Ecstasy--deadly risk even outside rave parties

Fatalities due to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") are rare in Austria, although the use of designer drugs has become quite common. This is the first published case of a fatal MDMA intoxication in Austria. A 19-year-old girl died after the consumption of ecstasy tablets in the apartment of a friend. Blood analysis gave a concentration of MDMA as 3.8 mg/L and traces of its metabolite MDA. Cannabinoids were found as well. This case shows that the consumption of MDMA, without physical stress, can lead to death.     

The appeal of ‘dangerous’ men. On the role of women in organized crime

Women living at the edge of poverty often find themselves attracted to ‘dangerous’ men. Many of these women find themselves uncontrollably drawn to men who have made a career in crime. Curaçao women living with men involved in the drug economy in the Netherlands or on the island of Curaçao are no exception to this rule. The fact that these women are attracted to this kind of man often leads to an environment where boys are raised to become ‘dangerous’ sons. Once grown up, these boys will in turn attract female contemporaries who exist at the margins of society. This article attempts to explain how this vicious circle can be broken.     

Book Reviews

The New Politics of British Local Governance. Edited by Gerry Stoker. Macmillan, 2000. Pp.xvii + 294, £16.99 pb.

Local Political Leadership. By Steve Leach and David Wilson. Policy Press, 2000. Pp.v + 228. £17.99.

Structural Reform of British Local Government: Rhetoric and Reality. By Michael Chisholm. Manchester University Press, 2000. Pp.194. £40.

The Careers of Councillors: Gender, Party and Politics. By Catherine Bochel and Hugh M. Bochel. Ashgate, 2000. Pp.143. £37.50 hb.

Communicating Successfully in Groups: A Practical Guide for the Workplace. By Marie Reid and Richard Hammersley. Routledge, 2000. Pp.188. £10.99 pb.

Using Psychology in Management Training: The Psychological Foundations of Management Skills. By David A. Statt. Routledge, 2000. £14.99.

Housing Associations and Housing Policy: A Historical Perspective. By Peter Malpass. Macmillan Press, 2000. Pp.298. £16.99 pb.

The State of UK Housing: A Factfile on Dwelling Conditions. By Philip Leather and Tanya Morrison. The Policy Press, 2000. £15.95 hb.

Allocating Social Housing: Law and Practice in the Management of Social Housing. By Hal Pawson, David Mullins and Siobhan McGrath. Lemos and Crane, 2000. £18.95 pb.     

Tim Cook: A Remembrance

Sparse literature exists on the topic of intimacy appeals in political advertising, so in this study Horton and Wohl's para-social theory was applied to explain the “relationship” in Israel between television performers (politicians) and spectators (voters) through the intimacy concept. Altogether, 442 political ads from two Israeli election campaigns (1996 and 1999) were analyzed to test three hypotheses on the use of intimacy appeals across campaigns and political parties. The intimacy appeal measure consisted of five intimacy techniques and was thus characterized as a macro-level variable. These techniques appear in the codebook as five questions that examine whether the spots present words of intimacy, intimate situations, families of politicians, nonverbal expressions, and children. The results indicate that intimacy appeals in political spots are quite popular. Religious and left-leaning parties tended to use intimacy appeals significantly more than nonreligious and right-leaning parties. We conclude that politicians indeed use the same intimacy strategies and techniques as other television performers do; therefore, para-social theory accords with the concept of intimacy in political advertising as much as in other communication settings.     

Evaluation of the IDS One-Step™ ELISA kits for the detection of illicit drugs in hair

This work presents the validation of a new immunological assay, the One-Step™ enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests from International Diagnostic Systems Corp. for the screening of drugs of abuse (cannabis, amphetamines, opiates, and cocaine) in human hair, with subsequent GC–MS confirmation. After decontamination and segmentation into small pieces, 50 mg of hair sample were incubated in 1 ml of methanol during 16 h at 40 °C. A 100 μL aliquot was collected and evaporated to dryness in presence of 100 μL of methanol/hydrochloric acid (99:1, v/v) to avoid amphetamines loss. The dried extract was dissolved in 100 μL of the “sample and standard diluent” solution included in the kit. This solution was submitted to analysis according to the recommended instructions of the manufacturer. During the validation phase, GC–MS confirmations were conducted according to our fully validated and published methods for opiates, cocaine, cannabis, and amphetamines determinations in hair. In a last development step, these procedures were slightly modified to directly confirm ELISA results by GC–MS using the methanolic extract. Ninety-three specimens were simultaneously screened by the ELISA tests (103 for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) and confirmed by GC–MS. Twenty were found positive for cannabis (THC: 0.10–6.50 ng/mg), 21 for cocaine (0.50–55.20 ng/mg), 24 for opiates (6-acetylmorphine (6-AM): 0.20–11.60 ng/mg, MOR: 0.20–8.90 ng/mg, codeine (COD): 0.20–5.90 ng/mg), and 13 for amphetamines (AP: 0.20 and 0.27 ng/mg, methamphetamine (MAP): 0.30 and 1.10 ng/mg, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): 0.22–17.80 ng/mg). No false negative results were observed according to the Society of Hair Testing's (SoHT) cutoffs (0.5 ng/mg for cocaine, 0.2 ng/mg for opiates and amphetamines, and 0.1 ng/mg for THC). The One-Step™ ELISA kits appear suitable due to their sensitivity and specificity for drug of abuse screening in hair. This technology should find interest in workplace drug testing or driving license regranting, especially when many samples have to be tested with a high rate of negative samples, as ELISA is an easy and high-throughput method.     

Legislating Crime Policy from the White House: Presidential Success with Congress in the Passage of Federal Crime Control Policy

Previous research has found that presidents, in general, have the power to influence congress in the passage of federal crime control policy. What has not been fully explored is whether presidential supported bills are more likely to influence congress to pass federal crime control bills. Therefore, this study draws upon the theory that presidents influence congress to test the hypothesis that president supported legislation on crime will achieve greater success in congress than non-supported bills. Analysis of legislative, presidential and congressional data from 1946 through 1996 suggests support for the theory that presidential supported bills are 2.8 times more likely (or 185% more likely) to become law.     

A Whole of Government Strategy for Family Violence Reform

The Family Violence Reform strategy in Victoria is one of a number of contemporary government initiatives that have been framed within a whole of government model of policy reform. This article shows how the principles and processes of the whole of government approach were applied to the social problem of family violence. We examine the reasoning behind the adoption of this approach, what it was intended to achieve, the processes and activities that took place and stakeholders’ views about the outcomes and impact of this approach. The choice of a whole of government strategy reflected the need to address philosophical and organisational cultural differences about family violence and responses to it. Key elements were: the demonstrated commitment to reform and leadership provided by ministers, agency heads and senior managers; the involvement of community sector representatives; and the role of the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD).