Expert review of drug surveillance and monitoring capacity in the context of a changing world and dynamic drug markets.
The Need to Revitalise Drug Use Monitoring to Keep Pace with a More Dynamic, Digitally Enabled and Globally Connected Drug Market
September 2025
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P. Griffiths, C. Parry, A. Ambekar, et al., “ The Need to Revitalise Drug Use Monitoring to Keep Pace With a More Dynamic, Digitally Enabled and Globally Connected Drug Market,” Drug and Alcohol Review (2025): 1–4, https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.70029
Globalisation, developments in information technology, and social and demographic changes that impact our modern world are also creating an illicit drug market that is more dynamic, complex and globally connected. Drug consumption patterns are rapidly changing, with synthetic drugs, controlled psychoactive substances and poly substance use all playing a greater role.
This Commentary, the result of a recent informal meeting of experts held in the margins of the Lisbon Addictions conference, reviewed the state of global drug surveillance and monitoring capacity and highlighted actions to better meet the needs of policy and practice.
The group concluded that all regions face increasingly common issues and we need to work closer together as a global community of practice to create timelier, more digitally enabled and better coordinated approaches to drug monitoring. Opportunities identified included greater use of forensic analysis and toxicology information, incorporating forecasting and foresight approaches, and involving people who use drugs in research and co-production of data and analysis.
Click here to read the full Commentary in Drug and Alcohol Review.
