Could mild herbal stimulants such as the coca leaf, khat, kratom or ephedra offer alternatives to the more concentrated substances that now dominate the market? Could the recreational stimulants market be steered towards a less harmful direction over time through differentiating the control mechanisms between plants and synthesized derivatives? Different legal regimes are currently implemented between countries and vary greatly for the different plants, some of which are erroneously classified as new psychoactive substances (NPS).
-
The changing use and misuse of khat
Tradition, trade and tragedy
Michael Odenwald, Nasir Warfa and Axel Klein (eds.)Journal of Ethnopharmacology 132 (2010) 537–539
May 2010Within the last decade the hitherto little known psychoactive substance of khat has emerged as a regional and international issue. In the Horn of Africa khat production has spurred an economic boom, but dramatic increases in consumption have raised public health concerns. Given the complexity of the topic spanning multiple academic disciplines and fields of professional practice, the need for a systematic overview is urgent.
READ MORE...
Download the article (PDF) -
Speeding up the response
A global review of the harm reduction response to amphetamines
Sophie PinkhamInternational Harm Reduction Association (IHRA)
April 2010Despite heavy media coverage of amphetamines and increased research attention in some countries, the harm reduction response remains underdeveloped when compared with the response to opiates and injecting-related harms. Programmes do exist and new guidance is being compiled, but there is a need for evaluation, further documentation of experiences and expansion of effective interventions. This chapter will discuss the emerging responses to amphetamines-related harms and consider the next steps for the international harm reduction community.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF) -
The fast and the furious
Cocaine, amphetamines and harm reduction
Jean-Paul Grund, Philip Coffin, Marie Jauffret-Roustide, Minke Dijkstra, Dick de Bruin and Peter BlankenEuropean Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
April 2010Harm reduction programmes targeting stimulants like cocaine and (meth)amphetamines in several countries have shown positive results. However, these programmes are limited to Australia and North America. As the effectiveness of pharmacological and psychosocial interventions for stimulant users is limited, interventions to stabilise and minimise the negative consequences of ongoing methamphetamine use are of paramount importance. A wide range of health and social problems associated with stimulant use are largely unaddressed by current services.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF) -
Regulating khat
Dilemmas and opportunities for the international drug control system
Axel Klein, Susan Beckerleg & Degol HailuInternational Journal of Drug Policy, Volume 20, Issue 6
November 2009The regulation of khat, one of the most recent psychoactive drugs to become a globally traded commodity, remains hotly contested within different producer and consumer countries. As regimes vary, it has been possible to compare khat policies in Africa, Europe and North America from different disciplinary perspectives. The research established the significance of khat for rural producers, regional economies, as a tax base and source of foreign exchange. At the same time, khat as a psychoactive substance is associated with health and public safety problems that in turn are met with often ill-informed legislative responses. Bans have in turn lead to the criminalisation of users and sellers and illegal drug markets.
READ MORE...Download the publication (PDF) -
Randomized controlled trial of dexamphetamine maintenance for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence
Marie Longo, Wendy Wickes, Matthew Smout, Sonia Harrison, Sharon Cahill & Jason M. WhiteAddiction 105, pp. 146–154
June 2009This study tested the impact of a long-acting form of amphetamine as medication to help control dependent use of the closely allied stimulant, methamphetamine. Prescribed usually for the treatment of pathological sleepiness or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, effects of the amphetamine tablets prescribed in the study take several hours longer to emerge than normal amphetamine and last three to six hours longer, giving it a 'smoothing' profile similar to methadone for heroin users; non-rapid onset make it less intensely pleasurable, and longer duration suits it to once-daily administration.
READ MORE...Download the article (PDF) -
Submission to the House of Commons Select Committee on the cocaine trade
Memorandum on the coca leaf
Martin JelsmaTransnational Institute (TNI)
June 12, 2009The attached summary report addresses the myths that surround the coca leaf and is presented to the Committee members in order to allow them to make an evidence-based judgement on its current legal status and on the potential usefulness of coca in its natural form, including in the UK context.
READ MORE...Download the memorandum (PDF) -
Coca Myths
Anthony Henman Pien MetaalTNI Drugs & Conflict Debate Paper 17
June 2009The coca leaf has been used and misused for many ends, each of them suiting different interests and agendas. Even its very name has been appropriated by a soft drinks producer, which still has difficulties in admitting that the plant is used to produce its "black gold". Every day press accounts around the world use the word coca in their headlines, when they refer in fact to cocaine.
Download the document (PDF)
>> Go to the online summary
READ MORE... -
Legal Responses to New Psychoactive Substances in Europe
Brendan Hughes and T BlidaruEuropean Legal Database on Drugs
February 2009This paper starts from the premise that, when a new psychoactive substance appears on the licit/illicit market in a country in Europe, legislators need to choose whether to bring it under control of the drug laws, and for public health reasons they may need to do so quickly. A comparative study of the systems and procedures finds that there are a variety of control methods available in the different countries, including the analogue and generic systems, as well as temporary emergency and rapid permanent scheduling procedures.
READ MORE...Download the paper (PDF) -
The ATS Boom in Southeast Asia
Tom BlickmanTransnational Institute (TNI)
January 2009In the 1990s, Southeast Asia experienced a boom in the production and consumption of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), in particular methamphetamines (meth). At the same time, the region has seen a declining opium market, although the downward trend may well be versing now. How exactly these two phenomena interrelate is still an unresolved question. The ATS market seems to have its own distinct dynamics; for users, the availability and accessibility of opium and heroin have an impact on ATS use and vice versa, and some former heroin producers have moved to producing ATS.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF) -
Risk assessment of khat use in the Netherlands
A review based on adverse health effects, prevalence, criminal involvement and public order
E.J.M. Pennings, A. Opperhuizen & J.G.C. van AmsterdamRegulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 52 (2008) 199–207
August 2008In preparing a decision about the legal status of khat in the Netherlands, the Dutch Minister of Health requested CAM (Coordination point Assessment and Monitoring new drugs) to assess the overall risk of khat in the Netherlands. The present paper is a redraft of a report which formed the scientific basis of the risk evaluation procedure (October 2007). This report reviews the scientific data about khat available in the international literature. In addition, the report contains some information specific for the Netherlands (prevalence, availability of khat and public order aspects).
READ MORE...Download the publication (PDF)
Page 3 of 4
