The activities of authorised agencies such as police, customs, border services, and investigative bodies to enforce drug control laws and address criminal activities related to the production, trafficking, and distribution of illicit substances. These activities may include investigations, intelligence gathering, interdiction, and collaboration with national and international partners to disrupt organised crime networks. Law enforcement plays an important role in protecting public safety and maintaining the rule of law, and is most effective when coordinated with broader public health, prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts as part of a balanced and comprehensive response to substance use.
Law Enforcement
The Economic Burden of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Canada in 2013
Aim To estimate the economic burden and cost attributable to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Canada in 2013. Methods This cost-of-illness study examined the impact of FASD on the material welfare of the Canadian society in 2013 by...
Measuring Improvement in Knowledge of Drug Policy Reforms Following a Police Education Program in Tijuana, Mexico
Abstract Background Mexico’s 2009 “narcomenudeo reform” decriminalized small amounts of drugs, shifting some drug law enforcement to the states and mandating drug treatment diversion instead of incarceration. Data from Tijuana suggested...
The Opioid Epidemic: From Evidence to Impact
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY While prescription opioids serve an invaluable role for the treatment of cancer pain and pain at the end of life, their overuse for acute and chronic non-cancer pain as well as the increasing availability of heroin and...
8 Steps Towards Minimising the US Opioid Crisis
Current levels of opioid addiction in the US are so alarming that in July 2017 the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis urgently suggested that President Trump declare a national emergency to free up...
Common Marijuana-Related Cases Encountered in the Emergency Department
In 2000, Colorado voters decriminalized marijuana for medical use; however, because marijuana use remained illegal under federal law, the number of users was low. In 2009, President Obama instructed federal officials not to enforce...
Characteristics of Persons Who Inject Drugs and Who Witness Opioid Overdoses in Vietnam
Abstract Background Persons who use opioids have a high risk of overdose and associated mortality. In Vietnam, little is known about the characteristics of this population and the persons who are witness to those overdoses. One approach to...
Barriers to Retention in Methadone Maintenance Therapy among People who Inject Drugs in Bangkok
Abstract Background Methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) is a mainstay for treating opioid use disorder and preventing and managing HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID). While previous research suggested low dosing of methadone and high...
Trends in Deaths Involving Heroin and Synthetic Opioids Excluding Methadone, and Law Enforcement Drug Product Reports
Summary What is already known about this topic? Opioid overdose deaths in the United States have been increasing since 1999, initially driven by prescription opioid misuse and more recently by heroin and other illicit opioid use. What is...
Changing Patterns of Substance Misuse in Adult Prisons and Service Responses
Inspection findings were supplemented by fieldwork in eight prisons in 2014 to generate an overall picture of drug use and responses to it in prisons in England and Wales. In the face of rapidly changing and varied drug use patterns, policy...
The Effectiveness of Illegal Drug Interventions
This Health Research Board document reviews evidence on the effectiveness of interventions in the areas of prevention, harm reduction and long-term recovery from addiction to illegal drugs. It asks which interventions are effective for...