Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “NARCOTIC TRADE”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Supervision of distribution and use of veterinary drugs in Schleswig-Holstein].

By means of drug related legislation the endowment and limits of veterinary medicines surveillance are demonstrated. The distribution of veterinary pharmaceutical products is organised in wide area structures, both in legal and illegal employment. Thus powerful monitoring can only be established by co-operation of all involved institutions. In advance, a concentration of duties in a few administrations with supraregional authorisation can take place, in particular shown here for the organisation of the recommended institutions in Schleswig-Holstein. A catalogue of typical violations und neglects indicates areas of problems at various levels of veterinary drug trade (production, distribution, pharmacy, veterinarian). A report about the performance and results of the surveillance of drug applications in animal production demonstrates the conjoint consummation of drug control in farms and specimen control on living and slaughtered animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Sources of regulatory information for pharmacists.

Sources of regulatory information of use to pharmacists are summarized. Regulatory information is provided by government, legal, pharmaceutical industry, nongovernment, and investigational drug sources. Databases and trade and professional organizations also provide such information. Information on legislative statutes and regulations can be found in the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and List of CFR Sections Affected. Many other government reports are also available. Various law reports are published by state and federal courts; legal textbooks, journals, and newsletters also provide pharmacy law information. Pharmaceutical industry sources supply information on U.S. drug approvals, pharmaceutical companies, and FDA enforcement actions, whereas nongovernment regulatory sources provide comprehensive regulatory and drug information. Investigational drug sources enable pharmacists to keep abreast of new drug development. Databases provide a wide variety of information, and trade newsletters supply information of interest to the organization. Knowledge of appropriate references will allow pharmacists to keep abreast of regulations that may affect them and new developments in their area of expertise.

Databases, Factual↗
PubMed2005

Counterfeit drugs: defining the problem and finding solutions.

The problem of counterfeit drugs is increasingly becoming a top priority of drug regulatory agencies, licit pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare professionals, and is of rising concern among consumers. A review of the current literature reveals that counterfeiting is no longer isolated in developing nations, but is a worldwide pandemic. Although international organisations such as the World Health Organization, have devised specific measures to combat the counterfeit trade, the problem still remains quite daunting. Although the practice of drug counterfeiting is unlikely to ever completely disappear, it may be controlled if governments and all relevant parties combine forces to identify and disrupt the counterfeit chain.

Drug Industry↗
PubMed2005

[Assessment of legal awareness regarding illicit drug use among Kraków university students].

Social survey is a very important source of information concerned with planing the preventive strategy and protecting against problems relevant to the use of psychoactive substances. The survey covered a group of 211 first-year students from five colleges in Kraków. The students showed weak awareness of law. The respondents are of the opinion that the rules dealing with the addiction issue have been too liberal thus far. The emphasis should be put on enforcing the anti-drug law. Otherwise it will not became a powerful weapon to counteract the drug addiction. According to the opinion of respondents the trade and delivery of drugs are highly disapproving and they require inflicting stringent punishments. The results of our analysis are the integral part of Kraków model to help addicted to psychoactive substances and of prevention activities referred to the students of colleges.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Optimum management of postoperative pain.

After surgery, patients try to minimise discomfort by various manoeuvres including change of posture, immobilisation of injured areas and use of analgesic drugs. The characteristic finding with drug use, revealed by permitting patients to titrate themselves with analgesic from a machine, is that the interindividual dosing rate has a wide range around the mean. Some patients will require almost no drug; others will need 2 to 3 times the mean dosing rate. Wide differences are also seen in the rate at which the need for drug declines. None of these parameters can be predicted with any useful degree of accuracy in the individual patient. Regimens which rigidly fix dosage in advance, which limit dosage rate through an often ill-founded fear of other pharmacological effects, or which cannot guarantee access of the patient to the drug, are unable to cope with such variation. Dose adjustment through feedback of effect from the patient is essential to combat this uncertainty, and is the prime determinant of optimum therapeutic efficacy. Although risk could be increased as well as benefit, experience shows that almost all patients may be trusted with control of their own pain relief without detrimental sequelae. Many of the newer therapeutic regimens represent differing attempts at the trade-off between the individualization (and consequent increased complexity) required for optimum therapeutic efficacy and the rigidity (and consequent increased simplicity) needed for routine implementation. Optimum management results from using a regimen which strikes the right balance for the clinical circumstances of the patient and prescriber.

Drug Tolerance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The monitoring of trade in and control of psychotropic substances to guard against their diversion.

The establishment of international control of opiates has been an important achievement of the international community; this is substantiated by the fact that, at the beginning of this century, legally manufactured morphine and heroin were the principal sources of illicit supply, whereas at present the illicit traffic in these drugs is supplied from illicit sources. The poppy straw process has helped to promote measures to control opium poppy cultivation in a number of European countries; Turkey has been a successful example of such control. The present large-scale illicit traffic in cannabis resin and cocaine is the consequence of the lack of the implementation of provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, to control the cannabis plant and the coca bush at the national level. The provisions of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, being largely a result of international compromise, are not designed in the best possible way to prevent the diversion of psychotropic substances from legal sources to illicit channels. There are no appropriate provisions for the control and monitoring of international transactions. There is a discrepancy between the rather limited scope of international control of substances listed in schedules III and IV of the 1971 Convention and the much larger scope of control of hypnotics, sedatives and tranquillizers at national levels. The provisions of the 1971 Convention, however, constitute a legal basis for bilateral and multilateral actions for the detection of suspected diversion cases, and offer possibilities of promoting the prevention of diversion of psychotropic substances. At present, the relationship between the control of psychotropic drugs, including the prevention of diversion and the organization of the national drug supply system, as well as the efficacy of national control over pharmaceutical products, has not been fully recognized by the international community.

Drug and Narcotic Control↗
PubMed1976

Failure of acetylmethadol in treatment of narcotic addicts due to nonpharmacologic factors.

Acetylmethadol, a new narcotic substitute, has a longer duration of action than methadone. Seventeen subjects, former heroin users currently under methadone treatment, entered a study of the toxicity and efficacy of this drug. Only nine subjects completed the assessment phase of the study and began the acetylmethadol phase, and only one completed the 8-week study phase. Hence, no conclusions can be drawn about acetylmethadol's efficacy. The high attrition rate was unrelated to pharmacologic factors; the subjects were concerned that if this drug was effective there would be no methadone to take home and hence no opportunity to trade, sell or "play with" (that is, combine with other drugs) the latter. This study emphasizes the difficulty in determining the efficacy of specific drug treatments for opiate-dependent patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

[The law of patent medicine and the separation of drug dispensaries from medical practice].

On March 30, 1914, the law of patent medicine was enacted in Japanese, though it took three years for this to be accomplished. One reason why it took such a long time for enactment is because the doctors and drugstore owners raised strong objections to the law. They feared that pharmacists might try to take over all rights to sell drugs. The pharmacists, however, believed this law to be very important, making it possible for them not only to expand the business rights and the establishment of their status, but also to hold exclusive rights to the sales of drugs. On the other hand, doctors were very cautious about this law. They considered it to be a preliminary stage toward the enactment of the separation of drug dispensing by the medical practice. On March 19, 1914, Dr. Miyake former dean of the School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, and a member of the House of Lords, delivered his opinion on the "needlessness of pharmacists" by quoting European cases in the House of Lords, to members of the Special Committee of the Drug Trade Bill. He stated that a separation of the dispensary from the medical practice was a turning point in the field of medicine that should be reconsidered, and he tried to suppress the pharmacists' movements to pursue this issue. Probably Dr. Miyake was afraid that someone might submit a bill calling for dispensary separation. The proceedings of the Imperial Diet revealed a close relation between the law and the separation of dispensaries.

Drug and Narcotic Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Controlling and policing substance use(rs).

Controlling drug use--a dynamic, global, politicalized process--is reviewed in terms of selected types of drugs, "natural levels" of drug demand and use, drug markets and the drug market environment, types of traffickers, illicit drug trade profits, approaches to drug control ("War on Drugs", "Zero Tolerance" programs and policies, "normalizing" and legalizing selected drugs), including UN's then relatively recent "Balanced Approach" and facets of drug law enforcement (drug prices and purity levels and values of drug seizures), including various rarely noted benefits to intervention programs and control agents. Unresolved issues and needed "tools" are noted while considering the implications of the first UN's World Drug Report data.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed2005

Brands, costs and registration status of antimalarial drugs in the Kenyan retail sector.

BACKGROUND: Although an important source of treatment for fevers, little is known about the structure of the retail sector in Africa with regard to antimalarial drugs. This study aimed to assess the range, costs, sources and registration of antimalarial drugs in the Kenyan retail sector. METHODS: In 2002, antimalarial drug registration and trade prices were established by triangulating national registration lists, government gazettes and trade price indices. Data on registration status and trade prices were compared with similar data generated through a retail audit undertaken among 880 randomly sampled retailers in four districts of Kenya. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighteen antimalarial drugs were in circulation in Kenya in 2002. These included 65 "sulfur"-pyrimethamine (sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and sulfalene-pyrimethamine (SP), the first-line recommended drug in 2002) and 33 amodiaquine (AQ, the second-line recommended drug) preparations. Only half of SP and AQ products were registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board. Of SP and AQ brands at district level, 40% and 44% were officially within legal registration requirements. 29% of retailers at district level stocked SP and 95% stocked AQ. The retail price of adult doses of SP and AQ were on average 0.38 and 0.76 US dollars, 100% and 347% higher than trade prices from manufacturers and importers. Artemether-lumefantrine, the newly announced first-line recommended antimalarial drug in 2004, was found in less than 1% of all retail outlets at a median cost of 7.6 US dollars. CONCLUSION: There is a need to ensure that all antimalarial drugs are registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board to facilitate a more stringent post-marketing surveillance system to ensure drugs are safe and of good quality post-registration.

Antimalarials↗
PubMed2004

Paracetamol versus nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are usually preferred for simple analgesics such as paracetamol for rheumatoid arthritis. It is not clear, however, whether the trade-offs between benefits and harms of NSAIDs are preferable to those of paracetamol (paracetamol is also called acetaminophen). OBJECTIVES: To compare the benefits and harms of paracetamol with NSAIDs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. SEARCH STRATEGY: Medline Silverplatter, Embase databases were searched up until Sept 2002. Reference lists of identified articles were also searched. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised double-blind studies comparing paracetamol with an NSAID. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Decisions on inclusion of trials and data extraction were performed by the two authors independently. MAIN RESULTS: Four cross-over studies, published between 1968 and 1982, involving 121 patients, and four different NSAIDs were included. The generation of the allocation sequence and the use of methods to conceal the allocation were not described in any of the studies. The studies were double-blind but it was not clear whether the blinding was effective. Methods for collecting adverse effects were not described. The NSAIDs were preferred more often than paracetamol by the patients or the investigator. In the largest trial, 20 out of 54 patients (37%) preferred ibuprofen and 7 out of 54 (13%) paracetamol. Investigators preference (as established by joint tenderness, grip strength and joint circumference) was 17 out of 35 for diclofenac versus 5 out of 35 for paracetamol in another trial. However, because of the weaknessess in the trials, no firm conclusion can be drawn. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: When considering the trade off between the benefits and harms of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and paracetamol/acetaminophen, it is not known whether one is better than the other for rheumatoid arthritis. But people with rheumatoid arthritis and the researchers in the study did prefer non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs more than acetaminophen/paracetamol. There is a need for a large trial, with appropriate randomisation, double-blinding, test of the success of the blinding, and with explicit methods to measure and analyse pain and adverse effects.

Acetaminophen↗
PubMed2003

The therapeutic potential of neuronal KCNQ channel modulators.

Neuronal KCNQ (Kv7) channels (KCNQ2-5 or Kv7.2-7.5, disclosed to date) were discovered by virtue of their homology with a known cardiac channel involved in long QT syndrome (KvLQT or KCNQ1, Kv7.1) and first disclosed in 1998. The involvement of KCNQ2 (Kv7.2) and KCNQ3 (Kv7.3) in a benign idiopathic neonatal epilepsy, KCNQ4 (Kv7.4) in a form of congenital deafness, and the discovery that neuronal KCNQ heteromultimers were among the molecular substrates of M-channels, resulted in a high level of interest for potential drug development strategies. A number of small-molecule modulators were quickly identified, including openers or activators such as the antiepileptic drug candidate retigabine and the structurally-related analgesic drug flupirtine (Katadolon trade mark Asta Medica), and a group of KCNQ channel inhibitors/blockers originally developed for cognition enhancement. All of these data have suggested a rich target profile for modulators of neuronal KCNQ channels, including a variety of neuronal hyperexcitability disorders and conditions for openers, such as the epilepsies, acute pain, neuropathic pain, migraine pain and some neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. KCNQ blockers could likewise have utility in disorders characterised by neuronal hypoactivity, including cognition enhancement and perhaps disorders of mood. Emerging patent literature suggests significant interest in neuronal KCNQ modulation in the pharmaceutical industry and significant chemical diversity concerning KCNQ modulation.

Analgesics, Non-Narcotic↗
PubMed1995

Smuggling and cross border shopping of tobacco in Europe.

Governments have recently become concerned about cross border shopping and smuggling because it can decrease tax revenue. The tobacco industry predicted that, with the removal of border controls in the European Union, price differences between neighbouring countries would lead to a diversion of tobacco trade, legally and illegally, to countries with cheaper cigarettes. According to them this diversion would be through increased cross border shopping for personal consumption or through increased smuggling of cheap cigarettes from countries with low tax to countries with high tax, where cigarettes are more expensive. These arguments have been used to urge governments not to increase tax on tobacco products. The evidence suggests, however, that cross border shopping is not yet a problem in Europe and that smuggling is not of cheap cigarettes to expensive countries. Instead, more expensive "international" brands are smuggled into northern Europe and sold illegally on the streets of the cheaper countries of southern Europe.

Crime↗
PubMed1994

African-American youth: drug trafficking and the justice system.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of the legal system in adolescent drug trafficking. METHODS: Descriptive and analytic review of the literature and relevant legislation. FINDINGS: Utilization of young adolescents by drug "kingpins" in drug trafficking is a new practice that is highly advantageous to the employer for several legal and economic reasons. From the perspective of the drug kingpins, juveniles are particularly useful in drug trafficking because they work for lower wages. Further, even if the youth are arrested, the juvenile justice system enables their rapid return for continued service in the drug trade. From the perspective of the youth, drug trafficking offers one of the few economic opportunities available to them. Further, the numbers suggest a tremendous racial disparity in the juvenile justice system. CONCLUSIONS: The mutual advantages to both employer and employee of using youths in drug trafficking increases the likelihood that this new practice will continue to flourish and with increasingly young children. Effective prevention and treatment interventions will need to be multifaceted, addressing the economic, educational, and social issues that have permitted the rapid emergence of adolescent drug trafficking. Finally, further investigation of the apparent racial disparities is necessary.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The stages of the international drug control system.

This paper argues that the history of the international drug control system of the League of Nations/United Nations can be divided into three cumulative stages. The first stage, the supply stage, dates back to early part of the 20th century, and aimed to reduce the supply of drugs through careful monitoring and trade regulations. This has remained the dominant control strategy. In the middle of the century, demand control, in the form of treatment and criminalization of the individual user, began to appear. This was the least successful stage. Finally, in the 1980s, the dangers of the drug traffic assumed an important place on the international agenda and measures to reduce drug-related organized crime were enacted. To date, this has been a process of proliferation of regulatory strategies. Recently, new challenges to the international drug control system have emerged, including well-funded non-governmental organizations critical of the war on drugs, and the adoption of harm reduction measures in national policies around the world.

Asia↗
PubMed2003

Health risks of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceutical products are not exempt from the practice of counterfeiting. In recent years, many reports have become available demonstrating the presence of fake medicines on the market. Several studies have demonstrated that they are quite often of bad quality. It is estimated that 5% of all world trade in branded goods is counterfeit, leading to huge financial losses for the pharmaceutical industry. But much more important, from a public health point of view, is that history has shown that such products may lead to a great health risk. The essence of counterfeit products and the reason they are so dangerous is the complete absence of quality control, since they are often indistinguishable from the genuine product. The existence of counterfeit drugs has long been ignored both by the pharmaceutical industry and by drug regulatory authorities. At present initiatives are being taken, nationally and internationally, to curb counterfeiting. It is now realised that a strong regulatory agency is essential, but the initiatives can only be successful if all parties concerned actively co-operate.

Consumer Product Safety↗
PubMed2005

Factors associated with methadone maintenance therapy use among a cohort of polysubstance using injection drug users in Vancouver.

We identified methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) use during follow-up interviews and examined associations between MMT use and socio-demographic and drug-related variables using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Of the 1587 participants recruited into this cohort, 170 (11%) were enrolled in MMT at baseline and additional 498 (31%) initiated MMT during follow-up. Of those ever enrolled in MMT, 406 (61%) ceased MMT and re-initiated MMT on more than one occasion. The median treatment duration was 14.4 months. Factors that were negatively and significantly associated with MMT use in multivariate analyses included: Aboriginal ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.40); recent incarceration (AOR = 0.79); sex trade involvement (AOR = 0.87); syringe lending (AOR = 0.72); heroin injection (AOR = 0.64), whereas female gender (AOR = 2.47), HIV positivity (AOR = 1.57), and crack cocaine smoking (AOR = 1.23) were positively and significantly associated with being on MMT. Unstable housing, syringe borrowing, non-fatal overdose, cocaine injection, and residence in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside were not associated with MMT use in multivariate analyses. Our study demonstrates high rates of initiation of and retention in MMT among local IDUs. While the use of MMT was associated with reductions in heroin use and HIV risk behavior, barriers to Aboriginal IDUs were evident, and the association with increased crack cocaine use deserves further study.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[European registration of medicines: pros and cons for prescriber and patient].

Since the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) in London started its activities, the registration of medicines in the European Union (EU) has gained momentum, and its relevance to national drug registration procedures is steadily increasing. Its main objectives are centralization and standardization of assessments and promoting free trade within the EU. From its early beginning the EMEA has promoted transparency and full disclosure of expert opinions. Since the EMEA is largely operating beyond the scope of the average prescriber and patient, an attempt was made at improving information, based on interviews of a number of responsible or interested persons and parties. Though the overall opinion seems favourable, the quality of the assessment reports has notably improved, and the implementation of decisions has gained speed, this has made little impact on medical practice. The approach towards collating reports of adverse drug reactions has been divisive, and feedback to reporting physicians has been largely neglected. The eventual introduction of the Eudrawatch database and further improvements in transparency will hopefully correct these initial problems. So far as legally possible national drug agencies should follow the example of EMEA by offering public disclosure of documents and expert opinions.

Drug Approval↗