
This report aimed to review the empirical literature on the impact of parental alcohol use disorders on family life. The report focused specifically on harms inflicted by the problematic consumption of alcohol on members of the family, particularly spouses and children, and on the functioning of the family unit as a whole.
World drug report 2014.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2014) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
The World Drug Report provides an annual overview of the major developments in drug markets for the various drug categories, ranging from production to trafficking, including development of new routes and modalities, as well as consumption.
Ending the drug wars: Report of the LSE expert group on the economics of drug policy
LSE Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy (2014) The London School of Economics and Political Science, London
This report asserts that a new and effective international strategy could emerge if two approaches are followed. First, resources should be drastically reallocated away from law enforcement and repressive policies towards proven public health policies of harm reduction and treatment, with governments ensuring that these services are fully resourced to meet requirements. Second, rigorously monitored policy and regulatory experimentation should be encouraged. States should be allowed to pursue new initiatives, the report argues, in order to determine which policies work and which don't. The places that legalise cannabis first will provide an external benefit to the rest of the world in the form of knowledge regardless of how the experiments turn out. As a result, pioneering jurisdictions should be accepted as long as they take adequate measures to prevent ‘exports’.
Global status report on alcohol and health 2014
World Health Organization (2014)
The Global status report on alcohol and health 2014 presents a comprehensive perspective on the global, regional and country consumption of alcohol, patterns of drinking, health consequences and policy responses in Member States
Access the full reportRegional drug strategies across the world.
Ballotta, Danilo (2014) Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
This paper offers a comparison of the drug strategies and plans adopted over the last five years by six intergovernmental organisations engaging 148 countries in four continents. It informs decision-makers, professionals and researchers working in the area of international drug policy about the way in which countries of the same region have decided to strategically approach drug-related security, social and health problems.

UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2013.
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). (2013) UNAIDS; World Health Organization, Geneva.
The 2013 report on the global AIDS epidemic contains the latest data on numbers of new HIV infections, numbers of people receiving antiretroviral treatment, AIDS-related deaths and HIV among children.
WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2013. Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
World Health Organization. (2013)
Opioid overdose: preventing and reducing opioid overdose mortality
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2013)
Although data are limited, an estimated 70,000-100,000 people die from opioid overdose each year. Opioid overdose was the main cause of the estimated 99,000-253,000 deaths worldwide related to illicit drug use in 2010.1 Opioid overdose is both preventable and, if witnessed, treatable (reversible). In its resolution 55/7 on promoting measures to prevent drug overdose, in particular opioid overdose, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs called upon Member States to include effective measures to prevent and treat drug overdose in national drug policies.2 In that resolution, the Commission requested the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), to collect and circulate available best practices on the prevention and treatment of and emergency response to drug overdose, in particular opioid overdose, including on the use and availability of opioid receptor antagonists such as naloxone and other measures based on scientific evidence.
This discussion paper outlines the facts about opioid overdose, the actions that can be taken to prevent and treat (reverse) opioid overdose and areas requiring further investigation.
World drug report 2013
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2013)
The use of traditional drugs such as heroin and cocaine seems to be declining in some parts of the world, prescription drug abuse and new psychoactive substance abuse is growing. In a special high-level event of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov urged concerted action to prevent the manufacture, trafficking and abuse of these substances.

World Drug Report 2012
United Nations Office on Drugs and crime, June 2012
The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. This year's edition begins with an overview of recent trends and the current situation in terms of production, trafficking and consumption and the consequences of illicit drug use in terms of treatment, drug-related diseases and drug-related deaths.
Download
HIV/AIDS country profile 2011: Ireland
World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, May 2012
Country profiles on the HIV-related situation in each Member State of the WHO European Region.
Download

World Drug Report 2011
United Nations Office on Drugs and crime, 2011
The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. This year's edition starts with an overview of the illicit drug situation worldwide and regionally, followed by more comprehensive discussions and statistical trends for the key transnational drug markets, namely opium/heroin, coca/cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants and cannabis.
Download
Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2011
World Health Organization, 2011
The Global status report on alcohol and health (2011) presents a comprehensive perspective on the global, regional and country consumption of alcohol, patterns of drinking, health consequences and policy responses in Member States. It represents a continuing effort by the World Health Organization (WHO) to support Member States in collecting information in order to assist them in their efforts to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, and its health and social consequences.Download Report
Downloand Country Profiles

World Drug Report 2010
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2010
The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. This year, for the first time, the World Drug Report includes special feature sections on the quality of drug data available, trends in drug use among young people and police-recorded drug offences.Download
Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol
World Health Organisation, 2010

World Drug Report 2009
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2009
The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. This year, for the first time, the World Drug Report includes special feature sections on the quality of drug data available, trends in drug use among young people and police-recorded drug offences.Download

World Drug Report 2008
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2008
The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. The drug problem is being contained but there are warning signs that the stabilisation which has occurred over the last few years could be in danger.Download

World Drug Report 2007
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2007
The World Drug Report presents the most comprehensive statistical view of today's illicit drug situation. This year's edition reports signs of long-term containment of the global problem. However, the overall trend masks contrasting regional situations, which the report examines in detail.Download

World Drug Report 2006
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2006
The World Drug Report presents the most comprehensive statistical view of today's illicit drug situation. Some 200 million people, or 5 percent of the global population age 15-64, have used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months. Among this population are people from almost every country on earth.Download

World Drug Report 2005
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2005
The World Drug Report presents the most comprehensive statistical view of today's illicit drug situation. This year it presents the work of two new areas of research aiing to provide tools to enrich our understanding of an immensely complex situation: an estimate of the financial value of the world drug market, and the preliminary steps towards the creation of an illicit drug index.
Download Volume 1

World Drug Report 2004
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2004
The World Drug Report presents the most comprehensive statistical view of today's illicit drug situation. This first edition of the new two volume World Drug Report presents more quantitative data than ever before in an effort to increase the amount of factual evidence available in a field which is so notoriously difficult to quantify.
Download Volume 1

Global Illicit Drug Trends 2003
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2003
Reporting on a largely clandestine sector where information is by definition difficult to obtain, Global Illicit Drug Trends constitutes at present the most comprehensive published source of estimates and statistics on the global drug problem.Download

Global Illicit Drug Trends 2002
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2002
Reporting on a largely clandestine sector where information is by definition difficult to obtain, Global Illicit Drug Trends constitutes at present the most comprehensive published source of estimates and statistics on the global drug problem.Download

Global Illicit Drug Trends 2001
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2001
Reporting on a largely clandestine sector where information is by definition difficult to obtain, Global Illicit Drug Trends constitutes at present the most comprehensive published source of estimates and statistics on the global drug problem.Download

Global Illicit Drug Trends 2000
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2000
Presenting supply and demand statistics and analysis on the evolution of the global illicit drug problem.
Download
World Drug Report 2000
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna, Austria, 2000
Illustrated with numerous maps, graphs, charts and tables, the World Drug Report 2000 provides the reader with a unique insight into the realities of the international drug problem and reveals the most complete picture of the extent of the problem.
Download