Demand reduction

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Demand reduction refers to efforts aimed at reducing the public desire for illegal and illicit drugs. The drug policy is in contrast to the reduction of drug supply, but the two policies are often implemented together. Some discussions of demand reduction make a distinction between policies that address single issues (such as public "knowledge-of-harms") or are short-term interventions(in-school programs), and those that approach drug demand as a complex issue with multiple social risk factors. [1] Some economists such as Milton Friedman argue that due to the law of supply and demand, reducing demand is the only effective way to reduce drug use long-term.[ citation needed ] It is questionable, however, whether demand reduction programs actually reduce demand.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Implementation examples

In September 2011, Canada implemented new color graphic depictions of the consequences of smoking, mandating that they cover 75% of the front and back of each carton, health information messages on the inside of the pack, and toxic emissions statements. [2] Each tobacco product features one such image from a series, which includes people dying in hospitals, rotting mouths, and dissected body parts depicting tumors, along with simple bold messages stating that cigarettes cause cancer, mouth disease, impotence, and harm babies. [3] International research supports the efficacy of such warning messages. [4]

Other examples of demand reduction programs include D.A.R.E., the State of Montana's Not Even Once., [5] and the drug policy of Sweden. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing psychoactive material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. Most cigarettes contain a "reconstituted tobacco" product known as "sheet", which consists of "recycled [tobacco] stems, stalks, scraps, collected dust, and floor sweepings", to which are added glue, chemicals and fillers; the product is then sprayed with nicotine that was extracted from the tobacco scraps, and shaped into curls. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opposite end. Most modern cigarettes are filtered, although this does not make them safer. Cigarette manufacturers have described cigarettes as a drug administration system for the delivery of nicotine in acceptable and attractive form. Cigarettes are addictive and cause cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and other health problems.

Harm reduction range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal

Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction policies are used to manage behaviors such as recreational drug use and sexual activity in numerous settings that range from services through to geographical regions.

Snus Moist tobacco product placed under the upper lip, used in the Nordic countries.

Snus is a moist powder smokeless tobacco product originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed inside the lip for extended periods. Snus is not fermented. Although used similarly to American dipping tobacco, snus does not typically result in the need for spitting and, unlike naswar, snus is steam-pasteurized.

Tobacco package warning messages are warning messages that appear on the packaging of cigarettes and other tobacco products concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of smoking. In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages. Warnings for some countries are listed below. Such warnings have been required in tobacco advertising for many years, with the earliest mandatory warning labels implemented in Iceland in 1969. Implementing tobacco warning labels has been strongly opposed by the tobacco industry, most notably in Australia following the implementation of plain packaging laws.

Drug policy reform, also known as drug law reform, is any proposed changes to the way governments respond to the socio-cultural influence on perception of psychoactive substance use. Proponents of drug policy reform believe that prohibition of drugs—such as cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and hallucinogens—has been ineffectual and counterproductive. They argue that, rather than using laws and enforcement as the primary means to responding to substance use, governments and citizens would be better served by reducing harm and regulating the production, marketing, and distribution of currently illegal drugs in a manner similar to how alcohol and tobacco are regulated.

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Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a public health strategy to lower the health risks to individuals and wider society associated with using tobacco products. It is an example of the concept of harm reduction, a strategy for dealing with the abuse of other drugs. Tobacco smoking is widely acknowledged as a leading cause of illness and death, and reducing smoking is vital to public health.

Electronic cigarette Device usually used to quit or be an alternative to tobacco

An electronic cigarette is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping". The atomizer is a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution called e-liquid. E-cigarettes are activated by taking a puff or pressing a button. Some look like traditional cigarettes, and most versions are reusable.

Flavored tobacco Tobacco product with added flavorings

A flavored tobacco product is a tobacco product with added flavorings. Flavored tobacco products include types of cigarettes, cigarillos and cigars, hookah and hookah tobacco, and various types of smokeless tobacco. Flavored tobacco products are especially popular with youth and have therefore become targets of regulation in several countries.

Tobacco control field of public health addressing tobacco use

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Youth smoking

Smokingamong youth and adolescents is an issue that affects countries worldwide. While the extent to which smoking is viewed as a negative health behavior may vary across different nations, it remains an issue regardless of how it is perceived by different societies. The United States has taken numerous measures, ranging from changes in national policy surrounding youth cigarette access to changes in media campaigns, in attempts to eliminate the use of tobacco products among teenagers. Approximately 90% of smokers begin smoking prior to the age of 18. In efforts to reduce the total number of smokers and negative effects smoking has on society, it is necessary to reduce the number of youth and adolescents who begin smoking.

Supply reduction is one approach to social problems such as drug addiction. Other approaches are demand reduction and harm reduction.

Plain tobacco packaging use of standard generic packaging for tobacco products

Plain tobacco packaging, also known as generic, neutral, standardised or homogeneous packaging, is packaging of tobacco products, typically cigarettes, without any branding, including only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the pack, in addition to the health warnings and any other legally mandated information such as toxic constituents and tax-paid stamps. The appearance of all tobacco packs is standardised, including the colour of the pack.

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Cigarette packets in Australia location-specific item packaging

Cigarette packets in Australia have undergone significant changes. Since 1 December 2012 all forms of branding logos, colours, and promotional texts are banned from cigarette pack designs. In turn they were replaced with drab dark brown packets and graphic images of smoking-related images to try to reduce the smoking population of Australia to 10% by 2018 from 15% in 2012.

Regulation of electronic cigarettes varies across countries and states, ranging from no regulation to banning them entirely. For instance, e-cigarettes were illegal in Japan, which forced the market to use heat-not-burn tobacco products for cigarette alternatives. Others have introduced strict restrictions and some have licensed devices as medicines such as in the UK. However, as of February 2018, there is no e-cigarette device that has been given a medical license that is commercially sold or available by prescription in the UK. As of 2015, around two thirds of major nations have regulated e-cigarettes in some way. Because of the potential relationship with tobacco laws and medical drug policies, e-cigarette legislation is being debated in many countries. The companies that make e-cigarettes have been pushing for laws that support their interests. In 2016 the US Department of Transportation banned the use of e-cigarettes on commercial flights. This regulation applies to all flights to and from the US. In 2018, the Royal College of Physicians asked that a balance is found in regulations over e-cigarettes that ensure product safety while encouraging smokers to use them instead of tobacco, as well as keep an eye on any effects contrary to the control agencies for tobacco. A recent study shows electronic device company "JUUL" contains carcinogens and other harmful ingredients inside their e-juice cartridges.

The scientific community in United States and Europe are primarily concerned with the possible effect of electronic cigarette use on public health. There is concern among public health experts that e-cigarettes could renormalize smoking, weaken measures to control tobacco, and serve as a gateway for smoking among youth. The public health community is divided over whether to support e-cigarettes, because their safety and efficacy for quitting smoking is unclear. Many in the public health community acknowledge the potential for their quitting smoking and decreasing harm benefits, but there remains a concern over their long-term safety and potential for a new era of users to get addicted to nicotine and then tobacco. There is concern among tobacco control academics and advocates that prevalent universal vaping "will bring its own distinct but as yet unknown health risks in the same way tobacco smoking did, as a result of chronic exposure", among other things.

Gerry Stimson is a British public health social scientist, emeritus professor at Imperial College London from 2014, and an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 2017. Stimson has over 220 scientific publications mainly on social and health aspects of illicit drug use, including HIV infection. He has sat on numerous editorial boards including AIDS, Addiction, and European Addiction Research, and with Tim Rhodes he was the co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Drug Policy from 2000 to 2016. He is one of the global leaders for research on and later advocacy for harm reduction.

Regulation of nicotine marketing overview about the regulation of nicotine marketing

As nicotine is highly addictive, marketing nicotine-containing products is regulated in most jurisdictions. Regulations include bans and regulation of certain types of advertising, and requirements for counter-advertising of facts generally not included in ads. Regulation is circumvented using less-regulated media, such as Facebook, less-regulated nicotine delivery products, such as e-cigarettes, and less-regulated ad types, such as industry ads which claim to discourage nicotine addiction but seem, according to independent studies, to promote teen nicotine use.

The National Drug Strategy (NDS) is the national drug policy of the Australian Government. It began with its first framework in 1998 and has regularly formulated the Australian approach to drug education, treatment, and usage prevention. It is directed by the Ministerial Drug and Alcohol Forum (MDAF) who use the NDS to implement and monitor the effectiveness of Australian drug policy at all levels of government. The MDAF consists of various elected Commonwealth and State Ministers, as well as civil servants. The aim of the NDS is to minimise the harms associated with licit and illicit drugs by reducing demand, supply, and harm in a holistic approach to the social, individual, and economic problems created by drugs. Its main function is establishing a set of policies, implemented at state and local level, that promote research-based solutions to the complex issues presented by drug use in society. The NDS has been responsible for introduction of several harm minimisation programs specifically placed in areas with a demographic deemed high-risk. Through the various iterations of the NDS it has faced increasing scrutiny over its perceived divergence from its original purpose, as well as perpetuating policies which allocate resources inefficiently.

References

  1. Spooner, Catherine; Hall, Wayne; Lynskey, Michael (2001). Structural determinants of youth drug use (PDF). Tuross Head, N.S.W.: Australian National Council on Drugs. ISBN   1877018015 . Retrieved 16 January 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  2. "Government of Canada Acts to Strengthen and Enlarge Health Warnings on Cigarette and Little Cigar Packages". Health Canada. Government of Canada. 18 February 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  3. "Health Labels for Cigarettes and Little Cigars". Health Canada. Government of Canada. 12 Dec 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  4. Fong, Geoffrey T.; Hammond, David; Hitchman, Sara C. (2009). "The impact of pictures on the effectiveness of tobacco warnings". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 87: 640–643. doi:10.2471/BLT.09.069575. PMC   2733253 . PMID   19705020 . Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  5. Beale, Jonathan (22 August 2008). "Montana meth ads winning drug battle". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  6. Lafrenière, Gérald (18 April 2002). "National Drug Policy: Sweden". Library of Parliament. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 16 January 2015.