International Journal of Drug Policy 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.Ideation, social construction and drug policy: A scoping review
Within drug policy scholarship there is a growing body of literature applying ideational and social constructionist approaches to address the complexity of drug policy making and the apparent failure of the evidence-based policy paradigm to free the process from controversy and contestation. Ideational approaches are concerned with the roles played by ideas and beliefs in policy making, while social construction explores the way policy problems are constructed, and agendas are set and delineated by dominant frames and narratives. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Vanessa Gstrein Source Type: research
Becoming enwinded: A new materialist take on smoking pleasure
What might new materialist perspectives bring to our understanding of smoking pleasure? In this paper, I draw on this thinking to sketch out an alternative, non-unitary smoker who is at the mercy of the whims of the breeze − a yielding I will argue is key to smoking pleasure. With these intentions in mind, rather than thinking of what the biotechnology of cigarettes accomplishes in terms of the chemical delivery of pleasure, or adding to the multiply of social and cultural reasons anthropologists have tendered to ac count for it, I approach smoking pleasure in and through the medium of the smoky air. (Source: Internation...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Simone Dennis Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
The new drugs and the sea: The phenomenon of narco-terrorism
Use of psychoactive substances and drug trafficking for funding purposes is a well-known practice acted by terrorist groups. Europe appears to be more and more involved in this mechanism, as both an active and passive element, and increased attention should be payed to this phenomenon by potentially interested actors. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Rita Santacroce, Elisabetta Bosio, Valentina Scioneri, Mara Mignone Tags: Viewpoint Source Type: research
Symbolic perceptions of methamphetamine: Differentiating between ice and shake
Although public perceptions of methamphetamine (meth) consider all forms of the drug as the same, this is not true among those who use it. Our aim is to examine how those who use meth perceive two forms of meth (ice and shake) using the theoretical framework of symbolic boundaries. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Heith Copes, Whitney Tchoula, Jennifer Kim, Jared Ragland Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research
Could cannabis liberalisation lead to wider changes in drug policies and outcomes?
Cannabis policies are changing in some countries. This may have consequences that extend beyond cannabis-specific outcomes, such as an impact on the consumption patterns of other substances. Changes in cannabis policies may also influence policy responses to other drugs, as countries re-assess the balance between law enforcement and public health objectives. If this happens, it could have important health and social consequences, especially in those countries where a ‘war on drugs’ policy perspective has inhibited investment in evidence based responses in areas such as treatment and harm reduction. (Source: Internation...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 8, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Brendan Hughes, Lucas Wiessing, Don Des Jarlais, Paul Griffiths Tags: Commentary Source Type: research
Chemsex, risk behaviours and sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men in Dublin, Ireland
This study aimed to assess the prevalence of chemsex, associated behaviours and STIs among attendees at Irel and’s only MSM-specific sexual health clinic in Dublin over a six week period in 2016. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 7, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Ronan W. Glynn, Niamh Byrne, Siobhan O ’Dea, Adam Shanley, Mary Codd, Eamon Keenan, Mary Ward, Derval Igoe, Susan Clarke Source Type: research
Down the local: A qualitative case study of daytime drinking spaces in the London Borough of Islington
The objectives were to (i) Characterise the daytime drinking spaces of the local alcohol environment and (ii) Theorise the ways in which these spaces, and the practices and performativities within them, are situated within broader social and economic trends. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 7, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Claire Thompson, Sarah Milton, Matt Egan, Karen Lock Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
Drug law reform, performativity and the politics of childhood
Children are critical to debates about drug law reform. For both advocates of liberalisation and, especially, defenders of prohibition, the protection of children is an important rhetorical device in pressing for, or resisting, change. However, the privileged position of minors within such discussions, or talk about drugs in general, has rarely been explored in any depth in either drug and alcohol studies or legal research. Drawing on scholarship on performativity, and particularly John Law ’s work on ‘collateral realities’, this article will consider how constructs such as childhood and drugs are ‘produced’ and ...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - December 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Simon Jonathan Flacks Source Type: research
Tracking internet interest in anabolic-androgenic steroids using Google Trends
Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use, primarily by young men intent on increasing muscularity, is thought to be rising in prevalence (Evans-Brown, McVeigh, Perkins,& Bellis, 2012). This non-medical use of AAS is associated with significant cardiovascular, endocrine, psychological and psychosocial morbidity (Nieschlag& Vorona, 2015a,b). AAS are frequently injected and users now form the largest group using Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP) in the UK (Hope et al., 2016). The public health significance of AAS injecting becomes more significant with the identification of rising rates of blood borne virus prevalence in this ...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 30, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Joseph Tay Wee Teck, Mark McCann Tags: Short Report Source Type: research
‘I have it just in case’ — Naloxone access and changes in opioid use behaviours
The past decade has seen over a four-fold increase in deaths from opioid overdose in the United States. To address this growing epidemic, many localities initiated policies to expand access to naloxone (a drug that reverses the effects of opioids); however, little is known how naloxone access affects opioid use behaviours. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 20, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Sarah Cercone Heavey, Yu-Ping Chang, Bonnie M. Vest, R. Lorraine Collins, William Wieczorek, Gregory G. Homish Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
Nine reasons why ecstasy is not quite what it used to be
This paper explores the recent resurgence in use of ecstasy/MDMA in Europe and highlights keys areas of continuity and divergence between the ecstasy market of the 1990s and the current MDMA market. Based on a scoping study involving a targeted multi-source data collection exercise on MDMA, it highlights nine areas that have undergone some level of change, linked with both supply and demand for the drug. Factors discussed include: innovation in production techniques; changes in precursor chemical availability; the role of online markets; competition with other stimulants and new psychoactive substances; the increased avail...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 20, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Jane Mounteney, Paul Griffiths, Alessandra Bo, Andrew Cunningham, Joao Matias, Alessandro Pirona Tags: Commentary Source Type: research
Effect of initiating drug treatment on the risk of drug-related poisoning death and acquisitive crime among offending heroin users
A recent Cochrane review of randomised trials identified a lack of evidence for interventions provided to drug-using offenders. We use routine data to address whether contact with treatment services reduces heroin users ’ likelihood of a future acquisitive offence or drug-related poisoning (DRP) death. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 20, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Matthias Pierce, Sheila M. Bird, Matthew Hickman, John Marsden, Graham Dunn, Toby Seddon, Tim Millar Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
Context and characteristics of illicit drug use in coastal and interior Tanzania
An increase in heroin seizures in East Africa may signal wider local consumption of illicit drugs. Most information about drug use in Tanzania is from the economic capital, Dar es Salaam, and well-travelled Zanzibar. More data are needed on the extent, trends, and characteristics of illicit drug use in the vast coast and interior of the country. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 16, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Jenny Tiberio, Yovin Ivo Laurent, Joel Ndayongeje, Amani Msami, Susie Welty, Alois Ngonyani, Syangu Mwankemwa, Moza Makumbuli, Willi McFarland, Meghan D. Morris Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
Survey representativeness, quantifying uncertainty, and the importance of well-posed questions about the administration of take-home naloxone
The national survey for Wales of non-fatal overdose among injecting opiate users who attended needle-exchange schemes during a 4-week period in February to March 2013 was specifically-designed by Bennett, Holloway, and Bird (2014). Their aim was to create a baseline measure of the prevalence of non-fatal overdose that could be used to monitor the impact of take-home naloxone (THN) and other harm-reduction interventions. Following Scotland (Bird, Parmar,& Strang, 2015; Bird, McAuley, Perry,& Hunter, 2016; Bird, McAuley, Munro, Hutchinson,& Taylor, 2017), Wales ’s National Naloxone Policy (NNP) had rolled out to the whole ...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 15, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Sheila M. Bird Tags: Response Source Type: research
Content analysis of homeless smokers ’ perspectives on established and alternative smoking interventions
Cigarette smoking is 5 times more prevalent among homeless individuals than in the general population, and homeless individuals are disproportionately affected by smoking-related morbidity and mortality. Homeless smokers report interest in changing their smoking behavior; however, established smoking cessation interventions are neither desirable to nor highly effective for most members of this population. The aim of this study was to document homeless smokers ’ perceptions of established smoking interventions as well as self-generated, alternative smoking interventions to elucidate points for intervention enhancement. (S...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - November 13, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Susan E. Collins, Victoria E. Orfaly, Teresa Wu, Sunny Chang, Robert V. Hardy, Amia Nash, Matthew B. Jones, Leslie Mares, Emily M. Taylor, Lonnie A. Nelson, Seema L. Clifasefi Tags: Research paper Source Type: research
