Abstract

The article focuses on the positive impact of drug legalization on reducing crime and violence’s impact on health. The authors considered the potential of an innovative approach to crime prevention and health care improvement. Criminalization may reduce drug harm, but the current criminal-justice approach to drugs is not working enough. Drug use is still widespread, public. The personal harms are significantly large. There are a lot of short- and long-term health effects from crime and violence. The World Health Organization affirms that rates of drug use are unrelated to how effectively drug laws are enforced. Thus, it is actually to find new possibilities and develop new methods to reduce crime level and its negative influence. Drug decriminalization is one of such important issues. This article aims to investigate drug decriminalization for reducing the health damage from crime in the context of innovation in healthcare management. There is a comparative analysis of some drug legalization policies: decriminalization of the use and possession of all illicit drugs (with the control of their legal supply) or legalization of the use and supply of cannabis etc. The dynamic analysis of data for different types of crime, such as unlawful acts involving controlled drugs or precursors, intentional homicide, assault, kidnapping, sexual assault, and other violent crime both in two groups of countries – with criminal-justice and innovation health care (including drug decriminalization) approaches were taken. Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Czechia are among the countries of the second group, which have decriminalized drug use and possession for personal use and have invested in harm reduction programs. The research consists of data for 25 European countries for 2008-2018 (the time limit of 2018 is determined by available statistics of the statistical service of the European Union, World Health Organization, UN Office on Drugs & Crime Databases, etc.). Based on the correlation and regression analysis, it is substantiated that drug decriminalization is an important factor in reducing the health damage from crime.

Keywords: crime effects on health, criminal-justice approach, crime reducing, drug decriminalization, drug legalization, healthcare approach, healthcare management, health damage from crime, innovation approach, violence.

JEL Classification: I10, O30.

Cite as: Aliyeva, Z. (2022). Innovation in healthcare management: drug decriminalization for reducing the health damage from crime. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 1, 37-57. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2022.1-03

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References

1. Akhter, S. T., & Humna, B. (2019). History of Childhood Oppression, Inter-Temporal Resentment and Compliance with Codes of Harassment at the Workplace: An Offender’s Perspective. Business Ethics and Leadership, 3(4), 6-14. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
2. Anderson, S. (2012). European drug policy: the cases of Portugal, Germany, and The Netherlands. The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review, 1(1), 2. [Google Scholar]
3. CityWide. (n.d.a). Comparing models of drug decriminalisation. Retrieved from [Link]
4. CityWide. (n.d.b). Which countries have decriminalised and how? Retrieved from [Link]
5. Data Logic Action. (2018). Estimating the impact of drug policy options. Moving from a criminal to a health-based approach. Final Report of Sense Partners.. Retrieved from [Link]
6. Degenhardt, L., Chiu, W. T., Sampson, N., Kessler, R. C., Anthony, J. C., Angermeyer, M., … & Wells, J. E. (2008). Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. PLoS medicine, 5(7), e141. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
7. Drug Foundation. (n.d.). Drug Law Reform. Retrieved from [Link]
8. Drugs. WHO response. Retrieved from [Link]
9. Eastwood, N., Fox, E., & Rosmarin, A. (2016). A Quiet Revolution: Drugdecriminalisation Across the Globe (pp. 1-51). Release drugs the law and human rights. [Google Scholar]
10. EU Drugs Strategy 2013-2020 (2012/C 402/01). (2012). Official Journal of the European Union, 55, 1-11.
11. Evidence Overviews. CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign. Retrieved from [Link]
12. Hammond, A. S., Dunn, K. E., & Strain, E. C. (2020). Drug legalization and decriminalization beliefs among substance-using and non-using individuals. Journal of addiction medicine, 14(1), 56. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
13. Kaya, H. D., & Lumpkin-Sowers, N. L. (2020). The Global Crisis And Crime: A Look Into Manufacturing Firms. SocioEconomic Challenges, 4(3), 66-76. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
14. Kreit, A. (2010). The Decriminalization Option: Should States Consider Moving from a Criminal to a Civil Drug Court Model? University of Chicago Legal Forum, Vol. 2010, Article 11. Retrieved from [Link]
15. Mujtaba, B. G., Williams, A. A., & Wardak, K. S. (2020). The Relationship of Suicides, Guns and Mass Shootings in the United States: An Ethical Dilemma. SocioEconomic Challenges, 4(3), 77-92. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
16. Pearson, K. (1896). Mathematical contributions to the theory of evolution—III. Regression, heredity, and panmixia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A 187, 253–318. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
17. Recorded offences by offence category – police data. Eurostat Data. Retrieved from [Link]
18. Rosse, J.G., Crown, D.F. & Feldman, H.D. (1991). Legalization of drugs: Effects on the workplace. Employ Respons Rights Journal, 4, 125–135 [GoogleScholar].[CrossRef]
19. Scheim, A. I., Maghsoudi, N., Marshall, Z., Churchill, S., Ziegler, C., & Werb, D. (2020). Impact evaluations of drug decriminalisation and legal regulation on drug use, health and social harms: a systematic review. BMJ open, 10(9), e035148. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
20. Schmoke, K. L. (1990). An Argument in Favor of Decriminalization. Hofstra Law Review, 18 (3), 2. [Google Scholar]
21. Shapiro, S. S., & Wilk, M. B. (1965). An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples). Biometrika, 52(3/4), 591-611. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
22. Spearman, C. E. (1904). The proof and measurement of association between two things. American Journal of Psychology, 15, 72–101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
23. Talkingdrugs. (n.d.a). Glossary of Terms – Drug Decriminalisation Across the World. Retrieved from [Link]
24. Talkingdrugs. (n.d.b).Drug Decriminalisation Across the World. Retrieved from [Link]
25. UN. (2016). Perspectives on the development dimensions of drug control policy UNDP (2015). Retrieved from [Link]
26. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved from [Link]
27. Us, Ya., Pimonenko, T., Tambovceva, T., & Segers, J. P. (2020). Green Transformations In The Healthcare System: The Covid-19 Impact. Health Economics and Management Review, 1(1), 48-59. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
28. Van Het Loo, M., Van Beusekom, I., & Kahan, J. P. (2002). Decriminalization of drug use in Portugal: the development of a policy. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 582(1), 49-63. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
29. Virani, H. N., & Haines-Saah, R. J. (2020). Drug Decriminalization: A Matter of Justice and Equity, Not Just Health. American journal of preventive medicine, 58(1), 161-164. [GoogleScholar][CrossRef]
30. World Drug Report – 2020. (2020). Retrieved from [Link]
31. Yelnikova, J., & Kwilinski, A. (2020). Impact-Investing in The Healthcare in Terms of the New Socially Responsible State Investment Policy. Business Ethics and Leadership, 4(3), 57-64.[GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]
32. Zolkover, A., & Terziev, V. (2020). The Shadow Economy: A Bibliometric Analysis. Business Ethics and Leadership, 4(3), 107-118. [GoogleScholar] [CrossRef]