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Synthetic cannabinoids (i.e. Spice) are a major public health problem in UK prisons, however, research in this area is limited. Here we aimed to draw comparisons between people with and without experience of using synthetic cannabinoids in prison, to characterise the features of, and motivations for use within this setting and evaluate support for different treatment interventions. Questionnaires were administered to 122 people in a category-B prison for adult males in England between July 2022 and March 2023. Participants were asked questions related to their sociodemographic and custodial characteristics, use of synthetic cannabinoids (and other drugs) inside and outside of prison and psychological distress was measured via the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18). Those that had ever used synthetic cannabinoids in prison completed additional questions related to features of use, motivations for use and support for various interventions. In total 46.7 % (n = 57) of participants reported use of synthetic cannabinoids in prison and this group experienced significantly greater levels of psychological distress compared to those reporting no use (mean (± standard deviation) BSI-18 scores = 23.7 (±16.7) vs 12.8 (±13.6), p < 0.001). Participants mostly reported using paper-based preparations (77.4 %) and use via e-cigarettes (75.9 %). The most strongly endorsed motivations for use included to alleviate boredom (91.1 % strongly agree/agree), to make the sentence pass faster (89.3 % strongly agree/agree) and to cope with stress (80.4 % strongly agree/agree). The interventions that received most support were strategies to better manage time and medication to manage withdrawal. The use of synthetic cannabinoids in UK prisons typically involves the use of paper-based preparations via e-cigarettes, and use is associated with greater levels of psychological distress. Motivations for use were mostly pragmatic (e.g. to alleviate boredom or cope with stress) and interventions should prioritise increasing the time individuals spend out of cells and in meaningful activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Belgium, Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) collectively organize the cultivation and distribution of cannabis for the personal use of their members. In this paper we seek to improve understanding of the motivations and practices of cannabis growers operating within CSCs, shedding light on the cultivation process.Methods: We draw on data gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the directors of seven active Belgian CSCs (n = 21) and CSC growers (n = 23). These data are complemented by additional fieldwork and a review of policies relating to CSCs', including bylaws and growing protocols.Findings: The Belgian CSCs rely on single and multiple in-house grower arrangements. Most CSC growers had been cultivating cannabis prior to joining their current CSC, albeit growing in different contexts (non-commercial and commercial). The CSC growers discussed both ideological and pragmatic motives for operating within a CSC. Cultivation took place indoors and followed organic practices. Despite their small-scale (20 plants on average), the grow sites used specialized equipment. The growers reported receiving financial compensation to cover production costs.Conclusion: This paper offers new insights into a particular sector of domestic cannabis cultivation - CSC growers and their practices within those collectives - which has not been studied previously. The Belgian CSCs have decentralized production among small-scale grow sites, at a size comparable to that found in other small-scale cultivation studies. In terms of motivations and practices, CSC growers share some features typically ascribed to small-scale cannabis cultivators. At the same time, CSC growers seemed particularly engaged with the CSC model and willing to adhere to the (self-)regulated practices developed by the organizations. This had implications for the way cultivation was organized and for the role of the grower within the CSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• First trends analysis of data from the national Canadian Cannabis Survey. • Past-year cannabis use increased since non-medical cannabis legalization in Canada. • The proportion of past-year consumers using cannabis frequently is unchanged. • Past-year use of edibles, drinks and vape pens/cartridges has increased. • Legal purchasing is displacing the illicit cannabis market in Canada. Cannabis use for non-medical purposes was legalized and regulated in Canada through the Cannabis Act in October 2018. This paper examined trends in use of cannabis for non-medical purposes and related indicators from pre- to post-legalization in Canada (2018–2022). Data from 5 years of the Canadian Cannabis Survey, an annual web-based survey administered to Canadians 16 years of age or older, were used in the analysis (n 2018 =12,952; n 2019 =11,922; n 2020 =10,821; n 2021 =10,733; n 2022 =10,048). Cannabis measures include questions about use, types of products, sources, risk perceptions and beliefs, and exposure to public education campaigns and health warnings. Adjusted logistic regression models tested differences in outcomes over time. Past 12-month cannabis consumption increased among Canadians from 22 % in 2018 to 27 % in 2022 (AOR=1.41;99 % CI:1.28–1.54). Similarly, daily/almost daily (DAD) consumption increased from 5 % in 2018 to 7 % in 2022 (AOR=1.36;99 % CI:1.16–1.59). Consumption of dried flower, hash/kief, and concentrates/extracts (e.g., wax, shatter, budder) decreased since 2018, whereas consumption of edibles, beverages and vape pens/cartridges increased (p < 0.001). Legal purchasing increased from 4 % in 2018 to 69 % in 2022, while accessing cannabis through social and illegal sources decreased over time (p < 0.001). More Canadians are reporting cannabis consumption since legalization and regulation of cannabis for non-medical purposes, continuing a pre-existing trend despite an increase in awareness of the risks of consuming cannabis. Trends in product use indicate a transition from dried flower and concentrates/extracts towards consumption of cannabis foods, drinks and vape pens/cartridges. The legal market is increasingly displacing the illicit cannabis market in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been several recent commentaries which have highlighted the relevance of the postcolonial perspective to drug prohibition and called for the decolonisation of drug policy (Daniels et al., 2021 ; Hillier, Winkler & Lavallée, 2020 ; Lasco, 2022 ; Mills, 2019). While these are significant interventions in the field, sparse drugs scholarship has engaged more directly with well-developed literature and concepts from Critical Indigenous Studies (Moreton-Robinson, 2016) and Indigenous Standpoint Theory (Moreton-Robinson, 2013 ; Nakata, 2007) and reflected on its applicability to the drug and alcohol field. In contrast to the postcolonial perspective, which understands colonisation as a historical event with contemporary impacts, Indigenous scholarship conceptualises colonisation as an active and ongoing part of how the settler-state continues to impose itself. From this vantage point I explore coloniality as a system of power and reflect on the way prohibition acts as a key arm of the settler-colonial state. The paper explores the way concepts like vulnerability, marginality, overrepresentation, disproportionality and addiction involve colonial violence, knowledge practices and narratives which are central to the way coloniality is maintained and continues to assert itself in contemporary settler societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent decades have seen substantial changes in the UK cannabis landscape, including increased domestic production, the ascendancy of stronger strains (namely 'skunk') and the drug's reclassification under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. Resultantly, cannabis retains significance in the consciousness, priorities and policy agendas of communities, drug services and criminal justice agencies.Methods: This paper presents an empirical study, which examined both perceptions and impacts of cannabis cultivation and its control within a North-West English borough. It draws on qualitative research with samples of professionals, practitioners, resident groups, cannabis users, cannabis users' families and cannabis cultivators themselves.Findings: The findings suggest that cannabis cultivation was not a uniformly familiar concept to respondents, who had limited knowledge and experience of its production. Across all participant groups, the transmission of accurate information was lacking, with individuals instead drawing on the reductionist drug discourse (Taylor, 2016) to fill knowledge deficits. Consequently, some participants conflated cannabis cultivation with wider prohibitionist constructions of drug markets, resulting in the diffusion of misinformation and an amplification of anxieties. In contrast, other participants construed cultivation as making economic sense during austerity, justifying such tolerance through inverse adherence to the same narrow socio-cultural construction of drugs i.e. that cultivation carried comparatively less harms than real drug markets. Enforcement mechanisms also drew on generic prohibitionist conceptions, assuming cultivators to be unconstrained, autonomous actors in need of punishment; a belief which lacked nuanced understanding of the local terrain where vulnerable individuals cultivating under duress played a key role in the supply chain.Conclusion: The paper concludes with a call for the provision of accessible information/education; the need to challenge and reconceptualise the assumed autonomy and resultant punity directed at all cannabis cultivators; and a subsequent need to reassess established forms of legal (and increasingly social) enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2015, a new Liberal Government came to power in Canada, elected on a platform that included legalization and regulation of cannabis for recreational purposes. Their legislation, based on recommendations from a Federal Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, is due in early April 2017.Methods: This commentary utilizes Canadian Federal policy papers, previous literature, and internal and international agreements to examine two key areas critical to the development of a nationwide regulated market for cannabis in Canada; the need to overcome restrictions to legalizing cannabis in United Nations' drug control treaties, and the unique challenges that non-medical cannabis creates for navigating interprovincial trade policies in Canada.Results: Irrespective of UN conventions that appear to prohibit legalization of cannabis the Government is preparing to bring forward legislation as this article goes to print. At the same time significant squabbles impede the selling of even beer and wine inter-provincially in Canada. This paper identifies the challenges facing Canadian legalization efforts, but also shows how the legalization legislation may provide opportunities to engender significant change beyond the simple legalization of a specific drug.Conclusion: This commentary does not argue for any specific course of action for Canada, but rather explores the nuance of legalization absent from the declaration in the Liberal party platform. The paper argues that Canada's efforts may hasten the dismantling of the UN drug control structure, and provide renewed opportunities for intern-provincial trade in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Norwegian government proposed a drug decriminalization reform. • The shift from the justice sector to the health sector would only be partial. • The police would retain their role in drug law enforcement after the reform. • Illicit drug use continued to be fundamentally pathologized in the proposed reform. • The most profound aspect of the reform was its emphasis on consent in interventions. In 2018 the Norwegian government appointed a committee to prepare the implementation of a drug decriminalization reform. The overall goal of the committee was to propose a model where responsibility for society's response to the use and possession of illegal drugs for personal use would be transferred from the justice sector to the health service, under the catchphrase 'from punishment to help'. While the proposal ultimately did not get the necessary backing in parliament, the proposed reform still constitutes a very comprehensive and recent proposal for reforming national drug policy and it provides an ideal case for studying contemporary discourses on 'drug decriminalization'. The analysis of this reform proposal is guided by the post-structuralist "What's the Problem Represented to be" (WPR) approach, which is used for investigating the problem representation(s) in the proposal, as well as the rationalities, practices and deep-seated assumptions underpinning these. In doing this, the paper explores how the strategy represents both changes and continuities in discourses around illicit drugs and the people who use them. Based on the WPR approach, two problem representations in the proposal are identified: the 'problem of illicit drug use' and the 'problem of criminalization'. However, the 'problem of illicit drug use' is argued to be the authoritative representation, that takes precedence over the other. In that regard, the paper points to how the proposed shift from the justice sector to the health sector would only be partial, given that the role of the police and drug law enforcement would be retained in the reform. Furthermore, the paper points to how illicit drug use continued to be fundamentally pathologized in the proposed reform. The paper concludes with a discussion about the overall ambition of shifting from a crime-centered to a health-centered approach to people who use drugs and some reflections on the potential of an additional rights-based approach is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Random drug testing in schools has been part of Philippine policies since the 2000s. • During Duterte's drug war, it was implemented and scaled up by education agencies. • It has impacted students by placing them at risk of stigma and fatal violence. • It has impacted schools by necessitating human and financial resources. • Drug testing in schools has political and social efficacy amid a drug-free paradigm. With the stated aims of promoting "drug-free" campuses and "instilling in the minds of students" that drugs are harmful, drug testing in schools has been a feature of the Philippines' punitive drug regime for two decades, gaining prominence during the Duterte administration's war on drugs (2016-2022). Drawing on key informant interviews and a desk review of news articles and official documents, this paper presents a historical overview of this policy as well as its impacts on students, educational institutions, and Philippine society. The paper finds that the group most affected by drug testing in schools are the students themselves, who are placed at risk of discrimination and alienation. Schools are also affected by the policy, as it requires expending their human and financial resources. More broadly, the policy perpetuates longstanding popular notions on drugs, children, and the overall idea that individuals carry the "burden of proof" to demonstrate their worthiness for societal inclusion. Drug testing in Philippine schools is ineffective and misguided in its objectives, but it has received widespread support because of its social and political efficacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cannabis legalization in some U.S.A. states has catapulted the mass production of concentrates, with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations ranging from 50-90%. A major public health concern is that these products will increase cannabis-related harms such as use disorders, psychotic symptoms, and accidental poisonings. This paper describes and contextualizes the results of a study requested by the WA State Legislature to understand perspectives of WA stakeholders on the topic. Concept Mapping (CM), a mixed-methods research approach that supports people-centered policy decisions was utilized. The goal of the study was to explore stakeholders' concern levels and support of policies to address the availability of high THC cannabis products. For analysis purposes, stakeholders were categorized into three groups: community, professionals, and cannabis advocates. CM generated an inventory of policy ideas for regulating high-potency cannabis from a variety of stakeholders. Notably, stakeholders from community and professional groups supported environmental policy changes such as such as taxation, increasing minimum age for high concentration cannabis products, and advertising prohibition. Meanwhile, cannabis advocates (mostly industry actors) opposed taxation per THC content, proposed lowering taxes, and supported policies with low population impact such as educating parents, teachers, and youth. Support for regulating high concentration THC products varied by stakeholder group. Consistent with how other health compromising industries have historically acted, cannabis industry stakeholders rejected regulation of their products. Future studies should explore non-cannabis industry stakeholders' willingness to work towards minimizing the influence of the cannabis industry in policy development processes to assure public health regulations prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legally regulate cannabis from seed to smoke. A growing body of research addresses drug policy reform in Uruguay. However, existing studies have almost completely elided its international dimension, treating the process as exclusively domestic phenomenon.Methods: To consider the international dimension of drug policy reform in Uruguay, the paper draws on primary and secondary sources such as existing studies, media reports, official documents, parliamentary debates and interviews with stakeholders and policy analysts from Uruguay and elsewhere.Results: The paper shows that, when, and, how international factors and actors contributed to Uruguay's drug policy reform process. Two ways in which the international dimension manifested itself are identified. First, as drug policy debate around the world changed, the context for reforms in Uruguay evolved. This resulted in a rather mixed international reaction to Uruguay's reform proposal. Second, international actors became directly involved in the process. Drug policy experts informed and legitimated cannabis reform and transnational advocates supported campaigning and mobilisation in Uruguay.Conclusion: By unearthing the international dimension of Uruguay's drug policy reform, the paper adds a novel perspective to the study of drug policy reform in the Uruguay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A central policy research question concerns the extent to which specific policies produce certain effects - and cross-national (or between state/province) comparisons appear to be an ideal way to answer such a question. This paper explores the current state of comparative policy analysis (CPA) with respect to alcohol and drugs policies.Methods: We created a database of journal articles published between 2010 and 2014 as the body of CPA work for analysis. We used this database of 57 articles to clarify, extract and analyse the ways in which CPA has been defined. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the CPA methods employed, the policy areas that have been studied, and differences between alcohol CPA and drug CPA are explored.Results: There is a lack of clear definition as to what counts as a CPA. The two criteria for a CPA (explicit study of a policy, and comparison across two or more geographic locations), exclude descriptive epidemiology and single state comparisons. With the strict definition, most CPAs were with reference to alcohol (42%), although the most common policy to be analysed was medical cannabis (23%). The vast majority of papers undertook quantitative data analysis, with a variety of advanced statistical methods. We identified five approaches to the policy specification: classification or categorical coding of policy as present or absent; the use of an index; implied policy differences; described policy difference and data-driven policy coding. Each of these has limitations, but perhaps the most common limitation was the inability for the method to account for the differences between policy-as-stated versus policy-as-implemented.Conclusion: There is significant diversity in CPA methods for analysis of alcohol and drugs policy, and some substantial challenges with the currently employed methods. The absence of clear boundaries to a definition of what counts as a 'comparative policy analysis' may account for the methodological plurality but also appears to stand in the way of advancing the techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of drug detection dogs and other punitive policing methods remain common at music festivals in Australia and elsewhere, despite concern about iatrogenic effects and recommendations for their overhaul. While drug amnesty bins are a commonly implemented strategy purported to mitigate risk associated with policing, the efficacy of this intervention is debated. This paper investigates two of the most concerning iatrogenic effects of drug policing practices at Australian festivals - internal concealment and panic consumption - and explores the potential efficacy of drug amnesty bins.Methods: A stepped, mixed methods study (qual→QUANT→qual) comprised qualitative interviews with key informants and festivalgoers, and a quantitative online survey completed by almost 2000 Australian festivalgoers (52% male; median age 20 years old). Descriptive statistics were performed alongside bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions predicting internal concealment and panic consumption. Inductive thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data.Results: Among respondents who had ever used illicit drugs at festivals (n=1065), 23% reported hiding drugs internally to evade police detection and 17% reported panic consumption. Female respondents and respondents expecting dogs were at greater odds of reporting internal concealment. The qualitative data provided greater insight into the risky nature of internal concealment practices and panic incited by police at the gates. When asked if they would have considered discarding their drugs into a drug amnesty bin had they been concerned about detection, less than a quarter (24%) said they definitely or probably would have.Conclusion: This paper adds to the evidence regarding iatrogenic effects of punitive drug policing practices at festivals. The findings have implications for shifting away from punitive policies to ones focused on public health. Additionally, the findings suggest drug amnesty bins should not be viewed as an adequate response for averting harms from drug policing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on values is gaining in popularity within drug policy scholarship. To date, research has focused on analysing values within policy, through documentary analysis and interviews with key stakeholders. We extend this research enquiry to investigate the values that emerge from drug policy debate with those who have lived and/or living experience of using drugs. We used workshop data collected from the ESRC-funded Drug Policy Voices project as the basis for our analysis. Within the workshops, participants were given a range of drug policy scenarios to discuss. We selected three scenarios for this paper which discussed policies related to cannabis, heroin, and MDMA/ecstasy. We coded the workshop data using Schwartz's ten basic values, which is a framework that perceives values as the core 'motivators of action' that underpin choices, attitudes and behaviours. We found that the values of 'self-direction', 'security' and 'conformity' were prominent across this participant group, when discussing these policy topics. Yet the drug policy preferences discussed in the workshops revealed that it is the combinations of values that nuance preferences. Security combined with self-direction supports policies that enhance personal responsibility for change; self-direction combined with hedonism supports freedom to use drugs, whereas self-direction combined with conformity and achievement supports recovery policies; and conformity combined with tradition and power supports abstinence-based drug prevention. Schwartz's ten basic values provided a useful framework for surfacing values that underpin drug policy preferences. These exploratory findings demonstrate that identifying values within dialogue is a complex process and reinforces opposing values can explain policy preference differences. More importantly, policy preferences were underpinned by combinations of values including those that are apparently opposing in Schwartz's circumplex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Much academic scholarship has explored drug use and ‘addiction’ in the criminal justice system. Methods This paper explores what happens when ‘addicts’ are victims, through an analysis of victims of crime compensation case law within the state of Victoria, Australia. Results We argue that the law enacts a set of unexamined assumptions about the ‘problem’ of addiction, including the assumption that it is incompatible to be both addict and victim. However, courts reconcile this ‘dilemma’ by explaining addiction as an ‘effect’ of trauma, violence or abuse, a seemingly sympathetic rendering of addiction. Although this appears to represent a less stigmatising approach than found in the criminal law, we argue that these processes actually produce new challenges for people who use drugs and ‘addicts’, and that these may be counter to the stated aims and objectives of crimes compensation law. We argue that even legal systems with an explicitly remedial rationale have the potential to generate harms, creating those who use drugs and ‘addicts’ as pathological in certain ways and thereby undermining their claims to citizenship. Our analysis is underpinned by a critical approach to the constitution of social problems based on the work of Carol Bacchi. Conclusion Although the focus is on Australian law, the arguments we develop in this paper are likely to resonate beyond the specific jurisdiction reviewed here, and raise questions about the mutually interdependent role of law and policy in compounding the stigmatisation and marginalisation of people who use drugs and drug ‘addicts’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of governance is applied in a wide range of contexts, but this paper focuses on governance in relation to public administration, i.e. states and how they take action, and specifically governance of particular policy areas. In the current context of financial austerity and an era of globalisation, policy-makers face pressures and challenges from a growing range of interests and local, national and supranational actors. Drug policy is an example of a particularly contentious and polarised area in which governance-related challenges abound. In response to these challenges, interest has grown in developing agreed policy governance standards and processes and articulating policy-making guidelines, including the use of available evidence to inform policy-making. Attempts have been made to identify ‘policy fundamentals’ – factors or aspects of policy-making apparently associated with successful policy development and implementation ( Hallsworth & Rutter, 2011; Laughrin, 2011 ) and, in the drug policy field, Hughes et al. (2010) reflecting on the co-ordination of Australian drug policy highlighted some of what they considered principles of good governance. But how useful is the concept of ‘good governance’; how well can it be defined, and to what purpose? As part of a wider project considering the governance of drug policy, RAND Europe and the UK Drug Policy Commission undertook a targeted review of other research and sought expert views, from within and beyond drug policy, on principles, processes, structures and stakeholders associated with good drug policy governance. From this emerged some perceived characteristics of good governance that were then used by the UK Drug Policy Commission to assess the extent to which drug policy making in the UK fits with these perceived good governance characteristics, and to suggest possible improvements. Particular consideration was given to the range of interests at stake, the overarching aims of drug policy and the development and inclusion of an evidence base where possible. This paper draws on findings of the study to highlight challenges associated with defining good governance, provides an example of a framework for assessing drug policy governance and discusses the feasibility, transferability and potential benefits of such an undertaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis policies should be relevant to communities most impacted by them. Home cultivation policies can engage people who grow cannabis and build on their motivation to supply a safe product. This paper aims to examine the laws pertaining to "home" (i.e. personal, small-scale) cannabis cultivation internationally and their different aspects, and to discuss the potential of these policies to be expanded into community-level cannabis supply models.Methods: We reviewed relevant laws and regulations in states/countries that legalised, decriminalised or applied other non-prohibitive approaches to home cannabis cultivation.Findings: Non-prohibitive approaches to home cannabis cultivation have been adopted in at least 27 jurisdictions. Twelve jurisdictions "de jure" legalised home cultivation (three U.S. states and Antigua and Barbuda legalised only home cultivation; six U.S. states, Uruguay and Canada legalised commercial sales as well). Eight states/countries "de facto" (Belgium, the Netherlands) or "de jure" decriminalised it (Czech Republic, Spain, Jamaica, and three Australian states). "De jure" depenalisation was in place in Chile and Brazil and recent court rulings yielded "de facto" depenalisation or "de facto" legalisation in five other jurisdictions (South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Georgia). Varying number of plants (per person and per property) and the circumstances of cultivation were in place. The key limitations of the regulations included (i) possession thresholds for the produce from home cultivations, (ii) rules about sharing the produce, and (iii) potentially disproportionate sanctions for non-authorised behaviours. Despite currently being limited, home cultivation policies might have the capacity to engage cannabis networks that already exist in the community and like that, enhance their participation in legitimate policy schemes.Conclusions: Rules around pooled cultivation and sharing could be made fit for purpose to accommodate community supply of cannabis. Home cultivation policies could serve as a basis for community-level cannabis supply models and as such, for more inclusive cannabis policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Canada has announced that it will legalize cannabis on October 17, 2018, and as a result of this impending drug law reform the need to develop prevention resources and drug education - in schools, in public health, and for parents - has emerged as a public concern and a policy priority. Set against this context, the aim of our paper is to amplify the parent perspective on preventing problematic adolescent cannabis use, but also to interrogate the idea of 'parents as the best prevention' that has taken hold in discussions about the potential consequences of legalization for youth.Methods: In 2016 we undertook an exploratory, qualitative interview study in Vancouver, British Columbia (n = 16) with parents of adolescents who had used cannabis. Building on our past research developing educator-led resources to support an open dialogue about cannabis in the classroom, in this study we asked parents about the supports and resources they needed to inform their discussions about cannabis with their adolescent children, as well the challenges they faced in responding to cannabis use when they believed it had become problematic.Findings: Across the interviews, parents mobilized discourses of risk and responsibility for preventing problematic cannabis use that appeared to reinstate individualizing accounts of substance use. Many echoed normative ideas about health, the risks of cannabis use, and 'good' parenting, sidestepping social inequities around drug use, and thus implicating parents and families as solely responsible for preventing adolescent drug use.Conclusion: Our analysis suggests how parents have been largely disempowered and unsupported when it comes to addressing adolescent drug use in the family context. Even as they expressed their awareness that formal supports and resources to assist them were lacking, parents also assigned blame to themselves - or to other parents - for 'failing' to prevent problematic cannabis use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legalisation of cannabis on the American continent in recent years has reinvigorated calls for cannabis law reform in many countries. Yet researchers have described potentially negative public health and social impacts of profit driven commercial markets for cannabis. Consequently, they have suggested exploring a number of alternative regulatory options, such as "not-for-profit" or "for-benefit" organisations. However, many of these new models are yet to be developed in detail. This paper presents a "community enterprise" model for recreational cannabis based on the alcohol licensing trusts which have existed in New Zealand for many decades. Alcohol licensing trusts are community-owned entities which operate alcohol retail outlets and return a portion of their profits back to local communities in the form of grants, loans and donations. The principal benefits of the "community trust" model are suppressing the commercial incentive to expand the market, establishing statutory obligations to distribute revenue back to the community, and establishing community governance over alcohol sales. The removal of a strong commercial incentive and community accountability may also contribute to lower levels of availability, higher prices and less harm. A further benefit is providing the local community with some oversight of a trust's commercial activities via community elections of the trust board and the ability to call a "community poll" to vote on the future existence of the trust. Our proposed community cannabis licensing trust model seeks to address some of the challenges experienced by alcohol licensing trusts in New Zealand, including the lack of general oversight and balancing the commercial and social aims of the trusts. A limitation of this model includes a lack of research and evaluation of the existing alcohol licensing trusts and further research in this area would inform the application of the model to cannabis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the wake of the deteriorating situation of drug addiction and related infectious diseases among injecting drug users (IDUs) in China in recent years, the Standing Committee of the National People''s Congress of China adopted the new Drug Control Law which came into force in June 1, 2008. This law is part of a broad reform movement in China where drug addiction is no longer understood as simply a legal or moral issue but rather, as a complicated medical condition requiring comprehensive therapeutic strategies. Although the Drug Control Law draws a distinct line from previous Drug Control regulations in the country, there have still been dilemmas along the implementation process. This paper is intended to elaborate on the general principles of China''s latest Drug Control Law from the point of view of scholars who are involved in the field of drug addiction research and treatment in China. This paper will also discuss the challenges we are currently facing, based on the observations and practical experiences the authors have obtained in China. It is hoped that by addressing these issues, we will be able to implement the new Drug Control Law more successfully and ensure that we deal more effectively with drug addiction in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: The introduction of political “war on drug” strategies and Prime Ministerial advisory groups increase opportunities for drug policy reform. Yet the strengths and limitations of capitalising upon political opportunities remain unclear. This paper provides a unique insight into the development of an Australian reform, the “Tough on Drugs-Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative.” This reform was one of the major policies to emerge out of the Federal Coalition “Tough on Drugs” strategy. In spite of the rhetoric the Illicit Drug Diversion Initiative (IDDI) has diverted minor drug users away from the traditional criminal justice system. Methods: This paper draws upon interviews with 16 expert policy makers involved in the advocacy and negotiations leading up to the adoption of the IDDI to examine what drove the reform and how and why a pragmatic reform emerged. Results: The IDDI culminated from the presence of five main drivers: a crisis in relation to heroin and crime, antagonism towards the government, a weak but growing evidence-base on the merits of drug diversion, a shift in law enforcement attitudes and persuasive advocacy by a group of non-government experts. This paper contends that the Prime Minister''s new “Tough on Drugs” strategy and expanded governance arrangements created new space for policy actors to intervene in the policy formulation process and to convert the governments proposed “zero tolerance” response into a more humane and potentially effective response. Conclusion: This paper concludes that contrary to popular opinion political venues and politicisation may offer valuable opportunities for drug policy reform. The challenge for researchers and policy advocates is to see how they can best utilise political venues to obtain pragmatic reform. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In 1988, sociologist Stephen Mugford argued that the dominant framework in the drugs field was the ‘pathology paradigm’ and that, as a consequence, considerations of ‘pleasure’ in relation to drug use were marginalised. As Mugford noted, an understanding of the subjective motives for drug use, including pleasure, is an essential part of any coherent response. Twenty years on, it appears that little has changed. In this paper, I consider some of the processes that may have contributed to the ongoing absence of discourses of pleasure in the drugs field. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first, following Bourdieu, I focus on drug research as a ‘social field’, arguing that power relations between research disciplines work against considerations of pleasure, and that researching pleasure does not generate useful forms of research capital. Second, I argue that harm reduction policy and practice, in its construction of a neo-liberal drug-using subject, limits opportunities for considering the role of pleasure in drug use. The final section explores the broader historical and contemporary context for drug research, policy and practice by considering the discursive formations that contribute to the legitimacy granted to particular forms of pleasure in the privileging of a ‘civilised’ body over a ‘grotesque’ body. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An effective approach to drug regulation is a growing concern. Since 2012, 10 US States and Uruguay have taken the step to revoke prohibition and legalize the recreational cannabis market. Based on the findings from a study ('Cannalex') carried out in 2015-2017 in Colorado, Washington and Uruguay by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) and the Institute of Security and Justice (INHESJ), relying on a hundred of in-depth interviews analyzed in line with the existing official statistics and studies, this paper shows heterogeneous policy-making models and contexts for reform. It also examines the early outcomes of the cannabis policy change. A mixed picture is emerging from the regulatory regimes currently implemented. This paper discusses the reform processes and their early outcomes, with a specific focus on the less documented area: the political processes that led to legalizing cannabis, analyzed with qualitative data. It argues that the different outcomes reported across Colorado, Washington and Uruguay are framed by the regulatory options that were taken, depending on specific dynamics of reform. The discussion focuses on some hot topics raised by the effective regulations, stressing that the array of cannabis regulatory options is a public debate that has just begun. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is now commonly accepted that there exists a form of drug supply, that involves the non-commercial supply of drugs to friends and acquaintances for little or no profit, which is qualitatively different from profit motivated 'drug dealing proper'. 'Social supply', as it has become known, has a strong conceptual footprint in the United Kingdom, shaped by empirical research, policy discussion and its accommodation in legal frameworks. Though scholarship has emerged in a number of contexts outside the UK, the extent to which social supply has developed as an internationally recognised concept in criminal justice contexts is still unclear.Methods: Drawing on an established international social supply research network across eleven nations, this paper provides the first assessment of social supply as an internationally relevant concept. Data derives from individual and team research stemming from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, England and Wales, and the United States, supported by expert reflection on research evidence and analysis of sentencing and media reporting in each context. In situ social supply experts addressed a common set of questions regarding the nature of social supply for their particular context including: an overview of social supply research activity, reflection on the extent that differentiation is accommodated in drug supply sentencing frameworks; evaluating the extent to which social supply is recognised in legal discourse and in sentencing practices and more broadly by e.g. criminal justice professionals in the public sphere. A thematic analysis of these scripts was undertaken and emergent themes were developed. Whilst having an absence of local research, New Zealand is also included in the analysis as there exists a genuine discursive presence of social supply in the drug control and sentencing policy contexts in that country.Results: Findings suggest that while social supply has been found to exist as a real and distinct behaviour, its acceptance and application in criminal justice systems ranges from explicit through to implicit. In the absence of dedicated guiding frameworks, strong use is made of discretion and mitigating circumstances in attempts to acknowledge supply differentiation. In some jurisdictions, there is no accommodation of social supply, and while aggravating factors can be applied to differentiate more serious offences, social suppliers remain subject to arbitrary deterrent sentencing apparatus.Conclusion: Due to the shifting sands of politics, mood, or geographical disparity, reliance on judicial discretion and the use of mitigating circumstances to implement commensurate sentences for social suppliers is no longer sufficient. Further research is required to strengthen the conceptual presence of social supply in policy and practice as a behaviour that extends beyond cannabis and is relevant to users of all drugs. Research informed guidelines and/or specific sentencing provisions for social suppliers would provide fewer possibilities for inconsistency and promote more proportionate outcomes for this fast-growing group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to legalise recreational marijuana. By 2016, eight states and the District of Columbia had legalised recreational marijuana, with more expected to consider it in 2018. Despite this trend, little academic research explains what drives ballot-initiative vote choice on marijuana legalisation.Methods: This paper uses a pre-election random sample voter survey to examine the individual characteristics that correlated with Washington voters' support for legal recreational marijuana.Results: We find that voting on marijuana ballot initiatives largely reflects public opinion about marijuana and is particularly shaped voters' political ideology, party affiliation, religious affiliation and practice, and education. Notably, we find that those reporting experiences (i.e., someone they know) with the criminal justice system are more supportive of legalisation than those who do not.Conclusion: We conclude that marijuana legalisation voting behavior generally aligns with public opinion on the issue. However, one key aspect of Washington's legalisation campaign-the criminal injustices of marijuana illegality-helped shape Washington state voting behavior. Further research is needed to examine if, when, and in what contexts criminal justice campaign themes are likely to strengthen or undermine future states' marijuana legalisation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While cannabis has been widely used in the UK for over 50 years, it is only in recent decades that domestic cultivation has become established. Public concern, media reporting and policing policy has emphasised the role of profit motivated criminal organisations often working on a large scale and with coerced labour. However, increasingly, another population are growing for medical reasons, to help themselves and others treat or manage difficult, poorly understood, or incurable conditions. Our study sought to further understand the motives, techniques and interactions of cannabis cultivators through interviews with 48 growers and supplementary ethnographic work. As well as those motivated to grow for personal use, social and commercial supply purposes we identified a cohort growing to provide themselves and others with cannabis used for therapeutic purposes. This paper draws primarily on interviews with a sub-group of sixteen medically-motivated growers who were not only involved in treatment, but also embraced the label "activist". Rather than develop techniques of deception they were organising to effect a change in legislation. Rejecting the image of criminal perpetrators, they presented themselves as victims of unjust government policy, an indifferent medical establishment, and brutal and immoral criminal markets. Through cultivation, association, self-healing and apomedication, they have found voice and are shifting the debate over the status of growers and of cannabis itself. The ambiguity of their position as both producers and patients challenges the assumptions underlying legal distinctions between suppliers and users, with potentially profound implications for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dozen or more regulatory frameworks have been proposed for legal cannabis but many of the "not-for-profit" options have yet to be developed in any detail, reducing the likelihood they will be seriously considered by policy makers. New Zealand's innovative "not-for-profit" regulatory regime for gaming machine gambling (i.e. "slot machines") has reversed the previous increase in gambling expenditure, empowered local councils to cap the number of gambling venues, and is unique in requiring the societies operating gaming machines to distribution 40% of the gross expenditure from machines (i.e. $NZ 262 million in 2015) to community purposes (e.g. sports). However, the regime has been criticised for not addressing the concentration of gaming outlets in poorer communities, and not requiring grants to be allocated in the disadvantaged communities where outlets are located. There have also been cases of gaming societies providing community grants in exchange for direct or indirect benefits. In this paper we adapt this regulatory approach to a legal cannabis market. Under the proposed regime, licensed "not-for-profit" cannabis societies will be required to distribute 20% of cannabis sales to drug treatment and 20% to community purposes, including drug prevention. Grants must be allocated in the regions where cannabis sales are made and grant committees must be independent from cannabis societies. A 20% levy will be used to cover the wider health costs of cannabis use. A further 10% levy will be used to fund the regulator and evaluate the new regime. Local councils will have the power to decide how many, and where, cannabis retail outlets are located. Other important elements include a minimum price for cannabis, effective taxation of cannabis products, regulating CBD in cannabis products, higher taxation of traditional smoking products, advertising restricted to place-of-sale, no internet sales, and restrictions on industry involvement in regulation making and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade there has been a clear consensus among drug policy researchers that the practice of incarcerating persons for drug offenses has been counterproductive. As a result, U.S. criminal justice policy is increasingly emphasizing alternative dispositions to incarceration for drug related arrests. In addition, large numbers of persons currently incarcerated for drug related offenses are being released into communities. However, there are serious questions about where these individuals are going to live once released and how they will access needed services. Residential recovery homes in the community are good options for those who wish to pursue abstinence from drugs. They provide a drug- and alcohol-free living environment along with social support for abstinence and successful functioning in the community. This paper reviews recent changes in drug policy the U.S. and describes the variety of recovery home options that are available to persons diverted or released from incarceration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two reclassifications of cannabis in England & Wales in 2004 and 2009 have been subjected to a series of academic analyses which have largely been centred on either the relationship to evidence, or in terms of the implications and realities of policing and health under the changes. However, despite the wealth of attention on this area, there have been relatively few attempts to understand these policy movements through broader criminological theoretical frameworks. One recent exception is Shiner's (2015) utilisation of Garland's (2001) concept of 'structured ambivalence'. This paper seeks to test this application through drawing upon an alternative source of evidence, namely, a series of 'elite' qualitative interviews, and using Kingdon's (1995) Multiple Streams model to make sense of the policy processes. In doing so, it largely corroborates Shiner's conclusions whilst also further illuminating particular agentic aspects and their intertwining with other structural and cultural forces which led to the reclassifications. These findings demonstrate the value of triangulating evidential sources and advances knowledge about the role of individuals in pursuing policy agendas within a broader shifting political climate. This provides greater scope to further test and understand how structured ambivalence manifests itself in other cultural contexts and policy domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis use is common, and associated with adverse health outcomes. 'Routes of administration' (ROAs) for cannabis use have increasingly diversified, in part influenced by developments towards legalization. This paper sought to review data on prevalence and health outcomes associated with different ROAs.Methods: This scoping review followed a structured approach. Electronic searches for English-language peer-reviewed publications were conducted in primary databases (i.e., MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Google Scholar) based on pertinent keywords. Studies were included if they contained information on prevalence and/or health outcomes related to cannabis use ROAs. Relevant data were screened, extracted and narratively summarized under distinct ROA categories.Results: Overall, there is a paucity of rigorous and high-quality data on health outcomes from cannabis ROAs, especially in direct and quantifiable comparison. Most data exist on smoking combusted cannabis, which is associated with various adverse respiratory system outcomes (e.g., bronchitis, lung function). Vaporizing natural cannabis and ingesting edibles appear to reduce respiratory system problems, but may come with other risks (e.g., delayed impairment, use 'normalization'). Vaporizing cannabis concentrates can result in distinct acute risks (e.g., excessive impairment, injuries). Other ROAs are uncommon and under-researched.Conclusions: ROAs appear to distinctly influence health outcomes from cannabis use, yet systematic data for comparative assessments are largely lacking; these evidence gaps require filling. Especially in emerging legalization regimes, ROAs should be subject to evidence-based regulation towards improved public health outcomes. Concretely, vaporizers and edibles may offer potential for reduced health risks, especially concerning respiratory problems. Adequate cannabis product regulation (e.g., purity, labeling, THC-restrictions) is required to complement ROA-based effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A widespread sense of a failing criminal justice system and increased feelings of insecurity changed the response to crime into a culture of control, which is characterized by policies that punish and exclude. In the Netherlands, these influences can be witnessed in the war on drugs where local authorities use their administrative power to close homes involved in drug-related crime. Citizens can invoke judicial review over these administrative interferences by claiming that such closure results in an unfair balance between purposes, means and consequences. This paper assesses whether judicial review functions as a safety net against losing one's home due to drug-related crime.Methods: We used doctrinal legal research methods to examine the "law in the books" and empirical legal research methods to analyse the "law in action". We used a survey to investigate how often the drug-related closure power was used in 2015, and we statistically analysed all published case law of Dutch lower courts between 2007 and 2016.Results: The scope of the closure power broadened over the years and our data show that local authorities fiercely make use of this instrument. In 41.4% of the cases, citizens are successful in fighting the closure. While scholarly literature indicates that judicial courts function as safeguards by questioning the proportionality of administrative action, raising a proportionality defence does not necessarily result in a more favourable outcome for citizens. In fact, raising a proportionality defence makes it more likely to result in dismissal of the appeal.Conclusion: The stretched scope of the drug-related closure power together with the relatively low success rate of citizens who fight the loss of their home and a seemingly meaningless proportionality check show no sign of a safety net against the loss of one's home at the suit of a local authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs 1988 ("1988 Convention") expresses a strong normative preference for criminalising drug possession. Historically, the United Nations offices responsible for overseeing the treaties have held that decriminalisation of drug possession is contrary to the treaties. Leading up to and during UNGASS 2016, however, rather than emphasise criminalisation, the high-ranking officials from the drug control offices emphasised the treaties' allowance of alternatives to punishment for drug possession offences.Methods: This paper applies transnational social movement theory to analyse the political opportunity structure for drug law reform at the UN. Data was collected from documents created by important United Nations agencies in the lead up to UNGASS 2016. By analysing the statements of prominent UN officials within a social movement theory framework, we can assess whether those responsible for administering global drug policy are offering concession to drug law reform social movement and whether a political opportunity structure is opening up for drug law reformers to pursue further reforms.Results: from the United Nations documents demonstrated significant reference to local drug law reforms and the benefits of non-punitive treatment of drug users. However, given the strong normative preference and mandatory language ("shall") in the 1988 Convention, policy leaders at the UN can only offer very moderate concessions to drug law reformers - primarily the advocacy of alternatives to incarceration. Such policies still suffer many problems caused by using the criminal justice system to funnel people into treatment. Indeed, many other offices at the UN explicitly drew attention to the problem of pre-trial punishment in their contributions to UNGASS 2016.Conclusion: A schism is developing at the UN as other UN offices are pointing out that advocating for alternatives to punishment is inadequate due to the many problems of "pre-trial punishment". Social movement theory suggests that this schism represents an opening of the political opportunity structure as advocates for drug law reform can now more forcefully criticise, and even breach, the treaties and will have high-level support at the UN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the case of synthetic cathinones (commonly referred to as 'bath salts' in the US context), this paper analyses structural factors surrounding novel psychoactive substances (NPS) as contributing to the unique risk environment surrounding their use. Drawing on interviews with 39 people who use bath salts from four U.S. cities and analysis of the infrastructural, social, economic, and policy contexts, we document the unique harms related to changing contexts for illicit drug regulation, manufacture, and consumption. Findings suggest that NPS and designer drug markets, which are highly reliant upon the internet, share characteristics of the entertainment industry which has come to rely more heavily upon profits derived from the 'long tail' of myriad lesser-known products and the diminished centrality of 'superstars' and 'hits'. Findings point toward increased theoretical and policy attention to changing drug market structures, more rigorous evaluations of drug 'analogues' legislation and greater involvement with NPS education and testing by harm reduction agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several jurisdictions around the world have introduced policies and laws allowing for the legal use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes. However, there has been little critical discussion of how the object of 'medicinal cannabis' is enacted in policy and practice. Informed by Carol Bacchi's poststructuralist approach to policy analysis and the work of science and technology studies scholars, this paper seeks to problematise the object of 'medicinal cannabis' and examine how it is constituted through governing practices. In particular, we consider how the making of the object of 'medicinal cannabis' might constrain or enact discourses of pleasure. As a case example, we take the Victorian Law Reform Commission's review of law reform options to allow people in the Australian state of Victoria to be treated with medicinal cannabis. Through analysis of this case example, we find that although 'medicinal cannabis' is constituted as a thoroughly medical object, it is also constituted as unique. We argue that medicinal cannabis is enacted in part through the production of another object (so-called 'recreational cannabis') and the social and political meanings attached to both. Although both 'substances' are constituted as distinct, 'medicinal cannabis' relies on the 'absent presence' of 'recreational cannabis' to define and shape what it is. However, we find that contained within this rendering of 'medicinal cannabis' are complex enactments of health and wellbeing, which open up discourses of pleasure. 'Medicinal cannabis' appears to challenge the idea that the effects of 'medicine' cannot be understood in terms of pleasure. As such, the making of 'medicinal cannabis' as a medical object, and its invocation of broad notions of health and wellbeing, expand the ways in which drug effects can be acknowledged, including pleasurable and desirable effects, helping us to think differently about both medicine and other forms of drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In an effort to mitigate Kentucky's prescription drug misuse, legislative intervention efforts were introduced in 2012 and 2013 to better regulate pain clinics, prescribed use of opioid analgesics, and to expand the monitoring of opioid prescriptions. The focus of this paper is primarily on opioid analgesics and heroin and the relationship of use/misuse patterns of these drugs to state drug policy initiatives.Methods: A secondary data analysis of drug treatment clients (N=52,360) was conducted to project illicit drug use trends in Kentucky. This study describes temporal and geographic trends of self-reported illicit drug use among individuals in state-funded treatment in Kentucky between fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2013.Results: Significant reductions in the prevalence of illicit opioid use, declined from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2013 (p<.01, CI=-.298 to -.215). However, heroin use rates significantly increased over the years studied, suggesting there may be a transition from prescription opioids to heroin (p<.01, CI=.143 to .178). The analysis suggests these trends may continue.Conclusions: Findings suggest Kentucky's legislative efforts were effective in reducing illicit prescription opioid use, but heroin use has increased. One possible explanation for this relationship is that as prescription opioids became more difficult to obtain, users turned to heroin as a substitute. The finding of rising heroin use suggests a need for further policy initiatives to reduce heroin use, but the potential effectiveness of this policy remains unclear. Understanding trends may help to guide future policy efforts and pain management treatment strategies to where they might have their greatest impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An unintended consequence of drug prohibitions is that they often fail to absolutely deter potential drug dealers and users and instead restrictively deter them. One way in which dealers sometimes alter their behaviour in response to these prohibitions is by using violent forms of social control to prevent their customers from committing careless behaviour or from becoming police informants. Many dealers, however, are reluctant to use violent forms of social control for various reasons. Little research has explored how these dealers use nonviolent threats and promises to prevent these behaviours among their customers and how these forms of social control then influence their perceptions of the risk of formal punishment.Methods: To perform this examination, this paper employs information gathered through semi-structured interviews with 33 unincarcerated illicit drug sellers operating in and around St. Louis, Missouri.Results: This group of drug dealers relied on threats of nonviolent outcomes to prevent their customers from behaving carelessly before, during, and after drug transactions and used implicit promises of continued rewards to dissuade customers from providing information to the police. They presumed that these measures reduced the likelihood of their customers committing these actions. This then decreased their perceptions of the risks of selling illicit drugs.Conclusion: The present findings suggest that an unintended impact of drug prohibitions is that they sometimes restrictively deter drug dealers instead of preventing them from selling illicit drugs. They also suggest that restrictive deterrence among drug dealers can take the shape of social control. The findings also indicate that friendship norms can serve to inoculate dealers against the threat of formal punishment. Finally, the study suggests that levels of drug market violence may be related more to the nature of the relationships between drug market participants and their cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Between 1992 and 2012 dispensing episodes for pharmaceutical opioids (PO) in Australia increased from 500000 to 7500000. In the US, increases in the prescription of PO have been linked to increases in opioid-related morbidity and mortality and transitions to heroin injection. However, Australian data indicate that morbidity and mortality related to PO are relatively low, particularly when compared to heroin and other drugs. This paper explores the characteristics and patterns of non-medical pharmaceutical opioid (NMPO) use among a sample of young people in Sydney, Australia.Methods: During 2015, we conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 34 young people who use PO non-medically by oral (n=22) and intravenous (n=12) routes of administration.Results: Oral NMPO users were a more affluent group who clustered around the Northern, Inner and Eastern suburbs of Sydney, while the intravenous users came from a range of locations including rural/regional areas of NSW and socioeconomically disadvantaged suburbs of South Western Sydney. Oral users were characterised by intermittent and largely self-limiting NMPO use and reported few health and social consequences. Intravenous users reported heavy and frequent drug, including NMPO, use and a range of adverse health and social consequences including overdose, injecting risk behaviour, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and residential instability.Conclusion: Results highlight the significance of social and structural factors in trajectories of opioid use and related harms. Factors such as stable housing and family relationships, disposable income and close social networks observed in young oral NMPO users may help to explain differences in patterns of NMPO use and related outcomes between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2013 the Queensland Government introduced criminal association and mandatory sentencing laws for members of outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs). Forms of "criminal association" or "anti-bikie" laws have been introduced in several Australian jurisdictions, and recent High Court decisions upholding their constitutionality will ensure that they remain part of our justice landscape. Generally, the aims of these laws are to declare a specific organisation as "criminal" and impose various legal orders and offences that thwart the consorting of members and address organised crime, such as unexplained wealth regimes. There have been significant criticisms of these styles of association laws both here and internationally. The aim of this research is to show the extent of involvement of OMCGs in the drug trade and associated organised crime activity, and whether anti-association laws are an effective response to this type of organised criminal activity.Methods: This paper relied on six years of data outlining the criminal activity of OMCGs from the Queensland Police Service (QPS) obtained under the legislative framework of The Queensland Right to Information Act (RTI) 2009. Information obtained from the Queensland Commission into Organised Crime (2015) and Queensland Taskforce into organised crime legislation (2015) was also used.Results: The data suggest that the role of OMCGs in the drug market has been overstated and is not as dominant as has been portrayed by government agencies and the popular media. Generally, OMCGs account for less than one percent of organised crime type activity. This is also true for drug type offences where OMCGs are responsible for less than one percent of offences. The findings show that the Queensland example has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the criminal association laws and the mandatory sentencing provisions in that they have had little impact on drug market activity and little success in the courts.Conclusion: The analysis presented here is twofold: an examination of the legal ramifications and an evaluation of the investigative utility of such laws from a policy evaluation standpoint. In both cases, there is little evidence to suggest that these laws are an effective or appropriate response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In June 2012 DMAA (1,3-dimethylamylamine), an ephedrine-like vasoconstricting substance which had been included in many popular sports supplements, became a scheduled substance in Australia, following bans in several other countries. The underlying rationale for this ban was that DMAA use is unsafe. This paper aimed to critically review the available evidence on the acute and/or long-term harms of DMAA. Using five research databases (PubMed, Embase, ProQuest Health and Medical Complete, and Web of Science) and the key terms 'methylhexaneamine', 'DMAA', 'dimethylamylamine', '1,3-dimethylpentylamine' and '2-amino-4-methylhexane', 842 articles were identified once duplicates removed. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Of the included studies, eight were case studies, which reported on eight patients who presented to emergence departments. All were retrospective in their reporting. The patients displayed various outcomes; while the patients were presenting with serious problems, in most patients conditions subsided on cessation of supplement use. The remaining eight experimental studies were low powered, with a number of studies conducted by a single research group with industry ties, and broadly investigated the effects of DMAA on physiological outcomes. Mixed findings were apparent, although escalations of blood pressure were present on acute dosing, as well as decreases in measures of body weight and body fat. There is a shallow evidence base describing the adverse effects of DMAA and the dose above which such effects may occur. The scheduling of DMAA in many countries may now impede research efforts to determine whether there are safe doses at which DMAA can be consumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prescribing of heroin has a long and contentious history as a method for treating people with heroin problems. This paper revisits a controversial 'experiment' with heroin prescribing in Northwest England between 1982 and 1995, led by the psychiatrist Dr. John Marks. Marks' work has been shrouded in myth and misinformation for many years and the paper presents an evidence-based reconstruction of this episode, drawing on archival sources, published and unpublished documents, and a small number of interviews with key informants. During this 13-year period, Marks worked across clinics in Liverpool and two neighbouring towns, founding his practice on the long-term maintenance prescribing of opiates, including injectable heroin and smokable heroin reefers. The high media profile of the work, in the context of a febrile local politics in Liverpool, a powerful British addiction psychiatry establishment and an always-heated international politics of drug control, brought immense political pressure and led eventually to the closure of the clinics. The Marks 'experiment' raises important challenges to the premises, practices and philosophy of heroin maintenance - particularly the questions of thresholds and criteria for access, and the purposes of intervention - as well as to the wider regime of prohibitive drug laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands has seen an increase in Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations from approximately 8% in the 1990s up to 20% in 2004. Increased cannabis potency may lead to higher THC-exposure and cannabis related harm. The Dutch government officially condones the sale of cannabis from so called 'coffee shops', and the Opium Act distinguishes cannabis as a Schedule II drug with 'acceptable risk' from other drugs with 'unacceptable risk' (Schedule I). Even in 1976, however, cannabis potency was taken into account by distinguishing hemp oil as a Schedule I drug. In 2011, an advisory committee recommended tightening up legislation, leading to a 2013 bill proposing the reclassification of high potency cannabis products with a THC content of 15% or more as a Schedule I drug. The purpose of this measure was twofold: to reduce public health risks and to reduce illegal cultivation and export of cannabis by increasing punishment. This paper focuses on the public health aspects and describes the (explicit and implicit) assumptions underlying this '15% THC measure', as well as to what extent these are supported by scientific research. Based on scientific literature and other sources of information, we conclude that the 15% measure can provide in theory a slight health benefit for specific groups of cannabis users (i.e., frequent users preferring strong cannabis, purchasing from coffee shops, using 'steady quantities' and not changing their smoking behaviour), but certainly not for all cannabis users. These gains should be weighed against the investment in enforcement and the risk of unintended (adverse) effects. Given the many assumptions and uncertainty about the nature and extent of the expected buying and smoking behaviour changes, the measure is a political choice and based on thin evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A strain of Fusarium oxysporum fungus is killing coca plants in the Chapare coca growing region of Bolivia. Coca farmers are already constrained in the amount of coca they can grow under the government's community-based coca control approach, "social control." Coca leaf is the main ingredient in cocaine, but it is also a traditional medicine and food, is economically vital to household incomes, and is a political symbol of the current government administration. Bolivia's approach to coca control, now administered without any United States military intervention, is an innovative example of experimentation with drug policy reform.Methods: This paper is based on ethnographic research including semi-structured interviews and observation.Results: Coca growers are worried about the dire economic, social, and political consequences of the fungus' appearance and spread since summer 2013. They have two explanations for its origins: First, that it was sent by the United States government, which in the past was developing a strain of F. oxysporum for use in the drug war; Second, and the explanation of scientists, is that the outbreak is caused by the overuse of agrochemicals and other intensive agricultural practices.Conclusion: More than a matter of agroecology, the practices identified in the second explanation must be understood in terms of the persistence of the international drug prohibition regime. Bolivia's social control approach is a successful alternative to violent eradication measures, however the country is constrained to uphold the fundamental principles of supply-side control in order to be a respected partner in global drug control. The supply-side logics restricting social control make intensive agriculture practices attractive, but may have contributed to the fungus' proliferation and its continued spread. The fungus draws attention to the challenges of policy reform, new collateral damages of drug control, and role environmental factors can play in drug control politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International drug law enforcement agencies have identified an apparent rise in high level drug traffickers choosing to deal in multiple different drugs. It is hypothesised that this may be a "deliberate modus operandi" and that the formation of "portfolios of trades" may make such traffickers more profitable, harmful and resilient to changes in drug supply and policing. In this paper we provide the first exploration of the extent, nature and harms of poly-drug trafficking at Australian borders.Methods: Two different methods were used. First, we used Australian Federal Police (AFP) data on all commercial level seizures at the Australian border from 1999 to 2012 to identify the proportion of seizures that were poly-drug and trends over time. Second, we used unit-record data on a sub-set of 20 drug trafficking cases and linked-cases (defined as the original drug trafficking case and all other criminal cases that were connected via common offenders and/or suspects) to compare the profiles of poly-drug and mono-drug traffickers, including: the total weight and type of drug seized, the value of assets seized, and the level of involvement in other crime (such as money laundering and corruption).Results: Between 5% and 35% of commercial importations at the Australian border involved poly-drug trafficking. Poly-drug trafficking occurred in almost every year of analysis (1999-2012), but it increased only slightly over time. Compared to mono-drug traffickers poly-drug traffickers were characterised by: larger quantities of drugs seized, larger networks, longer criminal histories and more involvement in other types of serious crime.Conclusion: Some fears about poly-drug traffickers may have been overstated particularly about the inherent escalation of this form of trafficking. Nevertheless, this suggests poly-drug traffickers are likely to pose added risks to governments and law enforcement than mono-drug traffickers. They may necessitate different types of policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poland, a post-socialist democracy with a high interest in successful integration with the European Union and a strong catholic tradition, currently has some of the most restrictive anti-drug laws in Europe. Structural violence towards drug users has intensified as a result of decades of shifting drug policies and, surprisingly, the more recent process of political and economic liberalization. This commentary considers the contextual and historical dynamics of drug policy-making in Poland. It traces transitions in Poland's drug control policy, throughout Poland's history as a soviet satellite state, under martial law, and in the democracy that it is today. This case study draws on an analysis of interviews with key actors and participant observations in combination with documents and archival records. This paper follows the changes in Poland's drug control policy, throughout Poland's history as a soviet satellite state, under martial law, and in the democracy that it is today. Factors contributing to the enactment of restrictive drug laws have occurred in a highly politicized context during a series of dramatic political transitions. Current drug policies are woefully inadequate for treating those in need of drug treatment and care as well as for preventing HIV and other harms linked to drug injecting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis prohibition can generally be regarded as the main driver for home growing of marijuana. In this paper, I discuss the impact of drug prohibition on cannabis cultivators from the three German-speaking countries: Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In particular, this refers to the questions; how illicitness influences motivations for growing; which precautionary measures are taken against the risk of discovery; how penal consequences differ in the three countries and how these aspects are linked to each other.Methods: The results come from a sample of 1578 respondents from the German-language online survey conducted following the International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire (ICCQ). The survey was carried out in late 2012 and early 2013.Results: While most of the reasons for growing cannabis relate to avoiding negative consequences of prohibition, the illicitness of cannabis also plays a major role for concern about the cultivation activities as well as measures to avoid negative consequences. Swiss growers are less worried about their activity compared to respondents from Germany or Austria.Conclusion: The results confirm the notion that the illicitness of cannabis is the main drive for the private cultivation of the plant. At the same time, prohibition is the principal reason for concern regarding the growing activity. The severity of possible sentences seems to be linked to the degree of concern and precautionary measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. states have taken varied approaches to licensing cannabis businesses under federal prohibition, but up to now there is limited research on cross-state licensing approaches. This paper provides a systematic analysis of the current licensing strategies taken by all states that have passed medical cannabis laws (MCLs)/recreational cannabis laws (RCLs). We construct comprehensive data on cannabis business licenses offered in each state, as well as metrics for license categories, cost, and issuance volume. We then analyze patterns between these metrics, also considering how long ago states implemented MCLs/RCLs, qualitative licensing aspects, state ideology and voting preference, and state cannabis taxation data. We observe that states tend to license medical cannabis more restrictively than adult-use cannabis: i.e., by offering licenses in fewer categories, at higher cost, in lower issuance volume, and more often mandating vertical integration. Additionally, states that implemented MCLs/RCLs earlier tend to offer licenses in more categories, at lower cost, and in greater volumes. Further, though states that implemented MCLs recently lean conservative and Republican, we do not observe clear relationships between ideology or voting preference and licensing policy. In our supporting results, we observe that a greater share of states with complex licensing structures impose non-retail price cannabis taxes than states overall, and we discuss how states have changed their licensing policies over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The illegal drug trade is often, and plausibly, asserted to be the largest illegal market, globally and in many individual countries. It is also claimed that a large share of its revenues is laundered, though there are no estimates of that volume. We provide rough estimates of that proportion and its primary determinants.Methods and Data: This paper presents a model of a multi-tiered drug distribution network that is parameterized with data based on one typical, well-studied case, namely British Colombia's market for illegal opioids, supplemented by a corresponding economic interpretation of what determines the share of drug trade revenues that need to be laundered. Sensitivity with respect to key parameters is analyzed.Findings: We suggest that less than half and perhaps no more than a quarter of revenues from established drug markets need laundering. Key parameters governing this proportion include the price mark-up across distribution levels, transaction volumes at each market level, and the capacity of market participants to spend cash on daily living expenses.Conclusion: This model permits estimation of the scale of money laundering associated with a particular drug market. It suggests that there are limits on money laundering controls as a way of reducing drug supply - although money laundering investigations may still be an effective way to identify and investigate high-level drug traffickers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Drugs policy is made in a politically charged atmosphere. This is often not seen to be conducive to the ideals of evidence-based policymaking. In the UK over recent years the efficacy of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) has been one of the most widely discussed and debated areas of UK drug policy. Since inception, the MDA 1971 has remained relatively stable with very few drugs moving up or down the scale and until recently, and with very few exceptions, there has been little public debate on the nature of the system. This changed in the run up to the cannabis reclassification in 2004 from class B to class C, through the reverse of this decision in 2009 and the fallout between the Government of the time and leading members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Methods Based on wide-ranging survey of the literature and secondary analysis of various official publications and academic commentaries, this paper considers what the cannabis episode can tell us about the current state of UK drug policy governance. Results Previous research on drug policy governance has suggested that policy goals should be clearly articulated so as to avoid confusion over what constitutes evidence, decision-makers should be ‘evidence-imbued’ and there should be widespread consultation with, and transparency of, stakeholder engagement. The interpretation here is that recent changes to cannabis legislation reveal that these aspects of good governance were called into question although there were fleeting moments of good practice. Conclusion The use of evidence in drug policy formulation continues to be bedevilled by political stalemate and reluctance to countenance radical reform. Where evidence does play a role it tends to be at the margins. There are, however, potential lessons to be learned from other policy areas but this requires a more pragmatic attitude on behalf of decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent emergence of vibrant markets in ‘new psychoactive substances’ or ‘legal highs’ has posed significant new challenges for drug policy. These partly concern what to do about them but the speed and complexity of change has also raised difficulties for how policy responses should be developed. Existing drug policy systems appear too slow and cumbersome to keep up with the pace of change, remaining locked in large part within ‘old’ ways of thinking that centre almost exclusively around the deployment (or not) of the criminal law and its related enforcement apparatus. In this paper, it is argued that we need to rethink the problem through the lens of regulation, in order to learn lessons from other sectors where more agile responses to changing markets and business innovation have often proved possible. By examining examples drawn from these other areas, an alternative policy-making framework can be developed, involving a more flexible mix of state regulation, civil society action and private law mechanisms. This new approach is founded on a recognition of the networked and polycentric character of effective market governance in an era of global regulatory capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: National drug policies are often regarded as inconsequential, rhetorical documents, however this belies the subtlety with which such documents generate discourse and produce (and re-produce) policy issues over time. Critically analysing the ways in which policy language constructs and represents policy problems is important as these discursive constructions have implications for how we are invoked to think about (and justify) possible policy responses. Methods: Taking the case of Australia's National Drug Strategies, this paper used an approach informed by critical discourse analysis theory and aspects of Bacchi's (2009) ‘What's the Problem Represented to be’ framework to critically explore how drug policy problems are constructed and represented through the language of drug policy documents over time. Results: Our analysis demonstrated shifts in the ways that drugs have been ‘problematised’ in Australia's National Drug Strategies. Central to these evolving constructions was the increasing reliance on evidence as a way of ‘knowing the problem’. Furthermore, by analysing the stated aims of the policies, this case demonstrates how constructing drug problems in terms of ‘drug-related harms’ or alternately ‘drug use’ can affect what is perceived to be an appropriate set of policy responses. The gradual shift to constructing drug use as the policy problem altered the concept of harm minimisation and influenced the development of the concepts of demand- and harm-reduction over time. Conclusions: These findings have implications for how we understand policy development, and challenge us to critically consider how the construction and representation of drug problems serve to justify what are perceived to be acceptable responses to policy problems. These constructions are produced subtly, and become embedded slowly over decades of policy development. National drug policies should not merely be taken at face value; appreciation of the construction and representation of drug problems, and of how these ‘problematisations’ are produced, is essential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Almost all countries are parties to the international drug conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988. These strongly bind parties with respect to their domestic regulation of controlled substances, including requirements that possession, growing or use be a criminal offense and that any regulated market in the substances be limited to use only for medical or scientific purposes. Even where countries have argued they have “wiggle room”, reform within the bounds of the conventions has often resulted in “net-widening” which nullifies the intent of the reform. Among the options for effective reform, probably the most immediately viable is the route of denunciation and reaccession with reservations – the route which Bolivia has now taken in order to legalise a regulated domestic market in coca leaves for chewing. The paper considers the existing record of reservations (by more than 30 parties to each of the conventions). Also discussed are the options for response to the reservations by other parties, which vary between the treaties, and how pursuing the option of denunciation and reaccession with reservation might potentially play out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]