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1 – 10 of over 1000Aims This paper examines (a) the relationship between notifications to the Home Office Addicts Index and deaths of notified addicts, and (b) the survival rates of such addicts…
Abstract
Aims This paper examines (a) the relationship between notifications to the Home Office Addicts Index and deaths of notified addicts, and (b) the survival rates of such addicts.Design and participants Data came from the Home Office Addicts Index covering (a) notifications of opiate and cocaine addicts seeking treatment in the UK between 1966 and 1996, and (b) deaths of notified addicts between 1967 and 1996.Measurement Date of first notification; date of death; numbers of notifications in different times.Findings The proportion of addicts dying compared to the number of new notifications 20 years earlier rose from 2 to 7 in 10 between 1988 and 1993. There is constancy in the relationship between numbers of death and new notifications for up to 10 years before death. The proportion of the cumulative notified population dying between 1985 and 1993 remained consistent at 0.6% or 0.7%. The average length of time between first notification and death increased by six months between 1985‐90 and 1991‐96. Whilst the absolute number of deaths rose between 1984 and 1993, the proportion of newly notified addicts dying each year fell from 2.1% to 0.5%.Conclusions An increase in notifications was directly associated with a proportionate increase in addict deaths. One can expect the number of serious‐end drug users who die to increase with time, especially given the continuing role played by opiates ‐ chiefly heroin and methadone ‐ and increasingly cocaine in drug‐related deaths. At the same time, one can expect such individuals to survive for longer periods than did addicts in past decades.
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This article summarises different approaches to defining what constitutes a drug‐related death (DRDs) and how they can be classified. DRDs usually fall into two broad categories…
Abstract
This article summarises different approaches to defining what constitutes a drug‐related death (DRDs) and how they can be classified. DRDs usually fall into two broad categories: (a) those directly attributable to the consumption of drugs (both illegal and licit) eg. overdose and poisoning, and (b) indirect ‐ those which occur as a consequence of having a drug habit that exposes individuals to the risk of dying in some other way, eg. blood‐borne infections, accidents. Most attention is currently given to direct or ‘acute’ DRDs rather than the long‐term consequences of drug abuse. Problems associated with accurately deriving DRD statistics are outlined. Despite their limitations, such information is essential for identifying issues related to drug use and measuring progress against targets set for reducing DRDs.
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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the history of relevant legislation before and after the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the history of relevant legislation before and after the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA).
Design/methodology/approach
A chronological narrative of laws and reports with concluding discussion.
Findings
That UK legislators have not made use of the evidence base available to them and have favoured enforcement rather than treatment approaches. That current UK practice has exacerbated not contain the use of and harms caused by illegal drugs.
Research limitations/implications
The paper does not cover all relevant documents, especially those from non-governmental sources.
Practical implications
The practical implications centre on the failure of consecutive governments to reflect on and review the impact of current legislation, especially on people who use drugs.
Social implications
That the situations of people who use drugs are currently ignored by the government and those proven responses which save lives and reduce harm are rejected.
Originality/value
The paper attempts to show the historical contexts of control and dangerousness of which the MDA is one instrument.
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Other than libraries I have held office in. Why draw on memories of libraries used (with one exception) long ago? To recall methods of service then found perfect; which, to me…
Abstract
Other than libraries I have held office in. Why draw on memories of libraries used (with one exception) long ago? To recall methods of service then found perfect; which, to me, would be perfect today. Any library giving the required knowledge quickly is modern, of this very day that is, even were it founded centuries ago. A library's power is in its stock, the modernity of that: “something evermore about to be”: and in its exposition and handling of that stock. I have known quite new libraries decrepit with age.
Min Zhao, Wei Hao, Desen Yang, Shuiyuan Xiao, Lingjiang Li, Yalin Zhang, Weiwen Chen, Li Ping, Kai Deng and Xiaoxiong Deng
One hundred and seventy‐eight heroin addicts in reformatory school were sent to one of two rehabilitation treatments: reform through education and labour and therapeutic community…
Abstract
One hundred and seventy‐eight heroin addicts in reformatory school were sent to one of two rehabilitation treatments: reform through education and labour and therapeutic community (TC)‐based rehabilitation programme. After six months of being discharged, pre‐ and post‐treatment scores on the Addiction Severity Index were compared, and relapse related factors were investigated. Results indicated improvements in both treatments, with the TC‐based rehabilitation programme showing superior improvement overall. Results support the efficacy of the TC‐based rehabilitation programme proving it to be better than reform through labour and education. It is suggested that psychosocial intervention and relapse prevention should be emphasised in the treatment of drug dependence.
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Neena Sondhi and Himanshu Joshi
This study aims to segment and profile young internet addicts in India and examine their state of well-being.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to segment and profile young internet addicts in India and examine their state of well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
Young’s Internet Addiction Test was adapted to identify and profile cohorts among the internet addicts. Diener’s satisfaction with life scale was used to measure the well-being. Convenience sampling was used to conduct an online survey and obtain a representative sample of 320 urban internet users. A mixed-method approach was deployed and exploratory factor analysis followed by k-means cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were used to analyse the quantitative data.
Findings
Data analysis revealed the existence of three distinct clusters: non-addicts (135), potential internet addicts (n = 128) and addicts (n = 57). Smartphones and tablets were the primary devices for accessing the internet. Wi-Fi and data cards were used by all groups for internet browsing, messaging and visiting social networking sites. The usage hours were higher for the potential internet addicts and internet addicts. These groups also faced considerable internal conflict and dissonance in their inability to control their addictive behaviour and online cravings. The non-addicts were more satisfied with their life conditions and better adjusted than the other two groups.
Research limitations/implications
The incidence of diverse internet addicted groups needs to be validated through a larger sample in other regions and geographies. There is also a dire need to study other vulnerable groups, such as internet-savvy adolescents.
Originality/value
The study found the existence of well-defined segments and identified unique areas of conflict for each group, which subsequently affected their sense of well-being.
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Barbara Francioni, Ilaria Curina, Sabrina M. Hegner and Marco Cioppi
This paper aims to empirically test the influence of brand characteristics on brand addiction, as well as the consumers’ behaviors caused by this construct.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically test the influence of brand characteristics on brand addiction, as well as the consumers’ behaviors caused by this construct.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a Web-based self-completion survey by achieving a total of 529 completed surveys. Then, structural equation modeling has been employed by using SPSS AMOS.
Findings
Results highlighted how the brand characteristics of self-expressiveness, innovativeness and authenticity have a positive influence on brand addiction; brand addiction leads consumers to feel emotions of irritability and to adopt obsessive and compulsive behaviors toward the brand.
Research limitations/implications
Even if the choice of using a survey’s sample composed of students attending an Italian University ensures good internal validity of research (owing to the homogeneous character), the results are not generalizable (except for this population group).
Practical implications
The study identified two different spheres of brand addiction (one connected to the brand’s characteristics and the other to the consumers’ psychological-behavioral outcomes), along with possible strategies firms could adopt to strengthen the possibilities to transform their customers into addicted ones and to avoid/reduce the negative consequences deriving from brand addiction.
Originality/value
The paper provides a response to the call for more studies into the brand addiction analysis by empirically testing possible antecedents and outcomes, thus enriching the existing quantitative research focused on this concept.
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Episodes of compulsive eating may lead to addiction. Changing relative prices does not always work for many food addicts turned overweight or obese individuals. This paper points…
Abstract
Purpose
Episodes of compulsive eating may lead to addiction. Changing relative prices does not always work for many food addicts turned overweight or obese individuals. This paper points to when such situations may arise and how they can be remedied.
Design/methodology/approach
We modify the standard neoclassical economics model assumption of indifference curves being convex to the origin. It becomes violated in situations when compulsive eaters become food addicts. As a result of that, the assumption of the concave (quasi-concave) utility function is violated too. We also introduce the possibility that compulsive eaters may have stable but nonconstant preferences.
Findings
Most important finding of our model is that a smooth dynamic path to addiction, caused by habit, disappears. Hence, the ability for smooth adjustment to relative price changes due to policies targeting obesity may not be applicable for a compulsive addict. We postulate the existence of thresholds past in which irreversible harm to addicted overeaters may occur. Reaching such states implies that no economic tools at our disposal could reverse the harm, which, in turn, deem that many policies directed at altering relative prices are ineffective in correcting overeating addiction and its consequences.
Social implications
Even if we believe in consumer sovereignty, it is possible to shape consumer behavior via policy actions, including the behavior of extremum seekers turned addicts. The public policy of obesity should consider, in this case, its social cost.
Originality/value
No prior research has considered food addiction in light of compulsive eating caused by extremum-seeking behavior. Addiction correcting food policies always relied on either rational or myopic addiction models.
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