An Analysis of Risk Reduction among Organized Groups That Promote Marijuana and Psychedelic Drugs

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shepherd M. Jenks
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
The United States ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
Psychedelic Drug ◽  
The Many ◽  
Psychological Risks

This article offers an ethnographic perspective on risk reduction among the many groups in the United States that are devoted to the promotion of marijuana and psychedelic drugs. These groups as a whole do not advocate the indiscriminate use of these substances, but instead offer marijuana and psychedelic drug users social support, and accurate information on how to use these drugs responsibly. A key finding of this study is that not only do these groups attempt to reduce the physical and psychological risks associated with drug use, but also reduce what they believe to be the greater risks associated with draconian laws against drugs, overzealous law enforcement practices, and mainstream views about marijuana and psychedelic drugs that are based on misinformation and prejudice.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Associations Between Lifetime Use of Psychedelic Drugs and Psychometric Measures During the COVID-19 Confinement: A Transcultural Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dóra Révész ◽  
Genís Ona ◽  
Giordano N. Rossi ◽  
Juliana M. Rocha ◽  
Rafael G. dos Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
Psychedelic Drug ◽  
Prospective Longitudinal ◽  
The Impact

Background: One of the main public health strategies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic consisted of implementing strict lockdowns to stop the transmission of the virus. Despite being an effective measure, the confinement and the associated social isolation create a stressful, potentially lengthy situations that has been proven to have several psychological consequences. Given the potential benefits that certain psychedelic drugs have shown for the treatment of psychological disorders, this study aimed to assess the impact of lifetime psychedelic drug use on mental health in relation to the first strict lockdown adopted by various countries (April-July 2020).Methods: Subjects completed an online survey that inquired about sociodemographic factors, activities, and lifestyle factors during confinement, as well as health and mental health related factors. Subjects were asked about their lifetime use of psychedelic drugs (MDMA, ayahuasca, psilocybin-containing mushrooms, LSD, peyote, San Pedro, Bufo alvarius or 5-MeO-DMT, and others), being classified as regular users (more than once per 6 months), occasional users, or non-users. The survey included psychometric tests used to assess psychological distress, peritraumatic stress, social support, psychopathological symptoms, and personality. Linear regressions were performed with psychedelic drug users as the independent variable and psychometric factors as the outcomes, while correcting for age, gender, language, religion, spirituality, and use of non-psychedelic drugs.Results: The study included 2,974 English, Portuguese, and Spanish speakers (497 regular users of psychedelic drugs, 606 occasional users, and 1,968 non-users). On average, respondents were 36 years old and 70% were female. Psychedelic drug users, especially regular ones, reported less psychological distress, less peritraumatic stress, and more social support. Regarding personality measures, psychedelic drug users scored higher on the novelty-seeking and self-transcendence scales, and lower on cooperativeness.Conclusion: Our findings showed that regular users of psychedelic drugs had less psychological stress and some personality differences when compared to occasional users and non-users. This suggests that either the use of psychedelics might be a protective factor itself or people with certain previous traits are more prone to frequently using psychedelic drugs. Future prospective longitudinal research should investigate the underlying processes observed in this study to develop consistent hypotheses.

scholarly journals The Spy Power, Technological Innovations, and the Human Dimensions of Intelligence: Recent Presidential Abuse of America’s Secret Agencies

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Loch K Johnson
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Dimensions ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
Human Side ◽  
The Many

The purpose of national security intelligence is to provide policy officials with an advantage in the making of effective policy, based on the collection and analysis of accurate information from around the world that can help to illuminate a decision. Foreknowledge is invaluable in the service of a nation’s security; and, in the gathering of useful information, technological innovations in the world of intelligence can result in a stronger shield to protect citizens against the many dangers that lurk across the continents in this uncertain and hostile world.  Despite all the marvels of modern espionage tradecraft, the governments that rely on them must still deal with the human side of intelligence activities. Unfortunately, arrogance, shortsightedness, laziness, frenetic schedules, and the corrosive influences of power (among other flaws) often lead policy officials to ignore or warp the advantages they could accrue from advanced intelligence spycraft, if they would only use these sources and methods properly. This article examines some of the problems that imperfect human behavior has created for intelligence in the United States at the highest levels of government over the past two decades.

Six Years Later

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Décary-Hétu ◽  
Vincent Mousseau ◽  
Sabrina Vidal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Slow Rate ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
The United States ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
The Impact

Cryptomarkets are online illicit marketplaces where drug dealers advertise the sale of illicit drugs. Anonymizing technologies such as the Tor network and virtual currencies are used to hide cryptomarket participants’ identity and to limit the ability of law enforcement agencies to make arrests. In this paper, our aim is to describe how herbal cannabis dealers and buyers in the United States have adapted to the online sale of herbal cannabis through cryptomarkets. To achieve this goal, we evaluate the size and scope of the American herbal cannabis market on cryptomarkets and compare it to other drug markets from other countries, evaluate the impact of cryptomarkets on offline sales of herbal cannabis, and evaluate the ties between the now licit herbal cannabis markets in some States and cryptomarkets. Our results suggest that only a small fraction of herbal cannabis dealers and drug users have transitioned to cryptomarkets. This can be explained by the need for technical skills to buy and sell herbal cannabis online and by the need to have access to computers that are not accessible to all. The slow rate of adoption may also be explained by the higher price of herbal cannabis relative to street prices. If cryptomarkets were to be adopted by a larger portion of the herbal cannabis market actors, our results suggest that wholesale and regional distributors who are not active on cryptomarkets would be the most affected market’s participants.

Psychedelic drug research will increase globally

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Drug Laws ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Limited Impact ◽  
Controlled Drugs ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
Biotechnology Companies ◽  
Psychedelic Drug ◽  
Recreational Use

Significance Government authorities, including in the United States, are speeding up licensing for clinical trials of these controlled drugs. Substantial philanthropic funding supports psychedelic medicine and campaigns for regulated use of these drugs, including for treatment of PTSD, chronic depression and addiction. Impacts Biotechnology companies expect psychedelic therapies to become mainstream over the next decade. Relaxation of drug laws could trigger increased investment in research and development. Legal production of psychedelic drugs will have a limited impact on criminal production, which is driven by demand for recreational use.

Gangs, Globalization, and Critical Security Studies: Teaching Counternarratives to Public Audiences

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Department Of State ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Gang Affiliation ◽  
Former Gang Member ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Domestic Law

Working on gang issues as a whole demands that I, as a scholar, engage different scales that collapse individual and community, local and global, and that make action and study into indistinguishable partners. It is not just that we need to facilitate one woman’s path toward finding an academic who will help her husband and their family; we need to work on the bigger thing and ask the Department of State to hold itself to at least the same (flawed) standards as domestic law enforcement regarding the use of tattoos to determine gang affiliation. I do not know if this particular push will be successful, because of the heightened security that I discuss below. But being involved in the struggle is itself transformative, because it creates new narrative threads and strengthens possibilities and openings that can lead to change. Sanyika Shakur, also known as Monster Kody, is a former gang member who wrote, “I am a gang expert—period. There are no other gang experts except participants.” His assertion raises a bigger question about study and embodied identity. Whether or not expertise exists in the manner that Shakur is talking about, the need for “expertise” as a putative legal category is evident in the many intersections of gang membership and the law, which are increasingly playing out on transnational stages like the one between the United States and Mexico. The question then becomes how an academic can use purported “expertise” without strengthening the oppressive systems that created those categories in the first place.

The Efficacy of Network-Based HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Programs in Midsized Towns in the United States

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Trotter ◽  
Anne M. Bowen ◽  
Julie A. Baldwin ◽  
Laurie J. Price
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Hiv Risk ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Active Drug ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Reduction Program

Combining current psychosocial theories with social network outreach and prevention paradigms is an effective mechanism for reducing both drug-related and sexual risks for HIV transmission in active drug users in midsized towns in the United States. Five hundred and seventy-nine individuals were recruited in two towns, one of 50,000 and one of 10,000 population. Three approaches to intervention were tested. These approaches included: (1) an intensive outreach program using indigenous outreach workers providing reinforcement of an HIV risk reduction program, and (2) a low intensity outreach program combined with a more intensive office-based HIV risk reduction program. Both conditions were compared with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recommended standard intervention. Each of the enhanced interventions produced a reduction in HIV-related risk taking reported by the participants. The intensive outreach combined with office intervention and the intensive office intervention without outreach reinforcement each produced significant reductions in sexual risk taking in active drug users, beyond the reductions reported for the NIDA standard program. The enhanced risk reduction programs produced differential impacts for males and females, respectively, between the two high and low intensity outreach models.

Prioritizing Communication About Radiation Risk Reduction in the United States: Results from a Multi-criteria Decision Analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Rennie W. Ferguson ◽  
Daniel J. Barnett ◽  
Ryan David Kennedy ◽  
Tara Kirk Sell ◽  
Jessica S. Wieder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Radiation Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Radiological Emergency ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Analysis ◽  
Evacuation Plans

ABSTRACT Objectives: The lack of radiation knowledge among the general public continues to be a challenge for building communities prepared for radiological emergencies. This study applied a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to the results of an expert survey to identify priority risk reduction messages and challenges to increasing community radiological emergency preparedness. Methods: Professionals with expertise in radiological emergency preparedness, state/local health and emergency management officials, and journalists/journalism academics were surveyed following a purposive sampling methodology. An MCDA was used to weight criteria of importance in a radiological emergency, and the weighted criteria were applied to topics such as sheltering-in-place, decontamination, and use of potassium iodide. Results were reviewed by respondent group and in aggregate. Results: Sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans were identified as the most important risk reduction measures to communicate to the public. Possible communication challenges during a radiological emergency included access to accurate information; low levels of public trust; public knowledge about radiation; and communications infrastructure failures. Conclusions: Future assessments for community readiness for a radiological emergency should include questions about sheltering-in-place and evacuation plans to inform risk communication.

Concluding Thoughts and a Tentative Way Forward

2020 ◽  
pp. 409-424
Author(s):  
Russell Crandall
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Marijuana Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
South American ◽  
Illegal Drugs

This chapter emphasizes how 23 million Americans between the ages of twelve and sixty-five are illicit drug users despite the billions of dollars spent on prevention, treatment, law enforcement, and interdiction. It talks about marijuana use among Americans increasing steadily from 13.9 percent in 2016 to 15.9 percent in 2018. It also elaborates how the United States was buckling under an enormous drug abuse and addiction problem, with 15 million troubled users of alcohol and several million others regularly abusing illegal drugs. The chapter looks at an official Pentagon profile titled “Operation Martillo Drops the Hammer on Smugglers”, which detailed progress on the new initiative to interrupt the Florida/Caribbean channel that South American kingpins were using to transport cocaine. It recounts how four years after the Pentagon report, the Pentagon's official website headline touted Martillo as still hammering away at drug trafficking.

scholarly journals Using Syndromic Surveillance Data to Monitor Endocarditis and Sepsis among Drug Users

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lana Deyneka ◽  
Anne Hakenewerth ◽  
Zachary Faigen ◽  
Amy Ising ◽  
Clifton Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Definition ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Discharge Data ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance System

ObjectiveTo describe how the state syndromic surveillance system(NC DETECT) was used to initiate near real time surveillance forendocarditis, sepsis and skin infection among drug users.IntroductionRecreational drug use is a major problem in the United States andaround the world. Specifically, drug abuse results in heavy use ofemergency department (ED) services, and is a high financial burdento society and to the hospitals due to chronic ill health and multipleinjection drug use complications. Intravenous drug users are at highrisk of developing sepsis and endocarditis due to the use of a dirty orinfected needle that is either shared with someone else or re-used. Itcan also occur when a drug user repeatedly injects into an inflamedand infected site or due to the poor overall health of an injection druguser. The average cost of hospitalization for aortic valve replacementin USA is about $165,000, and in order for the valve replacement tobe successful, patients must abstain from using drugs.MethodsWe examined temporal trends of drug-related visits to hospitalEDs, as well as drug-related related ED admissions complicated withendocarditis, bacteremia and sepsis.ResultsThe trends in Endocarditis/Sepsis and drug-related relatedadmissions appear to echo overdose related ED admissions increase.Patients ED return visits and hospitalizations for the same problem arealso growing compare to the previous years. We will discuss the NCDETECT case definition used to monitor drug overdose/dependenceand infection, case definition transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 codes,and will share surveillance analysis results.ConclusionsNC DETECT’s system flexibility has been important in rapidlyestablishing surveillance of infections among drug users. Near realtime analysis on hospital, county and state levels can be performedusing NC DETECT system reports to provide state officials, hospitalsand LHDs with situational awareness. Limitations: Syndromicsurveillance ED data contains less accurate information about thediagnosis codes, procedures, length of stay, and severity comparingto the hospital discharge data.

Marihuana—A Psychedelic Drug?

1974 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Robert Sinnett ◽  
Karen S. Wampler ◽  
William M. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Function ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Linear Discriminant Function ◽  
Correct Classification ◽  
Drug Experience ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
Psychedelic Drug ◽  
Hypnotic Drugs

Dimensions of the drug experience derived from judgments by experienced drug users were combined to separate marihuana and psychedelic drugs into two classes. The marihuana substances were judged as calming as opposed to exciting, relatively safer, and less potent than psychedelic drugs. In this study and others it seems that marihuana may be more similar to sedative, depressant, and hypnotic drugs than to psychedelic drugs. Some superiority in correct classification was found for a non-linear discriminant function over a linear discriminant function.

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