Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jan 2012
Source: Lancet, The (UK)
Copyright: 2012 The Lancet Ltd
Contact:  http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/231

ADDICTION-A GLOBAL PROBLEM WITH NO GLOBAL SOLUTION

Few diseases can compete with addiction in their capacity to generate 
misinformation, misjudgment, or misunderstanding. Illicit drug use 
has been around for as long as drugs themselves, but the acceptance 
of addiction to any substance as a disease rather than a choice is a 
far more modern concept. The first issue of The Lancet in 1996 
introduced a six-part Series on addiction with the emphasis on 
relevant brain mechanisms, detoxification, treatment myths, and drug 
policy. Now, 16 years later in this week's issue, a three-part Series 
examines addiction from a global perspective.

The first paper in the 2012 Lancet Series on addiction addresses the 
global burden of disease due to illicit drug use, and estimates that 
about 200 million people worldwide use illicit drugs each year. 
Louisa Degenhardt and Wayne
Hall discuss the adverse health effects of dependence on different 
drugs, and compare them with those of tobacco and alcohol. Most of 
the disease burden attributable to illicit drugs is in problem or 
dependent drug users, especially those who inject drugs.

The second paper, by John Strang and colleagues, examines the 
effectiveness of drug control initiatives, and explores 
evidence-based interventions to prevent drug use initiation in young 
people and to reduce drug use in established drug users.

The third paper, by Robin Room and Peter Reuter, discusses whether 
international drug conventions protect public health, or otherwise, 
and concludes that national policies aligned with risks of different 
drugs are needed. The authors state: "The cultural positions of 
different drugs vary enough to preclude universal policies on how to 
deal with all illicit or indeed licit drugs. From the perspective of 
public health, we need to move towards a control system that is more 
aligned with the risks that different drugs pose to users and shows 
an understanding of the effects of different regulatory approaches on 
drug use and harm."
As the problem of escalating misuse of prescription drugs shows, 
particularly in the USA, prevention and treatment of prescription 
drug dependency offers challenges that differ from those of addiction 
to illicit drugs, and need innovative solutions. Addiction is a 
complex disease without a universal policy approach or treatment.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D