This diploma thesis called "Koncept biopolitiky v díle Michela Foucaulta s konkrétním zaměřením na bezpečnost v rámci oblasti ČR od roku 1990" is devoted to the theme of biopolitics in the writings of Michel Foucault. At first the thesis focuses on previous writings of Michel Foucault, which inspired his concept of biopolitics. It's all about the archeology of knowledge, discipline and sexuality dispozitiv. Biopolitics is a government practice that focuses on the population as a mass. The population by biopolitics is influenced by factors such as the environment, health issues, mortality etc. According to Foucault, biopolitics is originated in the political direction called liberalism. Foucault's ideas and theses are mainly related to the 19th century, but the theme of biopolitics is also relevant for our time. Therefore the diploma thesis focuses on the drugs problem in the Czech Republic on the basis of Foucault's biopolitics. The thesis acquaints us with the evolution of the drug scene in the Czech Republic after 1990, when there was a new political constitution. It acquaints us with the drug policy that works in the Czech Republic and with legislation that resolves the criminal page of drug problems. The thesis also deals with ways of helping drug addicts. Keywords biopolitics, discourse,...

This study uses a Comparative Policy Analysis (CPA) between Colombia and Uruguay using the common analytical framework created by Rogeberg, Bergsvik, Phillips, Amsterdam, Eastwood, Henderson and Nutt (2018) where it can be described, assessed and discussed policy regimes. First, it describes the development of the drug policy towards the marijuana use in Latin-American countries, and secondly, each country is classified according to the characteristics of the Policy Regimes: a) Absolute prohibition regime, b) decriminalization, c) State control, and d) free market. Besides, each country is evaluated according to the seven clusters designed in the common analytical framework. Keywords Legalization of Marijuana, Policy Cycle, Comparative Policy Analysis, Drug Policy

This Thesis examines the benefits and usefulness of a National Drug Policy (NDP) for the developing of the Health Care System in Kuwait. The NDP is one of the most important structures of the Health System which can lead to improved health services by establishing guidelines, proposals and directives to organize, structure and regulate health legislation; it is of help to ensure the availability of quality, safety and efficacy in using medicines and it can reduce the irrational use of medicines. The NDP is a frame work between the government, schools and universities, media, health professionals, pharmaceutical industries and companies and public. It is cooperation between the public and private sectors to achieve the goal of access to good quality medicines for all. However there are many key factors which need to be examined before the National Drug Policy is introduced and these are considered the baseline for establishing a good policy, and includes; selection of essential drugs, affordability of drugs, drug financing, supply management, drug regulation, rational use of drugs, drugs registration, purchasing of drugs, health research and human resource development. During this research study from 2012 – 2015 several visits to the public and private health areas, were undertaken. At this time there were discussions with 121 health professionals and data was collected and this indicated that in Kuwait there are no such policies. This is despite the availability of financial means, specialized human resources and the existence of the ministerial decisions and regulations governing the health sector in both public and private, whether hospitals, health centers, pharmacies and health departments. In addition it is suggested that the process of a good NDP should be built around 3 main components which includes: 1.Development, 2. Implementation and 3. Monitoring and Evaluation. Therefore the establishing of a NDP without implementation and monitoring is not enough and does not achieve the desired results. The aim of this Thesis is to establish a NDP in the State of Kuwait. This policy is necessary for the State of Kuwait to ensure development an improvement of the Health Care System and ensure better health for population.

Den svenska narkotikapolitiken kännetecknas av stränga förbudslagar som har mött motstånd de senaste åren. Detta eftersom dess effektivitet har blivit ifrågasatt. Målet med denna undersökningen är att undersöka svenska socialarbetares åsikter om den svenska narkotikapolitiken och hur den påverkar deras arbete. Vidare vill vi även se hur socialarbetare ställer sig till en eventuell avkriminalisering av cannabis för eget bruk och hur det hade kunnat påverka deras arbete. Undersökningen består av åtta semi-strukturerade intervjuer med personer som stöter på klienter med missbruk på olika sätt. Resultatet visar att intervjupersonerna anser att narkotikapolitiken bör utvärderas. De anser att den nuvarande narkotikapolitiken är repressiv och straffar mer än den hjälper. Vidare påpekar de att en eventuell avkriminalisering kan gynna brukare- och missbrukare även om det är en komplex policyfråga som måste utvärderas noggrant innan det implementeras. Intervjupersonerna nämner en rädsla för att en avkriminalisering av cannabis för eget bruk hade normaliserat drogen och ökat användningen. Den svenska narkotikapolitiken bidrar även till stigmatisering av brukare- eller missbrukare, något som gör att de ses som avvikare och kriminella och förhindrar dem från att söka hjälp. Vår slutsats är att den svenska narkotikapolitiken i sin nuvarande form måste förändras. Huruvida detta är genom en avkriminalisering av cannabis för eget bruk eller genom att förbättra och göra den nuvarande missbruksvården mer lättillgänglig är något som måste övervägas. / The Swedish drug policy is characterized by strict prohibitionist laws which has seen some resistance in recent years due to questioning of its effectiveness. The aim of this essay is to examine Swedish social workers views regarding the Swedish drug policy and how it affects their work with drug users and drug dependent clients. Furthermore we wanted to see what social workers feel about decriminalization of cannabis for personal use and how it could affect their line of work. The study consists of eight semi-structured interviews with social workers who come across clients with addictions in different ways. The results show that the interviewees believe that the drug policy needs to be evaluated. They believe that it’s currently repressive and punishes more than it helps. Furthermore, they point out that decriminalization can benefit users and drug dependent clients even though it’s a complex policy that must be properly evaluated before implementing. The interviewees mention a fear that decriminalization of cannabis for personal use would normalize the drug and in turn lead to an increased use. The Swedish drug policy is also considered to contribute to the stigmatization of users or drug dependent clients. This in turn leads them to be seen as deviants and criminals, something that prevents them from seeking help. Our conclusion is that Sweden's drug policy, in its current form, needs to change. Whether this is through decriminalization of own use or through improving the accessibility and quality of current drug treatment care is something that needs to be considered.

YWCA Hamilton’s Safer Drug Use Space (SUS) is one of only two gender-specific safe consumption spaces in Canada, and the only one integrated into an emergency drop-in program. It is widely acknowledged in both the scholarly literature and by social service and healthcare providers that women and non-binary people are vulnerable to violence and coercion when using substances around men. They also have different needs from harm reduction programs that are not always met in all-gender safe consumption sites. Furthermore, the integration of safe consumption sites in emergency shelters and drop-ins has been found to lower the number of drug poisonings in the area. This study sought to build upon this existing body of literature by speaking with service users from SUS about how they have been supported by the program in its first year of operation, and how it could be improved. Five service users were engaged in individual, qualitative interviews conducted by one of the front-line staff at SUS who is also a student at McMaster University. The “in-between” position of the researcher and previously established rapport with the participants generated nuanced insights to come out of these conversations. Four themes came out of the data: (1) the importance of positive service user/staff relationships; (2) staff knowledge and expertise; (3) SUS being considered a “safe” place and like a “home” to service users; and (4) accessibility of the space for service users being a contributor to why people return to SUS. This study revealed that aligning their harm reduction framework to include safe consumption onsite has meant SUS staff and service users develop more trusting relationships with each other. This allows them cooperate in unique ways to keep the community safe and connect service users to necessary social and healthcare supports. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

As the repercussions of the nearly 50-year U.S. War on Drugs are revealing themselves to be harmful and life-threatening, especially to lower-class and minority populations, social movements aimed at drug policy reform have been on the rise. While today's generation of college students were raised on abstinence-based discourses, which constantly warned and threatened them about the dangers of drug use, these same students often change their perspective, some as early as high school, when they begin having their own experiences with drugs and engage in more drug-related conversations. As a result, many students become motivated to change drug policy and education and address the stigma associated with drug use in order to reduce drug-related harm to individuals. This thesis examines the ideas and efforts of students at a university in the southeastern United States who are actively engaged in making these changes. Based on interviews with students involved with two drug policy reform groups in 2018, this thesis highlights the role of student activism in the larger drug policy reform movement. Student activists raise awareness of the need for a critical examination of U.S. drug policy frameworks and their place in this endeavor. I argue that student activists' involvement in the drug policy reform movement is motivated by the numerous disparities they experience and observe in the dominant abstinence-based drug approach. Based on these students' perspectives, I argue for a shift towards a more holistic harm reduction education that aims to increase the quality of care and livelihood for drug users, an accomplishment they believe is inextricable from U.S. policy.

The drug treatment staff attitude towards needle exchange is what investigates in this study. The aim of this study is to see what’s affecting the standpoints in the needle exchange issue and also to investigate if the needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy. The study has a qualitative approach and it’s based on eight semi-structured interviews with drug treatment staff. To analyze the empirical material we’ve used Berger and Luckmanns social construction theory, the theoretical concept profession socialization and the four ethical principles: autonomy principle, goodness maximization principle, harm minimization principle and the principle of justice. The result of this study shows that drug treatment staffs are negative to needle exchange efficacy. They don’t believe that needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy which strives for a drug free society. The drug treatment staffs are worried about that harm reduction interventions, such as needle exchange, will lead to a liberalized drug policy and that drug use will be legitimized. They fear that the drug policy will be weakened with harm reduction. The results illustrate that there are numerous factors that influence staff attitudes towards needle exchange, these are profession socialization, workplace, organization, context, the current drug policy as well as knowledgeable of the needle exchange. Keywords: Needle exchange, Injection drug users, Drug treatment staff, Harm reduction and Swedish drug policy.

<p>The drug treatment staff attitude towards needle exchange is what investigates in this study. The aim of this study is to see what’s affecting the standpoints in the needle exchange issue and also to investigate if the needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy. The study has a qualitative approach and it’s based on eight semi-structured interviews with drug treatment staff. To analyze the empirical material we’ve used Berger and Luckmanns social construction theory, the theoretical concept profession socialization and the four ethical principles: autonomy principle, goodness maximization principle, harm minimization principle and the principle of justice.</p><p>The result of this study shows that drug treatment staffs are negative to needle exchange efficacy. They don’t believe that needle exchange is compatible with Swedish drug policy which strives for a drug free society. The drug treatment staffs are worried about that harm reduction interventions, such as needle exchange, will lead to a liberalized drug policy and that drug use will be legitimized. They fear that the drug policy will be weakened with harm reduction. The results illustrate that there are numerous factors that influence staff attitudes towards needle exchange, these are profession socialization, workplace, organization, context, the current drug policy as well as knowledgeable of the needle exchange.</p><p>Keywords: Needle exchange, Injection drug users, Drug treatment staff, Harm reduction and Swedish drug policy.</p>

New synthetic drugs are a new phenomenon that is expanding in many countries. NSD mimic the effects of traditional drugs phenomenological, but retain the hallmark of legal substances. NSD legal status is due to the fact that theses new substances are controlled by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 or the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971. To the Czech Republic this trend came somewhat later than in neighboring countries, and especially in 2010, when sales NSD was mainly in shops. This sale was completed in April 2011 becouse of entering 33th NSD to the list of psychotropic and narcotic substances and moved mostly to the internet. NSD composition is often changing, due to disabling preparatory material, it follows that the risks associated with the use of NSD are unpredictable. The research objective of this study is to determine the acquisition and distribution of NSD between problem drug users and also to map the most widely used NSD among this population.The main purpose of the research is to bring knowledge (as it's called, how it look, what it contains, where and from whom it receives, how much it costs). The survey was made up of semi-structures interviews (qualitative part) and structured questionnaires (quantitative part). Respondents were selected...

La première étude porte sur les conditions de l’acceptabilité des politiques de l’Etat face aux drogues: 225 sujets tout-venant ont jugé du degré d’acceptabilité dans 28 scénarios issus de la combinaison de trois facteurs: campagnes d’information, demande intérieure en drogue, action de l’État (du laissez-faire à l’interdiction). La seconde étude porte sur les conditions de la responsabilité de l’État dans le cas d’un décès lié à la consommation de substance: 234 sujets ont jugé du degré de responsabilité dans 80 scénarios issus de la combinaison de cinq facteurs: relation consommation/maladie, temps depuis lequel la nocivité est connue, généralité du risque, consommation, action de l’État (du monopole à l’interdiction des ventes). Nos études s’appuient sur une méthode issue de la théorie fonctionnelle de la cognition (Anderson, 1981). La première étude permet d’identifier trois clusters: les régulationnistes (42%), en faveur d’une réglementation totale par l’État, les radicaux (32%), pour qui aucune des politiques n’est acceptable, les prohibitionnistes (26%), en faveur d’une interdiction totale à condition que des campagnes soient menées. La politique du laissez-faire est jugée par tous comme étant la plus inacceptable. La seconde étude fait apparaître trois clusters: un plus au centre (44%), un plus à gauche (38%), un plus à droite (17%). Celui de droite a tendance à attribuer moins de responsabilité à l’État et est plus sensible aux preuves scientifiques. Un consensus montre que l’État se dégage de toute responsabilité seulement s’il interdit totalement les ventes. Dans les autres cas, l'État est perçu comme partiellement responsable quand la santé d'un consommateur se détériore. / Our first study relates to the conditions of perceived acceptability of State policies regarding drugs: 225 randomly selected subjects judged the degree of State policy acceptability in 28 scenarios derived from the combination of three factors: information campaigns, interior drug demand, State policy (from laisser-faire to prohibition). Our second study relates to the conditions of perceived State responsibility when a death linked to substance consumption occurred: 234 subjects judged the degree of State responsibility in 80 scenarios derived from the combination of five factors: relationship between consumption/disease, amount of time since the substance toxicity is known, risk generality, consumption, State action (from State monopoly to sale interdiction). Our studies rely on a method derived from the functional theory of cognition (Anderson, 1981). The first study identifies three clusters: the regulationists (42%), who favor total regulation by the State, the radicals (32%), for who none of the policies are acceptable, and the prohibitionists (26%), who favor a total interdiction with the condition of information campaigns. The policy of the laissez faire is judged by all groups as being the most inacceptable. In the second study, three clusters are separated: centrist-dominated (44%), leftist-dominated (38%) and rightist-dominated (17%). The rightists tend to attribute less responsibility to the state and are less sensitive to scientific evidences than the leftists. A consensus between groups is that the State is freed from responsibility when sales are totally forbidden. In other cases, the State is perceived as partially responsible when a consumer’s health deteriorates.