Opiates crime

Drug addiction is defined as a syndrome in which drug use (e.g., psychostimulants, opiates, alcohol) pervades all life activities of the user. Life becomes governed by the drug and the addicted patient can lose social compatibility (e.g., loss of partner and friends, loss of job, crime). Behavioral characteristics of this syndrome are compulsive drug use, craving, and chronic relapses that can occur even after years of abstinence. 

Ball J, Corty E, Bond H, et al The reduction of intravenous heroin use, non-opiate use and crime during methadone maintenance treatment further findings. NIDA Res Monogr 81 224-230, 1988a... 

Opiate abuse and dependence can exact a tremendous social toll. Abusers have difficulty holding jobs, are often divorced, and sometimes resort to crime to obtain either the drug or the money to buy it. Opiate abuse also has severe health consequences. Sharing needles is a common source of transmitting HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases. In addition, opiate abusers are prone to accidents and are often victims of crime. 

Reduced opiate misuse Reduced crime and imprisonment Reduced HiV-risk behaviours (injecting) improved quality of life Reduced death rate... 

In the reviews cited in this chapter there is often some breakdown of findings into those relating to heroin use, criminality, HIV-risk behaviours, social rehabilitation and nonopiate abuse. We have noted that crime was one of the earliest indicators in methadone treatment, while the wider range of outcomes is formalized in drug misuse rating instruments such as the Opiate Treatment Index (Darke et al. 1992a). The main areas in which methadone treatment has been found to be of substantial benefit are indicated in Table 1.3. 

This was derived from an estimate of the total number of drug users in the Russian Federation of 2.3 million (UNODCCP, Country Profile on Drugs and Crime in the Russian Federation, 2002) and estimates of the proportion of registered opiate users among all registered drug users. 

Researchers have found strong associations between opiate addiction and theft. Opiate addicts steal to obtain greater amounts and quality of drug. The goal of many researchers and drug treatment programs is to not only to treat the opiate addiction problem of the individual but also to reduce the amount of theft and other crimes associated with this problem. 

Opioids (heroin) are frequently used in combination with cocaine (speedball) by persons generally involved in crime. Early death may occur as a result of their use. Heroin addicts acquire bacterial infections producing skin abscesses, pulmonary infections, endocarditis, viral hepatitis, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). There is a range of treatment options for heroin addiction, including medication and behavioral therapies. Methadone, a synthetic opiate medication, blocks the effects of heroin its results are encouraging. 

Opium poppy Papaver somniferum L., Papaveraceae) is one of the most important medicinal plants and has been cultivated since early centuries. Opium, the dried cytoplasm of a specialized internal secretory system called the laticifer, is normally collected from the unripe capsule. It is the source for the commercial production of medicinally important alkaloids, morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine and papaverine [130, 131], Fig. (61). Morphine, which has strong addictive property, is still the most effective analgesic for the treatment of mortal cancer patients in modem medicine. Codeine is commonly used as an antitussive. However, field cultivation of this plant has been limited since 1953 by the United Nations Opium Conference Protocol to prevent narcotic crimes. Therefore, establishing tissue culture technique for the production of morphinan alkaloids seems to be desirable not only for medicinal purpose but also for decreasing abuse of opiates. 

An offender whose crime is sale of a marijuana reefer is subject to the same term of imprisonment as the peddler selling heroin. In most cases the marijuana reefer is less harmful than any opiate. For one thing, while marijuana may provoke lawless behavior, it does not create physical dependence. This Commission makes a flat distinction between the two drugs and believes that the unlawful sale or possession of marijuana is a less serious offense than the unlawful sale or possession of an opiate. 

Heroin has a special place among the opiates, as most of our practical knowledge of drug dependence has come from experience with this drug. The behavior of heroin addicts attracts more attention than that of other drug users and is more likely to lead to crime and to committal for therapy. In most statistics, heroin users feature disproportionately in comparison to users of cannabis or benzodiazepines. Heroin users are in most cases polytoxicomanes, also using substances such as cannabis, codeine, cocaine, benzo-diazepines... 

Rajananda, V., et al. "An Evaluation of TLC Systems for Opiate Analysis." United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Bulletin on Narcotics (1985), -47. 

The most useful modality for dealing with the societal aspects of opiate abuse (as well as some of the medical and personal aspects) has been methadone maintenance. In consideration of the pharmacology of opiate dependence 4,17,45,58,87,88,131,140,172,185 Dole and Nyswander 51 proposed that maintenance of opiate addicts on relatively large doses of oral methadone would inhibit drug seeking behavior, "block" the subjective effects of parenteral heroin injection because of the tolerance induced, break the needle habit because of lack of reinforcement by this route, and make the addict more available for psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation, breaking the cycle of crime and punishment. Methadone maintenance has been... 

The UNODC projects that the number of users of synthetic drugs will soon exceed the combined number of cocaine and opiate users. Inappropriate and extended use of any controlled substance can lead to devastating health outcomes. Moreover, the illicit drug trade fuels crime and violence and can destabilize whole communities. Analytical techniques to accurately identify illegal drugs, precursor chemicals, and new drug derivatives are crucial to law enforcement efforts to curb the production, trafficking, and consumption of controlled substances. 

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