Policy issues abuse

Cherry, Andrew, Mary E. Dillon, and Douglas Rugh. Substance Abuse A Global View. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press, 2002. This collection has chapters by separate authors profiling the drug abuse situation in Burma, Canada, China, Colombia, England, Erance, India, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States. Eor each country there is a historical perspective, current developments, and policy issues. 

CESAR is located at the University of Maryland at College Park. Its twofold mission is to conduct research relevant to drug abuse policy issues and to inform policymakers, practitioners, and the general public... 

Check that there is an alcohol, drug and substance abuse policy that gives clear guidelines on handling the issues, dismissal, and rehabilitation. 

This chapter presents a representative selection of hooks, articles, and Web (Internet) documents relating to drug abuse and addiction, treatment, the war on drugs, drug policy, and related issues. Materials have been selected where possible to be accessible, substantial, and diverse in viewpoint. The bibliography is divided into four broad categories that are further divided into subtopics as follows ... 

Local legislation limits the availability and choice of opioids in many countries, but there can also be a reluctance to prescribe opioids for non-cancer pain due to the assumption that susceptible individuals may become addicted to these potent drugs through abuse. However, if opioids are prescribed on an individual basis with adequate support and education for the patients as well as their familes or carers, a great deal of unnecessary chronic pain and suffering can be prevented. But today there are still several unresolved clinical issues surrounding opioid use for which there is no data to construct a suitable policy. 

Later that year, the outgoing Ford Administration eased the previous federal stand against decriminalization, encouraging discussion of this issue for the first time in a policy statement from the Strategy Council on Drug Abuse. Ford s chief advisor on drugs, Robert DuPont, stated that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol or tobacco and urged decriminalization of limited home production. 

Clomethiazole should not be given long-term for alcohol withdrawal states or to those who continue to drink alcohol. Use for more than 9 days is not recommended. It has been said that if prescribers choose to manage detoxification at home, it should be done under very close supervision, issuing prescriptions for only one day s supply to ensure daily contact and to minimise tiie risk of abuse. And if the patient shows evidence of tolerance or clomethiazole dependency or of continuing to drink alcohol, the only safe policy is rapid admission for inpatient care. The manufacturer warns that alcohol combined with clomethiazole particularly in alcoholics with cirrhosis can lead to fatal respiratory depression even with short-term use. ... 

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