ArticleBMC public health2025
Defining a public health approach to substance use: insights from a systematic scoping review and conceptual framework development approach.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Adapting multi-criteria decision analysis of drug harms to reflect population-level health outcomes: An innovation in public health policy.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Priorities for public health preparedness for psychedelics: education, workforce readiness, and strategic information needs in a rapidly changing landscape.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPsychoactive substance use represents a significant global public health challenge, leading to diverse health, social, and environmental harms. Traditional punitive and commercial approaches have faced criticism for potentially worsening these harms and overlooking potential benefits. Consequently, there is an increasing global call for a comprehensive public health approach to address psychoactive substances, focusing on both supply and demand reduction. However, the core components of a public health approach remain unclear. We aimed to conceptualize a public health approach to psychoactive substances and describe its core values, goals, and activities.
methodsWe used a two-step process to develop a coherent and comprehensive conceptual framework. First we conducted a scoping review of academic and practice literature on a public health approach to psychoactive substances published between 1950 and 2023 (n = 230 English language records). We then conducted an iterative team-based synthesis of the review findings and expert public health knowledge to address gaps in extant literature using a structured conceptual framework development approach.
resultsThis conceptual framework includes core values (i.e. social justice, health equity, evidence-informed), activities (i.e. legal and regulatory action, supports and services, prevention and education, advocacy, and research, monitoring, and evaluation), and goals (e.g. improving population health; addressing determinants of substance use, substance harms and substance policy related harms; countering carceral logics) that are central to a public health approach to psychoactive substances.
conclusionsOur coherent and comprehensive framework incorporates international literature and is informed by contemporary values and goals with the aim of promoting a consensus understanding of this critical practice area. This framework can guide efforts to design, implement, and evaluate public health interventions that maximize benefits and mitigate harm associated with psychoactive substances.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.