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The Drugs Wheel in use
Published paper

The Drugs Wheel is discussed in the Open Access peer-reviewed paper, Jump-starting the conversation about harm reduction: making sense of drug effects, published by Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2021.2013774

Link to DEPP paper

Referenced in published literature

Alquezar-Arbe, A. and Burillo-Putze, G. (2024) ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction & stoned: a bad trip, European Heart Journal – Acute CardioVascular Care, 13(4), pp. 333-334.

Bascombe F, Siefried KJ, Clifford B, Child S, Loos R, Sgouras H, et al. (2023) Methamphetamine and emerging drugs of concern: A training needs analysis of Australian alcohol and other drug helplines. Drug and Alcohol Review. 2023;42(7):1744-53.

Bennett K.H., Hare H.M., Waller R.M., et al. (2017) Characteristics of NPS use in patients admitted to acute psychiatric services. In Southeast Scotland: a retrospective cross-sectional analysis following public health interventions. BMJ Open 2017;7:e015716. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2016-015716

Brown K, Dennany L. (2022) Electrochemiluminescence sensors and forensic investigations: a viable technique for drug detection? Pure and Applied Chemistry. 2022;94(5):535-45.

Charlton, J., Albanese, A. & Brodie, L. (2018) The challenges of type 1 diabetes and new psychoactive substance misuse. Practical Diabetes 35(3), 81-85a.

Comiskey C. (2024) Mortality, Overdose, and Drug-Related Deaths: How Do We Address Overdose Deaths and Underlying Risk and Protective Factors?  In Addiction Research and Evaluation: Addressing Key Challenges for Policy and Practice. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland; 2024. p. 103-19.

Courtney, E. & Schofield, R. (Eds) (2025) Public Health Nursing in Canada: A Comprehensive Perspective on Community and Population Health. Toronto: Canadian Scholars.

Fletcher, E., Tasker, S., Easton, P. & Denvir, L. (2015) Improving the help and support provided to people who take new psychoactive substances (‘legal highs’). Journal of Public Health pp. 1–7 doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdv191.

Gilani, Dr. F. (2015) ‘Legal highs’: Novel psychoactive substances. InnovAiT, 8(12), 717–724. DOI: 10.1177/1755738015612509.

Hupli, Aleksi. (2021) Älyä lääkkeistä ja päihteistä?: Hyötykäytön sosiologiaa käyttäjien näkökulmasta. Helsinki: Siltala. ISBN 9789523882188

Karden A, Fragner T, Feichtinger C, Strizek J, McDermott DT, Grabovac I. (2025) Utilization of drug checking services in Austria: a cross-sectional online survey. Harm Reduction Journal. 2025;22(1):17.

Kristjánsdóttir KB. (2024) Frá óvissu til öryggis: Upplifun einstaklinga með geðfötlun og vímuefnaröskun af sértækri búsetu Reykjavíkurborgar.

Lebrero-Tatay, J., Sebag, A., & Ezquerra-Romano, I. (2022) Asymmetry in Psychoactive Research: A Bibliometric Study on 15 Psychoactive Drugs. Journal of Drug Issues, 52(4), 509-526. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220426211068439.

Macdonald, I. (2019) Teen Substance Use, Mental Health and Body Image: Practical Strategies for Support. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Marillier, M. & Verstraete, A. (2019) Driving under the influence of drugs. WIREs Forensic Science 2019;e1326. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wfs2.1326

Marques M. (2025) Intervenção em crise relacionada com o uso de substâncias psicoativas em ambiente recriativo: avaliação de processo e de resultados. Dissertação apresentada à Universidade Católica Portuguesa para obtenção do grau de mestre em Psicologia. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/53033

Marwick, K. (2019) Crash Course Psychiatry Fifth Edition p.82. Elsevier ISBN: 9780702073830.

Measham, F. & Newcombe, R. (2016) What's So ‘New’ About New Psychoactive Substances? Definitions, Prevalence, Motivations, User Groups and A Proposed New Taxonomy. The SAGE Handbook of Drug and Alcohol Studies. 1(33), Editors: Torsten Kolind, Betsy Thom, Geoffrey Hunt. London: SAGE Pubications Ltd.

Megarbane, B., et al. (2020) Management of pharmaceutical and recreational drug poisoning. Annals of Intensive Care, 10(1), 157. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13613-020-00762-9

Potter. G. R. & Chatwin, C. (2018) Not particularly special: critiquing ‘NPS’ as a category of drugs. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 25:4, 329-336, DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2017.1411885

Schwelm HM. (2023) Stimulanzien und Dissoziativa in der forensischen Toxikologie:: Studien zur Pharmakokinetik neuer psychoaktiver Substanzen mithilfe massenspektrometrischer Analyseverfahren: Dissertation, Universität Freiburg, 2023; 2023.

Schrooten J, Degreef M, Balcaen M. (2025) De Maatschappelijke Uitdagingen Omtrent Nieuwe Psychoactieve Stoffen. In: De Kimpe S, Debbaut S, Spapens T, Korf D, editors. Politie en Drugs. Cahiersb Politiestudies. 74: Gompel&Svacina; 2025. p. 247-262.

Solomon D, Grierson J, Godier-McBard L, Guirguis A. (2023) Experience and views of healthcare professionals towards people who use new psychoactive substances: Evidence from statutory, non-statutory, and private mental health and addiction healthcare services. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. 2023;38(6):e2883.

Solomon, D., & Guirguis, A. (2024) Exploring healthcare professional’s engagements and experiences towards people who use new psychoactive substances in different addiction and mental healthcare services. Advances in Dual Diagnosis, 17(4), 109-122. https://doi.org/10.1108/add-02-2024-0004

Span C, Farah B, Ivetìc N, Stronach O. (2024) A scoping review of Australian literature on people who use MDMA and their harm reduction practices. Contemporary Drug Problems. 2024;51(1):25-44.

Stummvoll, G. (2022) SWaPOL–Social Work and Policing, Zeitschrift für Polizeiwissenschaft und polizeiliche Praxis, 19(5), pp. 92-103.

Tavares AC, Caetano AP, Teixeira M, Santos CC. (2023) Serviço Social e Comportamentos Aditivos e Dependências. O papel das Políticas de Intervenção Social. Revista Temas Sociais. 2023(5):115-27.

Training packs

Novadic Kentron - Drugswiel.nl

Home Office Resource Pack

Scottish Government New Psychoactive Substances Review

Scottish Drugs Forum

Training Curriculum: New Psychoactive Substances in Europe State of Affairs, Trends and Developments

CREW 2000: new psychoactive drugs booklet

The Drugs Wheel in press/media

The Society for the Study of Addiction

L'Express: Enquête sur les nouvelles drogues de synthèse

Daphne Formigoni at the XXIII Pharmaceutical Congress of São Paulo

THE DRUGS WHEEL: TRANSLATION AND ADAPTATION TO THE BRAZILIAN REALITY was approved for presentation in poster form at the XXIII Pharmaceutical Congress of São Paulo, XV Seminar International Council of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Expofar 2025, held by the Regional Council of Pharmacy of the State of São Paulo Paulo, from October 10 to 12, 2025

The Drugs Wheel presented at the XXIII Pharmaceutical Congress of São Paulo

Chemistry in Australia

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Spotted in the background of Grayson Perry's 'All Man' series for C4 by an eagle-eyed Drugs Wheel user!
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The Drugs Wheel in use by Crew2000 at the What's Up 2013 event.

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