Main description:

Illegal psychoactive substances and illicit prescription drugs are currently used on a daily basis all over the world. Affecting public health and social welfare, illicit drug use is linked to disease, disability, and social problems. Faced with an increase in usage, national and global policymakers are turning to addiction science for guidance on how to create evidence-based drug policy.

Drug Policy and the Public Good is an objective analytical basis on which to build global drug policies. It presents the accumulated scientific knowledge on drug use in relation to policy development on a national and international level. By also revealing new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of drug misuse, it questions existing regulations and highlights the growing need for evidence-based, realistic, and coordinated drug policy.

A critical review of cumulative scientific evidence, Drug Policy and the Public Good discusses four areas of drug policy; primary prevention programs in schools and other settings; supply reduction programs, including legal enforcement and drug interdiction; treatment interventions and harm reduction approaches; and control of the legal market through prescription drug regimes. In addition, it analyses the current state of global drug policy, and advocates improvements in the drafting
of public health policy.

Drug Policy and the Public Good is a global source of information and inspiration for policymakers involved in public health and social welfare. Presenting new research on illicit and prescription drug use, it is also an essential tool for academics, and a significant contribution to the translation of addiction research into effective drug policy.

Contents:

Section 1: Introduction
1: Framing the issues
2: Matters of substance
Section 2: Drug epidemiology and drug markets
3: Drug use in global perspective
4: Harms associated with illicit drug use
5: Illegal markets: the economics and social costs of drug distribution
6: The legal market: prescription and diversion of psychopharmaceuticals
Section 3: The evidence base for drug policy: research on strategies and interventions
7: Strategies and interventions to reduce drug use and related harm: section overview
8: Preventing illicit drug use by young people
9: Health and social services for drug users
10: Supply control for illegal markets
11: Criminalization and decriminalization of drug possession
12: Managing psychopharmaceutical drugs under prescription regimes
Section 4: The policy arena
13: Drug policy and control at the international level
14: Legalizing the supply of cannabis
15: Treatment systems for drug users
Section 5: Synthesis and conclusions
16: Summary and conclusions