scholarly journals Global commission on drug policies misses the mark

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 205032451881211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Drug Policy ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
The World ◽  
Drug Policies

The Global Commission on Drug Policy launched a report on The world drug ( perception) problem, countering prejudices about people who use drugs, which includes remarks on the avoidance of stigmatizing terminology. Although many aspects of the report are helpful in moving the field forward, the report itself is full of stigmatizing terminology and ill-defined terms.

scholarly journals A Study on the National Drug Policies of Bangladesh to Ensure Health for All

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48
Author(s):  
Md Aknur Rahman ◽  
Md Riaz Hossain ◽  
Md Aslam Hossain ◽  
Md Shah Amran
Keyword(s):  
Drug Policy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Expert Committee ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
National Drug ◽  
National Drug Policy ◽  
The World ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Almost All

Bangladesh approved the proposal for a National Drug Policy on May 29, 1982. We know that such drug policies are developed gradually over a period of time and may contain a lot of comprehensive documents. But in Bangladesh, the expert committee worked out the policy, based on 16 standards within 15 days. This vital document, almost unchanged, was made a law on 12 June 1982. A few years later, it can be observed that despite opposition from many concerns, the output of essential drugs has increased from about 30 to about 80 percent, prices have in almost all cases gone down considerably, the domestic industry has grown rapidly, the quality of its production has increased dramatically, and people’s awareness about quality medicines has been steadily growing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed the need of a formulated drug policy in every country of the world in 1986. Bangladesh responded very early to this respect. Subsequently, two more national drug policies were promulgated in 2005 and 2016 respectively. Experience over the decades has shown that the said policies could not fulfill the declared objective of ensuring health for all. Our aim is to describe some of the lacunae for which total implementation of drug policy is still struggling. To find the root causes, a total of five hundred volunteers were surveyed by supplying a questionnaire on drug policy. It was observed that most of the participants opined that the incumbent government needs to be more stringent to implement the drug policy into reality by utilizing the public servants and public sectors, especially health personnel to ensure health for all. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 20(1): 41-48, 2021 (June)

scholarly journals Decolonizing drug policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Daniels ◽  
Aggrey Aluso ◽  
Naomi Burke-Shyne ◽  
Kojo Koram ◽  
Suchitra Rajagopalan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Policy ◽  
Current System ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Drug Law ◽  
Drug Law Enforcement ◽  
Drug Policies

AbstractThis paper reviews evidence of how drug control has been used to uphold colonial power structures in select countries. It demonstrates the racist and xenophobic impact of drug control policy and proposes a path to move beyond oppressive systems and structures. The ‘colonization of drug control’ refers to the use of drug control by states in Europe and America to advance and sustain the systematic exploitation of people, land and resources and the racialized hierarchies, which were established under colonial control and continue to dominate today. Globally, Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples are disproportionately targeted for drug law enforcement and face discrimination across the criminal system. These communities face higher arrest, prosecution and incarceration rates for drug offenses than other communities, such as majority populations, despite similar rates of drug use and selling among (and between) different races. Current drug policies have contributed to an increase in drug-related deaths, overdoses and sustained transnational criminal enterprises at the expense of the lives of people who use drugs, their families and greater society. This review provides further evidence of the need to reform the current system. It outlines a three-pillared approach to rebuilding drug policy in a way that supports health, dignity and human rights, consisting of: (1) the decriminalization of drugs and their use; (2) an end to the mass incarceration of people who use drugs; (3) the redirection of funding away from ineffective and punitive drug control and toward health and social programs.

scholarly journals Developing a Transformative Drug Policy Research Agenda in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Walker ◽  
Julie Netherland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
Abstinence Only ◽  
The U.S

Despite its strengths, drug policy scholarship in the United States has deficiencies and systemic biases that contribute to misinformation about drugs and people who use drugs. Factors ranging from funders’ biases to an overemphasis on abstinence-only outcomes limit the scope and focus of drug policy research. These deficiencies and the highly politicized nature of drug policy reform have led U.S. decision-makers to largely reproduce the uninformed thinking that epitomizes failed drug policies. In an effort to address some of these limitations, we designed Unbounded Knowledge: Envisioning a New Future for Drug Policy Research, a project to engage researchers in thinking about how U.S. drug policy research should be transformed. The project involved a diverse group of multidisciplinary drug researchers and clinicians in a focused collaboration to identify what drug research should be—but is not—studying in the U.S. It consisted of: (1) a preliminary series of interviews with researchers, (2) identification of common research constraints and factors that would transform the direction of drug policy research in the U.S., and (3) a daylong workshop to craft an aspirational research agenda. Participants were broadly in consensus that significant changes are needed to create different ways to conduct drug policy research and new opportunities within the research environment. They also generated specific ideas for research that could better shape U.S. drug policies in ways that move beyond the dominant focus on criminalization and medicalization. This article offers recommendations generated by the project for improving drug policy research in the U.S.

scholarly journals On the biopolitics of humane drug policies: What can we learn from 19th century sobriety boards?

2021 ◽  
pp. 145507252110158
Author(s):  
Kenneth Arctander Johansen ◽  
Michel Vandenbroeck ◽  
Stijn Vandevelde
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Chief Executives ◽  
Critical Studies ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
Drug Dependent ◽  
And Control ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Drug Policy Reform

Background: In accordance with recommendations from The United Nations’ Chief Executives Board of Coordination, several countries are in the process of reforming their punitive drug policies towards health-based approaches – from punishment to help. The Portuguese model of decriminalisation is generally seen as a good model for other countries and has been scientifically described in favourable terms, and not much scrutinised. Method: This article draws on foucauldian archaeological and genealogical approaches in order to understand and compare governance logics of the 19th century Norwegian sobriety boards and 21st century Portuguese commissions. In doing this, we problematize contemporary drug policy reform discussions that point to the “Portuguese model”, which aims to stop punishing and start helping drug-dependent people, are problematised. Findings: The Portuguese commissions investigate whether drug-using people are dependent or not. Dependency, circumstances of consumption and their economy are considered when the commission decides on penalising, assisting, or treating the person, or a combination of all this. This model was studied alongside the Norwegian sobriety boards mandated by the Sobriety Act that was implemented in 1932. Sobriety boards governed poor alcoholics. Authorities from the sobriety movement were central in creating sobriety policies that culminated in sobriety boards. The Portuguese commissions have similarities to Norwegian sobriety boards. They make use of sanctions and treatment to govern people who use illicit substances to make them abstain, with the view that this is emancipatory for these people. The different apparatuses have distinct and different ways of making up, and governing their subjects. Conclusion: This article contributes to debates on drug policy reforms and aims to investigate whether they might produce biopower effects of governance masked by an emancipatory language. There is a need for critical studies on drug policy reforms to avoid policies that maintain divisions and control marginalised populations.

scholarly journals Civil society involvement in harm reduction drug policy: reflections on the past, expectations for the future

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen O’Gorman ◽  
Eberhard Schatz
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Health Crisis

Abstract Background A range of civil society organisations (CSOs) such as drug user groups, non-governmental/third sector organisations and networks of existing organisations, seek to shape the development of drugs policy at national and international levels. However, their capacity to do so is shaped by the contexts in which they operate nationally and internationally. The aim of this paper is to explore the lived experience of civil society participation in these contexts, both from the perspective of CSOs engaged in harm reduction advocacy, and the institutions they engage with, in order to inform future policy development. Methods This paper is based on the presentations and discussions from a workshop on ‘Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy hosted by the Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network at the International Society for the Study of Drugs Policy (ISSDP) annual conference in Paris, 2019. In the aftermath of the workshop, the authors analysed the papers and discussions and identified the key themes arising to inform CSI in developing future harm reduction policy and practice. Results Civil society involvement (CSI) in policy decision-making and implementation is acknowledged as an important benefit to representative democracy. Yet, the accounts of CSOs demonstrate the challenges they experience in seeking to shape the contested field of drug policy. Negotiating the complex workings of political institutions, often in adversarial and heavily bureaucratic environments, proved difficult. Nonetheless, an increase in structures which formalised and resourced CSI enabled more meaningful participation at different levels and at different stages of policy making. Conclusions Civil society spaces are colonised by a broad range of civil society actors lobbying from different ideological standpoints including those advocating for a ‘drug free world’ and those advocating for harm reduction. In these competitive arena, it may be difficult for harm reduction orientated CSOs to influence the policy process. However, the current COVID-19 public health crisis clearly demonstrates the benefits of partnership between CSOs and political institutions to address the harm reduction needs of people who use drugs. The lessons drawn from our workshop serve to inform all partners on this pathway.

scholarly journals Could 30 years of political controversy on needle exchange programmes in Sweden contribute to scaling-up harm reduction services in the world?

2020 ◽  
pp. 145507252096501
Author(s):  
Niklas Karlsson ◽  
Torsten Berglund ◽  
Anna Mia Ekström ◽  
Anders Hammarberg ◽  
Tuukka Tammi
Keyword(s):  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Control Drug ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Events ◽  
Exchange Programmes

Aims: To end the hepatitis and AIDS epidemics in the world by 2030, countries are encouraged to scale-up harm reduction services and target people who inject drugs (PWID). Blood-borne viruses (BBV) among PWID spread via unsterile injection equipment sharing and to combat this, many countries have introduced needle and syringe exchange programmes (NEP), though not without controversy. Sweden’s long, complicated harm reduction policy transition has been deviant compared to the Nordic countries. After launch in 1986, no NEP were started in Sweden for 23 years, the reasons for which are analysed in this study. Methods: Policy documents, grey literature and research mainly published in 2000–2017 were collected and analysed using a hierarchical framework, to understand how continuous build-up of evidence, decisions and key events, over time influenced NEP development. Results: Sweden’s first NEP opened in a repressive-control drug policy era with a drug-free society goal. Despite high prevalence of BBV among PWID with recurring outbreaks, growing research and key-actor support including a NEP law, no NEP were launched. Political disagreements, fluctuating actor-coalitions, questioning of research, and a municipality veto against NEP, played critical roles. With an individual-centred perspective being brought into the drug policy domain, the manifestation of a dual drug and health policy track, a revised NEP law in 2017 and removal of the veto, Sweden would see fast expansion of new NEP. Conclusions: Lessons from the Swedish case could provide valuable insight for countries about to scale-up harm reduction services including how to circumvent costly time- and resource-intensive obstacles and processes involving ideological and individual moral dimensions.

scholarly journals Barriers and facilitators to adherence to national drug policies on antibiotic prescribing and dispensing in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fosiul Alam Nizame ◽  
Dewan Muhammad Shoaib ◽  
Emily K. Rousham ◽  
Salma Akter ◽  
Mohammad Aminul Islam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Policy ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Barriers And Facilitators ◽  
Drug Shop ◽  
Antibiotic Prescribing ◽  
National Drug ◽  
National Drug Policy ◽  
Drug Policies ◽  
The Government

Abstract Background The National Drug Policy in Bangladesh prohibits the sale and distribution of antibiotics without prescription from a registered physician. Compliance with this policy is poor; prescribing antibiotics by unqualified practitioners is common and over-the-counter dispensing widespread. In Bangladesh, unqualified practitioners such as drug shop operators are a major source of healthcare for the poor and disadvantaged. This paper reports on policy awareness among drug shop operators and their customers and identifies current dispensing practices, barriers and facilitators to policy adherence. Methods We conducted a qualitative study in rural and urban Bangladesh from June 2019 to August 2020. This included co-design workshops (n = 4) and in-depth interviews (n = 24) with drug shop operators and customers/household members, key informant interviews (n = 12) with key personnel involved in aspects of the antibiotic supply chain including pharmaceutical company representatives, and model drug shop operators; and a group discussion with stakeholders representing key actors in informal market systems namely: representatives from the government, private sector, not-for-profit sector and membership organizations. Results Barriers to policy compliance among drug shop operators included limited knowledge of government drug policies, or the government-led Bangladesh Pharmacy Model Initiative (BPMI), a national guideline piloted to regulate drug sales. Drug shop operators had no clear knowledge of different antibiotic generations, how and for what diseases antibiotics work contributing to inappropriate antibiotic dispensing. Nonetheless, drug shop operators wanted the right to prescribe antibiotics based on having completed related training. Drug shop customers cited poor healthcare facilities and inadequate numbers of attending physician as a barrier to obtaining prescriptions and they described difficulties differentiating between qualified and unqualified providers. Conclusion Awareness of the National Drug Policy and the BPMI was limited among urban and rural drug shop operators. Poor antibiotic prescribing practice is additionally hampered by a shortage of qualified physicians; cultural and economic barriers to accessing qualified physicians, and poor implementation of regulations. Increasing qualified physician access and increasing training and certification of drug shop operators could improve the alignment of practices with national policy.

The misuse of drugs act – a user perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mat Southwell
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Control ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
Policy Reform ◽  
People Who Use Drugs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Drug Policy Reform

Purpose This paper aims to demonstrate the ways in which the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) militates against the interests and situations of people who use drugs. The author reflects on the author’s journey as a drug user, drugs workers and drug user organiser to critique the MDA. The author describes the impact of the MDA on the author’s early experimentation with substances and highlights the limitations of simplistic drugs prevention. The author describes how the MDA maximises drug-related risks and undermines the creation of healthy cultural norms and community learning among people who use drugs. The author talks about the author’s work as a drugs practitioner and mourns the vandalism of the UK’s harm reduction and drug treatment system. This paper describes the opportunity to use drug policy reform as a progressive electoral agenda to begin the journey towards racial and social justice. This paper calls for the rejection of the Big Drugs Lie and the repeal of the failed MDA. Design/methodology/approach Personal reflection based on experience as drug user, drugs worker and drug user organiser. Findings Successive UK Governments have used the MDA as a tool of social control and racial discrimination. The Big Drugs Lie undermines science-based and rights-compliant drug policy and drug services and criminalises and puts young people at risk. There is the potential to build a progressive political alliance to remove the impediment of the MDA and use drug policy reform as tools for racial and social justice. Practical implications The MDA maximises the harms faced by people who use drugs, stokes stigma and discrimination and has undermined the quality of drug services. The MDA needs to be exposed and challenged as a tool for social control and racial discrimination. Delivering drug policy reform as a progressive electoral strategy could maximise its potential to improve social and racial justice. Originality/value This paper represents the view of people who use drugs by a drug user, a view which is seldom expressed in the length and level of argument shown here.

America and Security Sponsorship

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Reich ◽  
Richard Ned Lebow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Drug Policy ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Assistance ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Norms ◽  
The U.S

This chapter draws on a conceptual and empirical analysis to rethink America's posthegemonic role in the world. While guided by self-interest, the chapter contends that the United States should pursue a strategy that helps to implement policies that are widely supported and are often mooted or initiated by others. It should generally refrain from attempting to set the agenda and lead in a traditional realist or liberal sense. Drawing on Simon Reich's work on global norms, the chapter looks at the success Washington has had in sponsoring—that is, in backing—initiatives originating elsewhere. It examines the successful provision of military assistance to NATO's campaign in Libya, which offers a stark contrast to the U.S. approach to Iraq. The chapter then offers counterfactual cases of U.S. drug policy in Mexico and efforts to keep North Korea from going nuclear.

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