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Government Drug Agencies and Control of Drug Misuse
Author(s) -
EDMONDSON KEN
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1987.tb01452.x
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , ambivalence , harm , action (physics) , control (management) , public relations , harm reduction , drug , political science , drug control , public administration , medicine , public health , pharmacology , psychology , law , social psychology , economics , philosophy , linguistics , physics , nursing , management , quantum mechanics
Summary Despite an increasing level of successful action against drug trafficking, international authorities remain concerned at the continuing problem and the association with other criminal activities. Social use of psychoactive substances has a long history and attitudes continue to change. The controls which governments impose over drugs also change, both with these attitudes and with the increasing knowledge of pharmacology and physiologic effects of drugs, sometimes over many years. Public opinion remains somewhat ambivalent and ideas of personal liberty and the desire to be protected from harm become confused. Governments must accept the responsibility to impose controls in the interest of the community's safety. They need to remain flexible, varying controls with experience, and with therapeutic need, taking into account patterns of utilization and the advent of more appropriate treatments. This requires full cooperation with the academic and professional communities and a climate which assists mutual understanding.