Research on Drugs and Drug Policy from a European Perspective

This book contains a selection of papers that were presented at the 15th international conference of the European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD) in Munich from 14 to 16 October, 2004. The increasing variety of substances available today in the illicit drug market is reflected in the contributions to this book. They range from “old” drugs like cannabis and heroin, to “new“‘ drugs such as ecstasy and crack. The topics of the chapters centre around some of the basic questions at the core of European social drugs research: the impact of drug policy on drug use and drug-related problems, the aetiology of long term changes in drug use and drug use behaviour, the characteristics of drug users with and without contact to the health care system, the adequacy of the treatment system with respect to clients’ needs, especially the needs of women, and methodological considerations concerning the validity of survey techniques that provide the basis for most of our evidence. The European Society for Social Drug Research was founded in 1990 to promote the exchange of research findings among social scientists and to explore possibilities of future co-operation.