The processes of reform in Victoria’s alcohol and other drug sector, 2011-2014

This paper explores issues and concerns related to the 2014 alcohol and other drug sector recommissioning process in Victoria. Overview In mid-2014, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association approached the Drug Policy Modelling Program, at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales to undertake a project exploring and describing issues and concerns related to the 2014 alcohol and other drug sector recommissioning process in Victoria. This project commenced in July 2014 and concluded in November 2014. Policy documents and allied material were reviewed, and 20 stakeholders from 18 alcohol and other drug sector organisations were consulted. These stakeholders were CEOs/senior managers during the reform period

Salt Lake City, Utah Profile of Drug Indicators

The following profile contains information on demographics, political figures, funding, programs, crime, drug use, drug trafficking, and enforcement statistics

Drug Policy Alternatives- A Response from the Bench

The article begins by discussing the tremendous financial and social cost incurred by drug use and regulation. It then discusses some positive efforts to deal with the problem such as legalization and decriminalization. The article then states that it will take time to figure out the extent of legalization needed, and until that is figured out we need to focus efforts on harm reduction. The article then addresses whether the constitution bans drugs at all. Finally, the article concludes by stating that we can never hope to fully eliminate drug use, we can only hope to contain it, and gives some suggestions that will begin the path to controlling drug use

National drug policy 2015 to 2020

Overview Over a lifetime, 44 percent of New Zealanders will try an illegal drug and 93 percent will drink alcohol.  While not every instance of alcohol and other drug use is harmful, the effects of these substances can be significant. They contribute to immediate harms such as car crashes, as well as long term harm such as health conditions and family breakdown.  Alcohol and other drug issues are closely intertwined with social factors such as income, employment, housing and education.  This means that effective government intervention requires a cross-agency response.  The National Drug Policy 2015 – 2020 is the guiding document for policies and practices responding to alcohol and other drug issues.  The Government will use the Policy to prioritise resources and assess the effectiveness of the actions taken by agencies and front-line services. The Policy aims to guide decision-making by local services, communities and NGOs, to improve collaboration and maximise the effectiveness of the system as a whole.  To do this, the Policy sets a shared goal, objectives, strategies and priorities for action over the next five years

TOWARDS A COMPASSIONATE AND COST-EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICY: A FORUM ON THE IMPACT OF DRUG POLICY ON THE JUSTICE SYSTEM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

This is a transcript from the the first of three panels on drug policy and the impact of drug policy on the justice system and human rights. Don Johnson of the New York Society for Ethical Culture and Tom Haines the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Partnership for Responsible Drug Information introduced the moderator Kathy Rocklen. Judge Sweet of the Southern District of New York is joined by experts on drug policy from the medical and academic worlds, private foundations and other interested organizations, who will give their views on the impact of drug policy on the justice system and on human rights. Judge Sweet believes the current policy of criminalizing the use and the commerce of particular mind-altering substances has failed of its purposes, has weakened the justice system, and impinged upon human rights. Judge Sweet believes that criminal sanctions should be removed and our society should be educated about the use of drugs, all drugs, and that to the extent that drugs create a problem for the society, that problem be considered an issue of public health. Judge Sweet’s remarks are followed by a question and answer period in which panelists and the audience will participate, as well. The panelists are Ernest Drucker, Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York; Julie Stewart, who is the founder and president of Families Against Mandatory Minimum; Richard Stratton, the editor-in-chief of “Prison Life” magazine; and Carol J. Weiss, addiction psychiatrist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health at Cornell Medical Center

Optimal Drug Policy in Low-Income Neighborhoods

Part of the debate over the control of drug activity in cities is concerned with the effectiveness of implementing demand- versus supply-side drug policies. This paper is motivated by the relative lack of research providing formal economic underpinning for the implementation of either policy. We construct a simple model of drug activity, in which the drug price and the distribution of population in a community are determined according to a career choice rule and a predetermined drug demand. Three potential government objectives are considered. We find that both demand- and supply-side policies have theoretical support under different community conditions. While the demand-side policy discourages active drug sellers, the supply-side policy has an additional drug-dealing replacement effect on inducing potential entry of drug dealers. In low-income neighborhoods, demand-side policy is more effective if the drug problem is more sever or if the government objective is to deter dealer entry or to promote community's aggregate income rather than minimizing active drug selling.