Evidence for controlled heroin use? Low levels of negative health and social outcomes among non‐treatment heroin users in Glasgow (Scotland)

Shewan, David; Dalgarno, Phil

doi:10.1348/135910704x14582

Cited by 79 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It may not be experienced as unproblematic by children however. The possibility of controlled heroin use is also precluded in this schema (Shewan andDalgarno, 2005, Warburton et al, 2005).…”

Section: The Drug/alcohol Divide: Embedding Risks In Substances and Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Drug problems tend to be defined in terms of use of the substance; there is great reluctance to accept that regular heroin use, for instance, is anything other than problematic, although the evidence is that it can be controlled given the right circumstances (Shewan andDalgarno, 2005, Warburton et al, 2005).…”

Section: The Drug/alcohol Divide: Embedding Risks In Substances and Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ‘risk gradient’ in policy on children of drug and alcohol users: Framing young people as risky

Bancroft

Wilson

2007

Health, Risk & Society

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Section: The Drug/alcohol Divide: Embedding Risks In Substances and Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Drug/alcohol Divide: Embedding Risks In Substances and Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘risk gradient’ in policy on children of drug and alcohol users: Framing young people as risky

Bancroft

Wilson

2007

Health, Risk & Society

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“…Indeed, most people who currently use drugs or have used drugs in the past experience very few problems, either in terms of adverse health effects or brushes with authority. Although such statements generally relate to more 'recreational' drug use (Parker et al, 1998), a growing body of evidence shows that so-called 'harder' drugs can often be used in relatively un-problematic and controlled ways (Shewan and Dalgarno, 2005). In addition, research from a 'hidden' sample of drug users -that is those who have not been accessed via criminal-justice or treatment agencies -has demonstrated that heroin use is not always followed by criminal activity (Warburton et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Recent Evolution of UK Drug Strategies: From Maintenance to Behaviour Change?

Monaghan¹

2012

PPP

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Politically, the idea that certain kinds of drugs and drug use are intrinsically linked to certain kinds of criminality -known as the drugs-crime nexus -enjoys continuing salience. This shows little sign of abating. Since 1995, successive strategies have embraced this theme and policies have been developed to try and increase the numbers of drug users entering treatment in a bid to drive down crime rates. Drawing on a review of the relevant literature and an analysis of successive drug strategies and related policy documents, this paper argues that although contemporary drug policy is still underpinned by such notions the suggested means by which crime rates are to be reduced is gradually shifting. Since 2008, there has been a notable change in rhetoric with an increasing use of conditionality in the benefits system coupled with an overt desire to 'nudge' those engaging in risky behaviours to amend their ways. This seems to be related to a steady disillusionment with methadone maintenance treatment and a desire to solve the drug-crime problem by promoting the goal of 'abstinence'. More recently, abstinence has been replaced by the less well-defined term 'recovery', but both signal a desire for drug treatment to move away from maintenance. This paper argues that such developments are part of a creeping moralisation that has reemerged in UK social policy over recent decades.

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“…Controlled and regulated use of heroin involve adhering to informal rules on the frequency of use of heroin, with whom it is taken and where it is used (Shewan & Dalgarno, 2006;Warburton, Turnbull, & Hough, 2005;Zinberg, 1984). Such opiate users are described as carrying out a tactical risk management that balances the pleasures of heroin use and the dangers of dependency.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are drug treatment services only for ‘thieving junkie scumbags’? Drug users and the management of stigmatised identities

Radcliffe

Stevens

2008

Social Science & Medicine

248

201

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a b s t r a c tThis article uses qualitative interviews with 53 problematic drug users who had dropped out of treatment in England, UK to explore how they describe the stigmatisation of drug users and drug services. It discusses the construction of the category of the junkie through its association with un-controlled heroin use and criminality. It shows how some drug users carefully manage information about their discreditable identities by excluding themselves from this category, while acknowledging its validity for other drug users. The junkie identity was generally seen as shameful and therefore to be avoided, although it holds attractions for some drug users. For many of the interviewees, entry to treatment risked exposing their own activities as shaming, as they saw treatment as being a place that was populated by junkies and where it becomes more difficult to manage discreditable information. The treatment regime, e.g. the routine of supervised consumption of methadone, was itself seen by some as stigmatising and was also seen as hindering progress to the desired 'normal' life of conventional employment. Participation in the community of users of both drugs and drug services was perceived as potentially damaging to the prospects of recovery. This emphasises the importance of social capital, including links to people and opportunities outside the drug market. It also highlights the danger that using the criminal justice system to concentrate prolific offenders in treatment may have the perverse effects of excluding other people who have drug problems and of prolonging the performance of the junkie identity within treatment services. It is concluded that treatment agencies should address these issues, including through the provision of more drug services in mainstream settings, in order to ensure that drug services are not seen to be suitable only for one particularly stigmatised category of drug user.

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Evidence for controlled heroin use? Low levels of negative health and social outcomes among non‐treatment heroin users in Glasgow (Scotland)

Abstract: Drug research should more fully incorporate previously hidden populations to more fully inform theory and practice. The pharmacological properties of specific substances should not be assumed to inevitably lead to addictive and destructive patterns of drug use.

Cited by 79 publications

References 25 publications

The ‘risk gradient’ in policy on children of drug and alcohol users: Framing young people as risky

The ‘risk gradient’ in policy on children of drug and alcohol users: Framing young people as risky

The Recent Evolution of UK Drug Strategies: From Maintenance to Behaviour Change?

Are drug treatment services only for ‘thieving junkie scumbags’? Drug users and the management of stigmatised identities

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