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$\"Gravatar\"$ I will be interested to see the results of this, this is an area I did some work in in the late 90's and early 20's.

As you state there does appear to be a correlation between problematic use and financial exclusion, it is this link between harm and exclusion that interests me the most. That significant drug use exists in the absence of financial and other issues cannot be forgotten (unless of course you are a government or similar body), often however this use appears to exist in the absence of the harms we see with more excluded groups.

To what extent \"drug related harm\" is actually \"exclusion related harm\" (including pverty of diet, education and skills) is a question which needs adressing. It is too easy to say drug use creates pverty, or poverty creates drug use, also both lazy and gilb.
Ken Stringer | 09.04.09 - 2:53 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ This looks like a very worthwhile project on an important and much overlooked issue. One aspect that seems to be absent though is regards criminality, specifically how the criminalisation of users (either purely by dint of their use or through related offending to support their use) and criminal records impacts on financial and other forms of exclusion (consider, for example the difference between comparable issues for problem drinkers). This is an important element of this debate and one that we should not skirt around just because it is raises difficult questions for the future of policy and law.
Steve Rolles | Homepage | 06.04.09 - 11:40 am | #

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