Abstract: · Decriminalization of possession, purchase and cultivation for personal use operates reasonably comfortably inside the confines of the UN drug control conventions · Harm reduction services, including drug consumption rooms, can operate lawfully under the drug control treaty system · There is greater scope to provide health care or social support instead of punishment for people caught up in minor offences related to personal use or socio-economic necessity · All controlled drugs can be used for medical purposes, including heroin prescription and medical marijuana’; what constitutes medical use is left to the discretion of the parties · The INCB often increases tensions around interpretations instead of resolving them, though the Board should be guided ‘by a spirit of co-operation rather than by a narrow view of the letter of the law’ · There are limits of latitude; a legal regulated market for non-medical use of cannabis or any other scheduled drug is not permissible within the treaty framework · Legal tensions exist with other international legal obligations such as those stemming from human rights or indigenous rights · Growing doubts and inherent inconsistencies and ambiguities provide legitimate ground for demanding more space for experimentation with alternative control models than the current systems allows

Abstract: Research is an increasing priority for workers throughout the mental health sector, and therapeutic communities are no exception. Those working in TCs increasingly have to justify the success and efficiency of their methods to outside bodies, and the prime means of doing so is through research. This volume collects a wide range of papers by experienced contributors discussing all aspects of TC research. They consider questions of which methods are most appropriate in the unique environment of TCs, how research studies affect the TC environment, as well as practical and ethical questions. The book also includes accounts of several research studies undertaken at, among other places, the Cassel Hospital. Taken as a whole, the book will be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in researching therapeutic communities – whether undertaking a study, attempting to anticipate its clinical impact, or seeking to understand the kinds of results which TC research produces.