The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Dec 2019
Supply of codeine combination analgesics from Australian pharmacies in the context of voluntary real-time recording and regulatory change: A simulated patient study.
In recent years there have been growing concerns regarding non-prescription codeine use in Australia. Efforts to mitigate risks associated with non-prescription codeine, such as addiction and toxicity, have been primarily through two initiatives; regulatory changes restricting their availability, and voluntary live-recording supply of non-prescription codeine combination analgesics (CCAs). This study sought to explore the supply of CCAs in the climate of regulatory change. ⋯ Mandatory legislative regulation of pharmacist supply of non-prescription codeine was more likely to be complied with than voluntary recording. Compliance with pharmacist supply for DPRs appeared to improve following the announcement of regulatory change to prescription-only, whereas voluntary recording of supply did not appear to change.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2019
Evaluation of a drug checking service at a large scale electronic music festival in Portugal.
Drug checking services are being implemented in recreational settings across the world, however these projects are frequently accused of a lack of evidence concerning their impact on people who use drugs. This paper describes the implementation of a drug checking service at the Boom Festival 2016 and explores the impact of this service on its users' behavioural intentions. ⋯ These results support the hypothesis that providing drug checking services in large-scale festivals helps users to better manage their drug use and deal with drug adulteration. The data corroborates the supposition that when provided with objective information about the content of their drugs, some users consider health protecting behaviours. Additionally, these results can contribute to the design of tailored harm reduction interventions that take into consideration clients' characteristics, profiles and motivations.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2019
'It's our safe sanctuary': Experiences of using an unsanctioned overdose prevention site in Toronto, Ontario.
Overdose prevention sites (OPSs) are spaces where people can consume drugs under the supervision of trained volunteers or staff and receive help in the event of an overdose. Unsanctioned OPSs are a grassroots response to the current opioid crisis in Canada. ⋯ The unsanctioned OPS in Toronto served an important role in defining new, community-led, flexible responses to opioid overdose-related deaths at a time of markedly increasing mortality. Providing harm reduction services in diverse settings and expanding services to include smoking and assisted injection may increase access for marginalized people who use drugs.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2019
Policing space in the overdose crisis: A rapid ethnographic study of the impact of law enforcement practices on the effectiveness of overdose prevention sites.
North America is in the midst of an overdose crisis. In some of the hardest hit areas of Canada, local responses have included the implementation of low-threshold drug consumption facilities, termed Overdose Prevention Sites (OPS). In Vancouver, Canada the crisis and response occur in an urban terrain that is simultaneously impacted by a housing crisis in which formerly 'undesirable' areas are rapidly gentrifying, leading to demands to more closely police areas at the epicenter of the overdose crisis. ⋯ Further documented was an increase in the number of police present in the neighborhood the week of, and the week proceeding, the disbursement of income assistance cheques. Our findings demonstrate how some law enforcement practices, driven in part by ongoing gentrification efforts and buttressed by multiple forms of criminalization present in the lives of PWUD, limited access to needed overdose-related services. Moving away from place-based policing practices, including those driven by gentrification, will be necessary so as to not undermine the effectiveness of life-saving public health interventions amid an overdose crisis.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Nov 2019
Prevalence and correlates of carrying naloxone among a community-based sample of opioid-using people who inject drugs.
Overdose prevention programs are effective at reducing opioid overdose deaths through training people who inject drugs (PWID) how to respond to witnessed overdoses and use naloxone. This report examines prevalence and correlates of carrying naloxone among a community-based sample of PWID. ⋯ Syringe exchange access was associated with naloxone carrying and is likely a primary source for naloxone and overdose reversal training for PWID. Homelessness and law enforcement encounters are known barriers to harm reducing behaviors; however, both were positively associated with carrying naloxone in this sample. Larger studies are needed to explore these relationships in greater depth.