Enacting Safety and Omitting Gender: Australian Human Rights Scrutiny Processes Concerning Alcohol and Other Drug Laws

Global momentum for drug law reform is building. But how might such reform be achieved? Many argue that human rights offer a possible normative framework for guiding such reform. There has been very little research on whether human rights processes can actually achieve such aims, however. This paper responds to this knowledge gap. It explores how one human rights mechanism—the “parliamentary rights scrutiny process”—deals with alcohol and other drugs. We consider how four Australian parliaments scrutinized proposed new laws that would deal with alcohol and other drugs for their human rights “compatibility.” We find that laws that would limit the rights of people who use alcohol and other drugs were routinely seen as justifiable on the basis that alcohol and other drugs were inherently “unsafe.” Crucially, safety was conceptualized in a gender-neutral way, without regard to the potential role of gender, including specific masculinities, in the production of phenomena such as family violence and sexual violence and other public safety problems. Instead, such problems were regularly constituted as consequences, simply, of alcohol or other drug consumption. In making this argument, we build on the pioneering work of David Moore and colleagues (e.g., 2020). Their work asks important questions about how the causes of violence are constituted across different settings, including research and policy. Drawing on ideas from scholars such as Carol Bacchi and John Law, they identify “gendering practices” and “collateral realities” in research and policy on violence, in which the role of men and masculinities are routinely obscured, displaced or rendered invisible. We find similar problems underway within human rights law. In highlighting these gendering practices and collateral realities, we aim to draw attention to the limitations of some human rights processes and the need for more work in this area.

The Impact of State Drug Laws on High School Completion and College Enrollment for Latino Young Men

Although college enrollment and completion rates have increased over the past 30 years, access to higher education has not been uniform across racial groups. In addition to racial gaps, differences in tertiary education outcomes exist by gender. Gender gaps in college enrollment are larger in the Latinx community than in other racial or ethnic groups. In this paper, we use the October Current Population Survey (CPS) supplements for the years 1984–1992 and state and federal drug laws to measure the impact of the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act on the likelihood of college enrollment for young Latino men. Following the passage of the federal law, some states changed their drug laws around marijuana and cocaine possession and distribution. We use this variation in state law in order to explore whether states that have more lenient marijuana and cocaine laws also have a higher likelihood of college enrollment. We find that there was a four percentage point decline in both the likelihood of high school completion and that of college enrollment for Latinx men after the passage of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. Findings have implications for modifications to state drug laws and addressing the ways in which these laws impact educational attainment for students underrepresented in higher education.

Atuação de adolescentes no tráfico de drogas: uma revisão narrativa da literatura/Action adolescents in drug trafficking: a narrative literature review

Introdução: O envolvimento de adolescentes no tráfico de drogas se situa na ambiguidade jurídica entre o previsto nas Leis de drogas e nos Decretos que homologam a Convenção 182 da Organização Internacional do Trabalho. Objetivo: Identificar e apresentar quais as dimensões acerca das relações de adolescentes com o tráfico de drogas têm sido enfatizadas na literatura científica, técnica e legislativa brasileira. Método: Realizada revisão narrativa da literatura científica recente, em que se procedeu leitura exaustiva dos artigos selecionados e se identificaram três categorias temáticas emergentes. Foram previamente definidos, marcos legais, propostos como ferramentas teóricas de análise dos dados, conjuntamente com documentos técnicos pertinentes. Resultados e Discussão: Adolescentes em cumprimento de medida socioeducativa por tráfico de drogas no Brasil são meninos negros, de baixa escolaridade, residindo com suas mães em territórios de baixa renda, caracterizados por relações cotidianas permeadas pela violência, escassez de equipamentos públicos e de oportunidades de trabalho. Três dimensões foram identificadas e problematizadas: as determinações sociais nos processos saúde-adoecimento: dos riscos da psiquiatrização ao extermínio da juventude; medidas socioeducativas: criminalização da pobreza, seletividade penal e fracasso do sistema; e o trabalho: sobrevivência, pertença e exploração. Conclusão: Não há, na literatura científica, uma evidente problematização do envolvimento do tráfico de drogas, enquanto exploração do trabalho infantil, mas produções técnicas têm explicitado tal ambivalência legal no Brasil, subsidiando a sustentação de ações e novas investigações acerca da temática. A atual política sobre drogas favorece a sustentação da relação perversa entre o tráfico e o Estado, no estabelecimento de uma gestão urbana atravessada pelo comércio ilícito de drogas, que diferencia socialmente territórios e subjetividades, impactando a doutrina da proteção integral.Palavras-chave: Adolescente. Tráfico de Drogas. Trabalho Infantil. Terapia Ocupacional Abstract Introduction: The involvement of adolescents in drug trafficking lies in the legal ambiguity between the provisions of the Drug Laws and the Decrees that ratify Convention 182 of the International Labor Organization. Objective: Identifying and presenting the dimensions of the relationship between adolescents and drug trafficking have been emphasized in Brazilian scientific literature technical and legislative. Method: A narrative review of recent scientific literature was carried out, in which the selected articles were thoroughly read, and three emerging thematic categories were identified. Legal frameworks proposed as theoretical tools for data analysis were previously defined, together with relevant technical documents. Results and Discussion: Adolescents in compliance with a socio-educational measure for drug trafficking in Brazil are black boys, with low schooling, living with their mothers in low-income territories, characterized by daily relationships permeated by violence, scarcity of public facilities and opportunities for job. Three dimensions were identified and problematized: social determinations in health-illness processes: from the risks of psychiatrization to the extermination of youth; socio-educational measures: criminalization of poverty, criminal selectivity and failure of the system; work: survival, belonging and exploitation. Conclusion: There is no evident problematization in the scientific literature of the involvement of drug trafficking while the exploitation of child labor, but technical productions have spelled out such legal ambivalence in Brazil, supporting the support of actions and new investigations on the subject. The current drug policy favors the support of the perverse relationship between trafficking and the State, in the establishment of an urban management crossed by the illicit drug trade that socially differentiates territories and subjectivities, impacting the doctrine of integral protection.Keywords: Adolescent. Drug Trafficking. Child Labor. Occupational Therapy ResumenIntroducción: La participación de los adolescentes en el tráfico de drogas radica en la ambigüedad jurídica entre las disposiciones de las Leyes de Drogas y los Decretos que ratifican el Convenio 182 de la Organización Internacional del Trabajo. Objetivo: Identificar y presentar las dimensiones de la relación entre los adolescentes y el narcotráfico ha sido enfatizado en la literatura científica brasileña técnico y legislativo. Método: Se realizó una revisión narrativa de la literatura científica reciente, en la que se leyeron con detenimiento los artículos seleccionados y se identificaron tres categorías temáticas emergentes. Previamente se definieron los marcos legales propuestos como herramientas teóricas para el análisis de datos, junto con los documentos técnicos relevantes. Resultados y Discusión: Los adolescentes en cumplimiento de una medida socioeducativa para el narcotráfico en Brasil son niños negros, con baja escolaridad, que viven con sus madres en territorios de bajos ingresos, caracterizados por relaciones cotidianas permeadas por la violencia, escasez de instalaciones y oportunidades públicas. por trabajo. Se identificaron y problematizaron tres dimensiones: determinaciones sociales en los procesos salud-enfermedad: desde los riesgos de la psiquiatrización hasta el exterminio de la juventud; medidas socioeducativas: criminalización de la pobreza, selectividad criminal y fracaso del sistema; trabajo: supervivencia, pertenencia y explotación. Conclusión: En la literatura científica, no hay una problematización evidente de la participación del narcotráfico en la explotación del trabajo infantil, pero las producciones técnicas han expresado tal ambivalencia jurídica en Brasil, apoyando el apoyo de acciones y nuevas investigaciones sobre el tema. La actual política de drogas favorece el sustento de la relación perversa entre el tráfico y el Estado, en el establecimiento de una gestión urbana atravesada por el tráfico ilícito de drogas que diferencia socialmente territorios y subjetividades, impactando la doctrina de la protección integral.Palabras clave: Adolescente. Tráfico de Drogas. Trabajo Infantil. Terapia Ocupacional

A History of Early Drug Sentences in California

The early history of drug sentences in California provides a quintessential example of structural racism in law. The demands of white voters to escalate penalties for drug crimes followed a pattern of collective myth making and value signaling that insisted opiates, cocaine, and cannabis were extremely dangerous, led to other crime, and prevalently were used and sold by immigrants and other despised groups. Public pressure for more severe punishment seemed to peak twice, in the 1920s and 1950s, in response to exaggerated threats such as “dope peddlers” targeting children and profitable “dope rings” controlled by subversive foreigners. Amplified by a self-seeking, robust news media and a multitude of fraternal, civic, and religious organizations, the frightful construction of illicit drugs seemed to demand a simple and uncompromising response: to punish drug users harder by increasing terms of incarceration. But white voters always understood that drug laws targeted immigrants and communities of color, and law enforcers used extreme penalties as leverage to pursue corrupt and racist prerogatives unrelated to reducing drug use. Drug penalties in California were developed over many decades with almost extreme levels of participation by antidrug activists and law enforcers. Appearing somehow scientific, the resulting arrays of penalties implied that the cruelest sentences were reserved for the truly blameworthy, when in fact they were reserved for the marginalized. Moreover, several legal conventions born of these penalty structures—mandatory minimums, the distinction between user and seller, punishment of addiction itself, and presumptions arising from drug quantities—still exacerbate the oppressive nature of drug statutes.

A Process Evaluation of San Francisco’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program

In 2016, San Francisco (SF) implemented the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, a harm reduction–based pre-booking diversion system for people who violate drug laws and/or are engaged in sex work. LEAD is set apart from existing diversion programs, as it uses police as point of entry. Prior LEAD studies indicate some success in reducing recidivism and improving life outcomes. However, less is known about program implementation, including barriers and facilitators. Relying on policy documents, interviews, and focus groups, this study describes the LEAD SF’s development, operations, adaptations, and challenges. It also identifies the unique context of LEAD SF that led to implementation barriers and facilitators. Results show that SF experienced success in collaboration, relationship building, and client connections to services but experienced challenges in securing and maintaining police officer buy-in and keeping clear and open lines of communication regarding LEAD goals, objectives, policies, and procedures. This led to the termination of LEAD SF in 2020.

Crooked limbs

This chapter describes thalidomide embryopathy as a paradigm of exogenous malformation. Previously, 1 in 1000 newborns had a limb anomaly, dreaded by agrarian societies that valued their offspring according to their bodily fitness. During the Middle Ages, malformations were attributed to cohabitation with animals or maternal imagination. Thalidomide, produced by the German company Chemie Grünenthal, was a popular sleeping pill marketed in Germany from 1957, in Britain from 1958, and in many other countries. With a 9-month delay and until 1962, over 10,000 severely malformed infants were born worldwide, the most frequent defects being limb reductions, ear and eye anomalies, and heart malformations. The drug’s toxicity was species specific and acted from 24 to 33 days after fertilization, when many women did not yet know they were pregnant. The epidemic was the greatest disaster in the history of pharmacology, and revealed severe shortcomings in German drug legislation. In the aftermath of this catastrophe, drug laws were tightened and patient safety has improved. The price was that in European countries, it became difficult to develop new drugs for infants.

Turning Over a New Leaf: A Subnational Analysis of ‘Coca Yes, Cocaine No’ in Bolivia

International pressure to suppress cocaine trafficking sustained decades of harsh drug laws in Bolivia against cocaleros (coca producers), thus affecting coca production for traditional consumption and for manufacturing illicit cocaine. These harsh drug laws caused social unrest in cocalero communities outside traditional coca zones. President Evo Morales, leader of the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement toward Socialism, MAS) party, implemented ‘Coca Yes, Cocaine No’ (CYCN), a harm-reduction strategy that authorised ‘non-traditional’ farmers to cultivate legal coca and self-police production. This article compares CYCN outcomes in Bolivia's traditional and non-traditional coca regions and finds that strong cocalero organisations were vital to CYCN success in non-traditional areas. In contrast, organised resistance in traditional zones restricted CYCN success and added to regime instability in the lead-up to Morales’ forced resignation in 2019. Hence, while Morales harnessed state power to change drug policy, he was constrained by the rural grassroots organisations that brought him to power.

Psychedelic drug research will increase globally

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.