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A growing body of research finds a consistently negative relationship between medical cannabis access and aggregate measures of opioid use. Nothing is currently known about the types of opioids that are being most impacted by cannabis access. Using the Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) difference-in-differences (DID) estimator for the main analysis and data on all opioid shipments to every United States (US) pharmacy from 2006 to 2014, the authors found no evidence of overall change in the total number of morphine milligram equivalent (MME) units of opioids shipped to pharmacies, following the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries. However, across all opioids, the authors found a reduction in the highest MME dosage strengths (8.8% decrease in 50–89 MME doses and 11.3% decrease in 90+ MME doses). This decrease appears to be driven predominantly by commonly diverted opioids, where the authors found a reduction in the highest MME dosage strengths (12.2% in 50–89 MME doses and 13.8% in 90+ MME doses). Further, the authors see a 6.0% increase in low-to-moderate dose opioids (0–49 MMEs). This is consistent with patients using cannabis concomitantly with opioids in order to achieve a lower opioids dose.

Cannabis as a recreational drug is prohibited in Nigeria. Consequently, the open use of cannabis attracts both formal and informal sanctions. As such, there is much stigma on users' faces across social spaces. This has led to innovations in drug use. Recently, non-medical use of tramadol has been rising across each of the gender categories. This study aims to understand (1) tramadol use prompts, (2) the sudden surge in gendered recreational use of tramadol and (3) the gendered challenges of recreational tramadol use among Nigerian university students.

Data were collected between December 2021 and October 2022. The researcher conducted 20 semi-structured interviews, with participants chosen purposefully from acquaintances and others selected through chain referral. The selection criteria included knowledge of a particular tramadol tablet and willingness to participate. This study got ethical approval from the Anambra State Ministry of Health (Ref: MH/AWK/M/321/354) and oral consent was obtained before the interviews. The participants were assured of confidentiality. The interviews were conducted in English (the formal Nigerian language) and lasted between 30 and 65 min. The data collected were transcribed and coded manually, and themes generated.

Findings suggest that peer pressures accounted for entry-level drug use. However, cannabis-related stigma is attributed to the surge in tramadol use across gender categories. Furthermore, academic pressure and sexuality are major reasons for tramadol use. The challenges associated with tramadol use include headaches and addiction.

This study, to the best of the author’s knowledge, presents alternative data on the surge in tramadol use among Nigerian university students.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the implications of illicit market use for the value of Bitcoin in an event studies framework.

This study uses a data set of 58 state-level marijuana decriminalisation and legalisation bills and referenda in the USA in 2010–2022.

Decriminalisation is associated with a strong and consistent positive Bitcoin price response around the event, recreational legalisation induces a more ambiguous reaction and medical legalisation is found to have a negative albeit small impact on Bitcoin value. This suggests decriminalisation enhances shadow economy use value of Bitcoin, whereas recreational and medical legalisation are not consistently reducing illicit drug cryptomarket activity. The effects are robust to various estimation windows, in subsamples, and also when outliers, heavy tails, conditional heteroskedasticity and state size are accounted for.

New to the literature, the choice of US marijuana bills, specifically as sample events, is based on both theoretical and empirical grounds.

This study investigates the roles of consumption motives and ethical perspectives in explaining individuals’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the context of the recreational marijuana industry, often characterized as morally contentious.

The research was conducted in Canada, a country where recreational marijuana is legally permitted. Through an online survey, 411 participants were recruited, and the data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS4, employing ANOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques.

ANOVA analyses reveal significant differences across four ethical perspectives: absolutism, subjectivism, situationism and exceptionism. Conformity motives are most prominent in the exceptionism group, while expansion motives are more common in the subjectivism group. CSR perceptions vary among these groups, with situationism showing the most favorable views. In the absolutism group, expansion and social motives positively influence CSR perception, whereas conformity motives negatively impact it. Conversely, in the exceptionism and situationism groups, only expansion motives positively affect CSR perception. Unexpectedly, within the subjectivism group, only conformity motives have a significant negative effect on CSR perception.

This study examines a controversial industry and contributes to research on recreational marijuana by comparing consumer motives from ethical perspectives. Unlike previous research focused on consumption behaviors (e.g. use frequency), this study investigates how CSR perceptions are shaped by consumption motives and vary with ethical viewpoints.

The purpose of this study is to describe the oral health status of inmates. The secondary aims were to compare recidivists with first-time offenders and also study the impact of psychoactive drugs on the oral health status.

This retrospective study included 120 male inmates from a French prison. Data from the medical and the dental questionnaires and examinations were collected and analyzed.

The results showed that overall, the inmates had a poor oral health despite their young age. This population was at high risk regarding caries and periodontal diseases due to sedentary behaviors, improper diet, drug, alcohol and tobacco consumption. In total, 93% of inmates had at least one decayed untreated tooth and 95% had periodontal disease. The use of psychoactive drugs seemed strongly related to oral health status degradation. However, the comparison between recidivists and first-time offenders showed few differences.

The need for periodontal and dental care is considerable in this population and increased in this environment where risk factors such as addictive behaviors and poor eating habits are common. The impact of psychoactive drugs on oral health should also be taken into consideration.

Unfortunately, even though strategies for the prevention and management of oral health in prisons have been put in place for some years, the results still seem insufficient.

There are still few studies that analyze the impact of this medication on oral health in prisons.

This chapter pays tribute to Andrew Jones' research in health programme evaluation, health-risky behaviour and income-related health inequalities by reviewing policy-relevant empirical studies in these domains using Italian data. In the first section, We discuss the impact of reimbursement systems on healthcare behaviour, particularly the transition from incurred-cost-based to prospective systems in hospitals. We explore incentive-driven practices like up-coding and cream skimming, while also considering the potential advantages of primary care incentives and the mixed outcomes associated with cost-sharing schemes. The second section delves into health-risk behaviours in Italy, encompassing substance use, preventive healthcare and responses to health information. The last section presents some evidence on socioeconomic status (SES)-related health disparities and discusses the necessity of accounting for these factors in the Italian National Health Service (NHS)'s resource allocation formula in line with British NHS experience.

This, the first chapter of this text provides an introduction to a social world that is constructed through cultural attitudes, with a long history of the so-called ‘insane’ or deviants being excluded from society. In many cases, this was due to their behaviour resulting from an addiction issue, mental ill health or as is often the case, both. The chapter begins with an introduction to what led to the conceptualisation of this text. Once this occurs, the interplay between the ‘normal’ and the deviant, as discussed above, is played through an examination of the cultural perceptions of both mental health and addiction. In addition, to support this, a brief historical timeline of mental health, addiction and dual diagnosis is described and visually depicted. Finally, the chapter concludes with an introduction to both editors of this text who then describe what will be discussed in the chapters that follow.