Drugs and Prisons

This essay explores how illegal drugs are linked to imprisonment, especially in the United States. First, the chapter considers statistics that demonstrate how the high U.S. imprisonment rate is driven by the criminalization of substance misuse, despite the high incidence of drug use in the general population. Prison populations that include a mixture of drug users and drug dealers are virtually guaranteed to find ways of bringing drugs into prison, and the demand is increased by the desire to ease the pains of imprisonment. The illicit drug economy in prisons and the associated violence is a threat to the safety of both staff and prisoners. Discussed are ways drugs enter correctional institutions and the methods used to disrupt supply routes. Types of treatment to reduce demand are considered. The complex mix of issues affecting drug use in prisons means that a careful, balanced approach to care and control is needed.

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Summary and conclusions

10.1093/oso/9780198818014.003.0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas F. Babor ◽

Jonathan Caulkins ◽

Benedikt Fischer ◽

David Foxcroft ◽

Keith Humphreys ◽

...

Keyword(s):

International Organizations ◽

Drug Policy ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Unintended Consequences ◽

Public Health Approach ◽

Drug Supply ◽

The Public ◽

Balanced Approach

Among the 47 options reviewed in this book, most show some evidence of effectiveness in at least one country, but the evidence is less than definitive for many others, either because the interventions are ineffective, or the research is inadequate. Unfortunately, policies that have shown little or no evidence of effectiveness continue to be the preferred options of many countries and international organizations. The evidence reviewed in this book supports two overarching conclusions. First, an integrated and balanced approach to evidence-informed drug policy is more likely to benefit the public good than uncoordinated efforts to reduce drug supply and demand. Second, by shifting the emphasis toward a public health approach, it may be possible to reduce the extent of illicit drug use, prevent the escalation of new epidemics, and avoid the unintended consequences arising from the marginalization of drug users through severe criminal penalties.

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Illicit Drug Use in Canada and Implications for Suicidal Behaviors, and Household Food Insecurity: Findings from a Large, Nationally Representative Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126425 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 6425

Author(s):

Nicola Luigi Bragazzi ◽

Dan Beamish ◽

Jude Dzevela Kong ◽

Jianhong Wu

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

Drug Use ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Household Food Insecurity ◽

Household Food ◽

Suicidal Attempts ◽

Nationally Representative

Background and Aims: Illicit drug use is an ongoing health and social issue in Canada. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of illicit drug use and its implications for suicidal behaviors, and household food insecurity in Canada. Design: Cross-sectional population survey. Setting: Canada, using the 2015–2016 Canadian Community Health Survey, a nationally representative sample selected by stratified multi-stage probability sampling. Participants: A total of 106,850 respondents aged ≥ 12 years who had completed information on illicit drug use. Measurements: Illicit drug use was assessed through a series of questions about illicit drug use methods. Respondents who reported lifetime illicit drug use but no past-year use were considered to have prior illicit drug use. In this survey, illicit drug use included cannabis use. Findings: Overall, the prevalence of lifetime, past-year, and prior illicit drug use was 33.2% (9.8 million), 10.4% (3.1 million), and 22.7% (6.7 million), respectively. In models adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, prior illicit drug use was significantly associated with increased odds of past-year suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.21, 95% CI 1.04–1.40), and plans (1.48, 1.15–1.91), and past-year household food insecurity (1.27, 1.14–1.41), and the odds were much higher among prior injecting drug users than prior non-injecting drug users. No significant correlation was found between prior illicit drug use and past-year suicidal attempts, but there was a strong association between past-year illicit drug use and past-year suicidal attempts. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that even after people have stopped taking illicit drugs, prior illicit drug use, especially for prior injecting drug use, continues to be associated with increased risks of subsequent suicidal ideation, and plans, and household food insecurity.

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Psychiatric Morbidity, Illicit Drug Use and Adherence to Zidovudine (AZT) Among Injection Drug Users with HIV Disease

The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse ◽

10.3109/00952999609001674 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 475-487 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Stephen J. Ferrando ◽

Tamara L. Wall ◽

Steven L. Batki ◽

James L. Sorensen

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Injection Drug Users ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Injection Drug ◽

Hiv Disease

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Racial and ethnic trends in illicit drug use and binge drinking among adolescent and young adult offenders in the United States

Journal of Criminal Justice ◽

10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2017.05.009 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 59 ◽

pp. 71-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Michael G. Vaughn ◽

Christopher P. Salas-Wright ◽

David Cordova ◽

Erik J. Nelson ◽

Lisa Jaegers

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Young Adult ◽

Drug Use ◽

Binge Drinking ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

The United States ◽

Adolescent And Young Adult

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Khat Use is Associated with Tobacco, Alcohol, and Illicit Drug Use: A Cross-Sectional Examination in the United States

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs ◽

10.1080/02791072.2017.1342155 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 49 (5) ◽

pp. 413-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Motohiro Nakajima ◽

Kalkidan Molla ◽

Brook Belachew ◽

Abduselam Mohammed ◽

Abdikadir Hassan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

The United States ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Khat Use

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“They Medicated Me Out”

Contemporary Drug Problems ◽

10.1177/0091450918781590 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 188-207 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Allison V. Schlosser

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug Testing ◽

The United States ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Mutual Aid ◽

Rapid Weight Gain ◽

Heavy Sedation ◽

Medication Effects ◽

And Control ◽

Biomedical Interventions

Addiction, a cultural construct long framed in moral, psychological, and social terms, is increasingly understood as biological and treated with medications. In the United States, methadone, buprenorphine, and a variety of psychopharmaceuticals are now commonly used to treat addiction alongside long-standing approaches such as 12-Step mutual aid. These biomedical interventions reshape the very condition they intervene on, influencing the ways treatment clients understand and experience addiction. Clients often experience medication treatment in tension with embodied and social practices of addiction: bodily routines, sensory experiences, temporalities, and social contexts of use. This article examines these tensions through theories of the social flesh and embodied citizenship. This analysis is based on a 20-month ethnography in and around “Sunrise” residential center in Northeast Ohio. Sunrise merges biomedical interventions with 12-Step, psychological and juridical approaches. These data show how biomedical practices alter client bodies and subjectivities, promoting body alienation at stark odds with the intense bodily connection clients established through drug use. This alienation results from rapid weight gain and heavy sedation clients attribute to medication effects, as well as mandated medication and adherence practices that strip clients of a sense of control of medication use. Many clients describe feeling “medicated out” of life: estranged from treatment peers and kin who oppose medications, counselors and other powerful authorities who demand their undivided attention, and friends with whom they are unable to relate when heavily medicated. Clients, however, do not passively accept this estrangement. They alter their bodily experiences by leveraging embodied practices developed during drug use. Through practices such as selectively taking medications based on historical bodily experience and illegal drug “testing” in the underground economy, clients reassert bodily connection and control, deriving a modicum of power—albeit constrained and risky—in a treatment system that strictly limits it.

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In-Hospital Illicit Drug Use and Patient-Directed Discharge: Barriers to Care for Patients With Injection-Related Infections

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofaa074 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ellen F Eaton ◽

Andrew O Westfall ◽

Brandi McClesky ◽

Cayce S Paddock ◽

Peter S Lane ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

The United States ◽

Models Of Care ◽

Medical Advice ◽

Adverse Outcomes ◽

Against Medical Advice ◽

Persons Who Inject Drugs

Abstract Background Hospitalized persons who inject drugs are at a greater risk of adverse hospital outcomes including discharge against medical advice, inpatient illicit drug use, overdose, and death. However, there are limited data on the frequency and outcomes of these events in the United States. Methods This retrospective analysis included patients with injection-related infections receiving a protocol for injection drug use (IDU) at University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital from 2016 to 2017. In-hospital IDU was suspected or reported drug usage plus confirmatory drug screen, and documented discharges “against medical advice” were deemed patient-directed discharges (PDD). We analyzed the frequency of and associations between in-hospital IDU, PDD, 30-day readmission, and deaths (between 2016 and 2019) using McNemar’s tests. Logistic regression models evaluated the association between PDD, in-hospital IDU, readmission, and death. Results Overall, 83 patients met inclusion criteria: 28 (34%) with in-hospital IDU, 12 (14%) PDD, 9 (11%) died, and 12 (14%) 30-day readmission. In-hospital IDU was significantly associated with PDD (P = .003), 30-day readmission (P = .005), and death (P = .0003). Patient-directed discharges and 30-day readmission were not significantly associated with death nor with each other. Conclusions In a cohort of patients receiving inpatient care for injection-related infections, illicit drug use, PDD, 30-day readmissions, and death were common. Furthermore, patients who use illicit drugs while hospitalized are significantly more likely to leave early, be readmitted, and/or die. We must design models of care that prevent adverse outcomes, including drug use and PDD, to reduce barriers to evidence-based treatment of infections.

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Relationship between marijuana and other illicit drug use and depression/suicidal thoughts among late middle-aged and older adults

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610215001738 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 577-589 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Namkee G. Choi ◽

Diana M. DiNitto ◽

C. Nathan Marti ◽

Bryan Y. Choi

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Drug Use ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Service Providers ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Suicidal Thoughts ◽

The Usa

ABSTRACTBackground:Despite growing numbers of older-adult illicit drug users, research on this topic is rare. This study examined the relationship between marijuana and/or other illicit drug use and major depressive episode (MDE) and serious suicidal thoughts among those aged 50+ years in the USA.Methods:The public use files of the 2008 to 2012 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provided data on 29,634 individuals aged 50+ years. Logistic regression analysis was used to test hypothesized associations between past-year marijuana and/or other illicit drug use and MDE and serious suicidal thoughts.Results:Nearly 6% of the 50+ years age group reported past-year marijuana and/or other illicit drug use. Compared to non-users of any illicit drug, the odds of past-year MDE among those who used marijuana only, other illicit drugs only, and marijuana and other illicit drugs were 1.54 (95% CI = 1.17–2.03), 2.75 (95% CI = 1.75–4.33), and 2.12 (95% CI = 1.45–3.09), respectively. Those who used marijuana and other drugs also had higher odds (2.44, 95% CI = 1.58–3.77) of suicidal thoughts than non-users of any illicit drug. However, among users of any illicit drug, no difference was found among users of marijuana only, marijuana and other illicit drugs, and other illicit drugs only. Among marijuana users, marijuana use frequency was a significant correlate of suicidal thoughts only among those with MDE.Conclusions:Health and mental health (MH) service providers should pay close attention to the potential reciprocal effects of marijuana and other illicit drug use and MDE and suicidal thoughts among late middle-aged and older adults.

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Drug Use and Drug Users: Attitudes and Behaviors of a Group of Western Australian Rotarians

Journal of Drug Education ◽

10.2190/adjx-lxmx-qj60-6h70 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 355-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer Bunbury ◽

Jane Cowling

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Users ◽

Attitudes And Behaviors ◽

And Behaviors ◽

Western Australian

A group of 169 Western Australian Rotarians was surveyed to examine their attitudes concerning the treatment of users of different kinds of drugs, their own use of alcohol, cigarettes and analgesics, and their perceptions of their own drug taking habits. The survey findings revealed that while most Rotarians had realistic perceptions of the extent of their own drug use, there were discrepancies in their attitudes regarding the treatment they suggested for various drug users. Overall, illicit drug users were viewed less favorably than users of the legal drugs.

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