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
Treatment Vs Punishment for Drug Addiction: Lessons from Austria, Poland and Spain
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 69-70, March 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
Alcohol and the Adult Brain
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 68-69, March 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
Prevalence of HIV risk-related drug use and sexual activity among men who have sex with men attending a specialist UK club drug clinic
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 50-59, March 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of drug use among a cohort of drug treatment-seeking drug-using gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), and whether these activities differ between, or predict, HIV status. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional study was conducted in a specialist club drug clinic in London covering 407 consecutive attendees who identified as MSM. Substance use, including injecting drug use (IDU), associated sexual activity and self-reported HIV status were measured by clinical interview and Nationa...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
Visualising “junkies” and “meth heads” – a visual analysis of the persistent negative reputation of heroin and meth users
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 40-49, March 2017. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the persistent negative reputation of two particular types of drug users, the so-called heroin junkie and the meth head. The visual portrayal of both kinds of users in the media has been consistent in the last decades. Inspired by films and anti-drug campaigns, stereotypical ideas about heroin and meth users dominate the visual portrayals. Existing research has already shown that this standardised picture is not applicable uniformly. Nevertheless, the important role of the visual element for constituting bel...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
How can schools help to reduce the harm associated with teenage substance use? Development of a theoretically driven whole-school approach
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 1-11, March 2017. Purpose Substance use prevalence varies considerably between schools, but to date, whole school approaches for reducing substance use have only been moderately effective. The purpose of this paper is to develop a novel multifaceted whole-school approach to reduce substance use primarily among teenagers aged 11-14 years. Design/methodology/approach The outlined approach is premised on the proposal that schools can reduce the harms associated with substance use by promoting school connectedness and improving the school-related experiences of weakly connecte...
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
Treatment Vs Punishment for Drug Addiction: Lessons from Austria, Poland and Spain
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 69-70, March 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
Alcohol and the Adult Brain
Drugs and Alcohol Today,Volume 17, Issue 1, Page 68-69, March 2017. (Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today)
Source: Drugs and Alcohol Today - March 2, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: research
