Improving GP prescribing of pharmaceutical opioids
There has been very little evaluation of the effectiveness of strategies to assist GPs to manage chronic pain patients on prescription opioids, even high-risk patients.
Project Status:
Current
Opioids
Substance use in pregnancy resource development project
This project involves the development of a resource for the identification, management and, if appropriate, referral of women who are pregnant and have a substance misuse problem.
Project Status:
Completed
Ongoing surveillance of the diversion and injection of the medications used in opioid substitution treatment
Minimising the extent of diversion and injection of the pharmaceutical opioids used in opioid substitution treatment (OST) reduces harms to the individual (such as dependence, injection-related injuries and diseases, and overdose) and protects the integrity of the OST program.
Project Status:
Completed
The science-policy interface in policy theories: A comparative case study of street level policing for illicit drugs
This study will shed light on how policy gets formed by police, and what influences the policy formulation process.
Project Status:
Completed
Strategic advocacy and drug policy: a case study of the ACT overdose management program
Researchers, health professionals, consumer groups and advocates in the field have repeatedly called for widespread availability of naloxone for people who inject drugs and potential overdose witnesses, to reduce the incidence of fatal overdose.
Project Status:
Completed
The value of providing health interventions for heroin use: a cost benefit analysis
Heroin use and associated harms can be reduced through effective treatment. Past research has shown that treatment for heroin dependence can be relatively cost-effective, but not whether heroin treatment overall is a good investment.
Project Status:
Completed
Australian Longitudinal Study of Heroin Dependence: A 11 year prospective cohort study of mortality, abstinence, criminality and psychiatric comorbidity among heroin users
Heroin dependence is remarkably persistent, and in many cases it is a lifelong condition with a high mortality rate. Yet, the natural history of heroin dependence has rarely been studied.
Project Status:
Completed
Drugs and New Technologies (DNeT)
The Drugs and New Technologies (DNeT) project aims to investigate drug marketplaces online and in other emerging technologies. It aims to assess and quantify the online availability of drugs, including both traditional and new psychoactive substances.
Project Status:
Current
POINT Study (Pain and Opioids IN Treatment)
There has been a recent increase in the prescribing of pharmaceutical opioids to Chronic Non-Cancer Pain (CNCP) patients in Australia which has led to increasing professional and public concern about the use and harms that may be related to such use.
Project Status:
Current
National Illicit Drug Indicators Project (NIDIP)
NIDIP was established in the recognition that there was a greater need for the regular dissemination of trends in the epidemiology of drug-related harms in Australia.
Project Status:
Current