International Journal of Drug Policy最新文献

{"title":"Initiation, cessation and resumption of attendance at the Melbourne supervised injecting room among a cohort of people who inject drugs","authors":"Ashleigh C Stewart ,&nbsp;Kasun Rathnayake ,&nbsp;Adelina Artenie ,&nbsp;Matthew Hickman ,&nbsp;Jack Stone ,&nbsp;Daniel O’Keefe ,&nbsp;Thomas Kerr ,&nbsp;Paul Agius ,&nbsp;Amanda Roxburgh ,&nbsp;Peter Higgs ,&nbsp;Lisa Maher ,&nbsp;Nico Clark ,&nbsp;Belinda Bravo ,&nbsp;Mark Stoove ,&nbsp;Paul M Dietze","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105150","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Supervised injecting facilities (SIFs) reduce drug-related harms and associated costs, but evidence is limited to a few settings. This study estimates rates of initiation, cessation, and resumption of Melbourne’s Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR) use among a cohort of people who inject drugs.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Data were drawn from SuperMIX, an ongoing cohort study since 2008. Participants complete baseline and annual surveys, including MSIR use since its opening on 30 June 2018. We reported baseline characteristics and calculated incidence rates (IRs) of MSIR initiation, cessation, and resumption, stratified by recent homelessness and opiate agonist therapy (OAT) use, per 1000 person-years (PY).</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Of 1650 eligible participants, 685 (42%) reported MSIR use at baseline. MSIR attenders were slightly older (median 43 vs. 41 years) and less often female (28% vs. 35%) than non-attenders. Most (71%) were infrequent attenders (&lt;50% injections at MSIR). Frequent attenders (<em>n</em> = 202) injected more often (median monthly injections = 50) than infrequent (median = 30) and non-attenders (median = 20). The MSIR initiation rate was 525 per 1000 PY, similar between frequent and infrequent attenders (RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.94–1.28). The cessation rate was 264 per 1000 PY, with no difference between attendance groups (RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.60–2.04). The resumption rate was 250 per 1000 PY, also similar across infrequent and frequent attenders (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.47–2.09).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>We found high MSIR service uptake, relative to cessation. Attendance was higher among men, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, and those recently homeless, with frequent attenders injecting more often and those on OAT less likely to attend frequently.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"149 ","pages":"Article 105150"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145979497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gendered marketing on takeaway alcohol products in Australia: A semiotic analysis of advertising to women","authors":"K. Foley ,&nbsp;B. Lunnay ,&nbsp;C. Kevin ,&nbsp;PR. Ward","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105127","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105127","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alcohol companies invest heavily in marketing to shape consumer perceptions of what drinking means in social contexts. An international literature documents the way gendered expectations and associations are used in marketing campaigns to encourage women to drink alcohol. Our paper contributes new insight about gendered marketing on takeaway products in alcohol retail outlets with a particular focus on gendered affective (feeling) expectations and fills a knowledge gap regarding the Australian context.</div><div>We applied semiotics to explore strategies used to ‘feminise’ alcohol marketing, by photographing takeaway products for sale in retail outlets (10 department and boutique liquor outlets). After removing duplicate products (<em>n</em> = 54); text, images and features were reviewed for icons or symbols of stereotypical femininity (<em>n</em> = 145 excluded). The remaining products (<em>n</em> = 473) were coded and analysed using feminist literature on affect to facilitate interpretations of what alcohol was signified to ‘stand in for’ in women’s lives amidst shared gendered expectations.</div><div>Strategies used to feminise alcohol products included ‘pinking' them (i.e. a hibiscus sour called ‘the pinkening’), making them purple, glittery or floral, and including women’s names and bodies or gendered social roles (e.g. cooking) and symbols (e.g. engagement ring). Affective significations discernible on feminised products were that alcohol could enable feelings of wellness and balance; cultivate strength, resilience and confidence; and blur temporal boundaries to facilitate ‘drift’ away from everyday life and associated pressures.</div><div>Our work contributes a theory-informed exploration of how women’s gendered experiences are used as an opening to market alcohol to women for its affective potential amidst gendered oppressions, values, and priorities. We draw from semiotics to make recommendations towards gender-responsive regulation of alcohol marketing in Australia, that restricts how gendered affective expectations can be used as architecture to nudge consumer choices towards drinking.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"149 ","pages":"Article 105127"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146020273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Response to the Gustafsson et al. (2025) paper on the \"Sustained effects of a community-based intervention targeting illicit drugs in nightlife: A 20-year cross-sectional follow-up of 'Clubs against Drugs''.","authors":"Dominique de Andrade, Nicholas Taylor","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105212","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2026.105212","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":" ","pages":"105212"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147311113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Service provider perceptions of incorporating hepatitis C testing technologies into standard practice: Considerations for widespread implementation and scale-up","authors":"Alex R. Willing ,&nbsp;Guillaume Fontaine ,&nbsp;Carla Treloar ,&nbsp;David Silk ,&nbsp;Jason Grebely ,&nbsp;Alison D. Marshall","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105131","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105131","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Simplification of hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing technologies has facilitated scale-up of testing and treatment of at-risk populations in various service settings. Service provider perspectives on the incorporation of simplified diagnostics into standard of care would inform optimised implementation of these technologies. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore provider perceptions of simplified HCV testing modalities and how they envisage their implementation into standard practice in Australia.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Between October 2022 and July 2023, semi-structured interviews occurred with providers from community-based services providing care to people at-risk of HCV infection. Participants were recruited with purposeful/purposive sampling from six states/territories in Australia. Interviews were conducted via Zoom or phone call wherein participants were asked about their HCV dried blood spot (DBS) and point-of-care testing experiences and challenges to implementation. Multiple codes were informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and data codes (Partnerships, Policies, Financing, Compatibility, and Adaptability) were analysed with iterative categorisation.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Thirty-six providers were interviewed, of which 21 were in nursing roles, six were non-clinical (e.g., project coordinator), five were peer workers, and four were physicians. Thirty participants had point-of-care experience, and 23 had DBS experience. Overall, participants held positive views of new testing modalities but identified clear barriers to realisation of HCV elimination targets. Partnerships were identified as key enablers with linkage to HCV prescribers a noted gap. Interpretation and application of clinic or national/state policies seemed to impact timeliness of treatment or hinder care. Both testing modalities were mostly regarded as cost-effective, but long-term financing was needed for sustainability, particularly given shifts in staff workloads. Optimal implementation of testing modalities depended on compatible qualities of the testing environment, including HCV prevalence, rurality, available resources and staff, and client visit frequency (e.g., methadone clinic versus emergency department).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The expansion of HCV testing and care necessitates that more structural support (e.g., adequate funding and staffing) be offered to service providers. Despite the adaptability of providers, a one-size-fits-all approach will not suit the needs of all settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105131"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The geography of drug markets, drug crime and systemic gang violence—Open drug scenes in Sweden","authors":"Mia-Maria Magnusson ,&nbsp;Manne Gerell","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105119","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105119","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Drug market related violence has plagued Sweden in the last decade and has geographically been linked to open drug scenes, ODSs. Surveys have been used to identify ODSs in local police districts in Stockholm County since 2017. The present study analyzes how ODSs and hot spots of police-reported crime relate to geographical indicators of systemic drug market violence.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Drug hot spots are identified using clustering methods. Drug hot spots and ODSs are then both geographically matched with markers for organized crime to analyze the extent to which they can serve as geographical markers for systemic drug market related violence. The markers for organized crime employed are shootings and organized crime related activities described in court cases that include encrypted phone texts.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Our findings suggest that drug hot spots are a rather weak predictor of systemic drug market related violence, whereas ODSs function reasonably well, particularly in the case of ODSs in areas with an established presence of criminal networks.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Measuring drug market locations is complex, but drug market related violence can be understood geographically by linking typical gang-related crimes to places with open drug scenes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105119"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145806000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substance use patterns and homicide in Finland, 2002–2022: Comparison of young and adult offenders","authors":"Maiju Tanskanen ,&nbsp;Karoliina Karjalainen ,&nbsp;Miisa Törölä ,&nbsp;Anna Raeste ,&nbsp;Sofia Malinen ,&nbsp;Janne Kivivuori","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Due to the increase in the use of illicit drugs in western Europe, key policy stakeholders and researchers have increasingly focused on the drugs–violence nexus. However, previous research on changing substance use patterns among homicide offenders, particularly studies that consider alcohol and drugs simultaneously, remains limited. Comparative analyses of youth- versus adult-perpetrated homicides from a substance use perspective are particularly scarce. The current study addressed the research gaps using a unique Finnish dataset of homicides committed between 2002 and 2022 and comparing substance use among young (15–29-year-olds; <em>n</em> = 589) and adult (30+-year-olds; <em>n</em> = 1249) offenders. The findings point to significant changes in substance use patterns in homicides during the study period, especially with respect to youth homicides. Driven largely by a considerable drop in alcohol-related homicides among both youth and adults, the findings are consistent with previous literature suggesting that illicit drugs may be becoming proportionally more central than older patterns of substance use in violence. Specifically, the findings indicate that the substance-use profile of youth-perpetrated homicides particularly has changed markedly over the study period: the dominant context has shifted from situational alcohol consumption to direct or indirect involvement with drugs, and most recently, drug-related homicide profiles accounted for over 40 % of youth-perpetrated homicides. Regarding substance co-use patterns, the findings show that while alcohol-related homicides most often do not involve the co-use of other substances, various drug categories are correlated among homicide offenders, and the co-use of multiple drugs is common among both young and adult drug-involved offenders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105118"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“A never-ending cycle”: The structural, economic and social (re)production of blood-borne virus transmission and bacterial infection amongst people who inject drugs in Queensland prisons","authors":"Jodie M.A. Mamic ,&nbsp;Emma Kill ,&nbsp;Geoff Davey ,&nbsp;Steph Reeve ,&nbsp;Emily Cooper ,&nbsp;Idin Panahi ,&nbsp;Geoff Spurling ,&nbsp;Graham Brown ,&nbsp;Timothy Piatkowski","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105126","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105126","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Illicit drug-related harms remain a significant public health issue globally and in Australia, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in prison settings where access to harm reduction (HR) is severely limited. This study aimed to explore the experiences of PWIDs incarcerated in Queensland prisons, focusing on how the prison environment shaped their risk of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) and injection-related bacterial infections (IRBIs), and to identify ways current HR interventions could be improved.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The study recruited 30 PWIDs aged 29–52 who had experienced incarceration in Queensland and overdosed within the past three years. Participants were recruited via social media and lived-experience organisations providing culturally safe support. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using a critical realism framework and reflexive thematic analysis to identify and develop common themes.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Participants described how structural, economic, and social factors within Queensland prisons foster risky injecting practices and elevate BBV and IRBI risks. Limited access to HR resources, punitive policies, and inadequate healthcare led to reliance on informal economies and unsafe behaviours such as equipment sharing and syringe cutting. Stigma and fear further hindered healthcare access. Participants emphasised the need for expanded HR measures, including needle and syringe programs, delivered within enabling environments that reduce barriers and promote peer support.</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>These findings suggest more consideration regarding policy changes to enhance the accessibility of HR interventions, including needle and syringe programs in Queensland prisons.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105126"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“I just saw the alcohol brand, I never really thought of the zeros”: Young people’s views of NoLo and alibi alcohol sponsorship","authors":"Richard I. Purves ,&nbsp;Jack G. Martin ,&nbsp;Piotr Teodorowski ,&nbsp;Olivia Brown","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Alcohol companies frequently use sports sponsorship to maintain high visibility, even in jurisdictions with advertising restrictions. Strategies such as <em>alibi marketing</em> - using brand-associated slogans, colours, or fonts in place of explicit brand names, and <em>NoLo marketing</em> - promoting zero-alcohol variants of core brands, enable continued brand exposure. This study investigates young people's awareness of alcohol sponsorship and their perceptions of alibi and NoLo marketing in sports contexts.</div><div>In December 2024, ten online focus groups (<em>N</em> = 44) were conducted with participants aged 11–17, stratified by age (11–13, 14–15, 16–17) and sex (male/female). Participants showed strong awareness of alcohol brands, with many recognising alibi sponsorships and associating them with full-strength alcohol products. Alibi strategies were perceived as deliberate efforts to circumvent regulations. NoLo sponsorships were rarely identified as marketing for non-alcoholic beverages; instead, branding similarities to alcohol products led participants to view them as covert advertising. Many recommended clearer differentiation to avoid misleading messaging.</div><div>Findings highlight the pervasive impact of alcohol marketing on young people, even in partially restricted environments. Alibi and NoLo tactics sustain alcohol brand presence in sport, potentially normalising alcohol use and undermining policy efforts to reduce alcohol-related harm. These insights underscore the need for more comprehensive regulatory frameworks that address indirect marketing strategies and prioritise youth protection in sport sponsorship.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105108"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145739287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Silent couriers: animal exploitation in drug smuggling","authors":"Zeynep Arslan,&nbsp;Sena Nur Kadem,&nbsp;Zeynep Turkmen","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105114","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105114","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105114"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145783273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Leveraging web-scraped data to examine alcohol pricing: an Australian feasibility study with retail data","authors":"Tina Lam ,&nbsp;Cynthia Huang ,&nbsp;Alexandra Torney ,&nbsp;Sarah Callinan ,&nbsp;Brian Vandenberg ,&nbsp;Ting Xia ,&nbsp;Colin Angus ,&nbsp;Robin Room ,&nbsp;Rowan Ogeil ,&nbsp;Aaron Cowper ,&nbsp;Simone Pettigrew ,&nbsp;Bosco Rowland ,&nbsp;Danica Keric ,&nbsp;Dan I Lubman ,&nbsp;Suzanne Nielsen","doi":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105115","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105115","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Although price is critical in determining alcohol purchase and subsequent harms, researchers rarely have access to comprehensive alcohol price data. Web scraping is an advanced data collection technique that uses automated computer scripts to efficiently gather extensive website data. The aims of this paper are to demonstrate web scraping’s capacity to generate alcohol policy relevant data, and to assess the method’s consistency by comparing datasets collected by a commercial provider with those produced by a university-developed scraper.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Price and product data from the entire online catalogues of major retailers representing the majority of the Australian market were scraped daily by the commercial provider since 2020, with data collected from all jurisdictions, and products sold by multiple retailers matched. A university-developed web scraper collected a single-day’s catalogue data from the country’s largest alcohol retailer to compare with the commercial dataset as a reliability cross-check.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Of the 16,409 products identified in both the commercial and university databases, there was an excellent match on the product prices (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.997 [95 %CI: 0.9972–0.9973]). A visualisation from the three largest Australian retailers demonstrated how daily prices varied over a 12-month period, for example with more frequent price changes for Australia’s largest retailer compared to the second and third, and across jurisdictions, such as some deeper discounting in Victoria.</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>This study presented an independently cross-checked large-scale and longitudinal web scraping approach to collect alcohol price data, and demonstrated that the adapted data could aid understanding of the alcohol retail market. Web scraping is a feasible method to collect price data to support the development of evidence-based alcohol price policy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48364,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Drug Policy","volume":"148 ","pages":"Article 105115"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}