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Effect of ageing and time since first heroin and cocaine use on mortality from external and natural causes in a Spanish cohort of drug users
Heroin and cocaine use disorders are chronic and relapsing diseases, which can seriously affect drug users' health for many years. In a recent meta-analysis the pooled mortality risk compared to the general population (GP) was 15 and 4 –8 times higher among heroin users and cocaine users, respectively (Degenhardt, Bucello et al., 2011; Degenhardt, Singleton et al., 2011). However, the mortality risk also depends greatly on other cohort characteristics, especially drug-injecting prevalence or time in opioid substitution treatment (OST). (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 18, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Gemma Molist, M. Teresa Brugal, Gregorio Barrio, Beatriz Mes ías, Marina Bosque-Prous, Oleguer Parés-Badell, Luis de la Fuente, Spanish Working Group for the Study of Mortality among Drug Users Tags: Research paper Source Type: research

The long tail of a demon drug: The ‘bath salts’ risk environment
Using the case of synthetic cathinones (commonly referred to as ‘bath salts’ in the US context), this paper analyses structural factors surrounding novel psychoactive substances (NPS) as contributing to the unique risk environment surrounding their use. Drawing on interviews with 39 people who use bath salts from four U.S. cities and analysis of the infrastr uctural, social, economic, and policy contexts, we document the unique harms related to changing contexts for illicit drug regulation, manufacture, and consumption. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 14, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Luther Elliott, Ellen Benoit, Stephanie Campos, Eloise Dunlap Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

A kind of peace: Tracking the reflexive and resilient drug war
Nearly sixty years after the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and almost fifty after U.S. President Richard Nixon ’s infamous declaration, cracks have started to appear in the edifice of international prohibition, while the more recent “war on drugs” has showed signs of de-escalation. The 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session reflected the growing demands of multiple member states to review global drug policies believed to undermine public safety, rule of law, and economic development. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 14, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Katherine McLean Tags: Editorial Source Type: research

Becoming a medical marijuana user
Since marijuana became legal for medical use in California in 1996, reasons for medical use among medical marijuana patients (MMP) have become increasingly well described in qualitative studies. However, few studies have detailed how the use of marijuana for medical purposes fits into the broader career trajectories of either becoming a marijuana user or becoming a MMP, including the social influences on medical use. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 13, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Stephen E. Lankenau, Avat Kioumarsi, Megan Reed, Miles McNeeley, Ellen Iverson, Carolyn F. Wong Source Type: research

The diverse reasons for using Novel Psychoactive Substances - A qualitative study of the users' own perspectives
The increasing number of legally ambiguous and precarious Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) constitutes a challenge for policy makers and public health. Scientific and more in-depth knowledge about the motivations for using NPS is scarce and often consist of predetermined, non-systematic, or poorly described reasons deduced from top-down approaches. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore and characterize the users ’ self-reported reasons for NPS use inductively and more comprehensively. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 11, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Christophe Soussan, Martin Andersson, Anette Kjellgren Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Perceptions about supervised injection facilities among people who inject drugs in Philadelphia
People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk for infectious diseases, skin and soft tissue infections, and overdose. However, these harms are all avoidable when sterile injection equipment, hygienic places to inject, and medical care are accessible. Unfortunately, many PWID in the U.S lack these resources. The most vulnerable are forced to inject in public spaces, where individual risks are high and communal harms are sometimes many. Supervised Injection Facilities (SIFs) are an established intervention for reducing these harms. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 10, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Robert E. Harris, Jessica Richardson, Rosemary Frasso, Evan D. Anderson Source Type: research

Examining the relationship between medical cannabis laws and cardiovascular deaths in the US
Several countries and many U.S. states have allowed, for cannabis to be used as therapy to treat chronic conditions or pain., This has increased the use of cannabis, particularly among older people.Because cannabis has been linked to adverse cardiac events in the medical literature, there may be unintended consequences on increased use among older people. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 9, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Rahi Abouk, Scott Adams Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Associations between medical cannabis and other drug use among unstably housed women
Several studies suggest that U.S. state-level legalization of cannabis for medical purposes may be associated with reductions in opioid use; yet its relationship with stimulant use, particularly in high-risk populations like unstably housed women, has received less attention. The purpose of this study was to estimate independent associations between medical and non-medical use of cannabis and use of stimulants and opioids among unstably housed women. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 9, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Meredith C. Meacham, Danielle E. Ramo, Alex H. Kral, Elise D. Riley Tags: Research paper Source Type: research

Identifying gaps in the implementation of naloxone programs for laypersons in the United States
The opioid epidemic in the United States (US) continues to generate significant increases in morbidity and mortality with no sign of decline. In 2014, the drug overdose mortality rate was 14.7 per 100,000 (Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell,& Gladden, 2016), and the age-adjusted opioid overdose mortality rate rose nearly 200% from 2000 to 2014 (Rudd, Aleshire et al., 2016). Opioid-involved overdose deaths increased another 16% from 2014 to 2015, fueled by an increase in deaths involving heroin and illicitly-made fentanyl (Rudd, Seth, David,& Scholl, 2016) – a synthetic opioid 25–50 times more potent than heroin (NIDA/NIH/USDHSS, ...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 9, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Barrot H. Lambdin, Jon Zibbell, Eliza Wheeler, Alex H. Kral Tags: Short Report Source Type: research

Kalaban: Young drug users ’ engagements with law enforcement in the Philippines
A violent ‘war on drugs’ continues to be waged in the Philippines, even as the use of drugs − particular methamphetamine − continues to rise. Furnishing contextual background to the current situation, this paper explores how long-running law enforcement approaches in the Philippines might be viewed by those in their receiving end by presenting findings of an ethnography among marginalized young men. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Gideon Lasco Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Harm reduction-based and peer-supported hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs in Georgia
The introduction of new highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies has created an opportunity for the global elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) (Hepatitis C: only a step away from elimination?, 2015). (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Tamar Kikvidze, Niklas Luhmann, Elisabeth Avril, Maia Butsashvili, Konstantine Labartkava, Aur élie Etienne, Diane Le Pluart, Ina Inaridze, Ana Gamezardashvili, David Kharshiladze, Julie Bouscaillou Tags: Short Report Source Type: research

Experiences with compulsory drug detention among people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand: A qualitative study
In many settings throughout the world, the primary response to illicit drug use relies upon punitive drug law enforcement and control efforts. A consequence of this focus is the growing investment in mandatory or coerced treatment approaches for illicit drug users (Caplan, 2006; Klag, O'Callaghan,& Creed, 2005; Lunze, Idrisov, Golichenko,& Kamarulzaman, 2016; Urbanoski, 2010; Zhang, Roberts,& Lansing, 2013). In several Asian countries (including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Malaysia and China), millions of people who inject drugs (PWID) have been placed in compulsory drug detention centres (CDDCs) (Csete et al...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Thomas Kerr, Will Small, Prempreeda Pramoj Na Ayutthaya, Kanna Hayashi Source Type: research

The relationship between Australian harm minimisation alcohol education and student uptake, consumption and harm
Alcohol use by young people is a public health concern in Australia because of the disproportionate harm they experience. Accordingly, governments have sought to protect young people, with school identified as an appropriate site for drug, including alcohol, prevention through education. School-based drug education programmes, however, have not been particularly effective, and even when individual programs report prevention benefits they can be criticised for being developed and evaluated by the same group. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Richard Midford, Leanne Lester, Tahlia Williams, Victoria White Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Re-thinking pre-drinking: Implications from a sample of teenagers who drink in private settings
Pre-drinking (also known as pre-loading or pre-gaming) is a widespread, important and ritualised aspect of the collective drinking practices of contemporary night-time economy (NTE) populations, particularly young people (LaBrie, Hummer, Pedersen, Lac,& Chithambo, 2012; Miller et al., 2013; Zamboanga et al., 2011). With many young people organising their nights out according to a ‘home-pub-club’ model (Barton& Husk, 2014), research on pre-drinking has primarily focussed on the extent to which it shapes, or exacerbates, ‘risky’ drinking patterns and related harms in licensed entertainment precincts (Labhart, Graham,...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: James Wilson, Rowan P. Ogeil, Tina Lam, Simon Lenton, Belinda Lloyd, Lucy Burns, Alexandra Aiken, William Gilmore, Tanya Chikritzhs, Richard Mattick, Dan I. Lubman, Steve Allsop Tags: Short Report Source Type: research

Back to the core: A network approach to bolster harm reduction among persons who inject drugs
Injecting drugs safely almost always includes the presence of one ’s social network, especially for the prevention of overdose. Yet, the systematic analysis of users’ social networks has yet to be established as a focal method in harm reduction research, and interventions. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Martin Bouchard, Sadaf Hashimi, Kristen Tsai, Hugh Lampkin, Ehsan Jozaghi Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research