The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
Avoidable alcohol-attributable criminality and its costs due to selected interventions in Canada.
Alcohol causes a considerable criminal burden on the Canadian society. The purpose of this study is to estimate the avoidable burden and avoidable costs of alcohol-attributable criminality in Canada for the year 2002. ⋯ This study demonstrates that the implementation of proven effective population-based interventions can reduce alcohol-attributable criminal burden and its costs to the Canadian society to a considerable degree.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
ReviewEffect of drug law enforcement on drug market violence: a systematic review.
Violence is amongst the primary concerns of communities around the world and research has demonstrated links between violence and the illicit drug trade, particularly in urban settings. Given the growing emphasis on evidence-based policy-making, and the ongoing severe drug market violence in Mexico and other settings, we conducted a systematic review to examine the impacts of drug law enforcement on drug market violence. We conducted a systematic review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. ⋯ Our findings suggest that increasing drug law enforcement is unlikely to reduce drug market violence. Instead, the existing evidence base suggests that gun violence and high homicide rates may be an inevitable consequence of drug prohibition and that disrupting drug markets can paradoxically increase violence. In this context, and since drug prohibition has not meaningfully reduced drug supply, alternative regulatory models will be required if drug supply and drug market violence are to be meaningfully reduced.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
ReviewAlcohol under the radar: do we have policy options regarding unrecorded alcohol?
According to the World Health Organization, the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol should be reduced. This paper summarizes and evaluates the evidence base about policy and intervention options regarding unrecorded alcohol consumption. ⋯ Even though there are suggestions and theories on how to reduce unrecorded alcohol consumption, there is currently no clear evidence base on the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of available policy options. In addition, the differences in consumption levels, types of unrecorded alcohol, culture and tradition point to different measures in different parts of the world. Thus, the recommendation of a framework for moving forward in decision making currently seems premature. Instead, there is a need for systematic research.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
Human rights abuses and suicidal ideation among male injecting drug users in Delhi, India.
Human rights abuses, denial of care, police surveillance, and violence directed at IDUs have been found to impact HIV prevention efforts due to decreased attendance in harm reduction programs. The association of mental health status with rights abuses has not been examined extensively among drug users. In India, drug control laws are often in conflict with harm reduction policies, thus increasing the likelihood of rights abuses against IDUs. The purpose of this study was to describe human rights abuses occurring among IDUs in Delhi and examine their association with suicidal ideation. ⋯ These findings demonstrate that there is a high prevalence of human rights abuses among IDUs in Delhi. Given the alarming rate of suicidal ideation and its close relationship with human rights abuses it is essential that IDU interventions are executed within a rights-based framework.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
Experiences with mephedrone pre- and post-legislative controls: perceptions of safety and sources of supply.
Drug scenes within several countries have changed in recent years to incorporate a range of licit psychoactive products, collectively known as "legal highs." Hundreds of different legal high products have been described in the literature. Many of these products contain synthetic stimulants that allegedly "mirror" the effects of some illicit drugs. In 2009-2010, growing concern by the UK and Irish governments focused on mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant that had become embedded within several drug scenes in Britain and Ireland. In April 2010, mephedrone and related cathinone derivatives were banned under the UK's Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Setting aside "worse case scenarios" that have been portrayed by UK and Irish media, little is known about mephedrone use from the consumer's perspective. The purpose of this paper was to (1) explore respondents' experiences with mephedrone, (2) examine users' perceptions about the safety of mephedrone, and primarily to (3) examine sources of mephedrone supply during the pre- and post-ban periods. ⋯ The findings are discussed in the context of what appears to be a rapidly changing mephedrone market. We discuss the possible implications of criminalising mephedrone, including the potential displacement effects and the development of an illicit market.