Research Updates – W/C 06/06/2022

Transforming the drug market to a health and human rights centred approach

This study published in Drug Science shows some implications associated with a transformation of the recreational drug market that is focused on self-supply of different categories of drugs. The paper addresses the concepts of farmability, the feasibility of cultivating relevant plants and fungi, and pharmability, the feasibility of refining drugs by chemical synthesis, purification etc. Access the paper here.

The importance of PEOPLE who use drugs within drug policy reform debates

An article published in The International Journal of Drug Policy explores which values people who use drugs hold surrounding drug use and drug policy, and what factors predict these values. Authors used the Drug Policy Voices survey to gather views. Access the paper here.

Drug Consumption Rooms and public health policy: Perspectives of Scottish strategic decision-makers

This paper reports on a national, qualitative study of key decision-makers in both local and national roles across Scotland which explored views on the political barriers and enablers to the introduction of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCR). Findings included that Scottish decision-makers are strongly supportive of DCR adoption, however, they remain unclear as to the legal and political mechanisms that would make this possible. View the full paper here.

The characteristics of people who inject drugs in the United Kingdom: Changes in age, duration and incidence of injecting 1980-2019

This paper describes changes in the characteristics of people injecting drugs in the UK between 1980-2019. Authors found that in the 1980s and 1990s large cohorts started injecting psychoactive drugs, with many still injecting today, however relatively few people have started in more recent years. This has led to changes in the population injecting drugs, including an older average age and longer injecting histories. Read the paper here.

A longitudinal study of behavioural outcomes following visit to the Boom Festival 2018 drug checking service

A paper published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, tested the validity of behavioural intention measures against reports of actual behaviour and the adoption of protective behavioural strategies of individuals who used a drug checking service at the Boom Festival in 2018. Results support the hypothesis that drug checking services promote the adoption of safer drug use practices. Access the paper here.