Academic literature on the topic 'Parents Drug use Australia'

This article focuses on parental drug use and the impact on child welfare. The gravity of this issue is well documented in a number of reports from government and in annual reports from relevant state and territory departments. Yet, there has been little attention to this issue in Australian journals in spite of the fact that this is probably the most critical issue child protection services have had to face for two decades or more. Parental drug use is almost certainly responsible for the rise in the number of children, especially young children, entering out-of-home care. Drug use also creates issues in relation to family reunification. The final part of the article proposes an enhanced three stage model of family reunification that addresses these issues. This model is based on greater collaboration between child protection services, drug treatment agencies, and the legal system.

While research demonstrates that parental tobacco and alcohol use increases the likelihood of children's substance use, it is unclear whether or not sibling use has a greater, weaker, or similar effect. Based upon self-reported information from Australian adolescents, their siblings and parents, this investigation examines the association between siblings' tobacco and alcohol use. The relationship is consistent, moderately strong, and remains significant when controlling for a number of family-related factors, indicating that the shared environment cannot fully explain the extent of similarity in siblings' behaviors. In addition, sibling substance use has a greater effect on adolescent substance use than does smoking or drinking by parents. These findings indicate the need to include siblings and information regarding sibling relationships in prevention and intervention programs.

Brief Description of the Program: Increased drug use among young people is of major concern the world over. It is seen as one of many so-called 'at risk' behaviours characteristic of young people. Drug taking can have grave health consequences for some young people, especially for those who are experiencing a level of mental disturbance, such as depression. Young people coming from disadvantaged and marginalised circumstances are also more likely to be vulnerable, and can become easy victims of drug trafficking. In this respect, young people in Australia of Asian backgrounds appear to be one among many groups being drawn into the drug culture. The families in these communities appear generally reticent and fearful of drug issues, almost to the point of denying that a problem exists. Some young people taking to drugs are known to be disowned by their parents. At the same time there is very little in languages other than English or culturally appropriate information on drugs. Such information, if available, can be used in sensitive and strategic ways to raise the awareness of families of Asian backgrounds on drugs and young people, in the context of intergenerational tensions in parenting.

Aim. Receiving professional help early can reduce long-term harms associated with substance use. However, little is known about the factors that influence help-seeking for substance use problems during early-mid adolescence, prior to the emergence of disorder. Given that beliefs regarding help-seeking are likely to develop early, understanding adolescent views of help-seeking during this period is likely to provide important information for prevention and intervention efforts. The current study identifies perceptions that would facilitate or prevent adolescents from seeking support for substance use problems from formal and informal help sources. Method. Thirty-four 12- to 16-year-olds from two schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, were recruited. A qualitative interpretative design was used, incorporating semistructured, audio-recorded interviews. Results. Three overlapping themes that reflected barriers or enablers to help-seeking were identified: approachability, confidentiality and trustworthiness, and expertise. Help-seeking was facilitated when adolescents believed that the help source would be supportive and understanding, would keep information confidential, and had expertise in the alcohol and drug field. Conversely, adolescents were reluctant to seek help from sources they believed would be judgmental, lacked expertise, or would inform their parents. Conclusions. These findings highlight perceptions that may influence help-seeking for alcohol and drug problems during adolescence. Further research is needed to determine if help-seeking can be facilitated by improving parents’ and peers’ knowledge and promoting health professionals’ expertise in working with young people’s alcohol and drug issues.

This research explored the intersection between participants’ parenting role and housing difficulties, in rural communities. Thirteen parents were recruited from drug and alcohol and mental health agencies in rural Australia. Transcripts were analysed using content analysis, along with inter-rater reliability. The quandary of gaining access to their children while living in inadequate housing was indicated. Participants also described the ‘spiral’ nature of problems, highlighting the interrelated nature of mental illness, substance use, housing difficulties and losing access to children. The impacts of housing problems on parenting roles and children were described as well as those supports considered to be useful in obtaining appropriate housing. Living in rural areas where ‘everyone knew everyone’ made it difficult for some to obtain housing. The need to address housing, parenting, mental illness and substance abuse as interrelated, rather than as singular issues is highlighted.

Drug use has a significant negative impact on the ability of parents to provide safe care for children and an outcome of this is the entry of some of these children into out-of-home care. This poses particular challenges for service providers, not only because of the complex nature of addiction, but also the many other issues facing these families. This paper reports on studies conducted by the Western Australian Department for Community Development in 2004 and 2007 which explored parental drug and alcohol use as a contributing factor in applications to the Children's Court for protection orders. The results of the 2004 study showed that parental drug and alcohol use was the second most common contributing factor in protection applications after neglect. It was also confirmed that drug and alcohol use rarely occurs in isolation, with strong links identified to neglect and domestic violence, as well as other factors, including physical abuse and homelessness/transient lifestyle. The 2007 follow-up study further highlighted the co-existence of parental drug and alcohol use and domestic violence.

The demand for equality of recognition or respect is the dominant passion of modernity. The 20th century experienced a giant leap in technological inventiveness and ruthless use of technological power. In the 21st century, human welfare and environmental wellbeing demand fundamental political appraisal. We have the means, if we choose, to eradicate poverty and to responsibly protect the global environment. However, economic, political and cultural systems act to differentially allocate the benefits and risks for growth between socioeconomic groups. For example, it is a matter of pride that the neonatal mortality rate in affluent societies has dropped substantially since the late 1970s. However, the level of infant mortality (three times the national average) and low birthweight (13%) among the Indigenous Australian population is the highest in the country. With hindsight we now know that is the inevitable legacy of Australia’s colonial history. Chronic physical and psychological stress is recognized as an important etiological factor in many lifestyle diseases of the cardiovascular, immune and reproductive systems. Diseases of adaptation are further advanced by non-adaptive lifestyle choices, depression, alcoholism and other drug dependencies. This review describes the principles of bioscience ethics and targets equity issues as they affect human reproduction across generations with particular reference to the Indigenous population of Australia. The review also considers ways we may advance global and cultural maturity from the Indigenous Australian perspective and proposes an ecologically based model of preventative care. If we are to embrace fundamental social change and protect future children without threatening parents’ basic freedoms, then new beliefs and priorities – based on a compassionate understanding of biological systems – must evolve from the general public. Belief in human rights arising from a sense of human dignity is a collective outcome originating from individual commitment. The golden rule; that is, Nature’s principle of reciprocity, is fundamental in bridging the gap between knowledge and effective action.

Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) exposure during pregnancy is linked to serious adverse child outcomes, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The Parent-Child Assistance Program (PCAP) supports women with problematic AOD use, who are pregnant or have young children, and are not effectively engaging with services. PCAP has been shown to reduce alcohol exposed pregnancies, promote AOD abstinence, increase employment and family planning and improve child outcomes. This manuscript reports the first pilot evaluation of the PCAP program delivered in Australia. A pre-post-intervention repeated measures design was used. Eleven women receiving PCAP from a not-for-profit organisation were invited to take part in the study, with eight providing complete pre-post data. Home visitation case management was provided by trained and experienced case-managers. Clients were assisted to engage with existing services effectively to meet their own goals via a combination of relational theory, motivational interviewing and harm reduction concepts. The PCAP Modified Addiction Severity Index 5th Edition was adapted for use in Australia and was used to measure domains of addiction severity related problems as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included client satisfaction and program fidelity. There were significant changes in composite addiction severity scores from baseline to one year. 80% of participants had periods of abstinence of longer than four months. All clients had better connection to services, no subsequent AOD exposed pregnancies, and were highly satisfied with the program. Four had children returned to their care. Implementation was similar to the original PCAP program with major differences including case-managers relying on training manuals only without undertaking in-person training; being more experienced; providing more direct AOD counselling; and having less supervision. The findings will inform future program delivery and methodology for a larger longitudinal study assessing outcomes at program exit.

Background The early life gut microbiota are an important regulator of the biological pathways contributing toward the pathogenesis of noncommunicable disease. It is unclear whether improvements to perinatal diet quality could alter the infant gut microbiota. Objective The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of a perinatal educational dietary intervention in influencing gut microbiota in mothers and infants 4 weeks after birth. Methods The Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids randomized controlled trial aimed to recruit 90 pregnant women from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. At week 26 of gestation, women were randomized to receive dietary advice from their doctor (n=45), or additionally receive a dietary intervention (n=45). The intervention included an educational workshop and 2 support calls aiming to align participants’ diets with the Australian Dietary Guidelines and increase intakes of prebiotic and probiotic foods. The educational design focused on active learning and self-assessment. Behavior change techniques were used to support dietary adherence, and the target behavior was eating for the gut microbiota. Exclusion criteria were age under 18 years, diagnosed mental illnesses, obesity, diabetes mellitus, diagnosed bowel conditions, exclusion diets, illicit drug use, antibiotic use, prebiotic or probiotic supplementation, and those lacking dietary autonomy. The primary outcome measure is a between-group difference in alpha diversity in infant stool collected 4 weeks after birth. Secondary outcomes include evaluating the efficacy of the intervention in influencing infant and maternal stool microbial composition and short chain fatty acid concentrations, epigenetic profile, and markers of inflammation and stress, as well as changes in maternal dietary intake and well-being. The study and intervention feasibility and acceptance will also be evaluated as secondary outcomes. Results The study results are yet to be written. The first participant was enrolled on July 28, 2016, and the final follow-up assessment was completed on October 11, 2017. Conclusions Data from this study will provide new insights regarding the ability of interventions targeting the perinatal diet to alter the maternal and infant gut microbiota. If this intervention is proven, our findings will support larger studies aiming to guide the assembly of gut microbiota in early life. Trial Registration Australian Clinical Trials Registration Number ACTRN12616000936426; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=370939 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/14771

AbstractThe last five years in Australia have been marked by an explosion in the diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The use of stimulant medication for ADHD has increased exponentially across all states, raising questions about the appropriate role of drug treatment and its relationship to other therapies in these children. Despite widespread consensus that multimodal therapy is the preferred option for intervention, many treatments advocated for ADHD lack scientific evidence to support their use. Because no two children with ADHD or their families are the same, an individualised approach to management is advocated that targets both the primary symptoms of the disorder, its cornorbid pathology, and the secondary problems that have developed. Evidence indicates that stimulant medication used in conjunction with parent training, family support, and school based behaviour modification offers the best prospects for improving the disturbing long-term prognosis in these children.

This research focussed on families in which at least one parent was a long-term cannabis user; I explored family members’ perceptions of the benefits and harms of cannabis use and the strategies parents used to minimise cannabis-related harm to themselves and their children. In depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 43 individuals from 13 families, producing a series of family case studies that enabled examination of multiple perspectives within each family. In Study 1, I used an interpretive framework guided by Miles and Huberman’s (1994) thematic content analysis technique to analyse interview data, while study 2 yielded detailed descriptive vignettes that examined how the use of cannabis played out in particular families. Cannabis users have been portrayed as stereotypically lazy, unhealthy, deviant, and criminal. However, this was not the case with the current sample, whose lifestyles revolved around employment and family life. Parents claimed to use cannabis in a responsible way that minimised harm to self and family. Few reported personal experiences of harm and most did not believe that their children had been adversely affected by their use of cannabis. Nonetheless, children’s awareness of parental cannabis use, and access to the parent’s cannabis supply, occurred at a younger age than parents suspected. Parents reported harm reduction strategies that targeted five broad areas: (1) Dosage control; (2) Dependency; (3) Acute risk; (4) Long-term harm; and (5) Harm to children. The current study points to common-sense ways of reducing harm, such as being discreet about cannabis use; using less potent strains; prioritising family and work responsibilities; being careful about where cannabis was obtained; not mixing cannabis with tobacco; and limiting any financial outlay. The harm reduction strategies identified in this research might be helpful in the forensic evaluation, safety planning, and treatment of parental cannabis use. The validity of the current findings was enhanced by having independent data on the same topic from each family member’s point of view, including non-using partners and children, and by including both convergent and divergent data.

Despite decades of research, there is no consensus as to the factors that explain the association between drug use and criminal behaviour. While the evolving sophistication in research methodology has identified factors that are associated with involvement in both drug use and crime, exploration of the idiosyncratic factors that contribute to initiation, maintenance and desistence in drug use and criminal behaviour over time, across culture and social context remains unknown. In this research a grounded theory approach was used to develop an explanatory model based on the reported experiences of 22 non-Aboriginal and 11 Aboriginal adult male offenders, incarcerated in Western Australian prisons all of who have a history of involvement in drug use and crime . Using thematic text analysis, two distinct models emerged from the two cultural groups. While both models depicted involvement in both drug use and crime as a lifestyle based within a biopsycho- social framework, each pathway described a combination of person centred and context specific constructs as influential in the aetiology, persistence, desistence and re-engagement of the drugs-crime lifestyle. Specifically, each pathway differed with respect to the identified family, cultural and social factors that delay or influence early entry into the drugs-crime lifestyle, and those which continue to influence over the life course. The models were applied to case studies to compare and contrast the applicability of the pathway model to existing theories within the literature. The research showed that the connection between drug use and criminal behaviour comprises complex personal, cultural and social factors that underpin the drugs-crime lifestyle, rather than a simplistic causal model. Furthermore, existing theoretical models interact to partially account for individual’s experiences at discrete periods during their involvement in the drugcrime lifestyle. The bio-psycho-social model proposed found common underlying psychological vulnerabilities across the two cultural samples that contribute to involvement in the drug-crime lifestyle; however, disparate social, family, cultural and community factors influence the association across the life course. This complexity underscores the necessity for multi-faceted and systemic treatment modalities that involve family and culture, and the need for psycho-social support services that are linked to the treatment provided in custody for prisoners being re-integrated into the community.

The present study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental characteristics of the association between mental health and substance use. N=1182 adolescents aged between 11 and 20 years were recruited from schools in Australia. Participants completed the Youth Self Report (YSR) (Achenbach, 1991a) and reported on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, their social ability, their motivation for using substances, their ability to regulate emotion, and the influences of their parents and peers on their substance use. N=561 of time one participants were retained for testing one year later to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from mental health at time one. Results indicated a clear and consistent cross-sectional association between externalising scores on the YSR and use of the three substances, regardless of gender. The relation between internalising scores and substance use was non-significant. When the relation between externalising scores and substance use was assessed for mediation, only the influence of parents and peers was found to be significant. A cross-sectional structural model developed to account for this association was demonstrated to be invariant across the three substances of interest, and across gender, but not age category. There was no evidence that social skills, emotion regulation, or substance use motives, had roles in mediating the relationship between mental health and substance use. A model was developed to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from externalising scores at time one. Results showed that externalising scores predicted increases in alcohol use via parent and peer attitudes. Thus, externalising disposition, in the context of a facilitative social environment, was predictive of an increase in alcohol use over time. Structural models developed to account for the predictive relation between externalising scores and use of cigarettes and marijuana proved unstable and could not be tested. Substance use at time one was not predictive of externalising scores at time two. The results of the present research are discussed in relation to their potential to inform the developmental substance use literature, and efforts directed against the development of substance use problems. Limitations of the present research are noted.

‘Leavers’ is a celebratory event for students who have recently completed their secondary education. This study examined patterns of alcohol and other drug use at Leavers, and explored influences on, and the impacts of use. Over 900 surveys were administered using a pre- and post-celebration design.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that affect the use of marijuana by juveniles and how outside influences such as peer pressure, race, parental influence, and prevention programs such as the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) contribute to the use of marijuana by juveniles. All of the variables used in this study came from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) data collected by Esbensen and Osgood (1999). The analysis indicated that juveniles are most influenced by their peers such as friends, that African American juveniles would be less likely than Whites and Hispanics to become regular users of marijuana, that juveniles living with both parents would be less likely to use marijuana compared to those with alternative living conditions, and that the programs such as the D.A.R.E. program would have little long-term effect on marijuana usage by juveniles.

Parental time pressure, in terms of actual workload and subjective reports, is high and likely to increase in the future, with ongoing implications for personal wellbeing. The combination of parenting young children and maternal employment, in particular, gives rise to greater time pressure in families. Although characterised by increasing diversity, two of the most time pressured family types, dual-earner and lone parent families are central features in the Australian demographic landscape. In view of predominant social and cultural trends, the ‘problem’ of time pressure is deep-rooted and set to grow. While the need to address ‘work-family balance’ is prominent in political and social life, the relationship between time pressure and wellbeing has not been well quantified and we know little about how that relationship works in families. At the heart of the time pressure problem, is a potential threat to the healthy development of children. This thesis, then, is broadly concerned with the nature of time pressure and its relationship with parental wellbeing when they are caring for young children.The central aim of the thesis is to determine whether time pressure has a significant impact on the self-reported wellbeing of parents with young children. There are four main research questions. Time pressure is defined as being both objective (‘parental time use’) and subjective in nature (‘parental perceptions about their time’). The questions are: (1) What is the relationship between parental time use and parental perceptions about their time? (2) How do parental time use and parental perceptions about their time relate to their self-reported wellbeing? (3) Are the effects of parental time use and parental perceptions about their time on self-reported wellbeing modified by other perceived stressors and psychological coping resources? (4) What are the predictors of self-perceived time pressure? Because of their broad scope, each of these questions is given further focus by the stating of specific sub-components.The study draws from several selected theoretical perspectives and models around the influence of time on individual health and wellbeing. Because the experience of time pressure has multiple interacting levels of influence from the individual through to family, work, and community settings and more widely from the social, political and cultural environment, the thesis is underpinned by ecological theory. To allow for the meaningful and practical measurement of time pressure within different contexts, the Family and Community Resource Framework was adopted. The Framework views time as a resource that can be utilized and traded by families with other resources of human, financial, psychological and social capital to enable family functioning and individual wellbeing. Then, to make sense of the pathways of influence, subjective time pressure was conceptualized as a psychosocial factor within an epidemiological model of the social determinants of health. These theoretical perspectives in combination are woven throughout the thesis as both a guide and a means of interpreting results.In addressing the broad research gaps around time pressure and parental wellbeing, the study took a population perspective and a quantitative methodological approach. A sub sample of parents with young children (at least one resident child aged less than six) was drawn from Wave Two of the Household Income and Labor Dynamics of Australia (HILDA) Study, conducted in 2002. Acknowledging the key role of gender and employment status in the experience of time pressure, all analysis was undertaken separately for employed mothers (n=451), non-employed mothers (n=512) and employed fathers (n=686). At another level that recognizes the influence of family structure and joint employment arrangements, analysis was undertaken for parents in ‘dual-earner families’ (n=346), ‘traditional families’ (n=321) and ‘lone mother families’ (n=145). This approach addressed the specific deficiency of quantitative studies of time pressure (objective and subjective) among families at the population level.The concepts of “parental wellbeing”, “parental time use”, and “parental perceptions about their time” were all operationalized by a set of self-reported measures. Parental wellbeing was captured by the mental health, vitality and general health subscales of the MOS-Short-Form 36 allowing for variation in positive health states. Parental time use (objective time pressure) was measured by their self-reported estimates of average weekly hours in paid work, household work (sum of indoor and outdoor activities, and chores) and of their time spent with children. Furthermore, these three estimates were summed to provide two measures of total workload. Parental time perceptions (subjective time pressure) were quantified by questions about their paid work hour preferences and satisfaction, perceived fairness in their share of housework and childcare, satisfaction with their amount of free time, and primarily by their self-perceived time pressure. The study also drew on indicators of job quality, financial wellbeing, parenting stress and perceived social support to examine the modifying role of other psychological resources on the relationship between time pressure and wellbeing. The bulk of analyses utilized multivariate linear regression techniques to examine the simultaneous effects of time use and parental perceptions about their time on mental health, general health and vitality, with adjustment for family characteristics and indicators of human and financial capital.Primarily, the thesis concludes that time pressure has a significant negative impact on the wellbeing of many Australian parents with young children, in particular, when they are employed. ‘Self-perceived time pressure’ proves to be a complex issue as high levels were associated with large amounts of paid work and household work; with perceptions of unfairness in household work and childcare; with low free time satisfaction; with higher levels of job and parenting stress, and lower levels of perceived social support. The thesis provides conclusive evidence that a high level of self-perceived time pressure lowers the mental health, vitality and general health of all parents. For employed parents, low levels of satisfaction with their paid work hours, and for all parents, low levels of satisfaction with their free time hours had an additional detrimental effect on their mental health and vitality. In contrast, there was little evidence overall that parental distribution of time to specific activities, or that a greater total workload independently contributed to lower wellbeing. Unpredictably, employed mothers had better wellbeing when they spent a relatively large amount of time with their children. Furthermore, a high level of self-perceived time pressure exerted a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of some employed parents even after adjustment for other reported stressors around work and family life. Additionally, there was evidence that among the most highly time pressured mothers a higher level of perceived social support did little to buffer the impact of time pressure on aspects of their wellbeing. Integral to the findings is the evidence that family employment arrangements and structure alter the meaning of time pressure and its relationship to parental wellbeing.These conclusions raise the question of how to avoid time-pressured circumstances in Australian families, and how to support and resource parents who are already feeling chronically pressed for time. The very nature of time pressure implies multiple levels and points of intervention at the policy, community, workplace, family and individual level. Avoiding time pressure in families requires continued policy directions aimed at creating flexibility and choice in how parents divide their time between work and family with safeguards against excessive hours in paid work. Furthermore, the findings prompt the need for an expanded policy to one that includes leisure or time for oneself and the facilitation of parental time with children. From a preventive perspective, specific and early intervention at a family level from pre-conception through to antenatal and early parenting programs will help to facilitate a gender equitable approach to the division of labour. Among employed parents, correlations between self-perceived time pressure and their perceived stress and complexity of paid work suggest a greater role for workplaces in preventing and identifying psychosocial stress among employees. Inherently more difficult is identifying and supporting parents who are already feeling the strain. The prevalence of perceived time pressures and the strong negative association with parental wellbeing suggests the need for a public health response. The urgency for action lays in the potential damage to the relationship between the parent and developing child. Fundamentally, all strategies should be aimed at giving parents back a sense of control over their time.The thesis lays a foundation for ongoing research examining the effects of paid and unpaid work patterns, free time and perceived time pressures on parental, child and family wellbeing over time.

This study investigated the nature and extent of drug use associated with Australian music festivals, assessed current and potential future policy and practice strategies aimed at reducing the risk of drug-related harm at festivals, and developed evidence-based recommendations aimed at improving current strategies. Key recommendations included: expanding drug-checking services; ceasing the use of drug detection dogs; removing barriers to seeking medical attention; shifting to a harm reduction policy; and creating more enabling environments for harm reduction.

In the last decade, there has been a marked increase in the awareness of drug use and drug-related crime in Australia. As a result, the demand for drug treatment services has increased and 14 recognised government-funded services are now available in Western Australia (WA). The goal of these services is to reduce drug use through full-time intensive programs that are usually residential. This type of drug treatment has been shown to be effective in reducing drug use and promoting pro-social lives post-treatment. However, little is known of the experiences of participants in this type of treatment in WA. As such, this study examined the lived experiences of individuals engaged in a Christian residential rehabilitation program in WA. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to examine 14 participants’ perceptions of their behaviours, links between drug use and criminal behaviour, motivations for treatment and life after rehabilitation. A thematic analysis of the data revealed that drug users have extensive insight into their lived experiences, including an awareness of normalised behaviours that catalysed their subsequent drug use and criminal behaviours. Themes that emerged from the findings include: the lived experience of dysfunction; embodying dysfunction and escaping dysfunction. Additionally, the participants demonstrated strong support for treatment provided by residential rehabilitation, commenting that that recovery from extensive drug use is a lengthy process involving more than simple abstinence from drugs. This research provides support for residential treatment of drug users who previously committed crime, supporting assertions that drug use must be treated to address criminality.

Young people today live in what some scholars and commentators have defined as a 'post-modern' era, characterised by globalisation, the internet, mass media, production and consumption. Post-modernity has seen a change in the way young people live. Along with career, finance and success, young people today place greater emphasis on leisure, identity, relationships and health. There is some evidence to suggest that other factors, such as family, community and location, have become less important for young people living in the new millennium (Giddens 1991; Beck 1992).In post-modern times, there has been a significant increase in western countries in the use of 'party drugs', including ecstasy and methamphetamine, among 'ordinary' young people in social and leisure-oriented contexts. In the mid-1990s, in response to this rise in drug use, a team of UK researchers developed a theoretical framework in which they argued that the use of some illicit drugs had become 'normalised' (Parker, Aldridge et al. 1998). The proponents of the normalisation thesis suggested that drug use was no longer linked with deviant, pathological or subcultural behaviour, and had become a normal feature of the day-to-day worlds of many young people.This thesis explores the concepts of post-modernity and normalisation as they relate to the culture and practices of a group of young people in Melbourne, Australia, who called themselves the 'A-Team'. The A-Team was a social network of around 25 people who were 'typical', „mainstream‟ and 'socially included' individuals (Hammersley, Khan et al. 2002; Harling 2007), who participated in work and study, and who did not engage in any illicit activity other than drug use.I argue that theories of post-modernism and normalisation emphasise too strongly macro-level changes and do not adequately appreciate the complexity of social process and the cultural meanings negotiated within and through the practices of individuals and groups. For example, while theories of post-modernity have shed light on the way in which lives are structured at the macro level, they less adequately account for the way that young people continue to make and re-make meaning and identity from enduring social relationships and particular social contexts.In response to an increasingly globalised and disconnected world, A-Team members found continuity and stability within the group. They remained 'modern' in their adherence to their social community; however, the form of community they sought took a very post-modern form. They experimented with self-expression and identity outside the confines of traditions such as marriage, family and career, but they did not drift between groups and social spaces in their search for self. They were selective with whom and where they performed their desired identities. The A-Team practiced a form of 'differentiated' post-modernism, which presents a more complex picture of how young people are responding to macro-level social, cultural and economic changes.Throughout this thesis I describe the multiple ways in which A-Team members attempted to manage their use of alcohol and party drugs within their „normal‟ suburban lives. In particular, I highlight the ways in which they engaged with discourses of 'normal' and 'abnormal' drug use and 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable' drug use. I also describe the ways in which they engaged with discourses of moderation and excess, and the desire for both self-control and 'controlled loss of control' (Measham 2004a). These discourses arose as a consequence of a range of competing tensions that the A-Team consistently managed. These tensions included the search for bodily pleasure, identity and the desire for intimate social relationships, experiences of drug-related harm and significant critiques of specific forms of drug use from group members, and from non-drug using friends and family.In highlighting these discourses and competing tensions, I argue that although the normalisation thesis has significantly advanced understandings of young people's drug use, it does not adequately appreciate the way that young people must negotiate the 'micro-politics' of normalised drug use, a concept recently outlined by Swedish sociologist Sharon Rodner Sznitman (2008). Rodner Sznitman argued that normalisation is an ongoing process shaped by unique social and cultural micro-politics. Rodner-Sznitman suggested that young drug users engage in practices of 'assimilative normalisation' – by attempting to manage their 'deviant' or stigmatised behaviour – and 'transformational normalisation' – by attempting to resist or redefine what is considered to be 'normal' with respect to illicit drug use and drug users.I describe how A-Team members engaged in practices of assimilative normalisation by concealing their drug use from disapproving friends and family, severing ties with some non-drug using friends, repeatedly attempting to cease or reduce their drug use, drawing on notions of 'controlled' and 'moderate' use as the most acceptable form of drug use, and justifying their drug use as a temporary feature of young adulthood. I also show how some A-Team members engaged in transformational normalisation by rejecting the need for moderate or controlled forms of consumption, attempting to redefine the boundaries of socially acceptable drug-using behaviour and by offering an alternative reading of ecstasy as a drug that enables the performance of an intoxicated self.This research shows that there are many competing social and cultural forces that shape the way that young people use drugs and understand their use. It is essential that we develop a greater understanding of young people's drug use and not interpret their drug using practices through frameworks that rely on macro-level cultural and/or attitudinal shifts. Young recreational drug users face a multitude of issues when attempting to manage their drug use amidst the competing demands of relationships, sport, work, finances and career. These issues and the responses adopted by young drug users are likely to vary between groups, between cultures and between types of drug use.

Because of the War on Drugs, the number of prisoners age fifty-five and older more than doubled every ten years, making them the fastest growing age group of the prison population. Formerly incarcerated older adults who spent years subjected to poor living conditions in prison increase Medicaid and Medicare costs after they are released. Many of them were reaching the age of retirement, but most would receive a minimum Social Security payment due to years of unemployment, and few were eligible for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Income. For those who lost family and friends over the years, through death, divorce, or rejection, their old age life was going to be hard. The accounts of aging drug users show that addiction was a debatable concept. Many believed that they had an addicted brain or that they had inherited addiction from their alcoholic parents. However, some baby boomer drug users learned to control their use through moderation or marijuana; others used methadone to help them control drug use legally as they aged.

Introduction: Methylphenidate is a neuropsychotropic agent, indicated for the treatment of Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, and is commonly prescribed for school and university age patients. The growing prescription of the drug and the misuse of methylphenidate by academics without a diagnosis of ADHD and / or narcolepsy have raised concerns on the part of medical societies of psychiatry. The over-the-counter use of this substance causes potential dependence and adverse effects such as hallucinations, anxiety, dry mouth and visual disturbances. Unfortunately, there is a precarious amount of epidemiological data on the use of methylphenidate without prescription by university students. In view of this reality. Objectives: The present study proposed to review the assessment of the prevalence of methylphenidate consumption without medical prescription in university environments worldwide, with sources published between 2016-2021. Methods: To perform this research, the PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/) and Scielo (https://www.scielo.org/) databases were used as a search tool, using the Key words “non-medical”, “methylphenidate” and “university students”. Results: So far, 10 articles related to the study (carried out in China, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States) have been identified, with 8 articles obtained from PubMed and 2 articles acquired from Scielo. The selected articles show that in 6 of these articles the groups of academics studied were undergraduate and graduate students in general areas, and 4 articles in medical students. The studies present cases of students who confirmed the use of methylphenidate without a prescription, with the justification that it improves academic performance even in healthy students. Conclusion: Therefore, further studies on epidemiology and effects on academic performance with the improper consumption of this drug are recommended.

Parental rejection is associated with poor mental health and addiction liability outcomes for sexual minority youth (SMY; e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual). Theoretical models purport that SMY who experience greater parental rejection and non-acceptance related to their sexual orientation may have greater risk for substance use, including cannabis and alcohol use. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies provide initial support for this contention by showing that SMY who perceive heterosexist rejection from their parents have greater substance use as young adults. However, research has yet to examine whether experiencing greater parental rejection is associated with drug craving as an adolescent. Understanding the impact of parental rejection at this level may be of particular importance, as sexual minority young adults report greater alcohol craving in response to heterosexist stigma, above and beyond general negative mood. Since adolescent cannabis and alcohol use are influenced by contextual factors (e.g., availability), craving has been examined as a salient proxy for substance use in this population. This study leveraged data collected from ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how varying levels of heterosexist parental rejection may influence in-the-moment levels of cannabis and alcohol craving. SMY who used nicotine were recruited for an EMA study. Participants completed a baseline survey measuring lifetime parent rejection experiences (M = 0.34, SD = 0.33) and a timeline followback of past-month substance use. Next, participants completed a 30-day EMA period where they responded to approximately 5 random prompts per day measuring current level of cannabis and alcohol craving (range 0 to 10). The analytic sample included a subset of SMY who reported baseline cannabis (n = 37) or alcohol (n = 32) use. Craving was dichotomized to either no craving (0) or any craving (1). Multilevel logistic regression was conducted using N = 2,885 observations to examine the associations between baseline parental rejection and momentary substance craving, controlling for baseline substance use frequency, weekday versus weekend, time of day, age, and presence of peers. Results indicated that greater baseline parental rejection was associated with greater odds of reporting momentary cannabis craving (b = 1.71, p = .05, OR = 5.51) and alcohol craving (b = 2.53, p = .035, OR = 12.55) in the natural environment. Findings underscore the influence of parental rejection on adolescent substance craving. SMY who experience greater parental rejection likely perceive having less supportive parental relationships. Consistent with the minority stress model, SMY may be more likely to experience identity-related distress (e.g., heterosexist parental rejection) and, in turn, may use cannabis and alcohol to cope. This may explain why parental rejection experiences were related to greater day-to-day substance cravings. Clinical implications support the importance of providing family interventions to reduce parental rejection for SMY, as these may result in a myriad of benefits, possibly including reduced substance use craving. Future research should examine how lifetime versus recent parental rejection experiences may influence SMY substance craving.