Drug Related Harm (drug + relate_harm)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A community development approach to deal with public drug use in Box Hill

DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 1 2007
NEIL ROGERS
Abstract The use of alcohol and other drugs in public space is one that generates much heat in the public discourse and in the media. Too often the responses called for to reduce the problems of public amenity involve punitive policing and other responses that aim to engineer (mostly) young people out of these public spaces. Often local retailers are a key stakeholder group calling loudest for punitive action. In this Harm Reduction Digest Rogers and Anderson describe a community development approach taken to address these problems in Box Hill in the City of Whitehorse, near Melbourne. This approach which aimed to develop ,bridging social capital' between community retailers and other stakeholders in the area appears to have been effective in reducing harm associated with public drug use. Moreover these changes have become institutionalised and the approach has been expanded to address other public amenity problems in the area. It is a very nice example of how drug related harm can be reduced by grass roots networks of local councils, business people, law enforcement and health and welfare service providers to address these issues. [source]


Putting harm reduction into an adolescent context

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 1 2001
YA Bonomo
Abstract: Drug use is now widespread amongst Australian youth. Substance abuse and dependence are becoming increasingly significant health problems. Approximately 50% of 17-year-old Australians report regular consumption of alcohol and nearly 30% report tobacco smoking. The age of onset of substance use is reported to be decreasing. Between 1993 and 1995 the proportion of heroin users who had used the drug before the age of 16 years increased from 2% to 14%. The debate about youth substance use tends to be polarized between the views of Zero Tolerance and Legalization of drugs. The harm reduction approach spans between these two extremes. Examples of harm reduction strategies, such as education campaigns on safe injecting and needle exchange programs, have been effective in curbing the spread of blood-borne viruses such as HIV amongst intravenous drug using youth. The harm reduction approach, taking social context and developmental stage of the individual into account, may also be applied to adolescents at the less extreme end of the substance use spectrum. It is proposed that the harm reduction framework used in this way enables a rational, relevant and consistent response to contemporary youth substance use, aiming to minimize drug related harm. [source]


The Simple Analytics of Illicit Drug Policy

THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2008
D. P. Doessel
The impact of alternative drug policy objectives, specifically harm reduction/harm minimisation or prohibition, is unclear. The literature is confusing. This article conceptualises the causal connection between drug consumption and health harm (or reduced health status) then clarifies the implication of ,drug related harm'. By applying some geometrical tools from economics, the choice of policy objective is analysed. The preferences of policy advocates are then incorporated. Policy advocates are conceived as arguing that decision-makers and consumers should adopt their preferences between drugs and health harm. With this approach, the difference between alternative drug policies, in particular prohibition and harm minimisation/reduction, is demonstrated. [source]


Uncertain risks of drug related harms, the precautionary principle and limitations of meta-analysis

BRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
JM Ritter Editor-in-Chief British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
First page of article [source]