Framing Health Matters
About the Authors: Barbara Tempalski, Peter L. Flom, Samuel R.
Friedman, and Don C. Des Jarlais are with the Center for Drug Use and
HIV Research, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, New
York, NY. Samuel R. Friedman is also with the Department of
Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Baltimore, Md. Don C. Des Jarlais is also with the Baron de
Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute, Beth Israel Medical Center,
New York. Judith J. Friedman is with the Department of Sociology,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ. Courtney McKnight is with the
Baron de Rothschild Chemical Dependency Institute, Beth Israel
Medical Center, NY. Risa Friedman is with the Department of Public
Health, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador. Requests
for reprints should be sent to Barbara Tempalski, PhD, MPH, National
Development and Research Institutes, 71 W 23rd St, 8th Floor, New
York, NY 10010. This article was accepted March 13, 2006.
[continues 8860 words] |
THE LIMITED RELEVANCE OF DRUG POLICY:
[ABSTRACT]
Objectives. We tested the premise that punishment for cannabis use deters
use and thereby benefits public health.
Methods. We compared representative samples of experienced cannabis users
in similar cities with opposing cannabis policies--Amsterdam, the
Netherlands (decriminalization), and San Francisco, Calif
(criminalization). We compared age at onset, regular and maximum use,
frequency and quantity of use over time, intensity and duration of
intoxication, career use patterns, and other drug use.
[continues 5070 words] |
