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Article
Publication date: 24 November 2022

Ruben Quirinus Vrolijk, Fiona Measham, Adrià Quesada, Anton Luf, Dominique Schori, Sarah Radley, Dean Acreman, Josie Smith, Marko Verdenik, Daniel Martins, Mar Cunha, Carlos J. Paulos, Ilaria Fineschi Piccinin, Enrico Gerace, Alexandra Karden, Raoul Pieter Joost Koning, Laura Alexandra Smit-Rigter and Mireia Ventura

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this…

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Abstract

Purpose

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this is caused by the production of “stronger” tablets (more mg MDMA per mg of tablet), or if tablets have simply been getting larger and heavier (more mg of tablet in total).

Design/methodology/approach

A data set of 31,716 ecstasy tablets obtained in 2012–2021 by 10 members of the Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) network was analysed.

Findings

The MDMA mass fraction in ecstasy tablets has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years, with increased MDMA contents being attributed almost exclusively to increased tablet weight. These trends seem to be uniform across Europe, despite varying sampling and analytical techniques being used by the TEDI participants. The study also shows that while tablet weight correlates perfectly with MDMA content on a yearly basis, wide variations in the MDMA mass fraction make such relations irrelevant for determining the MDMA content of individual tablets.

Research limitations/implications

These results provide new opportunities for harm reduction, given that size is a tangible and apparently accurate characteristic to emphasise that one tablet does not simply equate to one dose. This is particularly useful for harm reduction services without the resources for in-house quantification of large numbers of ecstasy tablets, although the results of this study also show that chemical analysis remains crucial for accurate personalised harm reduction.

Originality/value

The findings are both new and pertinent, providing a novel insight into the market dynamics of ecstasy tablet production at a transnational level.

Details

Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6739

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Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Brian Cook, John Forrester, Louise Bracken, Christopher Spray and Elizabeth Oughton

The purpose of this paper is to explore how flood management practitioners rationalise the emergence of sustainable flood management. Key to this analysis are differences rooted…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how flood management practitioners rationalise the emergence of sustainable flood management. Key to this analysis are differences rooted in assumptions over what flood management is and should do.

Design/methodology/approach

The popularity of natural flood management offers a case with which to explore how a dominant framing persists and how individuals at the government-public interface negotiate different visions of future flood management. The authors draw on the perceptions of flood experts, elucidating a deep hold amongst a professional community “grounded” in science and economics, but also their desire to innovate and become more open to innovative practices.

Findings

The authors show how the idea of “sustainable” and “natural” flood management are understood by those doing flood management, which is with reference to pre-existing technical practices.

Research limitations/implications

This paper explores the views of expert decision making, which suffers from challenges associated with small sample size. As such, the findings must be tempered, but with recognition for the influence of a small group of individuals who determine the nature of flood management in Scotland.

Practical implications

The authors conclude that, in the context of this study, a technical framing persists by predetermining the criteria by which innovative techniques are judged.

Originality/value

Broadly, these findings contribute to debates over the evolution of flood management regimes. This recognises the importance of events while also emphasising the preparations that shape the context and norms of the flood management community between events.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-3562

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