Mermigas, Melina
(2018)
Comparative analysis of United States, Canada and Portugal's drug and syringe exchange program legislation and regulations.
Master Essay, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
The growing opioid epidemic continues to present a wide range of public health problems for this country. As rates of fatal overdoses and health problems such as HIV and Hepatitis C rates increases, more emphasis has been made on exploring and implementing harm reduction measures to protect the health and lives of injecting drug users. The purpose of this essay is to investigate the drug laws in United States, Canada and Portugal to understand the distinctive approaches to regulation of illicit drug use, as well as the regulations set in place for operation of needle exchange programs. Specifically, this analysis will help the reader understand how regulation of illicit drugs affects public health harm reduction measures, intended to protect the health of injecting drug users. The evaluation of the most recent HIV epidemic in Scott County, Indiana will be used as a case study to help the reader understand the public health impact of the opioid crisis with respect to the health of the injecting drug user. The paper will use the regulations and policies of the two other countries to present policy recommendations for the United States to implement to curb the opioid epidemic’s effects on rates of blood borne disease transmission.
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Details
| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master Essay)
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Van Nostrand, Elizabeth | evannostrand@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Crossley, Mary | crossley@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED |
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| Date: |
20 April 2018 |
| Date Type: |
Submission |
| Number of Pages: |
37 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Health Policy & Management |
| Degree: |
MPH - Master of Public Health |
| Thesis Type: |
Master Essay |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Date Deposited: |
31 May 2019 23:22 |
| Last Modified: |
31 May 2019 23:22 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/33997 |
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