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| Illicit Drug Policy |
| The Hidden Population |
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By David F. Duncan, DrPH, FAAHB
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| 2006/04/10 |
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| Most users of illicit drugs aren't addicts and aren't abusers, yet we know almost nothing about these healthy users. |
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"Are you an adult, over the age of eighteen? Are you happy in your life? Do you occasionally use illicit drugs?" These are questions Prof. Thomas Nicholson and his colleagues ask in the DRUGNET study.
After doing research on drug abuse and drug policy for about twenty years, Nicholson became increasingly frustrated by the lack of literature and data about adult drug users who don't wind up in jail or in treatment – in other words about the hidden population of healthy drug users. DRUGNET, an internet-based survey, was designed to tap into this large population of persons whose use of illicit drugs does not meet any clinical or sociological criteria to be considered abuse.
A report on his research has been published in the Western Scholar and can be viewed in an Acrobat document by clicking here.
If you are interested in the DRUGNET study of non-abusive drug users, you should also see Using internet-based surveys to reach hidden populations: Case of nonabusive illicit drug users. |
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