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1 – 10 of over 1000Rita Komalasari, Sarah Wilson and Sally Haw
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programmes in prisons play a significant role in preventing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Despite its proven effectiveness, both the…
Abstract
Purpose
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) programmes in prisons play a significant role in preventing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Despite its proven effectiveness, both the availability and coverage of prison OAT programmes remain low. This Indonesian study explores facilitators of, and barriers to, the delivery of methadone programmes in prisons using the social ecological model (SEM).
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative case study approach comprising two prisons with, and one prison without, methadone programmes. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit study participants. In total, 57 in-depth interviews were conducted with prison governors, health-care staff, prison officers and prisoners. Data was analysed thematically.
Findings
The study findings identified facilitators of and barriers to the delivery of prison OAT programmes at all three levels of the SEM as follows: intrapersonal barriers including misperceptions relating to HIV transmission, the harm reduction role of OAT programmes, methadone dependency and withdrawal symptoms; interpersonal barriers such as inflexible OAT treatment processes and the wide availability of illicit drugs in prisons and; social-structural barriers, notably the general lack of resources.
Research limitations/implications
The findings highlight the importance of and overlap between, organisational and inter-personal, as well as intrapersonal factors. Such an approach is particularly important in the context of the implementation and delivery of methadone programmes in low/middle income countries, where the lack of resources is so significant.
Practical implications
Three main strategies for improvement were suggested as follows: the development of comprehensive education and training programmes for prisoners and all prison staff; the re-assessment of practices relating to the delivery of methadone, and a comprehensive review of harm reduction strategy in prisons, that should consider the role of prisoners’ families to increase support for prisoner participation; the re-assessment of prison policies to support the delivery of methadone programmes in prisons.
Social implications
The author suggests that ongoing international support and national drug policies are vital to the continuation and sustainability of methadone programmes in prisons.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the overall evidence base for OAT programmes in middle-income prison contexts.
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Following the trend in the world over and on the African continent, the Parliament of Ghana passed a new law in 2020, the Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019) that eased…
Abstract
Purpose
Following the trend in the world over and on the African continent, the Parliament of Ghana passed a new law in 2020, the Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019) that eased the legal restrictions on cannabis cultivation and use, subject to obtaining license from the relevant authority/authorities. This paper aims to examine the implications of Ghana’s decision to legalise the cultivation of cannabis for industrial purposes for the production of fibre and for medicinal purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
The author adopted the qualitative analysis critical review methodology in sourcing information from peer-reviewed articles, coupled with the author’s own professional knowledge, background and training, to critically analyse and review the reasons behind Ghana’s decision to legalise cannabis cultivation and the implications such a major policy change/shift.
Findings
It was found that, while the law mentions industrial and medicinal purposes for the legalisation of cannabis, the real reason, at least in the immediate term, is mainly economic. This agrees with those of other African countries that have legalised cannabis cultivation but appears to contrast with those of Europe and America.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to Ghana and the few African countries that have legalised cannabis cultivation so far. The main reason for the legalisation (economic benefits) may also change in the future when the economics of scale turn in the favour of the country. Therefore, Ghana’s case may not represent the case of all countries legalising cannabis cultivation.
Practical implications
The research implication of this paper is that it brings to the world the law on cannabis cultivation in Ghana. It provides a professional and scientific position paper on Ghana’s drug law regime regarding cannabis, thus, serving as a useful reference literature to the academic and research community on the topic. More importantly, it discusses the implications of such major policy change from an objective perspective, unravelling the real reason behind the State’s decision to legalise the cultivation of cannabis in Ghana.
Social implications
This paper will bring to the fore the other consequences of Ghana’s cannabis cultivation legalisation policy change, which little attention has been devoted to so far.
Originality/value
This paper, apart from reference to other published texts on the topic, which have been duly acknowledged, represents the sole work of the author. It has not been produced anywhere or by anyone else either in Ghana or elsewhere.
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Khalid Tinasti and Isabela Barbosa
The negotiations leading to the UN Special Session (UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS)) on drugs have highlighted the lack of consensus among the global…
Abstract
Purpose
The negotiations leading to the UN Special Session (UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS)) on drugs have highlighted the lack of consensus among the global players, with some strengthening the prohibitionist approach and others seeking policy reforms. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Russian Federation’s national policies and diplomatic activism to influence the outcome of the negotiations at the multilateral level.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the federal legislation on drug control and the legislation on HIV/AIDS has been undertaking in October 2016. Peer-reviewed, grey literature, policy documents, UN reports and news reports were used to gather information on the country’s response to drugs internally and externally.
Findings
Despite its limited regional influence on harm reduction and declining financial power, the Russian Federation has been successful in preserving its international priorities by opposing harm reduction and maintaining the prohibition paradigm in the UNGASS outcome.
Research limitations/implications
Every effort was made to identify valid sources of information on the levers of influence of the Russian Federation. Little data were available on the real outcome of the efforts deployed in influencing the BRICS and other regional and international assemblies.
Originality/value
This paper presents an overview of the national policies of the Russian Federation, a global player, and provides a better understanding of how the national approach to illicit drugs and their perception influences its international position. It analyses the geographic, economic and diplomatic sphere of influence of the country in drug policies, and provides explanations on the successes and shortcomings of the Russian influence at the multilateral discussions on drugs.
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Ahmad Mohammad Abdalla Abu Olaim and Aspalella A. Rahman
We are living in a time when there is a stronger requirement for co-operation to fight organized crimes and the resulting flow of illicit funds. This is due to the globalization…
Abstract
Purpose
We are living in a time when there is a stronger requirement for co-operation to fight organized crimes and the resulting flow of illicit funds. This is due to the globalization and interconnection between world economies and financial systems, as well as with the new technologies that allow rapid movement of funds around the globe. From the early beginning, Jordan realized the importance of providing anti-money laundering technical assistance, especially at the international level. The reason for this comes from Jordan’s strong belief that money laundering crimes can be fought domestically as well as internationally, particularly by combining efforts between Jordan and other countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development that Jordan has witnessed in the fighting of money laundering.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper relies on various laws that tackle organized anti-money laundering in Jordan before 2007, with the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Law for 2007 as the primary source of information.
Findings
Before 2007, Jordan fought money laundering through a group of laws that are indirectly concerned with combating money laundering. While these laws govern certain crimes, they managed to fight money laundering indirectly. By the year 2007, the Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering Law was passed and published on the official gazette on June 17, 2007. This law became effective after 30 days from that date. The Jordanian Anti-Money Laundering Law is one of the needed laws to keep a safe financial environment. Jordan’s obligation in accordance to the international conventions has made the country join and ratify the efforts, resulting in the issuing of the law. Since then, this law has become concerned with anti-money laundering in Jordan.
Originality/value
This paper provides an examination of the system in Jordan to combat money laundering before and after 2007. It is hoped that the content of this paper can provide some insight into this particular area for practitioners, academics, policy makers and legal advisers, not only in Jordan but also elsewhere. There will be significant interest in how Jordan has been developing the anti-money laundering system because of the international nature of the crime and its seriousness.
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My object in compiling this bibliography has been to list reference materials that will be useful to pharmacy students, faculty, and reference librarians working with them. While…
Abstract
My object in compiling this bibliography has been to list reference materials that will be useful to pharmacy students, faculty, and reference librarians working with them. While the bibliography is not intended to be comprehensive, I have covered the essential reference sources as well as some additional titles which are certainly desirable. Some of the books have been around for many years and are now in new editions; others are just appearing on the scene. I included periodicals only when they served a special purpose such as to offer a source of statistical or marketing information. Several of the references could have appeared in more than one place and, in the interest of brevity, I arbitrarily chose the category that seems most appropriate to me.
Donna L. Van Raaphorst provides a detailed statistical analysis of a large sample of Alcatraz Prison inmates using the Social Science Statistical Package. The data, drawn directly…
Abstract
Donna L. Van Raaphorst provides a detailed statistical analysis of a large sample of Alcatraz Prison inmates using the Social Science Statistical Package. The data, drawn directly from the inmate files, is compared whenever possible with similar data provided by the Bureau of Prisons in order to determine if Alcatraz, often regarded as America's Devil's Island, really incarcerated the so-called “Worst of the Worst” in its time. The results would seem to indicate that Alcatraz inmates were, in fact, not remarkably different from those in any other Federal prison in the system.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the treats hindering war against illicit financial flows of organised crime in developing economies and Nigeria in particular. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the treats hindering war against illicit financial flows of organised crime in developing economies and Nigeria in particular. The examination shows that the impediments facing the fight against money laundering and organised crime financial flows vary from one country to another. It may be lesser in developed economies where most instruments, treaties and best practice recommendations to curb serious crime originated from. However, the impediments against the proceeds of organised crime in developing economies are overwhelming.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology adopted was qualitative analysis. This was applied through the use and analysis of documents and expert interviews.
Findings
The impediments jeopardising the success against organised crime and other related serious crime financial flows in developing economies are devastating. Consequently, the study offered some policy implications to help mitigate these impediments in developing countries. The dynamics and the phenomena of organised crime business model are operated with ingenious strategies within the global states. Therefore, staying in control of the menace and the threats originated from the organised criminal activities would require periodic review of the global initiatives, standards and strategies deployed by the standard setters to combat organised crime and its financial flows in developing and evolving economies. Additionally, the implementing countries should be carried along and allow to make inputs when such initiatives and standards are being developed.
Social implications
In Nigeria, there is a clear evidence of “collateral damage” in terms of social justice as result of financial exclusion of many bankable adults of the country that do not possess unique identities for account opening documentation and customer due diligence of the Financial Action Task Force recommendation 10.
Originality/value
There have been quite a number of studies on organised crime and still fewer have recognised the need to explore the success or failure of combating the proceeds of crime in developing economies. This study provides answer to these gaps by screening associated risks of fighting the proceeds of organised crime in developing countries and Nigeria in particular.
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The present study assesses the contextual racial effects on police decisions to arrest in traffic stops.
Abstract
Purpose
The present study assesses the contextual racial effects on police decisions to arrest in traffic stops.
Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical logistic regression model is conducted using data collected from the Houston Police Department and US census.
Findings
The authors’ multilevel analysis indicates that the racial effect on police decision to arrest is more likely to be contextual than individual. Black and Hispanic drivers have no significant difference from White drivers in police decisions to arrest when area variations are controlled. In contrast, the concentrations of Blacks and other racial minorities in areas are significantly associated with the chance of being arrested by police in traffic stops. However, as the level of racial diversity increases in an area, the chance of being arrested is likely to decrease.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates the importance of racial characteristics of areas in the study of racial profiling and related police practice.
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Craig Rivera, Rebekah Chu and Colin Loftin
Cohen (1998) describes a study showing that, in the US, regionally distributed culture controls the direction of the relationship between social disorganization and homicide…
Abstract
Cohen (1998) describes a study showing that, in the US, regionally distributed culture controls the direction of the relationship between social disorganization and homicide rates. In the South and West, where, according to the Nisbett‐Cohen theory, there is a “culture of honor”, strong community and family bonds increase argumentrelated homicides. Conversely, in the North, where cultural beliefs do not support violence in response to insults, strong social bonds decrease argument‐related homicides. A reanalysis shows that Cohen’s results are due to a few counties with atypical values that heavily influence the slope estimates. The data do not provide support for the Nisbett‐Cohen thesis that regional patterns in US homicide can be attributed to a culture of honor.
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Steve Moffatt, Wai‐Yin Wan and Don Weatherburn
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether trends in arrests for heroin, amphetamine‐type substances (ATS) and cocaine can be used as indicators of trends in the use of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine whether trends in arrests for heroin, amphetamine‐type substances (ATS) and cocaine can be used as indicators of trends in the use of these drugs.
Design/methodology/approach
The question was addressed using ARIMA models to analyse the relationship between arrests and emergency department (ED) admissions for narcotics, amphetamine type substances (ATS) and cocaine.
Findings
Strong positive correlations were found for the narcotics and cocaine series between arrests and EDs in the same month (contemporaneous correlation) and between arrests in the current month and overdoses in earlier months (lagged correlation). The contemporaneous correlation between ATS arrests and EDs was slightly less strong than the lagged correlations at two and four months. A jump in ATS EDs, was followed by a jump in arrests in the same month and then two and four months later.
Practical implications
Arrests for narcotics use/possession, ATS use/possession and cocaine use/possession may in some circumstances provide useful intelligence about drug trends and/or a basis for evaluating the impact of police drug law enforcement activity on the use of narcotics, ATS and cocaine when other stronger measures of drug use are not available.
Originality/value
Efforts to evaluate local drug law enforcement activity on illicit drug use have been hampered by poor measures of trends in illicit drug use at small area levels. This is the only study the authors are aware of that has examined the long‐term relationship between illicit drug arrests and emergency department admissions for illicit drug use.
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