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Starting points : drugs, values and drug policy -- "Afflictions of inequality?" : the social distribution of drug use, dependence and related harms -- Beyond the tripartite framework : the subterranean structuration of the drug- -- Crime link -- Telling policy stories : governmental use of evidence and policy on drugs and crime -- The ideology of exclusion : cases in English drug policy -- The effects of drug policy -- International perspectives : does drug policy matter? -- Towards progressive decriminalisation.

The Occupied Territories of Palestine (OtP) consists of the non-contiguous West Bank including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Political and economic tensions and its dense populations compounds the impact of drug abuse and addiction in the home. A qualitative study using four focus groups (n=42) was conducted in West Bank and Gaza Strip explored the experiences of professionals working with Palestinian families and children affected by substance use and addiction in the home. Data were analysed using thematic analysis (TA), and four themes emerged. These were 'The rising and shifting problem of drug use in Palestine'; 'Psychosocial causal factors of drug use in Palestine'; 'The consequences for children and families living with drug use'; and 'Potential solutions to the problem are complex and multi-faceted.' The study paints a concerning picture of how drug abuse impacts on Palestinian families subjected to multiple pressures, stigmas, risks and harms relating to their situation.

This article is on alcohol and drug abuse as predictors of risk taking behaviour among secondary school students in Kajiado North Sub-County. The area has numerous drug and alcohol ecological factors that could influence the behaviour of adolescents. Since the area is home to a lot of the working population of the adjacent Nairobi City County, people from various backgrounds have immigrated there. As such, the societal values held by the inhabitants of the area are not easy to define. In this context, adolescents are prone to indulge in drug and alcohol abuse that could impact their lives negatively. This is particulars o since it alcohol and drug abuse encourages unprotected sex among students and by extension abortion, gang behaviour as students look for money to sustain the risky behaviours among others. The arguments of this article are guided by the ecological Systems Theory. Information is obtained from a descriptive survey of 267 students and 15 principals that was I undertook in 2017. The sample was obtained using stratified proportionate sampling and total population sampling techniques in the 15 public secondary schools in Kajiado North Sub-County. Data from students was collected using questionnaires while the principals were interviewed. The findings show that alcohol and drug abuse risk-taking behaviour in adolescents are higher in the wake of poor family stability, negative peer influence, breakdown of societal values and weak government measures. As such, it is recommended that it is important to ensure that cohesiveness in the families is encouraged so as to reduce alcohol and drug abuse behaviours among students. Teachers should also be at the forefront for checking alcohol and drug abuse in schools so as to protect the spread of risky taking behaviours among peers. Members of the society who sell alcohol to students should be identified and punished as per the existing law. The government should strengthen its programs (in schools and in the mass media) to guide students on the dangers associated with alcohol and drug abuse among students. This article is organized into Introduction, Literature Review and discussions.

This article is on alcohol and drug abuse as predictors of risk taking behaviour among secondary school students in Kajiado North Sub-County. The area has numerous drug and alcohol ecological factors that could influence the behaviour of adolescents. Since the area is home to a lot of the working population of the adjacent Nairobi City County, people from various backgrounds have immigrated there. As such, the societal values held by the inhabitants of the area are not easy to define. In this context, adolescents are prone to indulge in drug and alcohol abuse that could impact their lives negatively. This is particulars o since it alcohol and drug abuse encourages unprotected sex among students and by extension abortion, gang behaviour as students look for money to sustain the risky behaviours among others. The arguments of this article are guided by the ecological Systems Theory. Information is obtained from a descriptive survey of 267 students and 15 principals that was I undertook in 2017. The sample was obtained using stratified proportionate sampling and total population sampling techniques in the 15 public secondary schools in Kajiado North Sub-County. Data from students was collected using questionnaires while the principals were interviewed. The findings show that alcohol and drug abuse risk-taking behaviour in adolescents are higher in the wake of poor family stability, negative peer influence, breakdown of societal values and weak government measures. As such, it is recommended that it is important to ensure that cohesiveness in the families is encouraged so as to reduce alcohol and drug abuse behaviours among students. Teachers should also be at the forefront for checking alcohol and drug abuse in schools so as to protect the spread of risky taking behaviours among peers. Members of the society who sell alcohol to students should be identified and punished as per the existing law. The government should strengthen its programs (in schools and in the mass media) to guide students on the dangers ...

AbstractWe seek to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit transmission of drug abuse (DA) from high-risk parents to their children. In 44,250 offspring of these parents, ascertained from a Swedish national sample for having a mother and/or father with DA, we explored, using Cox models, how the prevalence of DA was predicted by potentially malleable risk factors in these high-risk parents, their spouses and the rearing environment they provided. Analyses of offspring of discordant high-risk siblings and offspring of discordant sibling-in-laws and step-parents aided causal inference. Risk for DA in the children was associated with high-risk and married-in parental externalizing psychopathology, a range of other features of these parents (e.g., low education and receipt of welfare), and aspects of the rearing environment (e.g., neighborhood deprivation and number of nearby drug dealers). Offspring of discordant high-risk siblings, siblings-in-laws and step-parents suggested that nearly all these associations were partly causal. A multivariate analysis utilizing offspring of discordant high-risk siblings identified the six most significant potentially malleable risk factors for offspring DA: (1) criminal behavior (CB) in married-in parent, (2) community peer deviance, (3) broken family, (4) DA in high-risk parent, (5) CB in high-risk parent and (6) number of family moves. Children in the lowest decile of risk had a 50% reduction in their DA prevalence, similar to that seen in the general population. We conclude that transmission of DA from high-risk parents to children partly results from a range of potentially malleable risk factors that could serve as foci for intervention.

The responsible conduct of HIV/drug abuse prevention research requires investigators with both the knowledge of and ability to generate empirical data that can enhance global ethical practices and policies. This article describes a multidisciplinary program offering early-career professionals a 2-year intensive summer curriculum along with funding to conduct a mentored research study on a wide variety of HIV/drug abuse research ethics topics. Now in its fifth year, the program has admitted 29 trainees who have to date demonstrated increased knowledge of research ethics, produced 17 peer-reviewed publications, 46 professional presentations, and submitted or been awarded five related federal grants. The institute also hosts a global information platform providing general and HIV/drug abuse relevant research ethics educational and research resources that have had more than 38,800 unique visitors from more than 150 countries.

"Provides basic consumer health information about the abuse of illegal drugs and misuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications, along with facts about causes and consequences of drug abuse, prevention, treatment, and recovery. Includes index, glossary of related terms and directory of resources"--

A notable feature of Australian drug policy is the limited public and professional attention given to the financial costs of drug abuse and to the levels and patterns of government expenditures incurred in preventing and responding to this. Since 1991, Collins and Lapsley have published scholarly reports documenting the social costs of drug abuse in Australia and their reports also contain estimates of governments' drug budgets: revenue and expenditures. They show that, in 2004-2005, Australian governments expended at least $5288 million on drug abuse, with 50% of the expenditure directed to preventing and dealing with alcohol-related problems, 45% to illicit drugs and just 5% to tobacco. Some 60% of the expenditure was directed at drug crime and 37% at health interventions. This pattern of resource allocation does not adequately reflect an evidence-informed policy orientation in that it largely fails to focus on the drug types that are the sources of the most harm (tobacco and alcohol rather than illicit drugs), and the sectors for which we have the strongest evidence of the cost-effectiveness of the available interventions (treatment and harm reduction rather than legislation and law enforcement). The 2010-2014 phase of Australia's National Drug Strategy should include incremental changes to the resource allocation mix, and not simply maintain the historical resource allocation formulae.

Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1 Drug Use and Abuse: Definitions and the Social Context of Reality- Tobacco -- Chapter 2 Theoretical Considerations and Risk Factors -- Chapter 3 Heroin: The "King" of Illegal Drugs -- Chapter 4 Alcohol and the Alcoholic -- Chapter 5 Cocaine and Crack -- Chapter 6 Marijuana: Is It Really a War of Values and Special Interests? -- Chapter 7 Management: Elements of Drug Treatment Services Organization and Development -- Epilogue: The Final Straw- A Response to the War against Drugs -- Index.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (2008) expand substance use disorder (SUD) care services in the USA into general medical settings. Care offered in these settings will engage substance-using patients in an integrated and patient-centered environment that addresses physical and mental health comorbidities and follows a chronic care model. This expansion of SUD services presents a great need for evidence-based practices useful in general medical settings, and reveals several research gaps to be addressed. The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network of the National Institute on Drug Abuse can serve an important role in this endeavor. High-priority research gaps are highlighted in this commentary. A discussion follows on how the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network can transform to address changing patterns in SUD care to efficiently generate evidence to guide SUD treatment practice within the context of recent US health care legislation.