A local and regional Alcohol and Drugs Monitor in the Netherlands: a tale of three cities

Abstract

Local and regional policymakers, care providers and prevention workers involved in addiction and addiction care need timely and reliable information. As few data on substance use are available at a local or regional level, an integrated local or regional monitoring system for alcohol and drugs (MAD) was developed. The MAD consists of four modules: a local social and information map, analyses of registration data of (addiction) care organisations, a local/regional survey among the general population and a community-based drug monitoring system aimed at collecting data on hard drug users. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used. This paper presents an overview of the MAD results with respect to alcohol and illicit drug use. Both quantitative and qualitative results show a substantial variation between regions, even in a country as small as the Netherlands. The study shows that a monitoring system can be an important source of information for local addiction policy, care and prevention.

Associations between drinking motives and changes in adolescents' alcohol consumption: a full cross‐lagged panel study

“…The cut‐off point of six or more glasses is in agreement with other Dutch studies (e.g. [24]). A log transformation was applied for HED to adjust for positive skewness [23].…”

Antwerp Drugs and Alcohol Monitor: A Belgian local drug scene in the picture

“…Policymakers and other local interested parties can, with the help of the ADAM, also be informed systematically and periodically on developments and trends concerning the drug phenomenon [16]. The activation of the ADAM at regular intervals makes a continuous adjustment of the local drug policy possible.…”

“…A comparison of the findings of the ADAM and the main results of other local monitor systems shows similarities as well as differences [16,26,27,[49][50][51]. Crack use appears to be common practice in Frankfurt, Hamburg and in some Dutch cities (e.g.…”

“…These studies were limited in that they offered only snapshots and thus failed to address the dynamics of the drug issue. Monitoring is a broad concept that, depending on the design of the monitor, amounts to a continuous data collection, a systematic and periodical follow up of trends, and an analysis of the (un)intended effects of previously taken policy decisions with a view to improving policy [16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Growing up, getting drunk : development and prevention of adolescent alcohol use

“…1 = never (recoded into 0), 2 = less than 1 time a month (recoded into 0.5), 3 = 1 to 3 times a month (recoded into 1.5), 4 = 1 to 2 times a week (recoded into the range to the mid-point of the adjacent category). The cut-off point of six or more glasses is in agreement with other Dutch studies (Van De Mheen, et al, 2006). A log transformation was applied for HED to adjust for positive skewness (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).…”