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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:42 am
Time: 11:42 am
Results for drug abuse and addiction (west africa)
2 results foundAuthor: Obot, Isidore S. Title: Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependence in West Africa Summary: The main objective of this policy brief is to assess the state of drug demand reduction (prevention of use and treatment for dependence) in West Africa and analyze responses to the problem of drug demand in the region. The discussion draws from a diverse array of available information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), research published in peer-reviewed journals, and reports and other materials from non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The focus is on illicit drugs though the perspective taken in this brief questions the value of the distinction often made between licit and illicit drugs when addressing dependence on psychoactive substances. This persistent false dichotomy ignores several issues: i) the reality that licit substances such as tobacco and alcohol are usually the first drugs to which young people are exposed; ii) a high proportion of dependent persons use both legal and illegal substances; and iii) dependence on legal drugs is associated with very high health burden and social harm often surpassing the harm attributable to illicit substances. Details: Accra, Ghana: West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 2: Accessed May 22, 2013 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Prevention-Treatment-of-Drug-Dependency-in-West-Africa-2013-04-03.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Prevention-Treatment-of-Drug-Dependency-in-West-Africa-2013-04-03.pdf Shelf Number: 128772 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (West Africa)Drug Abuse PreventionDrug Abuse Treatment |
Author: Csete, Joanne Title: Telling the Story of Drugs in West Africa: The newest front in a losing war? Summary: Key Points - The emergence of significant drug trafficking routes in West Africa, particularly of cocaine from Latin America to European markets, has drawn a great deal of attention from global drug authorities, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the government of the United States, which sees West Africa as a setting for replicating drug-control interventions used in Latin America. - UNODC and US reports have used limited data on drug seizures, drug consumption and drug-related terrorism in West Africa to weave a narrative of a region 'under attack' by unscrupulous drug dealers and seized by rapidly increasing problematic drug use. - These authorities sometimes admit that these data are sketchy, but they nonetheless use this information to make broad generalisations about the urgent need for more policing and other 'drug war' measures. - Though the link between drug trafficking and terrorism in West Africa is not very well established, the US also energises its arguments for repressive drug interventions in West Africa by highlighting this connection. - West Africa undoubtedly has significant drug-related problems that merit an energetic response. - It is, however, legitimate to question whether the hyped-up narrative that has been constructed of a lethal problem is meant to justify placement of military, surveillance and anti-terrorism hardware and software in the region at a time when the US-led 'war on drugs' is losing support within many Latin American countries. Rather than the simple replication of often harmful and ineffective policy interventions applied in Latin America, the response to illicit drugs in West Africa should benefit from a careful reflection about what has and has not worked in other parts of the world. Details: Swansea, Wales, UK: Swansea University, Global Drug Policy Observatory, 2013. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief 1: Accessed July 31, 2014 at: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPO%20West%20Africa%20digital.pdf%20FINAL.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPO%20West%20Africa%20digital.pdf%20FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 132855 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (West Africa)Drug ControlDrug EnforcementDrug TraffickingWar on Drugs |