Teemu Kaskela, Ronja Järvelin, Janne Nahkuri, Teemu Gunnar, Aino Kankaanpää, Anna Pelander and Miina Kajos
Drug checking is a popular method to reduce risks of drug use. In many countries, including Finland, legislation restricts implementing drug checking. The aim of this study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
Drug checking is a popular method to reduce risks of drug use. In many countries, including Finland, legislation restricts implementing drug checking. The aim of this study was to explore whether some benefits of drug checking could be achieved by substance residue analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Drug paraphernalia (mostly empty plastic bags) were used in the study. Participants left a sample and information about the former content to a local needle exchange point. After laboratory analysis, participants could return for the results and a short consultation on the substance(s) found. Afterward, participants were asked whether they would still use the batch.
Findings
Ninety-eight samples were received. In most cases, the samples had originally been sold as amphetamine (n = 39). Overall, laboratory results matched with supposed content in 52 cases, but in 21 cases, the sold content had been altered, in 17 cases, only other psychoactive substances were found and in 8 cases, no traces of psychoactive substances were found. Participants returned for results in two-thirds of the cases. When the laboratory result did not match participants’ expectations, the majority of participants estimated they would not use the same batch (17/25) or would use it in a different way (2/25).
Originality/value
While reports on drug checking are numerous, studies exploring possibilities to achieve harm-reducing benefits of drug checking by analyzing drug residues are scarce. The results of this pilot study suggest some benefits of drug checking can be achieved by substance residue analysis.
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Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
Several scholars have recently highlighted the narrowness of accounting research regarding it as a threat to scholarly developments in the field. The aim of this study was to chart progress in management accounting research using a sample of doctoral dissertations published in Finland. In particular, the study examines the range and diversity of research strategic choices in Finnish dissertations over time, including the topics and methodological and theoretical approaches chosen. The authors also briefly compare findings over time and with other progress studies.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal historical investigation was selected. All of the 80 management accounting doctoral dissertations published in Finnish business schools and departments during 1945-2015 were analysed.
Findings
The findings reveal that an expansion of doctoral education has led to an increasing diversity of research strategic choices in Finland. Different issues have been of interest at different times; so, it has been possible to cover a wide range of cost, management accounting and other topics and to use different methodological and theoretical approaches over time. Consequently, management accounting has become a rich and multifaceted field of scientific research.
Research limitations/implications
While this analysis is limited to doctoral research in Finland, the results should be relevant in advancing the understanding of the development of management accounting research.
Practical implications
Overall, the findings support the view that there have been, and continue to be, many ways to conduct innovative research in the field of management accounting.
Social implications
Dissertation research in this field has been extensive and vital enough to educate new generations of academics, guarantee continuity of the subject as an academic discipline and make management accounting a significant academic field of research.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to current research on management accounting change by an analysis of a sample of doctoral dissertations.