Aims: This study aims to plug the gap about how young people understand their direct and indirect experience with alcohol by investigating the prevalent images of alcohol among 15-year-olds. The study also aims to clarify the position of young Italians towards traditional Italian drinking culture. Methods: Twenty-two focus groups were organized in two Italian towns, Torino and Cosenza. The focus groups (FGs) used the Reception Analytical Group Interview (RAGI) method, wherein respondents are invited to discuss after seeing video clips used as a stimulus. The material thus collected was analysed through an approach that takes both the participants' interpretative processes and their socio-cultural environment into consideration. Findings: Using 'drinking situations' as an analytical tool, it was found that young people's images about drinking are still in line with tradition, as are the importance assigned to social drinking and the stigma attached to intoxication. Young people also appear to be aware of the negative consequences of drinking, even if the risks related to pharmaceutical use seem to be underestimated. Conclusions: Results cast doubt on the supposed convergence of drinking patterns within Europe and provide useful insights for the development of alcohol use and abuse policies and prevention.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate motives and modalities of psychedelic substance use in the psychonaut community that is hosted on the Reddit platform (r/psychonaut). Psychonauts are sometimes described as responsible drug users. Elements of responsible use include sharing stories, advice and experiences, reagent testing substances, proper dosing and education on harm reduction and its practical implication. Investigating psychonauts’ substance use can highlight what responsible use means for them and could inform best practices for psychedelic use. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative content analysis of posts and comments on the r/psychonaut subreddit was completed. In total, 350 posts were investigated. A combination of deductive and inductive methods was used to both structure the research and to allow room for novel information. To investigate participant’s motives, this combination was used to both collect and analyse the data. To examine modalities, concepts and keywords were formed out of the collected data and then analysed. Findings Motives for use ranged from self-knowledge, self-investigation and self-medication to increasing artistic expression, curiosity and recreation. Concerning modalities, the respondents put a high emphasis on preparation, set and setting, integration, dosage and gathering and sharing information through research, articles and trip reports. These features are identified in the literature as elements of responsible drug use. This investigation can help by unearthing best practices already in use by the community to inform the bourgeoning movement of psychedelic substance use – both in a medical and self-reflexive setting. Originality/value This paper is framed in the context of paucity of the academic literature on people taking psychedelic substances in Western society in non-rave and non-medical settings, with findings that indicate important change happening in the psychonaut subculture.

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Financial support: The research leading to these results or outcomes has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 266813-Addictions and Lifestyle in Contemporary Europe-Reframing Addictions Project (ALICE RAP). Participant organisations in ALICE RAP can be seen at http://www.alicerap.eu/about-alice-rap/partners.html Declaration of interests: Enrico Petrilli has no conflicts of interest. Franca Beccaria is a member of the Scientific Laboratory of the Osservatorio Permanente sui Giovani e l'Alcool (Permanent Observatory on Youth and Alcohol) in Rome, an association which is mainly funded by the Italian Breweries Association. She receives no compensation for this work, though her expenses for one/two meeting/s per year are reimbursed. In 2012, she received an honorarium from ERAB (The European Foundation for Alcohol Research, an independent alcohol research foundation supported by The Brewers of Europe) for participating in a project entitled "Underage drinking: A report on drinking in the second decade of life in Europe and North America." ERAB also reimbursed her travelling costs for a meeting in Montreal and a meeting in Brussels. Together with the University of Torino (applicant) she received a grant from ERAB for a study entitled "Images of adolescent alcohol use and health in Italy: A study of teenagers' drinking and societal reactions to it" (2012)(2013)

Concepts play a central part in the formulation of problems and proposed solutions to the use of substances. This article reports the initial results from a cross European historical study, carried out to a common methodology, of the language of addiction and policy responses in two key periods, 1860-1930 and the 1950s and 1960s. It concludes that the language of addiction was varied and non standard in the first period. The Anglo-American model of 'inebriety' did not apply across Europe but there was a common focus on theories of heredity and national degeneration. Post World War Two there was a more homogenous language but still distinct national differences in emphasis and national interests and policy responses to different substances. More research will be needed to deepen understanding of the conditions under which these changes took place and the social and policy appeal of disease theories.