In the most recent issue, I opined
“As a society, we need to do more to protect young people. Simply supplying a shield of knowledge, self esteem, and resiliency to help protect them from a perpetual stream of heat-seeking advertising and pop culture missiles is insufficient. Someone must also deal with the people launching those missiles.”
I also mentioned Ralph Nader’s book “Children First ! A Parent’s Guide to Fighting Corporate Predators”.
Inspired by Nader’s book, I would sometimes use the following metaphor…
(Demand-Side & Supply-Side Prevention)
Demand-side prevention strategies are aimed at the public and attempt to reduce the voluntary demand for, and harmful use of, drug products. Constructive initiatives can foster an evidence-based understanding of drugs and their actions, and facilitate personal awareness, responsibility, resiliency, and self-esteem. The fostering of…
Ideally, drug use and problems would not be addressed in isolation, but within a broader framework of healthy and responsible living. This must include coordinated approaches of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and relentless advocacy on the social, commercial, and political determinants of health.
A few issues ago, I introduced the idea that drug use and drug harms occur on a dynamic spectrum. It is not realistic to think that…
In the previous issue, I addressed some of the economic benefits of drug trades, legal and illegal. But the benefits are only part of the story. The harmful use of drugs is an enormous economic liability for Canada. Health economists have devised statistical techniques for estimating these costs to the economy, and the results are shocking….
The immediately previous issues of this newsletter addressed the harms from drug use: personal and social disruption, physical injury, illness, and sometimes death. This issue addresses some similarities between legal and illegal drug trades as an introduction to consideration of the costs of drug use to the Canadian economy. First, we must acknowledge that…
