The International journal on drug policy
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
ReviewAlcohol under the radar: do we have policy options regarding unrecorded alcohol?
According to the World Health Organization, the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol should be reduced. This paper summarizes and evaluates the evidence base about policy and intervention options regarding unrecorded alcohol consumption. ⋯ Even though there are suggestions and theories on how to reduce unrecorded alcohol consumption, there is currently no clear evidence base on the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of available policy options. In addition, the differences in consumption levels, types of unrecorded alcohol, culture and tradition point to different measures in different parts of the world. Thus, the recommendation of a framework for moving forward in decision making currently seems premature. Instead, there is a need for systematic research.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Mar 2011
ReviewBZP-party pills: a review of research on benzylpiperazine as a recreational drug.
BZP-party pills are yet another 'designer drug' which mimics the stimulant qualities of amphetamines and MDMA/Ecstasy. As legal markets for the substance have developed in the last decade (especially amongst young people) so has public and governmental concern. ⋯ With increasing controls of BZP-party pills, and with the increasing numbers of 'legal highs' and new designer drugs on the market, we conclude that new legal alternatives will continue to surface to replace the drug in the future. Considering a harm reduction approach to drug taking, it is suggested that policy makers consider the creation of a legal holding category which restricts and regulates the market in legal highs whilst the social and health harms associated with each drug can be thoroughly investigated.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Sep 2010
ReviewQuality of life among opiate-dependent individuals: A review of the literature.
Quality of life (QoL) has become an important outcome indicator in health care evaluation. A clear distinction has to be made between QoL - focussing on individuals' subjective satisfaction with life as a whole and different life domains - and health-related QoL (HRQoL), which refers to the absence of pathology. As opiate dependence is the primary drug of most persons entering treatment and as the attention for QoL in addiction research is growing, this review of the literature intends to summarise and differentiate the available information on QoL in opiate-dependent individuals. ⋯ Still, the chronic nature of drug use problems creates the necessity to look at outcomes beyond the direct consequences of drug dependence and based on clients' needs. HRQoL, with its unilateral focus on the functional status of clients, does not give information on clients' own experiences about the goodness of life, and is as a consequence unsuitable for measuring QoL. Future research starting from a subjective, multidimensional approach of the concept of QoL is required.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Sep 2010
ReviewScaling up methadone maintenance treatment for opioid-dependent prisoners in Iran.
Research evidence indicates that prisoners in Iran are at risk of drug-related harm, including acquisition of blood-borne infections. In response, several prevention interventions including methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) have been introduced into prisons in Iran. ⋯ Experiences in Iran suggest that access to MMT would be helpful for reducing illicit drug injection in a prison setting and can be considered as a major intervention for preventing the transmission of blood-borne infections among prisoners.
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Int. J. Drug Policy · Oct 2008
ReviewThe use of pleasure in harm reduction: perspectives from the history of sexuality.
The absence of pleasure in harm reduction discourse is more and more frequently noted, but few have considered what, exactly, more attention to pleasure might do. What is the value of pleasure for harm reduction praxis? Central to such an inquiry is the question of how pleasure is grasped, conceptually and methodologically. In this paper I use Foucault's History of Sexuality to elaborate a perspective on the use of pleasure within harm reduction. ⋯ An appreciation of pleasure in terms of its social pragmatics helps to recognize practices of safety, care and risk that might otherwise go unregistered in the current punitive political environment. It provides a basis for conceiving practical measures that are in touch with given concerns and bodily practices, and thus have more chance of being taken up. It also enables a more dynamic and responsive approach to the practice of bodies and pleasures.