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Promoting an Active Life and a Positive Attitude

Interview with Prof Policastro at the ReDNet Virtual Studio

Recreational Drugs European Network Research Group Newsletter

ReDNet NEWS

Warm Greetings and Welcome to the ReDNet Newsletter

 It has been a busy start of the year for the ReDNet Research Project. We held the first virtual seminar in Second Life with Prof Pasquale Policastro and Prof Janusz Slugozchi from the Department of Law and European Integration at the University of Szczecin, Po-land, as special guests. The themes addressed stretched from the importance of promoting a positive attitude among young people to the need for creating ‘think tanks’ of experts on new drugs legislation at an international level.We would like to extend our thanks to all those who helped us to develop the Second Life campus, to our guests and participants, who in different ways, made this first virtual meeting possible. The virtual seminars will now con-tinue on a regular basis.In January I was invited to present our activi-ties at the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and Professor Fabrizio Schifano has formally joined its new working group. I would also take this opportunity to congratu-late Fabrizio on his new and important ap-pointment.Most of us have spent time developing a ques-tionnaire for professionals working with young people and more information on this is avail-able on our website. I hope you will be able to contribute!Enjoy our newsletter!

On behalf of the ReDNet Project

Dr Ornella Corazza ReDNet Manager

Prof Fabrizio Schifano PI, Chair in Clinical Pharmacology

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The ReDNet Virtual Studio was launched on January 26th with the participation of Prof Pasquale Policastro (Professor of Constitutional Law and European Inte-gration, Faculty of Law and Administration, Szczecin University, Poland) and Prof Janusz Slugozchi (Szcze-cin University, Poland) as special guests. Prof Policas-tro talked about the need to develop multidisciplinary think tanks of lawyers across Europe in collaboration with ReDNet.

IN THIS ISSUE p. 1/3 - Promoting an Active Life and a Positive Attitude

p. 3 - The Lottery of Legal Highs

p. 4 - Our partners: NDI - National Institute for Drug Prevention

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ReDNet virtual studio

ReDNet virtual drug exhibition

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Their activities should then be translated in an under-standable way for legislators, and new tools should be found to address innovative and adequate legal solutions to the rapid diffusion of novel compounds. Issues around the importance of promoting positive attitudes and creative research groups amongst uni-versity students from different countries to avoid ‘obliviousness’ and value the potential of each young participant within a group were also discussed. Prof Policastro also presented a directive on ‘Spice Drugs’ made in collaboration with his students of the Master in Law and Policies of European Integration. This directive encompasses both a model of legal production and implementation that is decentralized (and may involve different governments, administra-tions, local authorities, independent bodies and civil society) and could be of particular interest for new drugs legislation.

Manuela Pasinetti (MP): Could you tell us a bit more about your proposed methods for new drug legislation?

Pasquale Policastro (PP): In my opinion, it may not be sufficient to qualify as illegitimate and illegal the activities performed to attempt ‘oblivious-ness’ through addiction. A first step to develop and support positive thought and attitude should be a change of perspective in law and lawyers: it is fun-damental to develop a conscious participation to the interdependence with others and their ideas in order to improve our environment.

MP: How can active life, positive thought and attitude be promoted amongst young people?

PP: Developing positive thought by means of law starts with the awareness of the legislator that we live in an interdependent world. This understanding is related to the development of new tasks, methods and purposes that we intend to achieve by law. When we address new legislation to prevent addiction, the issue becomes how to support behaviours that pre-vent “obliviousness” and encourage individuals to take full responsibility for their lives. To open oneself to others, to mutual interdependence, and avoid fal-ling into “obliviousness” is a process that must begin at school - and develop at all the levels of the learning process. It means developing a model of education that renders the learning individual of the positive po-tential that each one has when participating in a group, and attempting to solve together the problems that we may approach by knowledge, science and technology. Young people, when put together and asked to solve problems that are important for soci-ety, show creativity and interest. Their participation in a group may become a very important part of the di-dactic processes. When correctly applied, such activ-ity stimulates the mutual positive attitude of the stu-dents - it helps develop mutual friendship and allows the students to learn how to express themselves and interact with teachers. The discovery of the individual and of the common potential goes together with the development of the quality of the learning process. The creative group learning is a preliminary part of the opening of the individual to an awareness of par-ticipation in the life of the society. In particular it goes together with the development of a process of com-munication that is essentially open. The legislation concerning communication by media ought to take into account this need. The present development of the European Union after the Lisbon process, which aims to develop EU as a knowledge based society, appears fundamentally good ground for new open forms of participation.

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Dr Corazza and Prof Schifano

ReDNet virtual drug exhibition

ReDNet virtual drug exhibition

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The Lottery of Legal Highs

I was recently in the toxicology department of St George’s Hospital Medical School run by Dr John Ramsey. For some years now his team have been collecting and testing  samples of drugs which have been collected in so-called amnesty bins outside clubs. Until recently, these would have been street drugs like ecstasy, ketamine and amphetamine among others. Of course, now the team is very in-terested in obtaining samples of the new com-pounds and have been buying examples online. I was shown one packet which contained BZP. I was shown an identical packet which contained mephe-drone. What seems to have happened is that once BZP had been controlled, the supplier simply used exactly the same brand name and packet to sell (what was then legal) mephedrone. In another ex-ample, what was supposed to be Ivory Wave turned out to be 100% caffeine powder.

There is some evidence that users of established street drugs were switching to new compounds be-cause the strength was more ‘reliable’ than, for ex-ample cocaine, which in the UK has been declining in purity. What may also be happening is that as the new compounds become more popular, there will be a temptation to increase profits by selling fake or adulterated compounds like passing off caffeine as whatever happens to be new and legal. There is another issue about over-reliance of user accounts online. Most of the new compounds come under the general heading of stimulants. These can be quite mild to very potent with a bewildering array of shorthand scientific names  which may be abbre-viated differently by different analysts - and of course tagged with totally random and inconsistent branding. I defy anybody to be certain that if they are given 4.5. ACF called AutoBahn in a gold and green packet (which I just totally made up) - that’s what it is.

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Harry Shapiro is Director of Communications and Information at DrugScope in London

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MP: What do you expect from this virtual SL meeting and from your collaboration with the ReDNet Project?

PP: SL is an amazing opportunity to put together different professionals who can share opinions and points of view within their own environment and transmit the ‘spirit’ of the purpose of their research. I am very proud of our collaboration with the ReDNet Project especially because we are going to create a network of lawyers who are keen on interdisciplinary cooperation and ReDNet could be a great opportu-nity across Europe.

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Manuela Pasinetti is a Clinical Psychologist and Visiting Research Assistant at the University of

Hertfordshire

NEW PUBLICATIONSThe ReDNet Research Group has recently pub-lished the following papers:

Schifano, F., Albanese, A., Fergus, S., Stair, J.L., Deluca, P., Corazza, O., Davey, Z., Corke-ry, J., Siemann, H., Scherbaum, N., Farre', M., Torrens, M., Demetrovics, Z., Ghodse, A.H.; Psychonaut Web Mapping; ReDNet Research Groups (2010) Mephedrone (4-methyl-methcathinone; 'meow meow'): chemical, pharmacological and clinical issues. Psycho-pharmacology (Berl). 2010 Nov 12.

Demetrovics Zs., Mervó B., Corazza O., Davey Z., Deluca P., Drummond C., Enea A., Moska-lewicz J., Di Melchiorre G., Di Furia L., Farre M., Flesland L., Floridi L., Iszáj F., Scherbaum N., Siemann H., Skutle A., Torrens M., Pasinetti M., Pezzolesi C., Pisarska A., Shapiro H., Sferrazza E., van der Kreeft P., Schifano F. (2010). Az elektronikus prevenció lehetőségei az új (szin-tetikus) drogok használatának megelőzésé-b e n : a R e k re á c i ó s D ro g o k E u ró p a i Hálózatának (Recreational Drugs European Network) bemutatása. Addictologia Hungarica. (in press).

ReDNet staff during the SL event

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OUR PARTNERS

NDI - National Institute for Drug Prevention Budapest, Hungary

The National Institute for Drug Prevention (NDI) is one of the most important bodies in Hungary in as-sisting in the implementation of the ‘National Stra-tegy to Combat the Drug Problem’, especially regar-ding drug demand reduction. It is a national level knowledge centre committed to evidence-based academic orientation. One of the basic activities of the Institute is the dissemination of best practice and training of professionals in the drug prevention field. The Institute actively participates in developing guidelines, standards and evaluation of the imple-mentation of drug prevention programs. NDI is also running an Internet based dynamic portal for profes-sionals involved in drug demand reduction activities that host national databases on prevention pro-grammes, research projects, treatment programmes and service providers, news, an electronic library and various document sources (www.ndi-szip.hu). NDI provides central professional support and co-ordination of the regional Co-ordination Forums on Drug Affairs (KEF) throughout the country. The or-ganisation provides professional and financial sup-port for and evaluation of the drug diversion sche-me called the ‘prevention-education service’ in Hun-gary. The Institute initiates, supports, co-ordinates and carries out research on a national and interna-tional level. It provides information and public repre-

sentation in health promotion and drug related ques-tions via publishing activities to disseminate knowl-edge within the drug field, organising professional courses and conferences. NDI is also concerned with maintaining and expanding international professional relations within the drugs field and participates in international projects like the ReDNet research pro-ject or the Healthy Nightlife Toolbox project which aims to reduce alcohol and drug related harm among youth in nightlife settings. Healthy Nightlife Toolbox disseminates information on high quality interven-tions and literature and stimulates the exchange of knowledge on drug and alcohol prevention and harm reduction in nightlife settings via an e-platform (www.hnt-info.eu).

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ReDNet Research Group

ReDNet has a network operative in 8 European countries. The project partners are:

• School of Pharmacy, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

• Department of Addiction, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

• Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland

• Bergen Clinics Foundation, Bergen, Norway

• De Sleutel, Gent, Belgium

• Servizio Salute Regione Marche, Ancona, Italy

• Consorci Mar Parc de Salut de Barcelona, Spain

• Rhine State Hospital, University of Duisberg-Essen, Essen, Germany

• National Institute for Drug Prevention, Institute for Social Policy and Labour, Budapest, Hungary

• DrugScope, London, UK 

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