• Submit your paper

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy journal is committed to bringing together research on the cultural, social and material contexts of drug use, policy, and professional practices. Previously published as Drugs and Alcohol Today (ISSN: 1745-9265).

ISSN: 2752-6739
eISSN: 2752-6747

Aims and scope

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy (DHS) is a quarterly, international, peer-reviewed journal publishing research and theoretical contributions in the field of drug use and policy. The journal provides a platform for the dissemination of the current social drug policy research and seeks to stimulate critical debates about social, health and political consequences and contexts of drug use.

DHSP aims to highlight cultural, social and material contexts of drug use, policy, and professional practices. We welcome submissions that highlight the lived experiences of people who use drugs and engage with evidence of harm reduction. National and international policy frameworks developed to control the production, distribution and use of psychoactive substances, both legal and illegal, are of particular interest. The journal aims to contribute to the critical debate on the international drug control regime, the dominant problematisation and medicalisation of drug use and the criminalisation of people who use drugs. In this mission, we also welcome practitioner papers that specifically address professionals and users engaged in drug services and the development of harm reduction initiatives on global and local scales.

DHSP is committed to the use of sensitive and inclusive language and encourages submissions that are critical of disease-informed models of drug use. It is our aim to provide a platform for open and mindful reflections in high-quality research about drugs from across the world. DHSP welcomes original research articles using qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods designs, practitioner papers, policy papers, and book reviews.

All submissions are subject to a double-blind peer-review process and are made accessible and relevant to a wide and varied audience, including scientific community, policy makers and practitioners. Regular and special issues include commentary and papers on the newest developments in social drug research. We also welcome viewpoint commentaries on ongoing political changes for a publication on our related blog

Intended as a tool to assist in the search for better solutions and different thinking around drugs and the people who use them, DHSP covers, among others, the following subjects:

  • international harm reduction practices
  • innovative treatment agendas and treatment policy in general, as well as critical and novel conceptualization of recovery
  • developments and challenges in the international drug policy environment
  • novel theoretical and methodological approaches to rethinking and studying drugs and the world they inhabit
  • research into drug markets and supply control measures
  • emerging patterns and practices of drug use, new drug use (sub)cultures
  • practitioner and service user perspectives.

DHSP is a member of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors and endorses the ethical principles set out in the Farmington Consensus and DORA. Authors are required to disclose any financial relationships with organizations and people that could influence their work, including potential conflict of interest arising from employment, consultancies, stock ownership, paid conference presentations, and research grant funding. To learn more about conflict of interest in addiction research, please consult our author guidelines and ISAJE Conflict-of-interest Declaration Form.

To receive alerts when DHSP publishes new content, please subscribe here

Previously published as Drugs and Alcohol Today.

This journal is aligned with our healthier lives goal

We understand the importance of a world that recognises and protects the most vulnerable and acknowledges the importance of a healthy mind as well as a healthy body.

SDG 1 No poverty
SDG 2 Zero hunger
SDG 3 Good health & well-being
SDG 6 Clean water & sanitation
SDG 8 Decent work & economic growth
SDG 10 Reduced inequalities
Find out about our healthier lives goal