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1 – 10 of over 3000Karenza Moore and Steven Miller
The vast majority of young drug users see substance use as a positive experience. Why else would they continue to take them? Most research on the other hand pathologises drug use…
Abstract
The vast majority of young drug users see substance use as a positive experience. Why else would they continue to take them? Most research on the other hand pathologises drug use by looking solely at the negative consequences, contributing to the misunderstanding that young people are increasingly self‐indulgent and, in a meaningless world, hell‐bent on self‐destruction. In this refreshing new article Karenza Moore and Steven Miles try to understand the social roles of drug use in the everchanging lives of young people and come up with an alternative view. Rather than seeing drugs as a destructive force, Moore and Miles portray drug‐taking as a stabilising factor in the volatile world of growing up.
Zoë Smith, Karenza Moore and Fiona Measham
Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey…
Abstract
Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA has been central to the British acid house, rave and dance club scene over the last 20 years. Figures from the annual national British Crime Survey suggest that ecstasy use has declined since 2001. This apparent decline is considered here alongside the concurrent emergence of a ‘new’ form of ecstasy ‐ MDMA powder or crystal ‐ and the extent to which this can be seen as a successful rebranding of MDMA as a ‘premium’ product in the wake of user disenchantment with cheap and easily available but poor quality pills. These changes have occurred within a policy context, which in the last decade has increasingly prioritised the drugs‐crime relationship through coercive treatment of problem drug users within criminal justice‐based interventions, alongside a focus on binge drinking and alcohol‐related harm. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the information, support and treatment available to ecstasy users since the height of dance drug harm reduction service provision pioneered by the Safer Dancing model in the mid‐1990s.
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Christina Goulding, Avi Shankar and Robin Canniford
Studies of marketplace cultures emphasize the benefits of communal consumption and explain the ways that brand managers can leverage subcultures and brand communities. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Studies of marketplace cultures emphasize the benefits of communal consumption and explain the ways that brand managers can leverage subcultures and brand communities. The ephemeral and often non‐commercial nature of consumer tribes means that they are more difficult to manage. This paper, aims to suggest that a necessary pre‐requisite for understanding how to engage with consumer tribes is to identify how consumers become members of tribes.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are drawn from a five‐year ethnographic study of the archetypical club culture tribe that utilized a variety of data collection methods including participant observation and in‐depth interviewing.
Findings
The paper identifies “learning to be tribal” as a communal practice that occurs through three interconnected processes of engagement, imagination and alignment.
Originality/value
This paper makes three contributions: it clearly distinguishes between the three main forms of communal consumption found in the marketing literature; it identifies how consumer tribes are formed; and it questions received wisdom and shows how tribal theory can guide managers to offer products and services as learning resources that facilitate tribal practices.
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The behavior of British youth abroad has caused considerable concern over recent years. This is because many British youth engage in binge drinking, drug use, sex behavior and…
Abstract
Purpose
The behavior of British youth abroad has caused considerable concern over recent years. This is because many British youth engage in binge drinking, drug use, sex behavior and other risk behaviors – especially in the Balearics, Spain. While research has documented levels of alcohol use, drug use, risk and sex behaviors on these islands, it tends to rely on survey data. This article aims to offer some contextualization to the British youth holiday experience and to examine why such behaviors might take place.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses ethnographic methods (observation, open‐ended focus groups) with British youth in San Antonio, Ibiza. Over the course of one week in July 2010, 17 focus groups were undertaken (n=97 aged between 17 and 31). Observations were conducted in bars, clubs, beaches, and general tourist areas.
Findings
The data suggest that young people engage in these behaviors not only to escape the constraints of work and family but also because they are exciting. The data also indicate that these behaviors appeared to help British youth construct life biographies which were integral to their identity construction. The findings are also considered within the social context of Ibiza which also played a role in promoting these behaviors.
Originality/value
No ethnographic research exists on the topic of British youth and their behaviors abroad. Previous research is mostly epidemiological survey research which does not adequately consider the social meaning and context for the behavior of British youth abroad.
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Jonathan Caulkins and Peter Reuter
This article provides an overview of the opportunities enforcement has to undertake activities to reduce harms caused by drug markets. Four pathways are open to the police in…
Abstract
This article provides an overview of the opportunities enforcement has to undertake activities to reduce harms caused by drug markets. Four pathways are open to the police in relation to drug harm‐reduction: reducing the amount of drug use; reducing the harm that drug users experience; reducing the harms that drug users impose on others; and reducing the harms caused by drug markets. It is the latter pathway that is the main focus of this article, which draws on a range of international examples. After highlighting that ‘not all dealers are equally destructive’ it is argued that one aim for enforcement could be to shape the drug market by making the most noxious forms of selling uncompetitive relative to less harmful practices.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize the recent emergence of NPS onto the drug market. To show the international and national responses, legal and guidance. To…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize the recent emergence of NPS onto the drug market. To show the international and national responses, legal and guidance. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to jurisdictions. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to treatment agencies. To outline what is known about prevalence and effects.
Design/methodology/approach
A narrative account of the substances becoming known and the response made by jurisdictions.
Findings
The use and effects of NPS are slowly becoming known and exchanged between jurisdictions and treatment agencies. The user group appears to differ from the “traditional” substance users groups with which agencies are familiar. The use of the internet is a characteristic of this new market and user group.
Research limitations/implications
New substances are constantly being identified. Previous treatment approaches may not be fully relevant to NPS. The new area of cognition enhancement is being gradually realized.
Practical implications
Treatment agencies need to develop new approaches, both to treat the effects of NPS use and to attract NPS users, who do not identify as “drug users”.
Social implications
A new user group appears to be emerging. Cognition enhancement is a feature of NPS composition and use/attraction.
Originality/value
An attempt to summarize existing understanding of NPS use and marketing and to predict future trends and needs.
Vyacheslav Kushakov, Vira Dvoriak, Olga Morozova, Lyu Azbel and Galyna Sergienko
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has previously examined the use of psychoactive substances (PASs) at electronic dance music (EDM) events in Ukraine. Addressing…
Abstract
Purpose
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has previously examined the use of psychoactive substances (PASs) at electronic dance music (EDM) events in Ukraine. Addressing this gap in the research literature, this study aims to: describe the recreational drug scene associated with Ukrainian EDM culture; identify clusters of EDM participants who use PAS, based on their drug use patterns; and assess the uptake of drug checking and investigate associations between drug checking and subsequent drug-related behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 2021 (N = 1,307) among EDM festival participants in Ukraine. The authors performed cluster analysis to identify distinct profiles of PAS users. Trends in drug checking were analysed based on cross-sectional surveys conducted at one recurring festival in 2018 (N = 99), 2019 (N = 195) and 2021 (N = 237).
Findings
The substances most often used at EDM events were 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (37%), amphetamine (16%), lysergic acid diethylamide (11%) and cocaine (9%). Between 2018 and 2021, the proportion of participants who reported to have ever tested their drugs has increased from 2% to 26% (p < 0.001). Unexpected or inconclusive test results led to a significantly lower chances of drug consumption (p = 0.003). The authors identified three distinct clusters of PAS users among the EDM festival attendees in Ukraine.
Originality/value
This study will inform the development of harm reduction interventions tailored to various subgroups of recreational PAS users taking into account gender-specific patterns of use suggested by the authors’ cluster analysis. Increased availability of drug checking is crucial to reduce the risks of drug-related harm associated with the consumption of mis-sold, mislabeled and/or adulterated substances.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide the first definition of sober sex and recommendations for health care professionals who work therapeutically with patients who struggle…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the first definition of sober sex and recommendations for health care professionals who work therapeutically with patients who struggle with intimacy after experiencing chemsex.
Design/methodology/approach
The recommendations are based on the clinical experience of a psychosexual therapist working with men having sex with men (MSM) in a Sexual Health clinic in central London.
Findings
The paper concludes that having a clear definition of sober sex and specific tools, such as healthy masturbation exercise, could prove helpful for health professionals who work with this cohort of patients.
Originality/value
This paper provides the first definition of sober sex and a clear set of guidelines for health professionals based on the clinical experience of the author.
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Owen Bowden-Jones, Claire Whitelock, Dima Abdulrahim, Stacey Hemmings, Alexander Margetts and Michael Crawford
The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of drug use among a cohort of drug treatment-seeking drug-using gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), and whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of drug use among a cohort of drug treatment-seeking drug-using gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), and whether these activities differ between, or predict, HIV status.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional study was conducted in a specialist club drug clinic in London covering 407 consecutive attendees who identified as MSM. Substance use, including injecting drug use (IDU), associated sexual activity and self-reported HIV status were measured by clinical interview and National Drug Treatment Monitoring System data tool.
Findings
Over a 45-month period, 407 MSM attended the clinic. In total, 62.1 per cent were HIV positive, 48.9 per cent had injected drugs, 14.9 per cent reported needle sharing and 73.3 per cent used drugs to facilitate sex. The most commonly reported problem drugs were GHB/GBL (54.3 per cent) methamphetamine (47.7 per cent) and mephedrone (37.8 per cent). HIV status was associated with methamphetamine, mephedrone, IDU, sharing equipment, using drugs to facilitate sex, older age and older age of drug initiation, as well as Hepatitis C virology (HCV) status. Use of methamphetamine, HCV infection, older age and IDU predicted HIV positive status in a logistic regression model.
Practical implications
The findings describe a constellation of risk factors including high levels of IDU, sharing of equipment and high-risk sexual activity in a population with high rates of HIV positive serology. They also provide further evidence for a link between HIV infection and use of methamphetamine.
Social implications
The authors suggest a need for greater awareness of HIV-related risk activities and promotion of HIV prevention strategies for MSM by both sexual health and drug treatment services.
Originality/value
This paper is amongst the very first studies of its nature.
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