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Addictovigilance in the French Public Health Code, in the section related to poisonous substances, refers to a monitoring system developed since 1990: control of psychoactive substances and products, with medicinal use or not, was completed by a specific system focused on evaluation and information on pharmacodependance in 1999. The French medicines agency (Agence du médicament) created in 1993 was involved in this monitoring system; pharmacodependance evaluation was added by law to the missions of the agencies that followed: the Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé missions (AFSSAPS, 1998) and the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM, 2011). "Addictovigilance" first appears in French Law in 2017 whereas it was used by pharmacodependance centers and AFSSAPS since 2007. Legal definition of addictovigilance in the French Public Health Code testified to public authorities action against addictive behavior whatever products status, legal or not. The visibility of addictovigilance is growing on the Internet as well (ANSM website, web portal for reporting adverse health events)., (Copyright © 2018 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: France is the only European country with a dedicated addictovigilance network (French addictovigilance network [FAN]). However, the reporting of cases of abuse/dependence is insufficient. In an attempt to overcome this under-reporting, data from the medical information systems program (PMSI) is regularly used to identify cases. Since addictions are frequently associated with psychiatric comorbidities, a pilot study was conducted for the first time in a psychiatric hospital. It aims, through a PMSI request, to identify the sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric diagnoses of patients consuming psychoactive substances (PAS) and the PAS types consumed., Methods: This is a retrospective observational study conducted over a nine-month period at the psychotherapeutic center of Nancy (CPN). The codes used for the PMSI request are those of the international classification of diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10), codes F10 to F19 that characterize mental and behavioral disorders associated with the use of PAS. Cases presenting the four criteria necessary for an addictovigilance notification: (1) identified notifier, (2) identified patient, (3) known consumed product (s) and (4) presence of an effect related to the abuse/dependence of PAS; were retained and analyzed., Results: On an initial number of 252 cases, 82 cases of abuse/dependence were retained. The selected sample is predominantly male (67%). Cannabis (29%) and heroin (15%) are the most common illicit PAS. Regarding drugs, the consumption of benzodiazepines, a predominantly female phenomenon, is observed in 34% of subjects. Sixty-four per cent of the subjects were diagnosed "disorders related to the use of PAS", 14% as neurotic disorders, 9% as schizophrenia and 5% as of the mood disorders., Conclusion: This study identified a significant number of potentially reportable cases to the French Addictovigilance Network and demonstrated the interest of investigating cases of abuse/dependence in a psychiatric hospital., (Copyright © 2018 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of psychotropic drug use and abuse by drugs addicts. The results are based on data from OPPIDUM (Observation des Produits Psychotropes Illicites ou Détournés de leur Utilisation Médicamenteuse), an annual survey primarily concerned with the consumption of licit and illicit drugs. The study involved 3373 patients recruited during october 2004 from 109 health centers. The main trends observed were an increasing interest for opioid maintenance treatment by methadone versus buprenorphine high dosage (patients treated by methadone are mainly represented for the first year of the OPPIDUM program), some changes in illicit drugs uses (increase in sniff and decrease in intravenous injection) and changes in the grading of the most consumpted benzodiazepines (decrease in flunitrazepam consumption and increase in clonazepam consumption). Main warnings concern the buprenorphine illicit use leading to firstly dependence and the illicit use of some benzodiazepines, especially clonazepam., (Copyright © 2007 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique. Publié par Elsevier Masson SAS.)