Formålet med undersøkelsen er å beskrive og analysere, med utgagnspunkt i den tidligere kvinnelige heroinmisbrukers opplevelser, hvordan hun har erfart livet med heroinbruk og nå opplever livet uten rus. Metode: Studien er gjennomført med kvalitativ metode, narrativ kasusstudie. Syv kvinner har fortalt sine historier om prosessen fra de startet med rusbruk, ble avhengige av illegale rusmidler og veien fram mot en rusfri tilværelse. Ståstedet de har i dag som rusfrie er også beskrevet. Resultater: Et hovedtema i fortellingene er ulike relasjoners betydning for identitet og identitetsendringer. I historiene dokumenteres spesielt opplevelser av krenkelser og maktmisbruk av hjelpere innenfor sosial- og helsevesenet. Kampen for å få hjelp til å beholde relasjonen til og ansvaret for barn er sterkt preget av mistillit til barnevernet og skaper barrierer for konstruktive prosesser. Kvaliteten av hjelp eller om du får hjelp i det hele tatt synes å være avhengig av hvor du bor og hvem du møter. Relasjon til menn har vært preget av mishandling og avhengighet for å få tilgang til dop. Fedre er usynlige i historien. Overgangen til å være rusmisbruker til å bli nykter er smertefull. Livet som rusfri oppleves som meningsfylt, men hverdagslivet preges tildels av trange sosioøkonomiske rammebetingelser, psykiske og fysiske helseplager. Konklusjoner: Forståelse for rusproblematikk må knyttes til prosesser som går over tid og sees i et livsløpsperspektiv. Psykososiale støttetiltak må opprettholdes ut fra individuelle behov både når det gjelder omfang, innhold og tid. I forbindelse med oppbrudd fra rusmisbruk er kvinner spesielt avhengige av et godt utviklet nettverk. Nøkkelsituasjoner som graviditet og omsorgsoppgaver må ivaretas. Det er behov for å løfte fram kjønnperspektivet når det gjelder samfunnets inngripende over for tidligere og nåværende misbrukende kvinner og menn og deres barn. Kjønnsperspektivet når det gjelder støtte eller behandlingstiltak for kvinner, er et virksomt redskap når det gjelder å forstå, ikke bare kvinners, men også menns behov for spesifikk støtte og behandling. Når det gjelder samfunnsinnsats, er det derfor nødvendig å være lydhør for betydningen av nye maskuliniteten og femininiteten som utvikles. Det er behov for forskning som løfter fram tidligeres misbrukeres egne fortellinger om erfaringer og behov i prosessen fra å være hekta til å bli nykter. / Aim: Using the experiences of recovered, female heroine abusers, their lives as heroin users, process of rehabilitation and how they experience drug free lives will be described and analyzed. Method: The study, using qualitative methods/narrative case study, included seven women. They recounted their stories of the beginning of their drug use, their addiction to illegal drugs, their road to recovery and living a drug free life. Results: A main theme in their narratives was the significance their various relationships have for identity and identity changes. In particular, their stories document experienced violations/infringements and misuse of power of workers in the public health and social services. The battle to get help in maintaining relationships to and responsibility for their children is characterized by mistrust of the child welfare authorities; this creates barriers to constructive processes. The quality of assistance and whether one receives assistance seems to be dependent on where one lives and personal contacts. Relationships to men have been characterized by abuse and dependency on them for access to drugs. Fathers are invisible in their stories.The transition from drug abuser to drug free is painful. They experience a sense of purpose in life as a drug free person, but daily living holds its own problems such as tight socioeconomic framework conditions and mental and physical health problems. Conclusions: Understanding for drug abuse and recovery issues must be bound to long term processes and be seen in a life course perspective. Psychosocial support measures should be based on individual needs concerning scope, content and time. In regards to ending drug abuse, women are especially dependent on a developed network. Key situations must be attended to such as pregnancy and their role in care giving. Society’s interventions towards women and men who are past or current drug abusers and their children must be accomplished with a focus on a gender specific perspective. The gender perspective concerning support and treatment of/for women is of great importance in understanding both women and men’s need for specific types of support and treatment. This is especially true when society intervenes; it must be done in light of the changing roles of the masculine and the feminine in modern culture. Research that focuses on the personal story and experience of the drug abuser’s journey from becoming drug addicted to living drug free is necessary / <p>ISBN 978-91-85721-01-6</p>

This study is designed both as a case study and a literature-based policy analysis to assist interested parties in gaining a better understanding of controversial “narco-terrorism” phenomenon. The objectives of this study are to show the existing connection between some terrorist organizations and drug trafficking to provide academic information about and explanations for terrorism and drug trafficking, to critically analyze the biases of many current narco-terrorism doctrines and to offer a comprehensive and neutral typology that elucidates all types of narco-terrorism. This thesis is presented in four parts. The first part includes an introduction to narco-terrorism and provides a historical background of drug dilemma and terrorism. A number of definitional and conceptual arguments constituting the backbone of the study are laid out in the second part of the study. Third part consists of case studies of three different insurgent groups. An analysis of the information uncovered and presented in previous chapters and a typology of narco-terrorism are provided in the last part. Thesis is concluded with recommendations in an attempt to inspire useful policies for individuals or institutions operating on the field.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis examines the magnitude of the deterrence effect associated with the implementation of the "zero tolerance" policy in the U.S. military in the early 1980s. The estimation of the deterrence effect is based on the estimation of linear probability models (LPM). A difference-in-difference estimator is obtained by comparing pre- and post-policy differences in drug use rates in the military and civilian sectors. The thesis uses data on drug participation drawn from the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse and the DoD Worldwide Health Survey. The study investigates the deterrence effect for the military as a whole, for each branch, for various age groups, and two different measures of drug participation. The results show that a significant deterrence effect appears to have been associated with the implementation of the "zero tolerance" and drug testing policy, especially for the past year drug participation rates. Additionally, there is evidence that individuals above 25 years old who are more educated and married have smaller drug participation rates than the rest of the population. / Lieutenant Commander, Hellenic Navy

This thesis examines perceptions regarding sexual harassment, racial prejudice and drug misuse among USNA varsity athletes. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that both gender and minority status would be predictive of perceptions regarding these behaviors among midshipmen and midshipmen athletes. The thesis also explores the relationship between indicators of athletic participation and experiences and perceptions regarding sexual harassment, racial prejudice and drug misuse. Data from 2735 midshipmen who responded to the USNA Values Survey and 723 midshipmen-athletes who responded to the NAAA Exit Survey were used for analyses. Results of regression analyses indicate that both gender and ethnicity were significant predictors of sexual harassment and racial prejudice but not drug misuse. Athletic status did significantly influence perceptions. Implications of these findings are discussed for

Kring 27 miljoner av världens befolkning beräknas vara narkotikamissbrukare. I Sverige bor det cirka 100 000 barn under arton år i ett hushåll med en substansmissbrukande förälder. Detta är en kvalitativ litteraturstudie med syftet att uppmärksamma föräldrars upplevelser av att vara missbrukare och förälder. Studien visar att en prioritering som föräldrar med ett missbruk gör är att barnen skall vara ovetande om missbruket. Föräldrarna lever ett liv präglat av flera känslor bland dessa dominerar skuld och skam. Barnen ses däremot som en motivation till att sluta med missbruket och bli en bättre förälder. Svårigheter i vardagen för föräldrarna kan vara kampen i att ge barnen det nödvändiga emotionella stödet som behövs. För vissa föräldrar är det viktigare att förse sina barn med basala rutiner såsom påklädnad och matning. Flera föräldrar kämpar med kontrollen över barnen och hushållet, eftersom drogen kontrollerar dem. Slutligen upplever föräldrar med missbruk ett antal vardagliga svårigheter. En av dessa svårigheter är att gömma missbruket för sina barn. Föräldrarna upplever starka känslor av skuld och skam, men ser sina barn som en motivation till att lämna missbruket bakom sig. Tydliga brister uppdagas i föräldrarnas förmåga att ge emotionellt stöd. Däremot finns styrkan i att uppfylla barnens basala behov i form av konkreta handlingar. Föräldrar med missbruk upplever svårigheter i uppfostran av sina barn. / Background: About 27 million people in the world lives with a substance abuse. Many of them are parents. There is a need in the abuse- and addiction care of having a family perspective of how the substance abuseing parent affects the whole family. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of being a parent with a substance abuse. Method: A literature study based on eight qualitative articles. Results: Two main themes were found; an emotional storm and the daily struggle. The main result of this study was that parents with substance abuse experience feelings as guilt and shame. Furthermore, they found it difficult to raise their children and satisfy the emotional needs that children require. From the parents view the children were seen as a way of salvations from substance abuse. Conclusion: The study showed that parents with substance abuse found it difficult to provide their children with emotional support and that they have strong feelings of guilt and shame. However, they can perform daily chores and try to hide the drugs from the children. A daily struggle for these parents was how to raise their children. While the parent is seen as an inappropriate role model for the child, the child was seen as motivation for the parent.

This article is about the application of the two coercive legislations, Care of Abusers (Special Provisions) Act (LVM) and  the Compulsory Psychiatric Care Act (LPT) when individuals suffer from comorbidity. The authority who files the application for coercive interventions differs between the legislations. In LVM the social welfare board files the application and in LPT the chief psychiatrist.  Earlier research has shown that the individuals of the comorbidity group do not get their needs met in either of the legislations. It has also occurred that concrete arguments which relate to statutory criteria are missing. Our aim was to gain knowledge about how the court argued for these criteria, especially in cases where comorbidity exist. Another aim was to see which legislation that gave legal impact. Finally, we wanted to examine the roles of the chief psychiatrist and the social welfare board in court negotiations. We decided to study twenty court cases from Administrative court, ten cases from LVM and ten from LPT where the same individual had been committed to coercive care according to both legislations, this to capture the comorbidity. We interpreted the documents using discourse analysis and selected two concepts, inspired by Foucault and Fairclough, that we thought could be fruitful for our analysis. The result shows that there is more often argumentation about if the legal criteria in LVM are fulfilled compared to LPT where the argumentation is less informative. This result may have been influenced by the secrecy of Law. We also found out that the legislation that was given legal impact depended on the authorities assess of which need that was most urgent. The last finding was that the chief psychiatrist`s opinion was never questioned by the court, but the statements made by the social welfare board was.

<p>Opioid drug abuse represents a serious public health concern with few effective therapeutic strategies. A primary goal for researchers modeling substance abuse disorders has been the delineation of the biological and environmental factors that shape an individual’s susceptibility or resistance to the reinforcing properties of abused substances. Early-life environmental conditions are frequently implicated as critical mediators for later-life health outcomes, although the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie these effects have historically been challenging to identify. Previous work has shown that a neonatal handling procedure in rats (which promotes enriched maternal care) attenuates morphine conditioning, reduces morphine-induced glial activation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and increases microglial expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10). The experiments described in this dissertation were thus designed to address if inflammatory signaling in the NAc may underlie the effects of early-life experience on later-life opioid drug-taking. The results demonstrate that neonatal handling attenuates intravenous self-administration of the opioid remifentanil in a drug concentration-dependent manner. Transcriptional profiling of the NAc reveals a suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine signaling molecules and an increase in anti-inflammatory IL-10 in handled rats following repeated exposure to remifentanil. To directly test the hypothesis that anti-inflammatory signaling can alter drug-taking behavior, bilateral intracranial injections of plasmid DNA encoding IL-10 (pDNA-IL-10) or control pDNA were delivered into the NAc of naïve rats. pDNA-IL-10 treatment reduces remifentanil self-administration in a drug concentration-dependent manner, similar to the previous observations in handled rats. Additional experiments confirmed that neither handling nor pDNA-IL-10 treatment alters operant responding for food or sucrose rewards. These results help define the conditions under which ventral striatal neuroimmune signaling may influence motivated behaviors for highly reinforcing opioid drugs.</p> / Dissertation

The purpose of this study is to examine the four basic student assistance models and determine their distribution in Texas, describe the student assistance programs in place in public school districts in Texas including the program's goals, objectives and components, and explore the perceived effectiveness of student assistance programs as a viable means of drug and alcohol education for students enrolled in public school districts in Texas in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

Although previous research has shown a significant association between bulimia nervosa (BN) and drug use disorders (DUD), our knowledge of the underlying causes for this comorbidity remains limited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate possible influences on the comorbidity between BN and DUD. Subjects included 490 monozygotic and 354 dizygotic female twin pairs from the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to test where putative shared correlates mediated the comorbidity between BN and DUD. Bivariate twin analyses were used to investigate the contribution of genes and environment to the correlation between BN and DUD. Regression analyses indicated a lifetime history of major depression, the personality trait of neuroticism, and childhood sexual abuse significantly mediated the associated between BN and DUD (using BN as the independent variable), while major depression, conduct disorder diagnosis, and childhood sexual abuse most significantly impacted the association when DUD was used as the independent variable. Bivariate twin analyses indicated there is additive genetic and nonshared environmental overlap between BN and DUD with genetic and unique environmental correlations of 0.39 and 0.10, respectively. Results show the reason for the association between BN and DUD is due mostly to overlapping genes with a smaller contribution from nonshared environmental influences. Major depression, the personality trait of neuroticism, and childhood sexual abuse are likely important shared correlates between BN and DUD.

To date, low rates of patient compliance have made it impractical to study whether regular exercise can contribute to positive outcomes in women with substance use disorders (SUD). One robust strategy for promoting and maintaining behavior change is contingency management (CM). CM has been used successfully to reinforce drug abstinence, treatment attendance, and other pro-social behaviors. CM delivers incentives (prizes) contingent upon target behaviors, though can be expensive. To reduce costs, CM is often delivered with an escalating variable-ratio schedule, first tested by Petry and colleagues (2005). As a Stage Ib behavioral therapies development project (Rounsaville et al., 2001), the primary aim of the present study was to test the use of behavioral incentives (BI) to promote regular physical activity in a residential SUD treatment setting with cocaine-dependent women. The target was physical activity, which was objectively defined at two levels: 30 minutes of treadmill walking at any pace and treadmill walking at moderate intensity. Specifically, a pilot RCT compared rates of physical activity over a six-week study period in a sample of N = 17 women with Cocaine Dependence. N = 10 were randomized to BI group and n = 7 were placed in the control (C) group. All participants completed baseline assessment, attended a 45-minute health and fitness education class, and were scheduled in exercise sessions three days/week. Those randomized to BI, however, were eligible three days/week, to receive incentives for meeting the target behavior(s). Follow-up assessment occurred at 3-weeks and 6-weeks post-randomization (midpoint and end of intervention), and 4-weeks post-discharge from the residential program. The primary outcome variables (percentage of sessions completed and total time spent in scheduled sessions) were used for effect size estimations, which were then used to perform power analyses so that sample size calculations could be estimated for the design of a Stage II RCT. A significant Group effect demonstrated that the BI group spent a significantly greater number of total minutes in scheduled exercise sessions than the C group. This dissertation provided benchmark data on the utility of BI for promoting physical activity for women with cocaine dependence. These promising findings support the use of BI procedures to promote exercise compliance, which will ultimately allow scientists to better develop SUD programs that directly utilize the mental and physical health benefits of physical activity.