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Background and aims Prohibitions on producing, distributing and selling cannabis are loosening in various jurisdictions around the world. This paper describes the diversification of cannabis supply laws and discusses the challenges to and opportunities for learning from these changes. Methods We document changes in cannabis supply laws that de jure legalized cannabis production for medical and/or non-medical purposes (excluding industrial hemp) in Australasia, Europe, North America and South America. We also highlight challenges to evaluating these legal changes based on our experiences studying cannabis laws and policies in the United States. Findings As of August 2016, two countries have passed laws to legalize large-scale cannabis production for non-medical purposes at the national (Uruguay) or subnational level (four US states). At least nine other countries legally allow (or will soon allow) cannabis to be supplied for medicinal purposes. Most of the changes in cannabis supply laws have occurred since 2010. The data available in most countries are inadequate for rigorously evaluating the changes in cannabis supply laws. Conclusion The evidence base for assessing changes in cannabis supply laws remains weak. Efforts should focus upon collecting information about quantities consumed and market transactions as well as validating self-report surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Although men's alcohol misuse and less gender‐equitable attitudes have been identified as risks for perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), less is known about how men's gender‐equitable attitudes and drinking act together to increase risk of IPV. This study aimed to assess the independent relationships of lower gender‐equitable attitudes and drinking to perpetration of IPV and their interaction among men in seven countries. Design Secondary analysis of the United Nations Multi‐Country Study on Men and Violence (UNMCS) and Nabilan Study databases consisting of (1) unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression to measure the association of perpetration of IPV with gender‐equitable men (GEM) scale score and regular heavy episodic drinking (RHED) and (2) meta‐analyses of prevalence and effect estimates adjusted for country‐level sites and countries. Setting and participants: A total of 9148 ever‐partnered 18–49‐year‐old men surveyed in 2011–15 from 18 sites in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste. Measurements The outcome variable is reported perpetration of physical or sexual IPV in the previous year. Independent variables: GEM scale scores; RHED, defined as six or more drinks in one session at least monthly (compared with other drinkers and abstainers). Findings Pooled past‐year prevalence of perpetration of IPV was 13% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 9–16%]. GEM scores and RHED were independently associated with perpetration of IPV overall and in most sites. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) for perpetration of IPV with less equitable GEM scores were 1.07 (95% CI = 1.04, 1.09) and with RHED were 3.42 (95% CI = 2.43, 4.81). A significant interaction between GEM score and RHED (P = 0.001) indicated that RHED increased the relationship of less gender‐equitable attitudes and perpetration of IPV. Conclusion: Both gender‐inequitable attitudes and drinking appear to be associated with perpetration of intimate partner violence by men, with regular heavy episodic drinking increasing the likelihood of intimate partner violence among men with less equitable gender attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The US National Institutes of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) seek to stimulate research into biologically validated neuropsychological dimensions across mental illness symptoms and diagnoses. The RDoC framework comprises 39 functional constructs designed to be revised and refined, with the overall goal of improving diagnostic validity and treatments. This study aimed to reach a consensus among experts in the addiction field on the 'primary' RDoC constructs most relevant to substance and behavioural addictions. Methods: Forty‐four addiction experts were recruited from Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. The Delphi technique was used to determine a consensus as to the degree of importance of each construct in understanding the essential dimensions underpinning addictive behaviours. Expert opinions were canvassed online over three rounds (97% completion rate), with each consecutive round offering feedback for experts to review their opinions. Results: Seven constructs were endorsed by ≥ 80% of experts as 'primary' to the understanding of addictive behaviour: five from the Positive Valence System (reward valuation, expectancy, action selection, reward learning, habit); one from the Cognitive Control System (response selection/inhibition); and one expert‐initiated construct (compulsivity). These constructs were rated to be related differentially to stages of the addiction cycle, with some linked more closely to addiction onset and others more to chronicity. Experts agreed that these neuropsychological dimensions apply across a range of addictions. Conclusions: The study offers a novel and neuropsychologically informed theoretical framework, as well as a cogent step forward to test transdiagnostic concepts in addiction research, with direct implications for assessment, diagnosis, staging of disorder, and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with doctor Judith Mackay is presented. When asked on how she had come up with the idea of creating a series of health atlases, she refers to the passion she developed for morphing complex health statistics into formats that can be easily understood. She states that the most important influence was the 2009 photograph of Bill Gates holding the second edition of "The Tabacco Atlas." Mackay discusses her education, early career and trends in the tabacco control efforts.

The article discusses the practice of compulsorily detaining drug addicts under the pretext of treatment that is prevalent in developing countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and China. This practice has fallen into disuse in developed countries due to ineffectiveness and human rights violation issues. Detention centers are often run by military or police personnel and are notorious for inhuman practices of detoxification with high relapse rates.

The authors reflect on the inhumane treatment of drug users who were detained to compulsory drug detention centers mainly in China and Malaysia. They relate that among the documented cruelty in those centers include sexual assault, severe beatings, and forced testing for HIV. They also discuss set of principles by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2010 on international standards for drug users' treatment.

The article focuses on alcohol usage cost in France and drug usage in Asia as of March, 2004. The Guardian newspaper (9 January 2004) reports on the recommendation of a French health commission to drastically increase taxes on retail alcohol sales. A Workshop on Managing Methamphetamine Users and Opioid Dependence in Asia was held in Hanoi, Vietnam between 5-7 November, 2003. The meeting was convened by a research consortium from the University of Adelaide Australia, National Addiction Centre UK and the Integrated Substance Abuse Program from UCLA.