The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2014
Comparative StudyPrescription opioid misuse in the United States and the United Kingdom: cautionary lessons.
In the United States, opioid analgesics have increasingly been prescribed in the treatment of chronic pain, and this trend has accompanied increasing rates of misuse and overdose. Lawmakers have responded with myriad policies to curb the growing epidemic of opioid misuse, and a global alarm has been sounded among countries wishing to avoid this path. In the United Kingdom, a similar trend of increasing opioid consumption, albeit at lower levels, has been observed without an increase in reported misuse or drug-related deaths. ⋯ In addition, the availability and price of heroin, as well as the ease of access to opioid agonist treatment in the UK may limit the growth of the illicit market for prescription opioids. The comparison between the US and the UK in opioid consumption and overdose rates should serve as a call to action for UK physicians and policymakers. Basic, proactive steps in the form of surveillance - of overdoses, marketing practices, prescribers, and patients - and education programs may help avert a public health crisis as opioid prescriptions increase.
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The paper aims to provide a snapshot of the drug situation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan using the EU methodology of "harmonised indicators of drug epidemiology." ⋯ The drug situation monitoring system in the four post-Soviet countries of Central Asia still needs substantial improvement. However, in its current state it is already able to generate evidence that is useful for the planning of effective national and regional drug policies, which would be of the utmost importance in the forthcoming years of the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force from Afghanistan.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2014
Patterns and 14-year trends in mortality among illicit drug users in Finland: the HUUTI study.
Although mortality is a known complication of illicit drug use, robust epidemiological studies on drug-related mortality in Finland are scarce. We examined all deaths, specific causes of death, and trends in mortality among a large number of illicit drug users in Finland during a 14-year period. ⋯ The four leading causes of death among illicit drug users are preventable. Overdose management training, drug education and other preventive measures could help reduce mortality.
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This paper discusses how hashish produced by the local population of Tyup, Kyrgyzstan became an important source of cash in an agricultural semi-subsistence economy. ⋯ This allows me to show that the local drug economy in Tyup serves as a lens through which to examine the strategies through which illegal and illicit drug production becomes culturally acceptable. Understanding of hashish production in this local context of the semi-subsistence agricultural economy operating in a constant deficit of cash provides rich data for effective evidence-based policy.