Substance use & misuse
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
Some Musings About Big Events and the Past and Future of Drug Use and of HIV and Other Epidemics.
The term "Big Events" began as a way to help understand how wars, transitions and other crises shape long-term HIV epidemiology in affected areas. It directs attention to the roles of ordinary people in shaping these outcomes. Big Events themselves can take years, as in long-term armed struggles like those in Colombia and also long-term political and economic changes like the turn over the last 15 years of many Latin American countries away from neoliberalism and towards attempts to build solidarity economies of some form. ⋯ Issues of time loom large in other articles in this Special Issue as well. Some articles and commentaries in this issue point to another important phenomenon that should be studied more: The positive contributions that people who use drugs and other members of the population make towards helping other people in their communities during and after Big Events. Finally, this Commentary calls for more thought and research about an impending very Big Event, global climate change, and how it may exacerbate HIV, hepatitis C and other epidemics among people who use drugs and other members of their networks and communities.
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
Review Historical ArticleWar on Drugs Policing and Police Brutality.
War on Drugs policing has failed to reduce domestic street-level drug activity: the cost of drugs remains low and drugs remain widely available. ⋯ Policing and racism have been mutually constitutive in the United States. Erosions to the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and to the Posse Comitatus Act set the foundations for two War on Drugs policing strategies: stop and frisk and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams. These strategies have created specific conditions conducive to police brutality targeting Black communities. Conclusions/Importance: War on Drugs policing strategies appear to increase police brutality targeting Black communities, even as they make little progress in reducing street-level drug activity. Several jurisdictions are retreating from the War on Drugs; this retreat should include restoring rights originally protected by the 4th Amendment and Posse Comitatus. While these legal changes occur, police chiefs should discontinue the use of SWAT teams to deal with low-level nonviolent drug offenses and should direct officers to cease engaging in stop and frisk.
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
Big Events in Greece and HIV Infection Among People Who Inject Drugs.
Big Events are processes like macroeconomic transitions that have lowered social well-being in various settings in the past. Greece has been hit by the global crisis and experienced an HIV outbreak among people who inject drugs. ⋯ However, most pathways to risk remain unknown or unmeasured. We use what is known and unknown about the Greek HIV outbreak to suggest modifications in Big Events models and the need for additional research.
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Substance use & misuse · Jan 2015
Patterns of, and Factors Associated With, Illicit Pharmaceutical Opioid Analgesic Use in a Prospective Cohort of People Who Inject Drugs in Melbourne, Australia.
People who inject drugs (PWID) are a key population engaging in pharmaceutical opioid analgesic (PO) use, yet little is known about patterns of illicit PO use among this group. ⋯ We found little evidence of ongoing illicit PO use among those followed up, with illicit PO use linked to polydrug use more broadly. Nonetheless, trends in illicit PO use among PWID should continue to be monitored and harm reduction interventions implemented to reduce the associated public health risks.