Ornella Corazza*, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Cheri Hunter, University of Hertfodshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Billy Liu, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Sulaf Assi, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Pierluigi Simonato, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Fabrizio Schifano, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom Track: Research Presentation Topic: Web 2.0 approaches for clinical practice, clinical research, quality monitoring Presentation Type: Oral presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Mermaid Room: Room 1 - Newgate Date: 2013-09-23 04:00 PM – 06:00 PM Last modified: 2013-09-25

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Background: The rapid diffusion of a variety of new psychoactive substances (NPS), often sold online as mystical incenses, bath salts or others, has emerged as an increasingly prominent issue for the fields of drug policy, research and public health. The number of largely unregulated substances combined with the ability of the Internet to disseminate information quickly and act as an online marketplace, has led to unprecedented challenges for government organisations, health agencies, and substance misuse services. Despite increasing research, there remains a paucity of information available to professionals working in the field.
Methods: To develop the SMAIL service (https://www.novelpsychoactivesubstances.eu/smail), an innovative SMS information service to rapidly disseminate scientifically-based information on the nature and the potential risks associated with NPS among health and other professionals.
Results: The SMAIL Service was launched in May 2012 as part of the Europe-wide ReDNet project, funded by the European Commission, and is now available internationally. It enables registered users (A) to send an SMS/emails with the chemical or brand name (i.e. Spice drugs), and receive within seconds emails/SMS with scientifically-based information on the nature and the potential risks of novel psychoactive substances; (B) to receive SMS/emails that contain alerts or invites to events.
At the same time, it allows to utilise the search volume generated by the users to identify and localize new drug trends internationally. If a searched keyword is not available in the system, an alert is sent to the research team in order to provide a fast response. SMAIL was rated as a service of excellence by the 61% of users (academics, research staff, police, clinicians and other health professionals) based in 14 countries. Conclusions: To our knowledge there is no similar service on the market and this is the first application to tackle new recreational drugs. It is easy to use and free of charge. The use of mobile phone technologies such SMAIL can be successfully incorporated in specific drug prevention programmes and other related fields at the global level.