Adolescent substance abusers: help for parents A seminar was organised in conjunction with the city of Valence to help the parents of young users of psychoactive substances. Some 520 attended, seeking advice on how to better help the families of young substance abusers. Dr Alain Morel, the Secretary General of the French federation for addiction studies (FFA), wrote to us shortly after the seminar: "This topic, and the way in which you dealt with it, clarified both what must be and is currently done by many concerned individuals, who could not do so without your support. Moments and gatherings like this one encourage us to develop our practices and defend the values underpinning them."