The Centre for Research and Information on Substance Abuse (CRISA) hereby announces its 15th Biennial International Conference on Drugs, Alcohol and Society in Africa. The conference will hold in Abuja on 7 and 8 August 2024. In the context of a growing demand for evidence based substance use disorder treatment systems, the major theme of the 2024 conference is “Improving access to treatment for substance use disorders: Emerging strategies and persistent challenges”.

Sub-themes addressing treatment issues, supply and demand, and responses to problems include the following:

Availability of services for people who use drugs; access to treatment; illicit supply and drug markets in Africa; decriminalization of drug use; community epidemiology of drug/alcohol use and substance use disorders; regulation of drugs; medicinal cannabis; harm reduction; availability of medications for the management of pain; control of prescription opioids; alcohol and tobacco policies; measuring policy effectiveness; assessment of national plans of action, and national practice guidelines; stigma; alternative development; availability and use of new psychoactive substances; social and cultural factors in drug supply and demand; community factors in the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse; role of the media and civil society; gender perspectives; drugs and the legal
system; the current state of drug policy research, vulnerable populations; etc.

In addition to sessions devoted to the presentation of research papers, the conference will feature:

❖ Keynote addresses,
❖ Research and publication workshops,
❖ Discussion panels on professional practice and policy.

Venue and Important Dates

The conference will be held in Abuja, Nigeria. The specific venue will be announced later.
Please take note of the following important dates:

• Abstract submission deadline: 26 April 2024
• Full Paper submission deadline: 7 June 2024
• Deadline for Early Bird registration: 12 July 2024
• Conference days: 7 and 8 August 2024