The development of an early warning system to detect trends in illicit drug use in Australia: The illicit drug reporting-system

Appropriate ways to monitor the availability and use of illicit drugs were examined. Four methods were tested concurrently: (1) a quantitative survey of injecting drug users, (2) a qualitative key informant study of illicit drug users and professionals working in the drug field, (3) examination of existing sources of survey, health and law enforcement data and (4) an ethnographic study of a high risk group of illicit drug users. The first three methods were recommended for inclusion in an ongoing national monitoring system, enabling the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data on a range of illicit drugs in a relatively brief, quick and cost-effective manner. A degree of convergent validity was also noted among these methods, improving the degree of confidence in drug trends. The importance of injecting drug users as a sentinel population of illicit drug users was highlighted, along with optimal methods for qualitative research.

Reducing the harms caused by cannabis use: the policy debate in Australia

The debate about cannabis policy in Australia has revolved around the harms that cannabis causes to users and the community, on the one hand, and the harms that are caused by the prohibition of its use, on the other. This paper assesses evidence on: (1) the harms caused to users and the community by cannabis use (derived from the international scientific literature) and (2) the harms that arise from prohibition (as reflected in Australian research). The most probable harms caused by cannabis use include: an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents; respiratory disease; dependence; adverse effects on adolescent development; and the exacerbation of psychosis. The harms of the current prohibition on cannabis use policy are less tangible but probably include: the creation of a large blackmarket; disrespect for a widely broken law; harms to the reputation of the unlucky few cannabis users who are caught and prosecuted; lack of access to cannabis for medical uses; and an inefficient use of law enforcement resources. Cannabis policy unavoidably involves trade offs between competing values that should be made by the political process. Australian cannabis policy has converged on a solution which continues to prohibit cannabis but reduces the severity of penalties for cannabis use by either removing criminal penalties or diverting first time cannabis offenders into treatment and education. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patenting genetic materials' unresolved issues and promoting competition in biotechnology

This paper addresses the broader unresolved issues posed by the patenting of genetic materials that are central to dealing with the tension between the patenting and competition schemes, namely distinguishing between what has already been 'discovered' and economically useful innovations (including the thresholds for novelty and non-obviousness), the exclusion of some subject matter from patenting and the restrictions on access to genetic resources to facilitate further innovation. The possible solutions of raising the threshold patenting standards, taking advantage of international intellectual property law developments and compulsory licensing are examined as ways to ameliorate the possibly detrimental consequences of current genetic material patenting practices. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Illicit Opiate Abuse

Illicit opiate use, especially injected drugs, contributes to premature mortality and morbidity in many developed and developing societies. The economic costs of illicit drug use are substantial. Fatal overdoses and HIV/AIDS resulting from sharing dirty needles and injecting equipment are major contributors to mortality and morbidity. Illicit opioid use accounted for 0.7 percent of global disability–adjusted life years in 2000. An estimated 15.3 million people, or 0.4 percent of the world population ages 15 to 64, used illicit opioids in 2002, with more than half using heroin and the rest using opium or diverted pharmaceuticals such as buprenorphine, methadone, or morphine. The most popular interventions for illicit opioid dependence in many developed societies have been law enforcement efforts to interdict the drug supply and enforce legal sanctions against drug use. One consequence has been that illicit opioid users have been exposed to the least effective intervention: imprisonment for drug or property offenses. The most effective intervention to reduce blood–borne virus infection resulting from illicit drug injections is provision of clean injecting equipment to users. This intervention has been widely supported in developed countries, but less so in developing countries. In addition, vaccinations are effective against hepatitis B. In treatment settings, the most popular interventions have been detoxification and drug–free treatment, which has proven the least productive in retaining opioid–dependent people in treatment. Opioid agonists have a niche role in treatment of opioid dependence, especially if their efficacy improves with development of long–acting injectable forms of the drug.

Conclusions

The researchers focussed on the impact of the heroin shortage that occurred in early 2001 on three Australian jurisdictions, namely NSW, Vic and SA. They interviewed 82 heroin dependent heroin users and 172 key informants from health and law enforcement agencies. They also examined a range of indicator data such as drug seizures, drug-related arrests, deaths related to drug use, emergency department admissions for overdose or drug induced psychosis , calls to telephone help lines about drug use, needles distributed for drug use, and notifications about blood borne diseases. In addition a range of documentation, in particular from the law enforcement sector, was examined.

Harm minimization in a prohibition context - Australia

Australia ranks high internationally in the prevalence of cannabis and other illicit drug use, with the prevalence of all illicit drug use increasing since the 1970s. There are two distinctive features associated with harms from injecting drug use-high rates of death from heroin overdose and low rates of HIV infection. Australia has largely avoided a punitive and moralistic drug policy, developing instead harm minimization strategies and a robust treatment framework embedded in a strong law enforcement regime. Two illustrations of Australian drug policy are presented: legislation that provides for the expiation of simple cannabis offences by payment of a fine and the widespread implementation of agonist maintenance treatment for heroin dependence.