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Background and aims: The short‐lived regulated legal market for new psychoactive substances (NPS) in New Zealand marked a radical departure from the traditional prohibition‐based approach to drugs. This paper aimed to enhance understanding of this policy change using Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET). Methods: The analysis draws on 3 years of evaluative research, including interviews with key stakeholders, analysis of legislation and policy documents and academic and grey literature. Results: The reframing of the NPS issue from one of drug control to the need for stricter market regulation was achieved by the efforts of strategic policy entrepreneurs, including the legal high industry, drug law reform advocates, influential politicians and an independent legal advisory institution. This reframing was aided by the perceived saliency of the NPS problem and ineffectiveness of previous prohibition‐based responses. In the absence of any political opposition to the regulatory approach, the Psychoactive Substances Act rapidly progressed through the Parliament. However, once the interim legal market was established, portrayal of the issues shifted away from experts and lobbyists to critique from local communities, local government, animal rights activists and the media, who viewed the new regime as a source of social and health problems. The mobilization of criticism ('Schattschneider mobilization') drew on ideas of animal welfare and community safety. With a looming national election, the government responded by ending the interim market with the urgent passage of amendment legislation. Conclusions: Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) helps explain how New Zealand's Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA) policy first emerged on the political agenda and how the initial positive tone of expert support for reform shifted to a tide of popular criticism during the interim regime. However, with its emphasis on explaining agenda‐setting, PET does not account for the legislative design shortcomings of the PSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims: Street-involved youth are known to be at elevated risk of initiating injection drug use. However, the impact of so-called 'gateway' drugs, such as cannabis, on injection initiation is unknown. The objective of this study was to examine the association between cannabis use and initiation of injection drug use among a prospective cohort of street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada.Design and Methods: Data for this study were collected from the At-Risk Youth Study. From September 2005 to May 2015, participants aged 14-26 who reported illicit drug use were recruited into this open prospective cohort study. An extended Cox regression model with time-updated covariates was used to identify factors independently associated with injection initiation.Results: During the study period, 481 street-involved youth were included in this study. Of these, 228 (47.4%) reported at least daily cannabis use, and 103 (21.4%) initiated injection drug use. In a multivariable analysis, ≥daily cannabis use was associated with slower rates of injection initiation (adjusted relative hazard 0.66, 95% confidence interval 0.45-0.98; P = 0.038). Sub-analyses revealed that cannabis use was negatively associated with initiation of injection stimulants but not initiation of injection opioids.Discussion and Conclusions: Given the expansion of cannabis legalisation throughout North America, it is encouraging that cannabis use was associated with slower time to initiation of injection drug use in this cohort. This finding challenges the view of cannabis as a gateway substance that precipitates the progression to using harder and more addictive drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims: In July 2013, New Zealand passed the Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA), which established a legal regulated market for government-approved products containing new psychoactive substances (NPS). One of the aims of the PSA was to separate the market for approved NPS products from unapproved products and illegal drugs. The aim of this study was to explore perceived health risks and social acceptability of government-approved NPS compared to unapproved NPS and other drugs.Design and Methods: About 834 police arrestees were surveyed about the health risks and social acceptability of regularly using nine drug types, including approved and unapproved synthetic cannabinoids (SC) and 'party pills' (PP) under the interim PSA regime. Statistical analyses included fitted analysis of variance and logistic ordinal regression models.Results: Approved SC were considered riskier to health than (natural) cannabis, alcohol, approved and unapproved PP, tobacco and ecstasy, but safer than unapproved SC and methamphetamine. Younger participants (16-29 years) were more likely than older participants (30+ years) to give approved SC a high health-risk score. Approved SC were considered less socially acceptable than alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, but more socially acceptable than methamphetamine, unapproved SC and unapproved PP. Frequent SC users were more likely to rate the social acceptability of approved legal SC higher than other drug users. Approved PP received more positive health and social acceptability scores than approved SC.Discussion and Conclusions: The PSA was partially successful at separating approved NPS from other drugs. High health-risk and low social acceptability scores for approved SC may reflect the absence of product testing during the interim PSA market. [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]

This section offers news briefs on relating to addiction as of June 2016. It announces the implementation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules 2014 in India. It reports the prescription drug monitoring to be introduced in Victoria to prevent overdoses, as well as the ruling by the Texas Supreme Court upholding a state Supreme Court decision to impose a special tax on cigarette makers.

ABSTRACT Aims The rapid emergence of myriad substances openly marketed as 'legal highs' is straining traditional drug control systems which require time and basic scientific data on harms to react, presenting governments with the dilemma of no response or a disproportionate response. Some countries have side-stepped this using novel policy and legislative approaches. Should other countries consider them? Methods We review the different laws invoked to stop the open sale of new psychoactive substances, focusing on the European Union (EU). Results Some countries have designed new catch-all control systems, or faster systems to classify substances as drugs. Others have enforced consumer safety or medicines legislation to stop the open sale of these products. The latter originate from harmonization of the internal market of the EU. Rigorous, objective evaluation is required, but first results suggest that these have been effective, while avoiding criminalization of users. Conclusions Every EU country should have existing laws for protecting public health that can be applied swiftly yet proportionately to new drugs appearing on the open market with minimum political involvement. It seems the key is the speed, not the weight, of response. Given support for their enforcement mechanisms, these systems might be as effective and more efficient than the old ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on an article by Hughes & Winstock which deals with criminalization while dealing with problems posed by psychoactive drugs. He states that Hughes & Winstock have correctly pointed out that the question is how to control the market without excessive use of penal sanctions, especially if they are directed against users. The author opines that the idea to use medicine or consumer protection laws rather than drug control laws should make it possible to solve the real problem.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Controlling new drugs under marketing regulations," by Hughes and Winstock in the November 2011 issue.

A response is presented by the authors of the article "Controlling new drugs under marketing regulations," in the November 2011 issue.