Social inclusion and drugs policy
by Brig Pike
this item outlines how the concept of social inclusion has been incorporated into the national drugs policy framework over the past 20 years as well as issues to consider going forward.
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Where next for social inclusion?
by Brigid Pike
In 2016, as a new Programme for Government is published, and as the suite of social inclusion policy documents conceived during the Celtic Tiger reach their endpoints, it is timely to review the current status of Ireland’s social inclusion policy framework.
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Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016
by Ciara Guiney
Following increased drug-related violence and the emergence of new psychoactive substances to the Irish drug market, it became necessary to expedite a shortened version of the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016 (2016, 6 July) 1, which was enacted on 27 July 2016. The aim of the Act is to amend schedules from the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977‒2015.
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Global Drugs Survey 2016
by Lucy Dillon
The findings of the world’s biggest drug survey, the Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2016, were published on 14 June.1 GDS is an ‘independent global drug use data exchange hub that conducts university ethics approved, anonymous online surveys’.1 It is made up of experts from the fields of medicine, toxicology, public health, psychology, chemistry, public policy, criminology, sociology, harm reduction and addiction. They aim to ‘help people and communities reduce the harm associated with the use of drugs regardless of their legal status, by sharing information in a credible and meaningful way’
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New psychoactive substances: legislative changes in the UK
The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 came into force in the UK on 26 May 26 2016. In the Act, a ‘psychoactive substance’ is defined as one that ‘produces a psychoactive effect in a person if, by stimulating or depressing the person’s central nervous system, it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state; and references to a substance’s psychoactive effects are to be read accordingly’.1 The Act differs from the established approach to drug control under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in that it covers substances by virtue of their psychoactive properties, rather than the identity of the drug or its chemical structure.
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