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Big data on a big new market: Insights from Washington State ’s legal cannabis market
Voters in eight U.S. states have passed initiatives to legalize large-scale commercial production of cannabis for non-medical use. All plan or require some form of “seed-to-sale” tracking systems, which provide a view of cannabis market activity at a heretofore unimagined level of detail. Legal markets also create a range of new matters for policy makers to address. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 27, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Jonathan P. Caulkins, Yilun Bao, Steve Davenport, Imane Fahli, Yutian Guo, Krista Kinnard, Mary Najewicz, Lauren Renaud, Beau Kilmer Tags: Research paper Source Type: research

People who inject drugs and HIV crisis in Pence ’s Indiana: A media analysis using two policymaking theories
In 2015, Scott County, Indiana was the center of an HIV outbreak related to injection drug use. Critiques of the government response exist; however, none examine the response through policymaking theories. This paper examines policy changes affecting people who use drugs (PWID) in Indiana through two theories: the social construction of target populations and punctuated equilibrium. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 26, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: David A. Stupplebeen Tags: Policy Analysis Source Type: research

Drug policy constellations: A Habermasian approach for understanding English drug policy
It is increasingly accepted that a view of policy as a rational process of fitting evidence-based means to rationally justified ends is inadequate for understanding the actual processes of drug policy making. We aim to provide a better description and explanation of recent English drug policy decisions. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 24, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Alex Stevens, Giulia Federica Zampini Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Exploring what shapes injection and non-injection among a sample of marginalized people who use drugs
Few studies have specifically explored what influences people who use drugs to consume them in certain ways (i.e., smoking, injecting). While a great deal of research has examined the transition from non-injection to injection routes of drug administration, less is known about people who use drugs (PWUD) but have never injected or have stopped injecting. This paper draws on actor-network theory to explore what moves people to inject or not, among both people who currently smoke/sniff drugs (PWSD) and people who currently inject drugs (PWID), to better understand factors that shape/influence methods of drug consumption. (So...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 24, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Andrew Ivsins, Samona Marsh Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Drug-related police encounters across the globe: How do they compare?
Drug law enforcement subsumes the majority of drug policy expenditure across the globe. Fuelled by knowledge that much of this investment is ineffective or counter-productive there have been increasing calls for cross-national comparisons to identify where policing approaches differ and what types of approaches may be more effective. Yet, to date cross-national comparison of drug law enforcement has proven a methodologically hazardous affair. Using a new drug policing module added to the 2017 Global Drug Survey, this study seeks to provide the first cross-national comparison of the incidence, nature and intensity of illici...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 23, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Caitlin E. Hughes, Monica J. Barratt, Jason A. Ferris, Larissa J. Maier, Adam R. Winstock Source Type: research

Ice parties among young men who have sex with men in Thailand: Pleasures, secrecy and risks
We present an ethnography of ice parties, critically discussing the in-depth social meanings of ice; the sexual socialities and the secrecy surrounding its use; the transactions between older and younger men; and the role of the Internet and mobile technology. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 21, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Thomas E. Guadamuz, Pimpawun Boonmongkon Source Type: research

Hepatitis C care continuum and associated barriers among people who inject drugs in Chennai, India
Of the estimated 15.6 million people who inject drugs (PWID) worldwide, approximately 8.2 million have been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) (Degenhardt et al., 2017). Chronic HCV infection is a leading cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and premature death (Cepeda et al., 2017; Greub et al., 2000; Kirk et al., 2013; Mehta et al., 2016). Prior to 2014, HCV treatment required weekly injections of pegylated interferon- α and daily doses of ribavirin for 24–48 weeks. These long-duration, interferon-based regimens were associated with suboptimal cure rates (∼50%) and severe side effects, leading to high ra...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 18, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Eshan U. Patel, Sunil S. Solomon, Allison M. Mcfall, Aylur K. Srikrishnan, Amrose Pradeep, Paneerselvam Nandagopal, Oliver Laeyendecker, Aaron A.R. Tobian, David L. Thomas, Mark S. Sulkowski, M. Suresh Kumar, Shruti H. Mehta Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

The cost-effectiveness of seven behavioural interventions to prevent drug misuse in vulnerable populations
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) developed a guideline on drug misuse prevention in vulnerable populations. Part of the guideline development process involved evaluating cost-effectiveness and determining which interventions represented good value for money. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 18, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Becky Pennington, Brendan Collins, Simon Leigh, Antony P. Martin, Lesley Owen, Alastair Fischer, Harry Sumnall, Geoff Bates Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Making a difference? Applying Vitellone ’s Social Science of the Syringe to performance and image enhancing drug injecting
Vitellone ’s Social Science of the Syringe investigates epistemologies of injecting drug use. She argues for a methodology that can be simultaneously sensitive to biopolitical power regimes; the trajectories of social stratification; and the resistance, creativity and dignity of human agency. She proposes a methodological focus on the syringe-in-use as an active participant in these dynamics. Harm reduction policy and service provision frameworks have paid little attention to the phenomena of performance and image enhancing drug (PIEDs) injection. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 18, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Aaron Hart Tags: Commentary Source Type: research

Safe and unsafe spaces: Non-fatal overdose, arrest, and receptive syringe sharing among people who inject drugs in public and semi-public spaces in Baltimore City
The spaces in which drug use occurs constitutes a key aspect of the “risk environment” of people who inject drugs (PWID). We aimed to add nuance to the characterization of “safe” and “unsafe” spaces in PWID’s environments to further understand how these spaces amplify the risk of morbidities associated with injection drug use. PWID were recruited throu gh the Baltimore City syringe service program and through peer referral. Participants completed a socio-behavioral survey. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify associations between utilization of public, semi-public and private spaces with arr...
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 13, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Kyle Hunter, Ju Nyeong Park, Sean T. Allen, Patrick Chaulk, Taeko Frost, Brian W. Weir, Susan G. Sherman Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

An analysis of Belgian Cannabis Social Clubs ’ supply practices: A shapeshifting model?
Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) are associations of cannabis users that collectively organize the cultivation and distribution of cannabis. As this middle ground supply model has been active in Belgium for over a decade, this paper aims to examine CSCs ’ supply practices, noting any shifts from previously reported features of the model. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 13, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Mafalda Pardal Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research

Drug-related homicide in Europe —First review of data and sources
This study aimed to identify relevant European data sources on DRH, to assess the role of drugs in national homicide data, and to assess these sources and data in terms of monitoring potential. (Source: International Journal of Drug Policy)
Source: International Journal of Drug Policy - April 13, 2018 Category: Addiction Authors: Roel de Bont, Teodora Groshkova, Andrew Cunningham, Marieke Liem Tags: Research Paper Source Type: research