Abstract
BACKGROUND: New drugs, of which the risks are still unknown, are attractive to various groups of people. The identification of local trends is crucial in order to prevent these trends from diffusing beyond a tipping point and becoming problematic at the macro level as well.
Local authorities need to know the risks of new trends in the local situation, and how to respond to them. AIMS: In response to this need, the European Local PASS project was set up.
The main aims of the project were to: develop standardised local guidelines for identification, risk assessment, and interventions; share knowledge on, discuss, and review best practice approaches to responding to emerging drugs, and raise social and political awareness of the consumption of new drugs. DESIGN, MEASUREMENTS, AND SAMPLE: Nine international partners from five European countries helped to collect data by means of a literature review, key informant interviews (five or six informants from each country), focus groups (one representative per partner), and an online survey (470 respondents from the five countries together).
RESULTS: Some of the main findings are that it is crucial to know the target group of a newly emerging drug, the information provided on this drug needs to be tailored to the target group, and good communication and collaboration between all stakeholders is essential. CONCLUSIONS: All the findings have been processed into the Local PASS Toolkit, which is a set of guidelines, flowcharts, and tools that can be used for the early identification of, and an early response to, newly emerging trends in drug use and abuse in local settings.
Its explicit goals are to inform local drug policy making, to contribute to a transparent decision-making process, and to provide relevant and evidence-based input into the implementation or design of appropriate responses to emerging drug trends.