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CRM 2313Criminal Justice and Drugs

An evolving issue ...

Their Impact?

What does the moon have to do with drugs?

I am transmitting legislation to the Congress to consolidate at the highest level a full-scale attack on the problem of drug abuse in America. June 17, 1971

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▪ Even well-intentioned laws can sometimes be inappropriate

▪ Are our drug laws well-intentioned?

▪ Are they appropriate for the circumstances?

▪ Are they truly designed to help prevent the harms associated with drugs?

▪“The most dangerous type of drug abuse is the political abuse of drugs.”

–Nils Christie, Norwegian criminologist, and Kettil Bruun, Finnish alcohol researcher

▪Course evaluation▸40 per cent mid-term

▸60 per cent final examination

▪The Course

–I. the origins of Canada's drug laws and Canada's current drug laws and policies

–II. benefits and harms associated with the current drug laws and policies; and

–III. possible alternative laws and policies

▪ Course texts

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Why are some drugs illegal?Why are some drugs illegal?

▪ Because they cause direct or indirect harm/danger?▪ Because they risk creating dependency?▪ Because they reduce productivity at work, or interfere with social, family life?▪ Because they promote violence?▪ Because they give pleasure? Need to condemn pleasure?▪ Cultural/moral/religious reasons?▪ Fairness?▪ Perceived inability of other means to reduce these harms?▸Inconsistencies???

Cultural/moral/religious reasons for making some drugs illegal

▪ “Drug use is a sin that must be stopped.”▪ “Drug use is immoral.”

Harm/Danger – “Contraindications”

(Bad things that happen when you take drugs)

How should we respond to these bad things?

Contraindications

▪ “If your goal is fitness and health, [this drug] “should have no part in your life.” [The author] explains that using [this drug] is like “buying on credit” because after the drug triggers an initial energy release “by blocking normal shutoff mechanisms” there follows within one to three hours a hangover effect of under stimulation, motor impairment and mental inefficiency. Use of this drug, the author reports, is also linked to hypoglycemia, greater risk of coronary heart attack and stomach ulcer.

– a “psychoactive, addictive drug”

– a neuroactive drug that fosters dependency because of effects on the central nervous system

– risks miscarriage, osteoporosis, insomnia, anxiety, and addiction

– crosses the placenta and also filters into breast milk; scientists are particularly worried that it affects fetuses and infants just when brains and nervous systems are developing

– may threaten developing bone mass in children

– may be implicated in Attention Deficit Disorder

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A [UK] teenager was taken to hospital after overdosing on espresso coffee. Jasmine Willis, 17, developed a fever and began hyperventilating after drinking seven double espressos while working at her family's sandwich shop.

. . . Ms Willis, who had thought the coffees were single measures, said the effects were so severe that she began laughing and crying for no reason while serving customers at the shop. . . . She developed a fever and began struggling to breathe after being sent home by her father.

"My nerves were all over the place. "I was drenched. I was burning up and hyperventilating. "I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I thought I was going into shock. . . . The teenager . . . suffered side effects for days afterwards and now says she cannot stand the sight of coffee.

“Girl overdoses on espresso coffee,” BBC NEWS, news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/6944026.stm, 2007/08/13 11:18:00 GMT

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▪ The amount of caffeine consumed by the average Finn each year.

▪ Another drug:▪ These drugs are thought to cause 76000 hospitalizations and 7600 deaths per year in the US by causing gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding.. . . "The Food and Drug Administration believes anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 deaths each year are the result of severe bleeding caused by these drugs."▪ Chronic use of [these] drugs can lead to severe gastrointestinal (GI) complications, such as ulcers. Fifty to 80 percent of the people hospitalized for GI bleeding take these drugs. Ulcers are found in about 15% of the people who use these drugs for at least 3 months. Ulcers can eventually lead to GI bleeding or may even perforate, spilling the contents of the stomach or small intestine into the sterile abdominal cavity. Every time they come in with bleeding, they have a 10% chance of dying.

▪ A few people develop asthma, hay fever, nasal congestion, or hives from these drugs. These people should never take these drugs, nor should people who have active stomach or duodenal ulcers. Anyone who has ever had a peptic ulcer should be very careful about taking these drugs because they can lead to a recurrence.

▪ These drugs sometimes affect the normal function of the kidneys, or they can cause fluid to accumulate in the body.

▪ Some reports suggest a link between use of these drugs and reactivation of tuberculosis.

▪ An overdose can be fatal for a child or adult.

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Prescription and OTC drugs – intentional overdoses among Cdn. young people

The number of intentional overdoses involving common over-the-counter and prescription drugs has increased steeply among young people in the last decade, according to … the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The number of cases roughly doubled for children and teenagers in Alberta and Ontario, the two provinces for which data were available, in two categories of drugs that include over-the-counter [OTC] painkiller medications and prescriptions for drugs such as antidepressants and sedatives…. [An Ontario] study found that acetaminophen, most well-known by its brand name Tylenol, was the most commonly used drug, followed by antidepressants and then non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as Advil.

“More Canadian teens using over-the-counter drugs to overdose, data show,” The Globe and Mail, November 25, 2019

Prescription Drugs – DangersCHICAGO (AP) - Reports of dangerous side effects and deaths from widely used medicines almost tripled between 1998 and 2005, an analysis of U.S. drug data found. The number of deaths and serious injuries from prescription and over-the-counter drugs climbed from 34,966 to 89,842 during the study of reports to the Food and Drug Administration.

Potent narcotic painkillers including Oxycontin, sold generically as oxycodone, were among 15 drugs most often linked with deaths in the study. Drugs frequently linked with serious nonfatal complications included insulin, the arthritis drugs Vioxx and Remicade, and the antidepressant Paxil. . . .

The FDA issued a statement saying it is aware of the growing number of reported problems and takes them seriously . . . .

“U.S. data shows near-tripling of reported deaths, drug reactions in 7 years,” Canadian Press, September 11, 2007 | 2:44 PM ET

“Fueling the surge in deaths are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol. Among the most commonly abusedare OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma. One relative newcomer to the scene is Fentanyl, a painkiller that comes in the form of patches and lollipops and is 100 times more powerful than morphine. Such drugs now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.”

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show, Los Angeles Times, Sept 18, 2011

Danger

Legal and Illegal Drugs?

“Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever,” New York Times, June 5, 2017

Legal and Illegal Opioids`

Between January 2016 and March 2019, an estimated 12,800 Canadians died from an apparent opioid-related overdose, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Nearly 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses [in one year, 2019] last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — an increase of 5 percent from 2018.

De 2009 à 2011, les autorités ontariennes estimentque les deux drogues ayant causé le plus de morts par surdose ont été distribuées par ordonnance, soitl'oxycodone, connue principalement sous le nom d'OxyContin (491 morts), et le Fentanyl (253 morts).

Une initiative pour contrer l’abus de FentanylIci Radio-Canada Mise à jour le vendredi 6 décembre 2013 à 14 h 55 HNE

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British drug regulators . . . recommended against the use of all but one of a new generation of antidepressants in the treatment of depressed children under 18. . . . Their effectiveness in treating depression in children, they said, has not been sufficiently demonstrated, and some drugs have been linked with suicidal thoughts and self-harm in children and adolescents.

. . . Experts on the British agency's advisory committee estimated that 40,000 Britons under 18 were taking such drugs.

“British Warning on Antidepressant Use for Youth,” New York Times, December 11, 2003

Health Canada is advising men who take drugs for impotence and erectile dysfunction to seek immediate medical attention if they experience vision problems.

Users of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra are at risk of a rare side-effect called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, caused when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked. Symptoms include sudden and painless loss of vision in one or both eyes.

“Impotence drugs linked to rare vision problem,” Globe and Mail, July 27, 2005

Danger – prescription drugs

▪ Government health experts have renewed warnings to women not to take the medication ________ during pregnancy because the drug could cause severe birth defects. When taken by pregnant women it can cause brain, heart and facial defects in fetuses. Some babies exposed to the drug while in the womb have been born without ears.

Botox

The toxin in Botox products may spread to distant parts of the body, with potentially fatal consequences, Health Canada said ... in announcing new labelling information for the drugs.

. . . People with a history of neurological disorders, swallowing difficulties or breathing problems should be extremely cautious about using the products, Health Canada said.

CBC News, January 13, 2009: 3:46 PM ET

Danger as justification for banning▪Acceptable dangers▸Sky-diving▸Rock climbing▸Fast food, sugar▸Scuba diving▸Skiing▸Snowmobiling▸Some drugs – e.g., alcohol, tobacco

▪Unacceptable dangers▸Some drugs – banned

Source: Husak

Sugary drinks

Une nouvelle étude de l'Université de Boston révèle que les boissons gazeuses et les jus sucrés peuvent causer d'importants problèmes de santé et causer éventuellementla mort, et encore plus vite qu'on le croyait auparavant.

Globalement, on dénote 184 000 décès liés à la consommation de sucre en 2010. Au Canada, les experts parlent de 1600 morts par année attribuées aux boissonssucrées.

Nouvelle étude : le sucre dans les jus et les boissons gazeuses tue plus vitequ'on le croit : http://ici.radio- canada.ca/regions/atlantique/2015/07/13/004-sucre-mort-etude.shtml13 juillet 2015

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Sugar

…Cancer Research UK and the UK Health Forum urged action to reduce the sugar intake of children and teenagers after its study found that not only could 700,000 new cases of cancer be linked to obesity and excess weight over the next 20 years, but so could millions of cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

“Sweet nightmares: a guide to cutting down on sugar,” The Guardian(UK), January 17, 2016

Smoking

Smoking 'may play schizophrenia role’, BBC News, 10 July 2015; http://www.bbc.com/news/health-33464480

A review of studies by public health experts convened by WHO on 29 April 2020 found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19, compared to non-smokers.

WHO [World Health Organization] statement: Tobacco use and COVID-19, May 11, 2020

Smoking

[In Nova Scotia] 25 per cent of all pregnant women are smokers.

“Why are so many pregnant women smoking when doing so means putting their fetus at risk of future cognitive and behavioural problems, not to mention sudden infant death syndrome?”

“The cancers to come,” Globe and Mail, October 29, 2002, commenting on new report from Cancer Care Nova Scotia, a program of the province's Health Department

Danger

At least three Quebecers were killed in snowmobile incidents on Saturday, bringing the total of fatalities this season to 26 — the highest it’s been in at least seven years.

“Quebec snowmobile deaths at 7-year high,” CBC News, March 8, 2015.

Danger -- sunbathing? Danger?

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Danger October 2, 2002

Danger

Practising what he preached, a 63-year-old University of Ottawa professor died pushing his limits in an effort to become the oldest Canadian to scale the world's tallest peak. . . . University of Ottawa professor Sean Egan had dreamed of being the oldest Canadian to climb Mount Everest.

“Ottawa prof dies on Everest,” Ottawa Sun, April 30, 2005

Danger – mobile phones?

No parent should give a child aged eight or under a mobile phone, the chairman of an official safety study said today.

Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), said he believed that mobiles may pose a health risk, although this was not yet proven.

Recent reports from Europe raised concern over possible links between mobile use and tumours in the ear, and any health risk - if it exists - is certain to be greater for children than for adults, he said.

“Don't give a mobile to your child, warns expert,” The Independent, January 11, 2005

Alcohol dangersAlcohol abuse is killing 2.5 million people each year and governments must do more to prevent it, the World Health Organization said ....

Some 4 per cent of all deaths worldwide are attributable to alcohol, the U.N. body said. The main causes of alcohol-related deaths are injuries incurred when drunk, cancer, liver cirrhosis, heart disease and strokes....

...The global body's first report on the subject in seven years recommended that governments raise alcohol taxes, restrict sales, promote alcoholism prevention and treatment programs, and ban some alcohol advertising.

“Alcohol causes 2.5 million deaths a year: WHO,” CBC News, February 11, 2011: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2011/02/11/health-alcohol-deaths.html

Canadian women increasingly drinking themselves to death: report

The rate of women who died from causes linked directly to alcohol has increased by 26 per cent since 2001, compared with a roughly five per cent increase over the same period for men, according to CIHI [Canadian Institute for Health Information].

More Canadian women are drinking to the point where they end up in hospital, or even die from it, according to new statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

“We have to take alcohol more seriously,” said Jurgen Rehm, senior director of the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research.

Global News, May 31, 2018 4:56 pm; Updated: May 31, 2018 4:59 pm

Canadian women (cont’d)

Alcohol consumption can lead to liver cirrhosis, dependence, withdrawal, acute pancreatitis, as well as chronic diseases like cancer, he said….“We have to actually be clear that alcohol is the second-biggest risk factor for cancer.”“It is one of the top-five risk factors for premature mortality, for life expectancy, for burden of disease and hospitalizations and we should do something.”There are more hospitalizations related to alcohol than heart attacks, according to CIHI: 77,000 compared to 75,000 in 2015.Making alcohol less-advertised, less affordable and less available would help to cut down on the burden of disease, Rehm said, but so far, “our political system doesn’t want to do that.”

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More than 1 alcoholic drink a day could take years off your life: study

An international study is warning that adults shouldn’t consume more than one alcoholic drink per day — and that drinking excessively could reduce life expectancy.

The study, published in Lancet medical journal, combined results from 83 studies conducted in 19 countries, tracking nearly 600,000 people who drank alcohol.

The researchers found a higher risk of stroke, heart failure and other problems in people who drank heavily.… “What this is saying is, if you’re really concerned about your longevity, don’t have more than a drink a day,” David Jernigan, a Johns Hopkins University alcohol researcher, explained to The Associated Press.

Global News, April 13, 2018 1:26 pm

Alcohol and the Developing Brain

Recent research shows that adolescent alcohol use has the potential to trigger long-term biological changes that may alter an adolescent's development as well as affect the adolescent's immediate behavior. The resulting adverse outcomes may include mental disorders such as anxiety and depressive disorders. Furthermore, early alcohol use may have detrimental effects on the developing brain, including neurocognitive impairment ….Animal studies show that a sustained pattern of bingelike drinking in adolescence affects memory, alters sensitivity to motor impairment, and damages frontal-anterior cortical regions.

The Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, Office of the Surgeon General (US): 2007.

Violence?

Much of the existing research supports the view that there is a strong association between alcohol intoxication and psychopharmacologically induced crime, especially violence. Following a long way behind alcohol in this regard are the stimulants — cocaine/crack and amphetamines. The use of opiates and cannabis is usually considered to be unlikely to lead to psychopharmacologically induced crime, and may even contribute to reducing it in some individuals, as these drugs (and tranquillisers) tend to reduce violent impulses and aggression. However, irritability associated with the withdrawal syndrome, as well as related mental health problems, may be linked to increased violence.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Drugs in Focus (2nd issue, 2007)

CBC, January 18, 2019

Danger?

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Shaky science in determining harm

“The abuse of _____ has taken on the characteristics of a plague – it is not only confined to men, but has even spread to women and children. The situation is becoming very dangerous. _____ abuse ... takes the form of an imperious and irresistible craving.”

– Tunisian physician, circa the1930s

Source: “Legalising Drugs: Choose your poison,” The Economist,

Risk of Dependency

"It's a worse addiction than drugs, I'll tell you that," rocker Alice Cooper told Sound Wave Magazine last year. "You should see some of the guys out there . . .. guys like Lou Reed, Iggy, Dylan, Neil Young. . . . Then you see Pantera, Megadeth, Metallica and all these bands . . .."

“Social Studies,” The Globe and Mail, September 4, 2002.

Dependency - University Students and Media and Internet

▪ CBC World Report, April 6, 2011

... many of [the students] said they learned from the study that relying on devices such as cellphones "actually inhibited their ability to manage their lives as fully as they hoped," the authors reported. Some said they needed to curb their media habits, although they doubted they would succeed in doing so.

“Tech addiction symptoms rife among students,” CBC News, April 6, 2011.www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/04/06/technology-addiction-students.html

Those who are in the process of developing a negative addiction show three signs. The first is a loss of interest in their family and family responsibilities as more and more time and concentration is used up in this pursuit. Typically, a person uses three to four hours per day at this point. Second, the person becomes more self-directed and less concerned about his or her vocation. The person is no longer concerned with achievements or promotions. “Such a point of view... may not only limit professional growth, but it can actually jeopardize one’s employment.”

The third and most definitive sign... is a lack of concern with a person’s own bodily health. The final test of whether or not this addiction exists occurs when the person is told that he or she must stop because of a medical problem. The addict continues. The addict realizes that continued abuse will cause further damage, but needs the high.

-- Alexander, Peaceful Measures (paraphrased from pp. 236-38

Banning Drugs for Producing Pleasure?

▪ Alcohol▪ Anti-depressants▪ Viagra▪ Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, crystal meth.▪ Chocolate??

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Activities that produce pleasure

▪Sports fanaticism – encouraged▪Chocolate cake/greasy hamburgers – encouraged▪Sky diving, rock/mountain climbing/heli-skiing, bicycle racing/running – encouraged ▪Anti-aging therapy – encouraged▪Police drug raids??▪Some drugs – banned and discouraged

–Source: Husak

Should this be illegal? Should this be illegal?

Eating ice cream really does make you happy. Scientists have found that a spoonful of the cold stuff lights up the same pleasure centre in the brain as winning money or listening to your favourite music.

“How ice cream tickles your brain,” The Guardian (UK), April 29, 2005

Endorphin ▪"I do it for the end of the climb. When you get there, there's a real adrenalin rush. It's the thrill of having pushed yourself."

▸Rock climber Lucie Poirier, two days before falling to her death with her husband in the Saguenay Region of Quebec

– “Enthusiasm, skill not enough to save mountaineering pair,” The Globe and Mail, August 6, 2002

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Drug Squads –Adrenaline “Junkies?”

Drug Squads – Adrenalin “Junkies?”

[Detroit police officer Mike Stefani] relished the adrenaline rush from raiding dope houses.

“Old friend helps former cop take on Mayor Kilpatrick,” Detroit Free Press, March 2, 2008

You'll feel on edge as we set up undercover operations with unpredictable, violent drug dealers. You'll feel the adrenaline rush as we crash through the door of stash houses occupied by armed felons.

Special Agent Mary Irene Cooper, Chief of Congressional & Public Affairs for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, writing about an upcoming television program about the DEA, March 24, 2008

Methamphetamine – pleasure

▪Dr. Mary Holley, an obstetrician who runs the Albertville, Ala.-based Mothers Against Methamphetamine ministry, said her interviews with male and female meth addicts revealed that sex in the No. 1 reason people use it. "The effect of an IV hit of methamphetamine is the equivalent of 10 orgasms all on top of each other lasting for 30 minutes to an hour, with a feeling of arousal that lasts for another day and a half," said Holley. But the euphoric effects do not last long.

▸Bill Poovey, “Meth's sexual effect explains addictions,” Associated Press, December 3, 2004

The Future of Pleasure?

▪Woody Allen’s “Sleeper”

▸The “Orb”▸The “Orgasmatron”

The future may be here

A Texas company claims to have invented a kind of Orgasmatron for women -- an electrical stimulation device that takes women to a pre-orgasmic state. . . . [The device] uses a pair of electrical pads attached to the ankles to increase its wearer's sexual responsiveness.

The company said the [device] was invented by accident. One of the four co-inventors . . . was trying to develop an electrical foot massager. Using his girlfriend as a test subject, the prototype didn't do so much for her feet, but it did stimulate her sexually. . ..

“Orgasmatron Puts Tech in Sex,” Wired News, October 24, 2003

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