Addiction (2001) 96, 1253–1259

NATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

SOCIDROGALCOHOL: the Spanish Scienti� cSociety for the Study of Alcohol, Alcoholismand other Drug Dependencies

ANTONI GUAL,1 ALICIA RODRIGUEZ-MARTOS 2 &MIGUEL ANGEL TORRES3

1President, 2Secretary and 3Vice President of SOCIDROGALCOHOL, Barcelona, Spain

AbstractFounded in 1969, SOCIDROGALCOHOL is a reference point for professionals interested in drugdependencies, both for Spaniards and for professionals belonging to Spanish-speaking areas. In its 32 yearsof existence SOCIDROGALCOHOL has spread to all the regions of Spain and most of the Latin-Americancountries. In the past 5 years SOCIDROGALCOHOL has undergone notable growth, increasing the numberof members (from 460 to 816), as well as the number of scienti� c activities carried out. The NationalConferences represent an annual meeting point for the members, where multiple scienti� c sessions take place,as well as the ordinary general assembly. They are usually held in the spring and last 3 days, with anattendance of around 400 professionals. Within the � eld of ongoing training, SOCIDROGALCOHOL alsocarries out other activities: the Autumn School, the Latin-American Virtual Congress of Drug Dependence,distance learning courses, etc. Special mention should be made to the of� cial journal of the Society,Adicciones, founded in 1989. Adicciones is published quarterly in Spanish and its articles are subjectedto peer review; 2000 copies of each issue are published. The abstracts can be accessed free on the website ofthe Society, www.SOCIDROGALCOHOL.org. In this paper the most relevant historical aspects ofSOCIDROGALCOHOL will be summarized, along with its current activities and future perspectives.

IntroductionThe Spanish Scienti� c Society for the Study ofAlcohol, Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies(SOCIDROGALCOHOL) has been in existencefor 32 years. The founding Assembly of SO-CIDROGALCOHOL took place in March 1969in Madrid, within the framework of a seminarabout alcoholism aimed at psychiatrists and so-cial workers interested in the topic. The societyreformed its statutes on two further occasions,

one in 1972 in Granada, with a re-founding andapproval of some new statutes.

Since 1984 the Society has approved the cre-ation of autonomous delegations which providedfor the designation of regional presidents andfacilitated coordination of the members at a re-gional level. SOCIDROGALCOHOL is a non-pro� t-making non-governmental organization(NGO), declared to be of public interest by theHome Of� ce Ministry of Spain.

Correspondence to: Antoni Gual, SOCIDROGALCOHOL, Via Augusta 229 baixos, 08021 Barcelona, Spain.Tel: 1 34932019856; e-mail: tgual@clinic.ub.es

Submitted 26th February 2001; initial review completed 5th March 2001; � nal version accepted 7th March 2001.

ISSN 0965–2140 print/ISSN 1360–0443 online/01/091253–07 Ó Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs

Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis Limited

DOI: 10.1080/09652140120070300

1254 Antoni Gual, Alicia Rodr õ guez-Martos & Miguel Angel Torres

Criteria for membershipThere exist three types of members: permanentmembers, honorary members and institutionalmembers. Any professional or organization canbecome a member, applying in writing, with theendorsement of two members and ful� lling thecommitments as required in the Statutes.

The obligations of the members are: to ful� lthat which is stated in the Statutes and theregulations related to the association. Their feepayments must be up to date, and they mustattend the General Assemblies and express theiropinion by voting. Also, they must accept, exceptfor justi� ed causes, the election of members ofthe board in a General Assembly and participateactively in the study and research sessions, etc.and in the activities that the association carriesout and organizes.

The rights of the members are the following:to attend personally or be represented by othersin the Assemblies, and receive information fromthe Management Board about any topic relatedto the association by any means available toSOCIDROGALCOHOL. They must expresstheir agreement or non-agreement with any ac-tivity of the society and make written proposalsto the Management Board through the secretaryor Presidency. All members have the right toparticipate in the sessions formed by the workinggroups or sections that are formed within theSociety.

Number of membersAt present the society has 816 active members.The list is protected by the Organic Law of theProtection of Data [Ley Organica de Proteccion deDatos].

Objectives of the Society

· To promote the development of scienti� c ac-tivities related to drug dependency.

· To foster and facilitate relations among scien-tists dedicated to the study and research ofproblems derived from the abuse of addictivesubstances.

· To spread knowledge that can contribute tobetter health care with regard to addictivesubstances.

· To promote preventive programmes against

the use and abuse of alcohol, and other addic-tive substances.

· To intervene against the non-therapeutic useof drugs, tobacco and substances subject torestriction of consumption, referring to the1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugsand the 1971 Convention on PsychotropicSubstances.

· To participate and collaborate with public andprivate institutions in themes related to the� ght against alcoholism and drug dependencefrom a scienti� c, investigative and educationalpoint of view.

Historical aspectsFormed in 1969 as Socialcohol, in 1970 thesociety changed its name for SOCIDROGAL-COHOL. The National Conferences of SO-CIDROGALCOHOL are the annual nationalcongresses of the Aociety.

It is a tradition of SOCIDROGALCOHOLthat the National Conferences take place duringthe � rst quarter of the year and in different partsof Spain. They are organized by the members ofthe Society presenting their candidatures and areelected in the Ordinary General Assembly 2years beforehand. Until now the following citieshave hosted Conferences: Barcelona, Vitoria,Alicante, Almer õ a, Las Palmas, Granada,Pamplona, Gandõ a, La Toja, San Sebastian,Granada, Palma de Mallorca, Caceres,Zaragoza, Valladolid, Valencia, Barcelona, SantaCruz de Tenerife, Cordoba, Bilbao, Santiago deCompostela, Oviedo, Alicante, Tarragona, SantaCruz de Tenerife, Madrid and Santander in2001. The 2002 Conference is planned to beheld in Lleida, and in 2003 in Valladolid.

From the majority of the Conferences, es-pecially in the last 20 years, a book of the pro-ceedings has been published containingcomplete contents of the talks and communica-tions. Since 1999, and following current trends,abstracts of the talks and communications arepublished in a special supplement of Adicciones,the of� cial journal of the Society.

Since 1993 and coinciding with the NationalConference, the annual Zambon-SOCIDRO-GALCOHOL Award (500 000 pesetas) is givento the best investigative work in drug addiction.Furthermore, local organizers have speci� cally

SOCIDROGALCOHOL 1255

awarded the best hospital work or the best oflocal research work.

In the last 15 years there has been an increasein regional and local activity, giving rise to theholding of Autonomous Conferences, in nearlyall the Spanish regions: Valencia, Castilla yLeon, Catalonia, Asturias, Extremadura, Galicia,Andalusia, Madrid, The Basque Country, theBalearic Islands, etc.

Since its foundation SOCIDROGALCOHOLhas had eight national presidents, with their cor-responding management board. In accordancewith the statutes the Management Board is re-newed completely each 4 years, being electedthrough a secret ballot during the correspondingNational Conference.

In 1976, the President of the Society at thattime founded the journal Drogalcohol. In 1989SOCIDROGALCOHOL began to publish thescienti� c journal Adicciones, the of� cial organ ofthe Society. Since that year publication has con-tinued quarterly on a continual basis, in Spanish,and with the original work subject to peer re-view.

SOCIDROGALCOHOL todayIn recent years the Society has developed a solidinfrastructure and become much more dynamic,both at national and regional levels. Favourableeconomic circumstances have allowed the estab-lishment of a small of� ce and regular nationalboard meetings (3–4 a year), and at least a yearlymeeting of regional delegates. Parallel with in-creasing communication and collaboration,members have become more involved. Nationalas well as regional boards have developed asteadily increasing activity: national and localscienti� c meetings, training sessions and re-search projects, as well as the yearly NationalConference, regular local symposia or confer-ences.

SOCIDROGALCOHOL collaborates activelywith Spanish governmental (National Plan onDrugs, several Regional Plans on Drugs) andNGOs dealing with the drug problem, with uni-versities and with several international NGOs(e.g. EUROCARE) and professional groups orsocieties (e.g. ERIT, IREFREA, T3R).

Our journal, Adicciones, has grown not only innumber of subscribers and geographical distri-bution, but also in terms of participation. Apolicy of fostering new membership has suc-

ceeded in almost doubling the number of mem-bers (from 460 in 1996 to 816 in January 2001).

Conferences and symposiaAs mentioned above, the Society holds a yearlyconference at a national level: the Jornadas Na-cionales de Socidrogalcohol. These meetings offerplenary sessions, lectures, symposia, communi-cations and posters about advances and the mostrelevant studies. During the conferences theGeneral Assembly for Members takes place, thehighest body for control and management of theSociety where the will of the members is ex-pressed and where guidelines for functioning andpreparation are proposed, as well as control ofthe Management Board. Since the creation ofSOCIDROGALCOHOL until the present day,27 National Conferences have been held.

In March 2000 SOCIDROGALCOHOL heldits XXVII Conference in Madrid, attended bymore than 400 members. In April 2001, theConference will take place in Santander and thiswill be our � rst “Smoke-Free Conference”. Sev-eral scienti� c sessions on tobacco will be held.The National Conferences also attract some in-ternational participation. At the Santander con-ference a session will be devoted to Europeansocieties working on addictions, which could bea starting point for future supranational collabo-rations. The British, Italian and French societiesfor the study of addictions, as well as SO-CIDROGALCOHOL, will be represented.Some single-issue symposia have also been heldin recent years: Alcohol and Youth (Madrid,1998) and Alcohol and Violence (Madrid,1999).

Regional delegations hold their conferences orsymposia regularly. These meetings have beenorganized in 10 Spanish regions, some of themalready celebrating their 12th meeting.

Virtual congressIn December 2000 the Society launched the � rstLatin-American virtual congress on drug depen-dencies (http://www.virtualdrog.com). This newand challenging experience is in line with thepolicy of opening the society to Spanish-speakingAmerican scientists and developing stronger col-laboration links with those Hispanic countries.

1256 Antoni Gual, Alicia Rodr õ guez-Martos & Miguel Angel Torres

Training activitiesIn recent years SOCIDROGALCOHOL hasbeen very active with regard to training. Localtraining sessions and courses have been wide-spread, including continuous education sessionsfor professionals working in the addiction � eldand training GPs on brief intervention, bothdirectly or via the “training the trainers” model.

At a national level, a Seminar on MotivationalInterviewing has been rooted solidly among thesociety’s training activities. Starting in 1998, ithas been offered annually to members and has,from the beginning, had the active collaborationof Carolina Yahne as a guest teacher.

In October 2000 SOCIDROGALCOHOLlaunched its “Autumn School” with a high levelof participation: more than 180 professionalsattended the 14 workshops offered. After itssuccessful launch the School will now be offeredevery autumn.

Among training activities, a distance learningcourse1 on alcohol problems should be high-lighted. It was divided into six units coveringissues ranging from basic knowledge on alcoholand alcohol-related problems to up-to-date in-formation on alcohol dependence treatment andwas addressed both to GPs and to specialists.The participants could win “training credits” ifthe self-assessment questions included in eachchapter were solved correctly. SOCIDROGAL-COHOL and the Spanish Society for Family andCommunity Medicine backed the course.

Training courses are also offered by differentregional departments of SOCIDROGALCO-HOL. For example, since 1998 in Catalonia acourse on alcohol dependence and a trainingcourse on group therapy for alcoholics (started in1996) have been offered. In Galicia, an extendedcourse on mental health was held during 2000and ongoing training on alcohol dependence isoffered. In Asturias, a continuous educationcourse on psychiatry was held for 3 months in2000. In the Basque Country, a course fornurses working in primary care was held in May1999.

Research projectsAmong recent research projects the followingshould be mentioned:

(1) Research study to determine the SpanishStandard Drink Unit (SDU) (1994–96).

This was a unique study on this topic whichallowed the establishment of a SDU value of10 g of pure alcohol.

(2) The use of naltrexone in the rehabilitationtreatment of patients with alcohol depen-dence in Spain (1998–2000): the study wasrecently completed and data is on the pointof being published.

(3) Project ALFIL: research on a preventionprogramme in children of alcoholics (startedin 1997 and still ongoing). It consists of adescriptive study of 7–17-year-old childrenof alcoholics, and research on psychoeduca-tional groups for adolescents and parents.There are 11 pilot projects showing positiveresults.

(4) Alcohol and violence: data on domestic viol-ence has been collected through a survey,and a multi-professional symposium hasbeen held for discussing alcohol-related viol-ence from different approaches.

Working groupsExpert groups have been formed temporarilywhen any issue deserved a special review (e.g.methadone maintenance programmes in 1994).Current groups are the following:

(1) Alcohol Group, launched in 1990. It has pub-lished two booklets (“Rehabilitation treat-ment at an outpatient speci� c unit”2 and“Group therapy for alcoholics”3) and per-formed two research studies (a study toascertain the value of the Spanish standarddrinking unit and a Phase IV study on theuse of naltrexone in the rehabilitation ofpatients with alcohol dependence in Spain).

(2) A Tobacco Group was launched in 1999 andis now developing, and its leader is on theboard of the National Committee for theTobacco Addiction.

(3) A Motivational interviewing group. Launchedin 1998, it has organized regular trainingworkshops on motivational interviewingsince then. In 1999 an international“Training the Trainers” meeting was orga-nized in Tarragona in collaboration with theUniversity of New Mexico (CASA).

(4) A Project ALFIL group: this group developsresearch on risk factors and preventivestrategies among children of alcoholics and

SOCIDROGALCOHOL 1257

is supported by a grant given by the NationalPlan on Drugs since 1998.

Publication of books and reportsA book on cannabis4 was published in October2000 and one on cocaine is under way. TheCurso de formacion sobre prevencion y tratamientodel alcoholismo [Training course on preventionand treatment of alcoholism] is issued in paperand CD format. A manual has been publishedfor the ALFIL Project5 to help participants todevelop the method.

Each research study has produced an of� cialreport and further diverse presentations andpublications. The Study for Ascertaining the Valueof the Spanish Standard Drinking Unit producedthree papers6–8 and a paper on the Use of Naltrex-one in the Rehabilitation of Patients with AlcoholDependence in Spain is due to appear in the nearfuture.

WebSOCIDROGALCOHOL has a website whereupdated information on the society’s activities isto be found. A summary of Adicciones, togetherwith abstracts of the papers, can be read onlineand the society’s secretariat can also be reachedvia the website: www.socidrogalcohol.org.

International activities

· EUROCARE: SOCIDROGALCOHOL be-came an active EUROCARE member in 1992and has hosted one of the meetings (Palma deMallorca, 1996) as well as collaborating inseveral speci� c projects and reports: e.g.“Alcohol and the Family”9 and “Alcohol Edu-cation in Europe”.10

· ERIT: this is a federation of national associa-tions numbering at present approximately10 000 professionals. We are members of itsmanagement board and also belong to variouscommittees, such as the Training the TrainersCommittee, the Evaluation Committee andthe Prevention Committee. Among the activi-ties of the Evaluation Committee, a Spanishversion of the Maudsley Addiction Pro� le(MAP) has been tested and a professionalmeeting was hosted in Valencia.

· SOCIDROGALCOHOL participated in the

European Week on Prevention of Drug De-pendencies and in the European Conferenceon Prevention of Drug Dependencies(Madrid, 1998) and collaborated in the pro-motion of the Consensus Conference of theSociete Francaise d’Alcoologie (Paris, 1999).11

· RIOD (Iberian–American Network of Organi-zations working in Drug Dependencies). SO-CIDROGALCOHOL has belonged to thisnetwork since it was created in 1998. It in-cludes NGOs and governmental bodies be-longing to Latin America and Spain. Oursociety aims to facilitate exchange of experi-ences and to help in the coordination ofprojects and the development of meetings.The Spanish Society may collaborate in train-ing professionals and as a point of reference incollaborative projects. Our virtual congress isin line with this Latin American perspective,although it does not belong to the RIODprojects.

· SOCIDROGALCOHOL is a member of theInternational Council on Alcohol and Addic-tion (ICAA). It participates indirectly in theWHO Collaborative Study on Early Alcohol In-terventions in Primary Health Care Settingsthrough collaboration of the Society with theDrug Dependence and AIDS General Direc-torate of the Health and Social Security De-partment of the Catalan Government. Two ofits members were asked to participate as tem-porary advisers at the WHO Ministerial Con-ference on Alcohol and the Youth (Stockholm,February 2001). It also collaborates with otherinternational professional networks, such asIREFREA, which has worked since 1996 onthree projects carried out with the support ofthe European Commission–DGV and whereSpain is included: the SONAR “Project onnew trends in drug use in 10 European coun-tries”, “Family prevention of drug-addiction”and “Women and drugs”.

The society’s journal: AdiccionesAdicciones is a quarterly journal specializing inalcohol and other drug problems, � rst published12 years ago by SOCIDROGALCOHOL. It isindexed in national and international specializeddatabases. It is widely distributed, especially inthe Spanish-speaking countries: around 500 is-sues are delivered to Latin America.

The total print-run is 2000 issues. Its papers

1258 Antoni Gual, Alicia Rodr õ guez-Martos & Miguel Angel Torres

are original and are submitted to an anonymouspeer-review process. The journal has two specialsections, European and Latin American, wherespeci� c regional papers are published. Adiccioneshas accepted the Farmington consensus and itseditor belongs to the International Society ofAddiction Journal Editors (ISAJE).

Public involvementAll scienti� c meetings are covered in the mediaand, occasionally, the Society is asked for itsopinion by journalists when any particularlydrug-related event becomes headlines. Neverthe-less, our old project of a press of� ce has not yetbeen fully developed.

SOCIDROGALCOHOL has been lobbyingvia the NGO’s Drug-dependencies CoordinationAgency, where our Society held a leading pos-ition until that agency’s recent dissolution. At aEuropean level, this lobbying role is exerted viathe EUROCARE membership.

Sources of incomeSOCIDROGALCOHOL has various sources offunding: � rst, the membership fees which rep-resent a major source of funding, allowing themaintenance of the necessary infrastructures forthe normal functioning of the Society; and sec-ondly, the National Plan on Drugs and the Re-gional Plans on Drugs � nance partially thescienti� c activities of the Society. Furthermore,some of these activities receive additional fund-ing from the pharmaceutical industry, especiallythe congresses and national conferences. Finally,enrolment fees for congresses and scienti� c ac-tivities make up a � nal and important source ofincome. The variety of sources of income helpthe Society to be able to maintain its indepen-dence in relation to both governmental authori-ties and the pharmaceutical industry.

Looking to the futureWithout doubt European uni� cation marks thefuture for all European inhabitants, and the sci-enti� c societies are no exception. The disappear-ance of border controls and the generalized useof electronic communications allow us to con-template a near future where the ambit of workis not limited to the state. In this context, statescienti� c societies should embark upon a period

of deep re� ection. Are existing European sci-enti� c societies suf� ciently representative of thesum of each nation’s scienti� c work? Is it necess-ary to create some form of European federationof scienti� c societies to be able to respond to thegrowing needs for international exchange?Should national societies tend towards restrictingtheir activity to their area of in� uence, that is tosay, become regional? Or should it be the otherway around, that they should try to lead a com-mon and broad European project?

Given this dilemma, we emphatically backactive participation in the construction of aEuropean project. As a � rst step, we have insti-gated the � rst meeting with representatives fromthe Societe Francaise d’Alcoologie, the Societyfor the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and otherDrugs and the Societa Italiana di Alcoologia.Subsequent steps should include the creation ofworking groups between interested societies, andprobably the holding of jointly organized sci-enti� c meetings by two or more of these soci-eties.

One of the peculiarities that characterizes SO-CIDROGALCOHOL is the increasing introduc-tion in Latin America. The existence of acommon language forms bridges which shouldundoubtedly be taken advantage of. It is in thiscontext that the First Virtual Latin-AmericanCongress of Drug Dependence was created,along with the Latin-American section of Adic-ciones. In the near future we hope to be able todevelop ongoing training activities in LatinAmerica, and achieve the progressive incorpora-tion of Spanish-speaking scientists in our So-ciety. Unfortunately, there exist economicconditions that in some cases become barriersdif� cult to overcome.

In spite of the fact that SOCIDROGALCO-HOL has carried out intensive work in the areaof ongoing training, this work needs to increasein the near future. In this sense it seems to usthat it is important to consolidate the AutumnSchool of SOCIDROGALCOHOL. In forth-coming years it will be developed in the coastalregion of Valencia, thanks to an agreement withthe autonomous government that guarantees itscontinuity.

During the last 5 years our Society has practi-cally doubled its number of members, and hasnotably increased the number of scienti� c andeducational activities. Perhaps what is most satis-factory is to be able to state that this progress is

SOCIDROGALCOHOL 1259

due not only to the strength of a few, but to thecontinued and eager work of many of our mem-bers.

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cion y Tratamiento del Alcoholismo Barcelona,DOYMA, SA, 1999/2000.

2. Grupo de trabajo en alcoholismo de SOCIDRO-GALCOHOL (1994) Manual para la atencion alalcoholismo desde los centros espec õ � cos (Madrid,FAD & SOCIDROGALCOHOL).

3. Grupo de trabajo en alcoholismo de Socidrogal-cohol (1991) Psicoterapia de grupo en el tratamientodel alcoholismo (Madrid, FAD).

4. BOBES, J. & CALAFAT, A. (Ed.) (2000) Mono-graf õ a Cannabis, Adicciones , 12 (suppl. 2).

5. DIAZ, R. (2000) Programa ALFIL. Grupos psi-coeducativos para jovenes con antecedente s familiaresde alcoholismo. Manual para educadores y terapeutas(Barcelona, SOCIDROGALCOHOL).

6. GUAL, A., RODR õ GUEZ-MARTOS, A., LLOPIS, J. J. &LLIGONA, A. (1999) Does the concept of a stan-

dard drink apply to viticultural societies? Alcoholand Alcoholism, 34, 153–160.

7. LLOPIS, J. J., GUAL, A. & RODR õ GUEZ-MARTOS, A.(2000) Registro del consumo de bebidas alcoholi-cas mediante la unidad de bebida estandar. Difer-encias geogra� cas, Adicciones, 12, 11–19.

8. RODR õ GUEZ-MARTOS, A., GUAL, A. & LLOPIS,J. J. (1999) La unidad de bebida estandar: unregistro simpli� cado del consumo de bebidasalcoholicas, Medicina Clõ nica (Barcelona), 112,446–450.

9. EUROCARE /COFACE [Spanish version by M.A. TORRES] (1999) Problemas por el Alcohol en laFamilia. Comision Europea, Direccion General V.Socidrogalcohol (Madrid, Agencia Antidroga de laComunidad de Madrid).

10. RODR õ GUEZ-MARTOS, A. (1999) Country pro� les:Spain, in: MCNEILL, A. (Ed.) Medical Educationin Alcohol and Alcohol Problems (St Ives, Cam-bridgeshire, EUROCARE).

11. Objectifs, indications et modalites du sevrage dupatient alcoolodependant. Conference de consen-sus. Societe Francaise d’Alcoologie. Agence Na-tionale d’Accreditation et d’evaluation en Sante,Paris, 2000.