{"title":"Fanning the flame: analysing the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia's de facto war on Nicotine.","authors":"James Martin, Edward Jegasothy","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01163-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01163-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This commentary examines Australia's intensified regulatory approach toward nicotine control, revealing a shift that increasingly resembles a de facto War on Nicotine. While traditional tobacco control measures have achieved commendable declines in smoking rates, recent policies- including increased tobacco taxation and a ban on consumer vapes- have inadvertently fuelled a burgeoning nicotine black market. This has resulted in serious unintended consequences, including increased criminal activity, systemic violence, and health risks associated with the proliferation of unregulated nicotine products. By analysing the relationship between nicotine control policies and these outcomes, this paper argues that Australia's current strategy may be creating more harm than it mitigates, mirroring many of the unintended consequences historically associated with drug prohibition. We contend that a recalibration toward a harm reduction model, coupled with a re-evaluation of tax and improved access to less harmful nicotine products, could achieve a more balanced approach to nicotine control, aligning public health objectives with sustainable, effective policy.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"42"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11931802/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143691919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Welfare first: transforming harm reduction at UK festivals.","authors":"Joseph Janes","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01184-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01184-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A welfare-first approach to harm reduction at UK festivals is emerging as a critical strategy for enhancing festival safety. In particular, the implementation of anonymous, non-punitive drug-checking services is posited as essential for reducing drug-related harm by enabling informed decision-making. This empirical study examines the limitations of punitive drug policies and the associated risks to public health and explores the potential benefits of decriminalisation in fostering safer festival environments.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study employed qualitative methodologies, including semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with festival attendees at three major UK festivals. This empirical data was supplemented by a review of recent studies (Ivers et al. in Ir J Med Sci 191(4):1701-1710, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02765-2 ; Palmer Maynard in Harm Reduc J 19(1):81, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-022-00662-0 ; Cooney and Measham. in Drug Sci Policy Law 9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/20503245231211444 ) and relevant policy documents, in order to evaluate current harm reduction practices and identify key barriers, such as stigma, social control, and criminalisation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Analysis revealed that integrated harm reduction measures, comprising drug-checking services, welfare support, and early intervention initiatives, significantly enhance safety by empowering individuals with timely, accurate substance information. A majority of participants expressed a clear preference for drug-checking services, underscoring their willingness to engage when these services are provided in a supportive, non-punitive environment. However, persistent challenges related to punitive drug policies and gaps in public education about harm reduction continue to impede optimal service delivery. Evidence further suggests that a shift towards decriminalisation and welfare-based approaches could mitigate these risks and foster more trusting engagement with harm reduction initiatives.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings indicate that prioritising welfare-first harm reduction strategies, particularly the implementation of anonymous drug-checking services, can create safer festival environments and inform broader public health policies. The study underscores the need for policy reforms that move away from punitive approaches, suggesting that festival-based interventions can serve as scalable models for reducing drug-related harm across diverse community settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11929186/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143691923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefania Schiavone, Nadia Robert Petronella Wilhelmina Hutten, Maria Bove, Maria Grazia Morgese, Luigia Trabace, Laura Alexandra Smit-Rigter
{"title":"Drug testing after use: what insights can be gained from a harm reduction perspective on visitors of the drugs information and monitoring system (DIMS) in the Netherlands?","authors":"Stefania Schiavone, Nadia Robert Petronella Wilhelmina Hutten, Maria Bove, Maria Grazia Morgese, Luigia Trabace, Laura Alexandra Smit-Rigter","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01176-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01176-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Interventions aimed to mitigate drug-related harm include drug checking, which invloves a chemical analysis of a drug sample alongside personalized harm reduction advise. The Drug Information and Monitoring System (DIMS) represents a network of Drug Checking Services (DCS) in the Netherlands, which people who use drugs (PWUD) may visit before consumption, though not consistently. This paper describes the characteristics and experienced effects of PWUD who have their drugs tested after use, in relation to the analysis results of the submitted drug sample and the setting of use.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data was collected between 2018 until 2022 encompassing a range of characteristics provided by the visitors. Statistical analyses were performed to find associations between the type of effects the visitor experienced and the (mis)match with the expected content of the drug sample or setting in which the sample was used.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>14% (N = 9472) of all samples submitted to DIMS (N = 66150) were used prior to attending a DCS. The majority of samples were sold as ecstasy (41%, N = 3460) and cocaine (17%, N = 1407). Most visitors were male (75%, N = 6359), purchased their drugs offline (96%, N = 8081), and reported having used the sample at a party/festival (43%, N = 3614), while 27% (N = 2320) used it in a home setting. Half of the visitors (49%, N = 4109) declared not having used the sample in combination with other psychoactive substances. Positive mental effects were less likely to be experienced when the detected drug content did not match the expected content, while negative mental effects were more likely. Moreover, visitors consuming their sample at a party/festival were more likely to experience positive mental and physical effects and less likely to experience negative mental and physical effects compared to people consuming their sample at home.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>By identifying the characteristics of PWUD who have their drugs tested after use and by demonstrating that not only a (mis)match with the expected drug content, but also the setting in which the substance was used was associated with the drug experience, improved strategies can be developed to encourage individuals to visit a DCS before consumption, thereby reducing drug-related harm.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11929261/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143691916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aaron Bailey, Elizabeth Bishop, Agnes T Black, Elizabeth Dogherty, George Sedore, Marge Humchitt, John Onland, Jane Milina, Varun Bangar, Heather Mackie, Herb Varley, Tyler Byrd, Sven Black, Kristine Auigbelle, Carina Nilsson
{"title":"Creating safe, inclusive spaces for hospital-based health care staff and people who use drugs: an exploratory qualitative study in Vancouver, Canada.","authors":"Aaron Bailey, Elizabeth Bishop, Agnes T Black, Elizabeth Dogherty, George Sedore, Marge Humchitt, John Onland, Jane Milina, Varun Bangar, Heather Mackie, Herb Varley, Tyler Byrd, Sven Black, Kristine Auigbelle, Carina Nilsson","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01158-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01158-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This project sought to contribute to healthy, safe organizational cultures within Vancouver's hospital system healthcare system as one method to address indirect harms of the province's drug toxicity and housing syndemic. A tertiary care inner-city hospital in western Canada partnered with the Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education and Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users to convene a participatory action research project to identify systemic and personal barriers to safe, non-stigmatizing, and effective care at a local health care setting and to propose ways of responding to these conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We convened semi-structured Listening Circles held in October 2023 with people who have sought care at the urban health care setting, and frontline healthcare workers who respond to them. The Listening Circles included a graphic recorder who illustrated themes as participants spoke about their experiences, perceived barriers to safety and comfort in health care settings, and challenges faced by service providers and service users when interacting with one another.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Common themes identified by a graphic recorder included: (1) the importance of time and in the absence of time, relational space between healthcare workers and people who use drugs, (2) shared desire to scale approaches like peer navigation which consider the wellbeing of both service recipients and providers, and (3) the role of systemic forces and organizational practices that obstruct both quality of care and healthcare worker wellbeing.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Healthcare workers and people who use drugs and alcohol report an urgent need for resourced, relational care spaces and peer advocates within their area hospital systems. We will use these themes to inform our next steps in an investigation-as-action effort to improve respect, safety, and equity for all stakeholders across multiple stages of care.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"39"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11924779/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143669817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samantha Parker, Nya Reichley, Katie B Biello, Jacqueline Goldman, Jane A Buxton, Scott E Hadland, Susan G Sherman, Brandon D L Marshall, Alexandria Macmadu
{"title":"Differences by race and ethnicity in drug use patterns, harm reduction practices and barriers to treatment among people who use drugs in Rhode Island.","authors":"Samantha Parker, Nya Reichley, Katie B Biello, Jacqueline Goldman, Jane A Buxton, Scott E Hadland, Susan G Sherman, Brandon D L Marshall, Alexandria Macmadu","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01191-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01191-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As in much of the United States, there have been significant increases in overdose deaths among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic/Latinx populations in Rhode Island over the past decade. Given the shifting dynamics of the overdose epidemic, there is an urgent need for focused interventions that address the specific needs of diverse communities. This study explores differences in drug use patterns, harm reduction behaviors and types and barriers to treatment by race and ethnicity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study utilized baseline data from the Rhode Island Prescription and Illicit Drug Study (RAPIDS). We assessed sociodemographic characteristics, drug use patterns, harm reduction practices, treatment type, and barriers to treatment in a cross-sectional analysis of people who use drugs (PWUD), stratified by race and ethnicity (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic other race, and Hispanic). Chi-square tests of independence and ANOVA tests were used to identify statistically significant differences by race and ethnicity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 509 participants, the median age was 43, and the majority were men (64%). Non-Hispanic Black participants reported significantly less regular use of unregulated opioids, such as heroin (10%) and fentanyl (12%), as compared to non-Hispanic white participants (39% and 33%, respectively). Non-Hispanic Black participants reported significantly less experience responding to overdoses: only 39% had ever administered naloxone and 34% had ever performed rescue breathing, as compared to 67% and 57% among non-Hispanic white participants, respectively. Despite significant differences in drug use patterns, there were few differences in harm reduction practices by race and ethnicity. Current treatment enrollment was highest among those who were non-Hispanic white (38%) and lowest among those who were non-Hispanic Black (7%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest that there are differences in overdose response experience and treatment exposure between non-Hispanic Black PWUD and those belonging to other racial and ethnic groups, indicating a need for enhanced investment in overdose response education, naloxone distribution and treatment access for non-Hispanic Black PWUD.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11924686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143669819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jolie R Keemink, Alex Stevens, Sam Shirley-Beavan, Zarnie Khadjesari, Gillian W Shorter
{"title":"Four decades of overdose prevention centres: lessons for the future from a realist review.","authors":"Jolie R Keemink, Alex Stevens, Sam Shirley-Beavan, Zarnie Khadjesari, Gillian W Shorter","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01178-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01178-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Overdose prevention centres (OPCs) are spaces where people can consume previously obtained illicit drugs under the supervision of staff who can intervene to prevent and manage overdose. They have been provided in Europe and elsewhere for nearly 40 years, initially in response to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. We can learn from their operation history to inform future developments in harm reduction services.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We carried out a realist review of 391 documents, reported according to the RAMESES I guidelines, and carried out realist synthesis of these documents.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We present a full realist programme theory of OPCs, with a diagrammatic logic model, of how the contexts and mechanisms of OPCs combine to produce various outcomes for service users and their communities in different settings. Three specific causal pathways were evidenced through which OPCs produce their outcomes for particular groups in specific contexts of housing status, gender identity and ethnicity, and local drug markets, with frequency of use, legal and political contexts, and stigma as overlapping contextual factors. Key OPC interventions include the provision of a safe and hygienic consumption space, safe consumption education, timely overdose response, and protection from drug scene and gender-based violence. These can trigger the underlying mechanisms of safety, trust, social inclusion, engagement, autonomy, and empowerment when supported with health care and other services, including detoxification and opioid agonist treatment. The combinations of these contexts and mechanisms create important outcomes for individual service users, for the communities they live in, and for wider society. We also describe causal pathways that can lead to unintended, adverse outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This review provides useful information for policy makers, practitioners, and researchers on how to implement and evaluate OPCs in future to maximise their benefits; an important task in the context of the ongoing public health crises of drug poisoning deaths in North America and the UK, and the possibility of increasing deaths from synthetic opioids in Europe and elsewhere.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11924616/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143669821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Victor Abreu, Marissa McGinnis, Savannah Justen, Phuong Y Duong, Natalea Suchy, Daniel M Hartung, Adriane N Irwin
{"title":"Pharmacy-related syringe access barriers: an audit of Oregon community pharmacies.","authors":"Victor Abreu, Marissa McGinnis, Savannah Justen, Phuong Y Duong, Natalea Suchy, Daniel M Hartung, Adriane N Irwin","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01190-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01190-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pharmacies often restrict access to over the counter (OTC) syringes. The objective of this study was to quantify the frequency that patients experience barriers when seeking to purchase a 10-pack of OTC syringes from community pharmacies in Oregon.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To ascertain the availability of a 10-pack of OTC syringes, we conducted a telephone audit (\"secret shopper\") study of Oregon community pharmacies. Descriptive statistics and binomial logistic regressions were then performed to identify factors associated with willingness to sell a syringe 10-pack OTC. Factors included in the analysis were related to pharmacy type (chain vs. independent) and county characteristics (rurality, syringe service program presence, overdose rate).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We contacted 425 pharmacies (361 chain, 64 independent) between December 2023 and March 2024; of those, 62.8% were in urban counties. Staff at 184 (43.3%) pharmacies reported that they would not sell a syringe 10-pack OTC. Urban pharmacies were more likely to restrict OTC syringe sales compared to rural pharmacies (adjusted odds ratio [2.11]; 95% CI [1.22-3.65]). No significant differences existed between chain and independent pharmacies.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Community pharmacies are well positioned to ensure access to sterile syringes, but our findings show that they are unreliable access points as nearly half of Oregon community pharmacies restrict patient access to OTC syringes. Unwillingness to sell OTC syringes was most pronounced in urban counties. Pharmacy-directed efforts are needed to ensure access to sterile syringes and address unmet health needs for people who inject drugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11924855/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143669823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Australian general practitioners' knowledge, attitudes and prescribing intentions for e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid: a nationwide baseline and 12-month follow up survey.","authors":"Melis Selamoglu, Sowmya Malamardi, Bircan Erbas, Hester Wilson, Jamie Brown, Chris Barton","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01175-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01175-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Australian Government introduced a major policy change tightening regulations regarding the access to nicotine containing e-cigarettes in October 2021. We assessed general practitioners' (GPs) knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and intentions to prescribe nicotine containing e-cigarettes for smoking cessation. We compared baseline data near the time of policy change with data collected from these GPs 12-months later.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>GPs were invited to complete a repeated cross-sectional survey based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour between December 2021 and March 2022 (T1) and again, between January and April 2023 (T2). Survey questions assessed knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and intention to prescribe e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 264 GPs completed the baseline (T1) survey and 94 provided responses at follow-up (T2). Over half of responders were female (T1 n = 170, 64.4%, T2 n = 57, 60.6%) and roughly one third were aged between 30 and 39 years (T1 n = 80, 37.2%, T2 n = 28, 29.8%). Participants who agreed e-cigarettes were suitable smoking cessation aids were more willing to recommend e-cigarettes to patients at T1 and T2 (T1 n = 29, 87.9%, vs. T2 n = 20, 100%). Knowledge about e-cigarettes was limited and did not change between T1 and T2. Participants who had greater confidence in their ability to talk to and answer patient questions about e-cigarettes were more likely to recommend them for smoking cessation at both T1 and T2 (T1 n = 24, 70.6% vs. T2 n = 17, 85.0%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Since tightening the regulation of nicotine containing e-cigarettes, there has been little change in Australian GPs' perceptions of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids. Australian GPs are poorly educated about vaping and knowledge about e-cigarettes remained limited, however, GPs at follow-up were more confident in their ability to discuss e-cigarettes with their patients. The findings from this survey may help guide policy and develop strategies to support the implementation of smoking cessation guidelines that incorporate the use of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids in Australia.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11916968/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143657022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comprehensive drug policies increase trust in local government: an analysis of authorities' and residents' perspectives in rural US Appalachian and Midwestern counties.","authors":"Xi Liu, Man-Pui Sally Chan, Dolores Albarracín","doi":"10.1186/s12954-024-01148-x","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-024-01148-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In many rural US Appalachian and Midwestern counties, stigma surrounding harm reduction interventions has led health professionals and policymakers to approach drug policy implementation with caution, fearing potential backlash from politically conservative communities. One concern is that the public's disapproval of harm-reduction policies may erode the public's trust in its government.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study examined how the public's trust in the local government-as both self-reported and authority-assessed-is influenced by the perceived governmental support of comprehensive drug policies (i.e., inclusive of both drug treatment and harm reduction). Survey data gathered from 138 community authorities and 6,609 community residents from 13 Appalachian and Midwestern states between 2019 and 2023 were analyzed using a multiple regression approach. Furthermore, in an online experiment conducted in 2024, we experimentally simulated the role of authority vs. resident and manipulated the level of perceived governmental support for comprehensive drug policies (high vs. low) to assess their effects on trust and perceived governmental effort and feelings of optimism as possible mediators.</p><p><strong>Results and conclusion: </strong>In both the field surveys and the experiment, trust was positively associated with perceptions of governmental support for comprehensive drug policies. In addition, authorities (both real and experimentally simulated roles) consistently assessed the public's trust in them to be higher than did residents. Both effects were mediated by participants' beliefs in the government's effort to reduce drug use problems and optimism that drug use issues could be improved.</p>","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"34"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11912737/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143648343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James Nicholls, Wendy Masterton, Danilo Falzon, Andrew McAuley, Hannah Carver, Kathryn Skivington, Josh Dumbrell, Andy Perkins, Samantha Steele, Kirsten Trayner, Tessa Parkes
{"title":"Correction: The implementation of safer drug consumption facilities in Scotland: a mixed methods needs assessment and feasibility study for the city of Edinburgh.","authors":"James Nicholls, Wendy Masterton, Danilo Falzon, Andrew McAuley, Hannah Carver, Kathryn Skivington, Josh Dumbrell, Andy Perkins, Samantha Steele, Kirsten Trayner, Tessa Parkes","doi":"10.1186/s12954-025-01187-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12954-025-01187-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12922,"journal":{"name":"Harm Reduction Journal","volume":"22 1","pages":"33"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11909964/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143633884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}