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In accordance with modern understandings of criminal law science and solutions present in the comparative criminal legislation, the Criminal Code of the Republic of Serbia pays special attention to security measures as special and above all specific criminal sanctions. They are one of the four types of criminal sanctions provided for in this legal text. Among the eleven security measures, four are of a medical nature and they differ in a number of features, not only in relation to other criminal sanctions, but also other security measures. One of the medical safety measures is the obligatory treatment of alcoholics. There are a number of specifics of this security measure, and one of them is its manner of execution. Given this, the subject of analysis in the paper are two aspects of the safety measure of compulsory treatment of alcoholics. These are: normative and practical. The justification of this approach in the analysis of the subject matter is contained in the fact that only adequately performed and this security measure is in the function of its standardization - the function of eliminating conditions or conditions that may affect the perpetrator in the future does not commit crimes due to alcohol dependence. to the expression of criminal acts of violence that are increasingly present in the total mass of crime.

The prevalence of malocclusion among school going children in KwaZulu-Natal remains poorly defined despite the known physiological and psychological impact of this dental occurrence. The aim and objectives of this study was to determine the prevalence of malocclusion and possible treatment need in 13-15 year-old school going children in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional epidemiological study conducted on 270 school-going children aged 13 to 15 years, in the Umlazi and Pinetown school districts. A two-staged clustered and systematic random sampling technique was used to draw the study sample. Data was collected through an intraoral examination of occlusal status and the malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need was assessed through use of the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). Questionnaires were developed to collect information on the learners’ health status and socio demographic profile. The results indicated that 144 (53.3%) of the 270 learners had DAI scores 36 (very severe or handicapping malocclusion requiring mandatory orthodontic treatment). There was an increase in the proportion of malocclusion in older children. The age group of 15 years old had a mean and standard deviation of 30.02+8.9 when compared to the age group 13 years old (27.76+12.17). The association between gender distribution and severity of malocclusion was found to be statistically significant (p=0.01). The present study primarily indicated a significant prevalence of malocclusion in the identified children. Although 53.3% of children did not require treatment, 37.1% presented with severe and handicapping malocclusion. This suggests a definite and mandatory treatment need for this group of children. The study could provide useful baseline epidemiological data that could inform oral health planning on the prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need for 13-15 year-old school going children in the identified geographical area.

In present study, COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus disease belonging to the family Corona viridae. The disease is thought to originate from bats and was spread to people through an unknown medium in Wuhan, China. Ideally, the condition is spread by mouthful of air or close interaction with infected droplets that have an incubation period between two and fourteen days. Today, there are thousands of infections and deaths that have been caused by the disease. Moreover, the symptoms of the disease include fever, cough, sneezing, sore throat, difficulty breathing, and tiredness. Additionally, the diagnosis of the disease starts by gathering samples of the upper and lower respiratory tracts of the infected person. This paper provides in-depth information on COVID-19 as it discusses the disease epidemiology, transmission, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

In recent years, the relationship of hyperuricemia and gout with a high risk of cardiovascular disease has been widely discussed. Therefore, it is important to systematically examine patients in order to diagnose comorbidities, among which cardiovascular disease and its complications occupy a leading place and consider mandatory treatment of patients with hyperuricemia and gout with high cardiovascular risk with lowering drugs, which fully reflects the provisions of the latest European recommendations for the management and treatment of patients with gout.Гиперурикемия, подагра и высокий кардиоваскулярный риск - как ими управлять в клинической практике В последние годы широко обсуждается связь гиперурикемии и подагры с высоким риском кардиоваскулярных болезней. Поэтому важно систематически обследовать пациентов с целью диагностики сопутствующих заболеваний, среди которых сердечно - сосудистая патология и ее осложнения занимают ведущее место, и считать обязательным лечение пациентов с гиперурикемией и подагрой с высоким кардиоваскулярным риском уратснижающими препаратами, что полностью отражает положения последних европейских рекомендаций по ведению и лечению пациентов с гиперурикемией и подагрой.

Tibbi mudahaleler niteligi bakimindan kisilik hakkina mudahale olusturmaktadir ve bu nedenle kisilik hakkini ihlal etmemesi icin oncelikle ve kural olarak ilgilinin onaminin alinmis olmasi gereklidir. Tibbi mudahalede biyoloji ve tibbin elde ettigi nitelikli bilginin kullanimi sebebiyle onamin hukuka uygunlugu belirli ozel kosullari gerekli kilmaktadir, bu kosullardan biri de onamin mesru bir amaca yonelik olarak verilmis olmasidir. Ote yandan biyoloji ve tibba iliskin ozel, nitelikli bilgi toplumsal duzen acisindan iktidar sahiplerine tehlikeli bir arac sunmaktadir. Onam yerine gecen hukuka uygunluk sebepleri anayasal ilkeler dogrultusunda yasallik, olcululuk gibi kriterlere uygun olarak somutlastirilarak kisilerin bedenleri uzerinde onam alinmaksizin mudahalede bulunulabilmektedir. Soz konusu hukuka uygunluk sebepleri, tibbi mudahaleler soz konusu oldugunda ustun yarar kavrami altinda ozellestirilebilmektedir. Onam alinmadan gerceklestirilecek mudahale ilgilinin kendi yararina veya ucuncu bir kisi yararina olabildigi gibi genel olarak kamunun yararina da olabilir. Ne var ki gercekte neyin hastalik oldugu veya hangi mudahalenin kime gore nasil bir yarar saglayacagi salt bilimsel degil, ayni zamanda politik bir meseledir. Ilgilinin kendisiyle veya yasal temsilcisiyle catisma icine dusulerek girisilen tibbi mudahalelerin mesrulugunun sinirlari elestirel bir yaklasimla degerlendirilmistir.

Background In 2016, following a flurry of government inquiries and taskforces including calls for mandatory treatment regimes, the Australian community nominated methamphetamine as the drug most likely to be associated as a problem substance. Mandatory treatment for alcohol and other drug problems in Australia consists of broadly two mechanisms compelling a person into treatment: involuntary treatment or civil commitment regimes; and coercive treatment regimes, usually associated with the criminal justice system. This paper aims to provide a review of the evidence for mandatory treatment regimes for people who use methamphetamines. Methods Using a narrative review methodology, a comprehensive literature and citation search was conducted. Five hundred two search results were obtained resulting in 41 papers that had cited works of interest. Results Small, but robust results were found with coercive treatment programs in the criminal justice system. The evidence of these programs specifically with methamphetamine use disorders is even less promising. Systematic reviews of mandatory drug treatment regimes have consistently demonstrated limited, if any, benefit for civil commitment programs. Despite the growing popular enthusiasm for mandatory drug treatment programs, significant clinical and ethical challenges arise including determining decision making capacity in people with substance use disorders, the impact of self determination and motivation in drug treatment, current treatment effectiveness, cost effectiveness and unintended treatment harms associated with mandatory programs. Conclusion The challenge for legislators, service providers and clinicians when considering mandatory treatment for methamphetamines is to proportionately balance the issue of human rights with effectiveness, safety, range and accessibility of both existing and novel mandatory treatment approaches.

Objectives: Malocclusion was and remains one of the most common problems which affects the psyche and social status of the individual, so the estimation of the malocclusion severity and needs a percentage of orthodontic treatment of Iraqi patients is the aim of this study. Method: A randomly selected 150 pairs of study models (48 male and 102 female) were involved in this study for patients attending an orthodontic clinic at College of Dentistry/ University of Baghdad seeking for treatment. The DAI scores were collected according to WHO guidelines directly from the study model with a digital caliper, score was calculated using the regression equation of 10 occlusal traits. The dental casts were classified into four groups to determine the treatment needs. SPSS software version 25 was used to analyze the results. Results: 8.7% of orthodontic treated patients were with normal or mild malocclusion (DAI?25) and did not need treatment, while 56% of them were handicapped and needed mandatory treatment. In between them, patients with definite and severe malocclusion were 18.7% and 16.6% respectively. Molar deviation (72.6%) represents a high prevalence rate among occlusal traits, while negative overjet (7.3%) is the least one. Conclusions: Not all patients who are treated in an orthodontic clinic are really in need, and it must be the implementation of treatment need index to determine the treatment priority for patients.

Victim-offender contact has been studied extensively in prisons, but research on contact between victims and mentally disordered offenders in forensic mental health settings is lacking. Therefore, an exploratory study was conducted on contact between victims and offenders in four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. These offenders have committed serious (sexually) violent offenses, for which they could not be held fully responsible due to severe psychopathology. During the mandatory treatment, it is possible for offenders and their victims to engage in contact with each other if both parties agree to this. To explore the conditions under which this contact is suitable, we interviewed 35 social workers about their experiences in 57 cases from four Dutch forensic psychiatric hospitals. Findings demonstrated that, according to the social workers, no type of offense or psychopathology were obvious exclusion criteria for victim-offender contact. Social workers described offenders' problem awareness, stable psychiatric condition, and ability to keep to agreements as important factors that enable victim-offender contact. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

International audience; BACKGROUND: Findings from efficacy trials of group psychoeducation (PE) for bipolar disorders (BD) led to its inclusion in evidence-based guidelines as a first-line mandatory treatment. However, pragmatic trials and observational studies are needed to determine its real-world effectiveness, impact on outcomes deemed important to patients and to clarify potential mediators of any benefits. METHODS: Individuals with BD were offered the opportunity to participate in 20h of PE and asked to complete pre- and post-intervention ratings of symptoms, knowledge about BD, medication adherence, and illness perception. A priori, two key patient outcomes were identified (social functioning and self-esteem); sample attrition due to dropout or relapse was recorded. RESULTS: Of 156 individuals who completed the pre-PE assessments, 103 completed the program and post-PE assessments. Only 4 of 53 dropouts were associated with BD relapse. Post-intervention, the PE completers demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in social functioning (p = 0.003, Effect Size (ES) = 0.26) and a trend towards improved self-esteem (ES = 0.14). Whilst there were significant changes in medication adherence (p = 0.002, ES = 0.28), knowledge of BD (p < 0.001, ES = 1.20), and illness perception (p < 0.001, ES = -0.37), mediational analysis demonstrated that only change in illness perception was associated to change in functioning (p=0.03) with no contribution from changes in knowledge of BD or medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS: In real-world settings, over 60% individuals completed 10-session course of PE. After controlling for demography and baseline clinical state, change in illness perception, rather than change in knowledge or medication adherence, emerged as a potential mediator of some benefits of PE.

Aim: To determine the need for orthodontic treatment in Ecuadorian adolescents aged 13 to 18 years in Cojitambo, 2017. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study was made including 140 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years, 50% males. For determining the prevalence of malocclusion, a visual clinical examination was performed to obtain the data required using the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). Results: 37.14% of the adolescents presented a minor malocclusion (without the need for treatment), 20% a definitive malocclusion (need for elective treatment), 30% a severe malocclusion (highly desirable treatment) and 12.86% a very severe malocclusion (mandatory treatment). No statistically significant differences were found by sex (p =0.53) or by age (p =0.05). Conclusion: There is a higher prevalence of adolescents who had a normal occlusion without the need of orthodontic treatment and the ones with the lowest prevalence were adolescents with very severe malocclusion that needed compulsory treatment, without differences by sex or age.

Sarcoidosis is a disease characterized by granulomatous inflammation potentially affecting multiple organ systems. Although it can affect any organ, lungs, lymph nodes, skin and eyes are most commonly involved. Renal sarcoidosis, although rare, remains a challenging clinical issue requiring mandatory treatment, given the risk of developing renal failure. Taking into consideration the rarity of the disease, data regarding its diagnosis and treatment are scarce. This case series describes seven cases of sarcoidosis with predominantly renal manifestations, and moreover provides a review of the current literature on renal sarcoidosis.

International audience; Flavescence dorée is a serious and incurable vine disease transmitted by an insect vector. Focusing on its spatial diffusion and on its control with pesticides, this paper investigates the private strategies of wine producers and their socially optimal counterparts. The socially optimal regulation has to address two externalities regarding private treatment decisions: (a) the insufficient consideration of collective benefits from controlling the vector populations; (b) the failure to take into account environmental damage related to pesticide application. The probability of infection is estimated on French data from a spatial econometric specification. Three alternative assumptions are examined regarding producers' anticipation of the impact of their own treatment: naive, myopic, or farseeing, in increasing order of sophistication. Because of the two dimensions of externalities, no type of anticipation leads to a systematically preferable situation and optimal policy intervention requires a tax for environmental externalities and a subvention for protection externalities. Recommendations for Resource Managers: Current policy of compulsory treatment is justified by the positive protection externalities. This policy is particularly appropriated if producers' anticipations are naive or myopic. Taking into account negative externalities decreases the case for compulsory treatment. With two externalities, sophisticated anticipations are not necessary closer to the optimum.; La flavescence dorée est une maladie de la vigne grave et incurable transmise par un insecte vecteur. En se concentrant sur sa diffusion spatiale et sur sa lutte avec des pesticides, cet article examine les stratégies privées des producteurs de vin et leurs homologues socialement optimales. La réglementation socialement optimale doit tenir compte de deux externalités concernant les décisions de traitement privé : (a) la prise en compte insuffisante des bénéfices collectifs de la lutte contre les populations de vecteurs ; (b) la non prise en compte des dommages environnementaux liés à l'application de pesticides. La probabilité d'infection est estimée sur des données françaises à partir d'une spécification économétrique spatiale. Trois hypothèses alternatives sont examinées concernant l'anticipation par les producteurs de l'impact de leur propre traitement : naïve, myope ou prévoyante, par ordre croissant de sophistication. En raison des deux dimensions des externalités, aucun type d'anticipation ne conduit à une situation systématiquement préférable et une intervention politique optimale nécessite une taxe pour les externalités environnementales et une subvention pour les externalités de protection. Recommandations à l'intention des gestionnaires de ressources : La politique actuelle de traitement obligatoire est justifiée par les externalités de protection positives. Cette politique est particulièrement appropriée si les anticipations des producteurs sont naïves ou myopes. La prise en compte des externalités négatives diminue les arguments en faveur du traitement obligatoire. Avec deux externalités, des anticipations sophistiquées ne sont pas nécessaires et se rapprochent de l'optimum.

В научном обзоре с целью ознакомления специалистов с психофизиологическими подходами с использованием полиграфа к диагностике парафильных расстройств, оценке общественной опасности и мониторингу правонарушителей, совершивших преступления против половой неприкосновенности, кратко освещаются исторические аспекты применения полиграфических проверок в криминалистической и сексологической практике, подробно описываются технологии, используемые в США, Великобритании и России. Обосновывается необходимость применения полиграфа в рамках лечения сексуальных преступников и их супервизии после освобождения. Излагаются те проблемы, в том числе законодательные, с которыми сталкиваются специалисты-полиграфологи., This scientific review pursues the objective of familiarizing specialists with the psychophysiological approaches to polygraph use in diagnosing paraphilic disorders, assessing social dangerousness, and monitoring sex offenders. We briefly elucidate the historical aspects of using polygraph testing in the practice of criminalistics and sexology, submitting a detailed description of techniques used in the US, Great Britain, and Russia. We provide substantiation for the necessity of using the polygraph within the framework of sex offender therapy and supervision following their release. We deliberate on the challenges faced by the polygraph specialists, including the legislative ones.

Many states are turning to civil commitment for substance use disorders as a potential solution to address rising rates of overdose deaths. Civil commitment allows family members or others to seek court-ordered involuntary treatment for a substance-abusing person. In contrast to mandatory treatment ordered by drug courts, civil commitment does not require involvement with the criminal justice system. Although these laws are understandably appealing, statutes and their implementation are highly variable, ethical concerns about deprivation of liberty continue to be raised, and outcome data are limited and often not generalizable. Above all, more studies are needed to determine effectiveness.

Compression therapy is a mandatory treatment of leg ulcers whether the goal is cure (stage C6 in the international classification for chronic venous disease) or prevention of recurrence (stage C5). Different indications for compression therapy were proposed by the French Superior Health Authority (HAS) in 2010, but new studies have modified attitudes since that time. Considering the very large number of options available, the many co-morbid conditions observed in these patients, as well as patient age and available assistance, it is important to adapt to the variable clinical and social situations encountered. One must keep in mind that a well-controlled treatment should improve trophic disorders and patient comfort. A poorly-adapted treatment with little or even deleterious effect will be abandoned by the patient.

The paper discusses the results of studies conducted in international clinics and the authors’ data on approaches to treating borderline ovarian tumors. It analyzes and comparatively assesses groups of patients who have received chemotherapy and those who have not. The authors mainly state the view that chemotherapy for borderline ovarian tumors affects their prognosis in no way, but makes it even worse in a number of investigations. They also give the data of their observations, which show that attitudes towards chemotherapy for borderline ovarian tumors change in different decades. If in the 1980s chemotherapy was a mandatory treatment stage, it is nowadays prescribed only in exceptional cases in the author’s clinic. Different predictors, such as microinvasion, the micropapillary pattern of borderline tumors, invasive implants, their impact on the probability of recurrences and survival are being investigated. Whether chemotherapy against unfavorable factors, such as invasive implants, may be used is considered. There is evidence that conservative and ultraconservative surgeries for borderline ovarian tumors may be performed. Ultraconservative operations that can spare ovarian tissue as much as possible demonstrate the best pregnancy and labor outcomes as compared with conservative surgical approaches. Thus, this paper considers whether it is expedient to use chemotherapy in patients with borderline ovarian tumors. It also discusses scientists’ views and the authors’ data on neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatments, predictors in borderline ovarian tumors, and survival rates in different international clinics.

© 2014 The Author. This paper reports on an ethnographic study conducted in two eating disorders treatment settings in New South Wales, Australia. The study set out to make a social work contribution to the debate on the ethics of involuntary treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN) drawing on the authors' practice experience. An empirical ethics approach was taken to support a reflective process of theorising from practice focused on how the treatment decision-making context is relevant for ethics. Three key issues of relevance for social work and the ethics debate were revealed: (i) the operation of power, knowledge and values affirms particular knowledge during treatment decision making that may justify the use of paternalism; (ii) particular knowledge and values are privileged in the treatment environment and associated with 'good practice' and 'professionalism'. This may or may not promote the core social work values of 'empowerment', 'participation' and 'self-determination'; (iii) the operation of power, knowledge and values has implications for the patient-professional relationship that may be counterproductive to recovery from AN.

Death rates from sepsis in New York state fell more quickly than in other states after a state wide mandatory treatment protocol was introduced, a study has shown. The retrospective study examined more than a million admissions to hospital of people with sepsis to evaluate the effect of New York state’s regulations. “Rarely in the US do we force hospitals to implement specific clinical protocols,” said the lead author, Jeremy Kahn, from the University of Pittsburgh. “For the first time, state officials are enshrining in regulations that hospitals must follow certain evidence based protocols when it comes to sepsis. …

Minors represent a special category of offenders, due to the age at the time of commission of a misdemeanor. Hence, the law prescribes special sanctions for them. A special attention has been given to measures that are of medical character. However, the Law on Misdemeanors has contradictory provisions in terms of sanctions for minors by differentiating, in certain provisions, between younger and older minors. In the first part, this paper deals in general with offenders of misdemeanors that are minors, while sanctions are dealt with in the second part of the paper. Central part of the paper deals with the issues surrounding protective measure 'Mandatory treatment of alcohol and psychoactive substance addicts', by pointing to some irrational provisions of the Law. In relations to that issue, the paper discuss whether in certain situations the law is more harsh on minors that commit misdemeanor offences or minors that commit criminal offences, having in mind prescribed sanctions.

Intraoperative nasal cerebrospinal fluid leak are common during the transnasal transsphenoidal interven tions. In certain cases, it is a feature of these interventions. However, its amplification needs a mandatory treatment. In this article, we describe the technique for closure dural defects that have developed during the transnasal removal of hormone active pituitary adenomas, using thrombin and fibrinogen containing colla genic sponge.

The use of legally coerced treatment for substance‐using offenders is now widespread internationally. To justify the continued use of coerced treatment, policy‐makers, practitioners, and researcher...

The present study is aimed at exploring the characteristics of Chinese relapsed drug users associated with their treatment experience in police mandatory treatment centers. The exploration is based on a comparison of Chinese drug users who received the police mandatory treatment for multiple times (the “relapse” group) with those who had the treatment for the first time (the “first-time” group). The comparative analysis is conducted using data collected from a 2009 survey of 177 drug users in several police mandatory treatment centers in a large city of China. The data indicate that both the “relapse” and the “first-time” groups have similar demographic characteristics except age. However, respondents in the “relapse” group were more likely to be heroin users, have a high level of drug dependence, have prior treatment, experience a high level of mental disorder, and have drug-use friends than those in the “first-time” group. The findings imply that relapse among Chinese drug users are likely to have multiple factors which is comparable to that discovered in Western research.

This article is intended to show the value, limitations, and major concerns in providing psychotherapy and counseling for college and university students. The challenges of the college years, the evolution of campus services, cultural changes affecting postsecondary education, and types of services are noted. Critical issues affecting college mental-health care are discussed, with an emphasis on ethics, effectiveness, and legal issues with suicidal and homicidal threats to life, mandatory treatment, and illicit and prescribed psychotropic drug use.

O texto apresenta uma discussão crítica acerca das práticas psicológicas, destacando o segredo na psicoterapia. A autora resgata a ideia do segredo como algo que separa, segrega o que é público do que é privado, o que pode e o que não pode ser mostrado, envolvendo não só questões culturais mas, sobretudo, questões políticas. A prática clínica pode ser um dispositivo que "trata o segredo pelo segredo", construindo uma noção de interioridade que fundamenta modelos imperativos de tratamento. Posteriormente, a autora desloca essa discussão para o domínio das pesquisas em ciências humanas revendo a questão da imposição do anonimato que, para ela, provoca o "efeito sem nome" e instaura uma relação de assimetria na pesquisa, provocando uma distribuição equivocada de poder. The text presents a critical discussion about psychological practices, focusing on the secret in the psychotherapy. The author rescues the idea of secret as something that separates, that sets apart what's public and what is private, what can or cannot be showed, including not only cultural subjects, but also, especially, political subjects. The clinical practice can be a device which "treats the secret by itself", building a sense of inferiority which establishes mandatory treatment models. Then, the author displaces this discussion to the domain of Human science research, checking the imposition of anonymity that, for her, causes the "unnamed effect" and establises an asymmetry relation on the research, promoting a mistaken distribution of power.

В действащото законодателство са предвидени законодателни механизми, чрез които се въздейства върху лица, страдащи от определени психични заболявания. Това са института на принудителните медицински мерки и задължителното лечение. Тези законови способи обаче имат различно предназначение и функции. С оглед на това, тяхното разграничаване има важно практическо и теоретично значение.

Record keeping is integral to home treatment for hemophilia. Identified problems with paper diaries include suboptimal compliance and questionable data validity and quality. The effects of an electronic data recording system, Advoy, on data quality, patient adherence, and satisfaction were examined. An exploratory approach was used to examine the sequential use of paper diaries and e-diaries by 38 patients. Data were obtained from paper records for the 6 months preceding the introduction of the electronic record and from the first 6 months of use of Advoy. Completion of mandatory and additional treatment details was also compared. More mandatory information (27.57%) was recorded with the e-diary. As well, the amount of completed additional fields nearly doubled (19.9%-36.5%). Patients tended to complete a greater variety of additional fields with the e-diary than with paper records. Finally, a higher percentage of survey respondents (29.4%) indicated that they were "very satisfied" with Advoy compared with paper records (6.7%). Most survey respondents (94.4%) had a previous experience with electronic programs. The use of the e-diary significantly improved patient adherence in recording mandatory treatment information; the increase in additional data provided by the patients was also found to be an added benefit of this technology.

Health treatments usually need a consenting patient but in cases as infective diseases, industrial accidents or mental diseases physicians can apply to MT (Mandatory Treatment). In Italy the first laws concerning obligatory treatment of psychiatric diseases date back to the beginning of 20th century and have been recently modified to have more guarantees of patient’s life and health. In order to allow a MT we need 3 conditions: an emergency situation caused by a health diseases, a non-consenting patient, impossibility to begin an adequate therapy outside hospitals. Any physician can “suggest” a MT to his patient describing briefly the disease and his clinical conditions. The “proposal” must be sent to the Mayor and has to be approved by another doctor working in the ASL (local public health unit). Then the Mayor has 48 hours to send everything to a judge who will validate or not the MT. Health treatment is carried out by Police. MT cannot last longer than 7 days.

Although imaging studies in and of themselves have significant contributions to the study of human behavior, imaging in drug abuse has a much broader agenda. Drugs of abuse bind to molecules in specific parts of the brain in order to produce their effects. Positron emission tomography (PET) provides a unique opportunity to track this process, capturing the kinetics with which an abused compound is transported to its site of action. The specific examples discussed here were chosen to illustrate how PET can be used to map the regional distribution and kinetics of compounds that may or may not have abuse liability. We also discussed some morphological and functional changes associated with drug abuse and different stages of recovery following abstinence. PET measurements of functional changes in the brain have also led to the development of several treatment strategies, one of which is discussed in detail here. Information such as this becomes more than a matter of academic interest. Such knowledge can provide the bases for anticipating which compounds may be abused and which may not. It can also be used to identify biological markers or changes in brain function that are associated with progression from drug use to drug abuse and also to stage the recovery process. This new knowledge can guide legislative initiatives on the optimal duration of mandatory treatment stays, promoting long-lasting abstinence and greatly reducing the societal burden of drug abuse. Imaging can also give some insights into potential pharmacotherapeutic targets to manage the reinforcing effects of addictive compounds, as well as into protective strategies to minimize their toxic consequences.