The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Jun 2018
Predicting pharmacy syringe sales to people who inject drugs: Policy, practice and perceptions.
Pharmacies have much to contribute to the health of people who inject drugs (PWID) and to community efforts in HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) prevention through syringe access. However, little is known about what predicts pharmacy syringe sales without a prescription. ⋯ As communities with high rates of opioid overdose mortality were less likely to have pharmacies that dispensed syringes to PWID, a concerted effort with these communities and their pharmacies should be made to understand opportunities to increase syringe access. Future studies should explore nuances between theoretical support for syringe access by PWID without a prescription and actual dispensing behaviors. Addressing potential policy conflicts and offering continuing education on non-prescription syringe distribution for pharmacists may improve comfort distributing syringes to PWID, and therefore increase pharmacy syringe sales.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Jun 2018
Comparative StudyDrug-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 illicit drug-related police encounters amongst people who use drugs. ⋯ The findings unearth significant cross-national differences in the incidence and nature of drug-related policing of people who use drugs. This suggests that there may be opportunities for countries to learn from each other about how and why they differ, and the potential benefits of switching to lower intensity modes of drug policing.