Maximizing Harm: A Book about the drug war’s losers and winners

Maximizing Harm:
http://home.att.net/~theyoungfamily/mhcontents.htm#chap1
A Book about the drug war’s losers and winners

The drug policies of the United States have consistenly made drug problems worse, not better. Fatal
flaws in the policies ensure problems wil intensify. While lawmakers can access enough information
to understand this pattern, not only do they ignore it, they strive to keep such information away from the public.

Actually, the amount of information challenging the drug war is overwheilming. Anyone could read dozens of books or visit hundreds of web sites focusing on various aspects of the war. This book will give a brief introduction to the central issues in the drug wa: why it can’t work; who gets hurt; who profits; why it doesn’t
just end; and who is working for peace.

Heroin: The Failure of Prohibition and What to Do Now, By Francis Wilkinson, with a foreword by Sir David Ramsbotham November 2001

Heroin: The Failure of Prohibition and What to Do Now, By Francis Wilkinson, with a foreword by Sir David Ramsbotham November 2001

• ISBN: 1-902622-28-6 – £8

“Educating us all, powerfully, compellingly and in a very balanced way” Sir David Ramsbotham, recently retired HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.

In the UK heroin is more widely available, cheaper and stronger than it has ever been. It is also more widely used. It causes crime, illness and death. The 270,000 users create an illegal market of about £41/2 Billion p.a. paid for largely with the proceeds of crime.

Francis Wilkinson, former Chief Constable of Gwent, argues in this paper that the policy of prohibition increases the number of heroin users faster than any alternative approach. Prohibition exacerbates the incidence of overdosing and fuels property crime. He shows that the current methadone supply policy is failing.

The author demonstrates that the effective regulation of the heroin market in the UK would be the most significant crime prevention measure any government could introduce. Heroin should be supplied through a designated unit providing assessment, medical treatment and counselling.

Strongly endorsing these proposals, in a foreword to this paper, Sir David Ramsbotham, the recently retired HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, writes ‘ The author of this paper has performed a notable public service by educating us all, powerfully, compellingly and in a very balanced way, about why he recommends urgent change. I agree with him wholeheartedly.’

Maintenance Treatment of Heroin Addiction – Evidence at the Crossroads By Helge Waal & Egil Haga (editors)

August 2003.



Maintenance Treatment of Heroin Addiction – Evidence at the Crossroads

 

By Helge Waal & Egil Haga (editors)

 

Although maintenance treatment of heroin addiction has been an accepted approach for more than thirty years, practice and guidelines vary considerably. Accordingly, we should scrutinise our choices in light of scientific evaluation, which leads to the key questions of this book: What are beliefs and what are facts in the field? What is “good” and effective treatment according to recent research?

 

Introductory chapters on the neurobiological basis for opiate dependence and an overview of maintenance treatment in Europe are followed by discussions of recent research on the following key issues:

    • choice of medication
    • choices in programme structure
    • maintenance treatment in different settings, such as maintenance in seriously addicts, comorbid psychiatric diseases, vocational settings, pregnancy and car driving
    • integration of maintenance treatment and psychosocial approaches

The contributors: Mary Jeanne Kreek, Michael Farrell, Lubomir Okruhlica, Emilis Subata, Berit Mørland, Mats Berglund, Björn Axel Johansson, Michael Gossop, Thomas Kosten, Michael Krausz, Ambros Uchtenhagen, Markus Heilig, Wim van den Brink, Peter Ege, Marc Reisinger, Marc Auriacombe, John E Berg, Icro Maremmani, Miriam Gargiulo, Alfred Springer, Mari Trommald, Jørg Mørland, George De Leon, Thomas McLellan, Olav Espegren, Sivert Follesø

 

The editors: Helge Waal is Professor of Addiction Medicine at the University of Oslo. Egil Haga was coordinator of the 5thConference of the European Opiate Addiction Treatment Association (May 2002), of which this anthology is a follow-up.

 

For more information please contact Cappelen Akademisk Forlag.

 

Order now N.kroner 375,-

 

Cecilie von Hirsch Larsen
Cappelen Akademisk Forlag
Telephone: 22 98 58 00
Telefax: 22 98 58 41
E-mail: cafinfo@cappelen.no
www.cappelen.no