Crisis management by HIV/AIDS non-governmental organisations in the post-Euromaidan Ukraine led to opening new horizons
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 3, Page 149-156, September 2017. Purpose Civil society played a significant role during and after the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, which led to the resignation of President Yanukovich and his government and triggered a series of political, economic and social changes. In some areas, particularly by HIV and tuberculosis, the critical gaps threatened the emergence of a public health catastrophe. The purpose of this paper is to describe how civil society expands and strengthens its role in complex crisis situations, self-regulating and re-adjusting own aims and strategy by using the ca...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - August 31, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

In this issue
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 73-73, June 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Refocusing metrics: can the sustainable development goals help break the “metrics trap” and modernise international drug control policy?
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 98-112, June 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the dominant metrics currently used to measure the success of the UN based global drug prohibition regime are in many ways inadequate and consequently contribute to systemic inertia. Within this context, it seeks to explore the potential of explicitly linking drug policy to the recently launched sustainable development agenda (SDA) and the associated sustainable development goals (SDGs) to initiate a change in approach. Design/methodology/approach Framing the topic in terms of internatio...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Reflection on the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs – one year on
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 74-80, June 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show a reflection of one year on how the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) event was unfolded and its impacts and longer term implications. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a consideration of relevant past and present documentation and commentary. Experiences as a participant at some of the events described. Findings UNGASS was called for by countries affected by the failings of the existing conventions who wanted to introduce reformed alternative policies. Representatives of the status quo who ...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

In this issue
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 73-73, June 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Refocusing metrics: can the sustainable development goals help break the “metrics trap” and modernise international drug control policy?
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 98-112, June 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the dominant metrics currently used to measure the success of the UN based global drug prohibition regime are in many ways inadequate and consequently contribute to systemic inertia. Within this context, it seeks to explore the potential of explicitly linking drug policy to the recently launched sustainable development agenda (SDA) and the associated sustainable development goals (SDGs) to initiate a change in approach. Design/methodology/approach Framing the topic in terms of internatio...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Reflection on the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs – one year on
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, Page 74-80, June 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show a reflection of one year on how the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) event was unfolded and its impacts and longer term implications. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a consideration of relevant past and present documentation and commentary. Experiences as a participant at some of the events described. Findings UNGASS was called for by countries affected by the failings of the existing conventions who wanted to introduce reformed alternative policies. Representatives of the status quo who ...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

A turning point for UK drug policy: opportunity or stasis
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose To explore the current policy stasis in UK drug policy Design/methodology/approach Examination of reports, statistics and policy statements by government agencies Findings Delays in revising a national strategy appear to have no clear explanation. Responses to drugs issues, including drug related deaths, appear to lack urgency or concern at a policy making level. Research limitations/implications Complacency and lack of regard to evidence appear to inform current policy and strategy. Ways of overcoming this stasis are not identified. Practical implications...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

The influence of global players on the drug control system: an analysis of the role of the Russian Federation
This article will focus on the Russian Federation ’s national policies and diplomatic activism to influence the outcome of the negotiations at the multilateral level. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the federal legislation on drug control and the legislation on HIV/AIDS has been undertaken in October 2016. Peer-reviewed, gre y literature, policy documents, UN reports and news reports were used to gather information on the country’s response to drugs internally and externally. Findings Despite its limited regional influence on harm reduction and declining financial power, the Russian Federation has...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

International drug policy – health before politics
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose To explain how international drug policy continues to have a hugely damaging effect on population health, human rights and wellbeing, not only on individuals who consume and/or sell drugs but also on societies as a whole. And to review whether anything has changed after UNGASS. Design/methodology/approach Reviewing the latest evidence whether health is any nearer to being the cornerstone of drug policy than previous Findings We found the criminalisation and incarceration of people who use drugs, mainly from the most marginalised sections of society, rem...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Refocusing metrics: can the sustainable development goals help break the ‘metrics trap’ and modernise international drug control policy?
This article aims to examine the extent to which the dominant metrics currently used to measure the success of the UN based global drug prohibition regime are in many ways inadequate and consequently contribute to systemic inertia. Within this context, it seeks to explore the potential of explicitly linking drug policy to the recently launched Sustainable Development Agenda and the associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to initiate a change in approach. Design/methodology/approach Framing the topic in terms of International Relations (IR) and regime analysis, prominent examples of where current metrics are imprec...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Losing UNGASS? Lessons from civil society, past and present
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose This paper examines the role of civil society in the recent history of drug policy reform. It focuses on the UN drugs control system, which is designed to regulate certain ‘scheduled’ or listed substances internationally. It provides new light on recent reformist discourses and strategic agendas and how they related to the reality of UN politics and international relations. It questions the idea that the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) in 201 6 was a failure in terms of outcomes. It concludes by suggesting that the true outcomes of th...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

After UNGASS – where do governments go from here?
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose To indicate the outcomes, implications and possibilities for responses arising from the April 2016 UNGASS meeting and statement. To identify areas for future continuation of the debate and dialoge established at UNGASS. Design/methodology/approach Practitioner and participant commentary on the implications and openings for governments and jurisdictions of a revised international policy framework. Findings The UNGASS statement represented an increased emphais on health and human rights considerations and a de facto flexibility of interpretation and implementa...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

Reflection on the UN general assembly special session on drugs - one year on
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. Purpose A reflection one year on on how the UNGASS event unfolded and its impacts and longer term implications. Design/methodology/approach Consideration of relevant past and present documentation and commentary. Experiences as a participant at some of the events described. Findings UNGASS was called for by countries affected by the failings of the existing conventions who wanted to introduce reformed alternative policies. Representatives of the status quo who opposed such change were partially successful in retaining some aspects of the prohbition approach and in m...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research

In this issue.
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - April 28, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research