Suchergebnisse

In the early 1900s, cannabis was used widely as a medicinal drug. However, through the fi rst half of the twentieth century, marijuana became negatively associated with Mexican-origin populations in the United States. Anglo American views of race and class became central to the creation of legislation prohibiting marijuana. This article provides a sociohistorical analysis of the 1910–1930s period, when the cannabis prohibition movement was at its peak. An intersectional theory of marijuana prohibition is used to deconstruct the dominant theories that have been offered. Marijuana prohibition cannot be explained by any single factor, but stems from the intersection of multiple factors. Background factors include the historical use of marijuana in Mexico, immigration to the United States, racism, and the pharma–medical industrial complex. Foreground factors include cultural stereotyping and mass media, governmental bureaucratic entrepreneurship, and moral crusade movements. The intersection of these factors socially constructed both a stigmatized image of the Mexican and the present reality of marijuana prohibition. Research on the complex origins of marijuana prohibition can inform the present policy debate on medical and recreational use of cannabis in the United States.

The discovery in neurology that the two sides of the brain think in distinct ways that are both opposed to each other and complementary might have consequences in a number of academic disciplines, and in philosophy and political consciousness as well. It is the purpose of this paper to apply concepts from the brain theory to an analysis of the rational foundations of scientific inquiry. To pursue this argument, it is nnecessary to take a position on the side of materialism or idealism, although the theory certainly is related to that issue. And it should be made clear, at the outset, that we see no possibility that the explanation of ideas can be reduced to a physical theory such as physics. ; http://web.ku.edu/~starjrnl

A case‐oriented analytical approach compared the index national case of France with the typical European outcome, other European cases and American results on social epidemiological indicators. Modal distributions were found to be most similar between the French sample and the total European sample on most social network items in a European therapeutic community cohort (n=723). The characteristics of the American and our sample were also found to be strikingly similar. Network size varies mainly with the number of substance‐dependent contacts reported by the client. Southern European clients have been living with their parents while northern clients have been living alone. Spending most of the time with drug‐using friends is not related to developing intimate relationships and a counterbalance to a situation of peer loneliness. The importance of looking at the function of social network relations in risk networks in harmonising European policy is emphasised.

A mini‐symposium series of papers presenting the results of the European Commission‐supported Biomed II project is introduced. The project accomplished a cross‐border scientific networking engaging 31 European residential treatment programmes. The results showed that scientific development is best served by a flexible bureaucratic approach. 'Old' science and the 'new' science ways of working were balanced. 'History' and 'social networks' are the key concepts signalling the project knowledge gains. A treatment sample (N=723) was extracted from a database of 1028 current European cases. Non‐drug‐specific characteristics are as important as drug‐specific characteristics in distinguishing emerging dependence groups. The project networking created a process that increased the level of involvement of science and the service communities. To sustain the gains of the project, a reaching out of existing European treatment services to extended family and friendship networks with a history of dependence‐related problems will be required.

In 2010, the University of Southern California School of Social Work launched its Virtual Academic Center (VAC) to deliver online MSW programming to students located around the country. USC's platform is a significant innovation in offering online education and has transformed the traditional educational model for both students and faculty. This research explores the experiences of faculty teaching via the VAC. Twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with USC faculty of different ranks. Inductive data collection using a grounded theory approach with thematic analysis examined experiences teaching in an online program, revealing the strengths and challenges associated with geographic diversity and community-building. Findings warrant the development of innovative practices to build community and to facilitate collaboration among geographically diverse faculty and students in a virtual education program.

An overview of the state of the art of research on the treatment services of the therapeutic community for drug addicts in Europe is presented. This research tradition has largely been fragmented and local in its implementation. There has been a scientific gap concerning evaluation research and the treatment services offered by the therapeutic community. The American research antecedents to the European tradition are reviewed. The essential European groups, research designs and results are presented for each country with something greater than an ad hoc study experience. The strengths and weaknesses of the research designs, results and organizations are critically assessed. Recommendations for future research are presented and referenced to specific recommendations for therapeutic community research coming out of an American National Institute on Drug Abuse Technical Review. Among the conclusions of the overview is the need for more qualitative phenomenological research to complement the existing quantitative approach.

During the 1980s, social scientists and policy makers have been examining the different kinds of pressures that affect the behavior of drug addicts, and have been discussing how these pressures may be better managed to get addicts into treatment, to change their drug-related behaviors during treatment, and to maintain these changes following treatment. This article reviews the pressures inherent in the legal, social, and treatment systems of the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany, and discusses the utility of combining elements of the legal and treatment systems. The article presents six propositions summarizing the conclusions reached at a conference regarding the assessment and use of pressures in addiction treatment. The article also presents the final recommendations that were made. It was concluded that the present lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of compulsory treatment raises ethical, as well as practical questions. Although compulsory treatment is a tempting solution to the drug addiction problem, a complete social policy analysis of the use of coercive pressure must be undertaken before acceptance would be appropriate. Compulsory treatment must be judged not in terms of moralistic ideas or political expediency, but in terms of the entire range of treatment policy options.

Fragen zum Drogenkonsum: Beurteilung gesellschaftlich
abweichender Verhaltensweisen und angemessene Strafen dafür; Einstellung
zum Einhalten von Gesetzen; wichtigste Ursachen für den Drogenkonsum;
Einstellung zur Legalisierung des Haschischkonsums; Beurteilung der
seelischen und körperlichen Gefahren des Drogenkonsums; Einschätzung
eigener Möglichkeiten der Drogenbeschaffung; Anzahl der
Drogenkonsumenten im eigenen Verwandten- und Bekanntenkreis;
Drogensüchtige im eigenen sozialen Umfeld; Einstellung zu
Heroinabhängigen und deren Therapiechancen (Skala); Häufigkeit eigenen
exzessiven Alkoholgebrauchs und eigenen abweichenden Verhaltens.

ZUMA-Standarddemographie: Regionale und soziale Herkunft;
Schulabschlüsse der Eltern; Selbsteinschätzung der Schichtzugehörigkeit;
Einkommensquellen; Merkmale der eigenen Erwerbstätigkeit und der des
Ehepartners; ausführliche Erfassung und Verkodung des Berufs nach dem
ISCO-Codesystem; Wohnsituation; Religiosität; Mitgliedschaften;
Ortsansässigkeit; Alter; Geschlecht; Familienstand; Konfession;
Schulbildung; Beruf; Berufstätigkeit; Art des Betriebs; Einkommen;
Haushaltsgröße; Haushaltszusammensetzung; Politikinteresse; Ortsgröße;
Bundesland.

Sonstiges: Politisches Interesse; Postmaterialismus (Skala);
Berufliche Tätigkeit des Ehepartners; Schulabschluß des Ehepartners;
soziale Herkunft; Geburtsjahr und Geburtsmonat.

Interviewerrating: Spontanität der Antwortgebung und Unsicherheit des
Befragten auf die Frage nach eigenem abweichenden Verhalten.

The clinical effectiveness of <i>l</i>-methadone maintenance treatment (LMMT) carried out using <i>d,l</i>-methadone or <i>l</i>-methadone have been compared with ambulatory heroin-dependent subjects. A total of 40 heroin-dependent subjects, previously maintained on <i>l</i>-methadone in Frankfurt am Main, were divided into two groups under randomised double-blind conditions and received either an equivalent dose of <i>l</i>-methadone as <i>d,l</i>-methadone or remained on the previous <i>l</i>-methadone treatment. Requests for a change in the dose of <i>d,l</i>-methadone and <i>l</i>-methadone were recorded, urine samples for determination of illicit drug use were collected and the individual level of opiate craving was determined over a 22-day observation period. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the number requests for a dose change (dose increase <10%). However, there was a significant increase in heroin use in the group which continued to receive <i>l</i>-methadone. Although there was less variability in opiate craving in the group receiving <i>d,l</i>-methadone, the mean intensity of opiate craving did not differ between the two groups. The mean <i>l</i>-methadone dose:<i>l</i>-methadone plasma concentration ratio, an index of the bioavailability of <i>l</i>-methadone in individual subjects, showed no significant change when the treatment was changed to <i>d,l</i>-methadone. The mean <i>d</i>-methadone:<i>l</i>-methadone plasma concentration ratio was 1.17. There was no significant difference between these ratios for day 15 and day 22. The mean <i>l</i>-methadone:EDDP plasma concentration ratio in the <i>l</i>-methadone group was 22.2 and the <i>d,l</i>-methadone:EDDP plasma concentration ratio was 18.4 . The plasma EDDP concentration in the <i>d,l</i>-methadone group increased 3-fold after starting treatment with <i>d,l</i>-methadone. These findings suggest that <i>d,l</i>-methadone can be used in methadone maintenance treatment of heroin-dependent subjects but that further studies are required to evaluate pharmacokinetic interactions between methadone enantiomers.