Authors: Gunderson E, Kirkpatrick MG, Willing LM, Holstege CP

There is a growing concern about the availability of a new generation of “designer drug” stimulants that are marketed as “bath salts” and other household products. The products are not true bath salts and contain substituted cathinone stimulant substances, such as  ethylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and mephedrone. Calls to the American Association of Poison Control Centers regarding “bath salts” consumption began in 2010 and have continued since that time.

Author: Alex Wodak

The need for reform of drug laws is now growing in many countries, but change is slow because bad policy is still good politics. Thus, many political systems are unable to move forward with reform of drug laws, and change seems most likely to happen through pressure
from civil society.

Author: Gerard Hastings (Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling and the Open University)

This BMJ article calls for a shake-up to public health, to revitalise the discipline, place the needed emphasis on the commercial determinants of poor health and take the lead in a move away from 'an abeyance to the corporate bottom line', with suggestions for key areas in which organisational and paradigm shifts are needed.

Author: Alex Mold

Since 1971, when President Richard Nixon made illegal drugs public enemy number one, the USA has spent vast sums waging war on drugs. Over 45 million people have been arrested, and there are now more people in US prisons for non-violent drug offences than were imprisoned for all crimes in 1970. The USA incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world, with a current prison population of some 2·3 million, and more than half of those in federal prison are there because of drug offences.

Authors: Seethalakshmi Ramanathan (State University of New York Upstate Medical University), Natarajan Balasubramanian (Syracuse University) and Rajeev Krishnadas (University of Glasgow).

The current economic crisis has received a lot of attention from policy makers. However, the traditional focus of the attention has been on short-term effects, such as housing and unemployment. The long-term influences of such crises, particularly on infants and young children, have generally not been examined. This study investigates the relationship between exposure to macroeconomic crises during infancy and long-term behavioral problems, including substance use and delinquency.