Suchergebnisse

Irish political prisoners have sought and found refuge in the United States since the 1800s. In 1986, however, US government policy changed, in part as a reward for Britain's support in the US attack on Libya. The tools of exclusion were subtly and not so subtly politicized, as ways were found to deport or in other ways to criminalize potentially embarrassing Irish activists. In this book, Karen McElrath examines the problematic history of Irish political prisoners in the United States. Drawing on original research interviews with prisoners, their families and their supporters in the US, she looks at the ways in which the rule of law can change, for entirely political reasons" and considers the impact of those changes. She looks too at the use of specific sanctions" deportation, extradition, and prosecution - and at shifting priorities in US immigration policies. In this fascinating account of a complex and much-contested issue, McElrath examines the struggles over deportation and extradition within the context of Anglo-US relations" and sheds new light on the political nature of the rule of law

This study focuses on individuals' preferences for mephedrone, a new psychoactive substance that has emerged in several countries. We examine the reasons for mephedrone preferences, and describe the positive and negative effects of the drug experience, route of administration and consumers' views about the legality of mephedrone. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 45 adults who had used mephedrone since January 2010. Respondents resided in one of two jurisdictions that were characterized by different legislative controls over mephedrone. The findings suggest the importance of macro-level drug market factors that shaped people's preferences for mephedrone. Additionally, respondents' preferences were guided by pharmacological properties that helped them conceal the effects of mephedrone in public and semi-public spaces. Respondents were not deterred by the (impending) change from legal to illicit drug. The findings have implications for the study of localized drug markets, and in particular, legislative controls over emerging legal highs.

Considerable emphasis has been placed in Northern Ireland as elsewhere upon providing an estimate of the prevalence and pattern of drug misuse, yet despite the importance of this information, a less than adequate picture has emerged. In this paper, divided into three sections, we attempt to layout and explore the assemblage of factors influencing drug misuse in Northern Ireland and subsequently our knowledge of it. In the first section we endeavor to demonstrate that drug use, distribution, and policy cannot be examined in isolation from the politics and practices of the protagonists to the conflict in Northern Ireland. In the second we critically review existing data on drug misuse ranging from the various public health and law enforcement indicators through to the limited emprical research avaliable. The final section makes urgent calls for quality research in Northern Ireland that would be instrumental in influencing effective drug policy and practice.

This study uses routine activity theory to examine violent and property crime victimization among a sample of 308 injection drug users (IDUs). We estimate prevalence rates and identify factors that contribute to the victimization of IDUs. The findings suggest that victimization rates of IDUs were much higher than rates found for the general urban population. Generally, crime involvement did not contribute significantly to victimization risk. Use of crack-cocaine increased the likelihood of property crime victimization whereas heroin use decreased the probability of both violent and property crime victimization. Other drug lifestyle activities (i.e., waiting in uncomfortable situations to buy drugs) also affected victimization risk Finally, the results suggest that victimization differed by age and by gender, despite controls for drug use and drug lifestyle activities. Explanations for these results are offered.