Poppies for Peace: Reforming Afghanistan's Opium Industry
Afghanistan, which could be slipping back into chaos, must turn the tables on the opium crisis. The international community should establish a pilot project and investigate a licensing scheme to legalize the production of medicines such as morphine and codeine from poppy crops to help it escape.
Is Medicinal Opium Production Afghanistan's Answer?: Lessons From India and the World Market
Poverty and corruption are pervasive in Afghanistan and opium production is rampant, especially in the country's most insecure southern regions. Afghanistan's opium production now accounts for the overwhelming majority of the world's heroin supply. The International Council on Security and Development, a European think tank formerly known as the Senlis Council, is advocating a policy response that it refers to as "Poppy for Medicine." Under the Council's proposal, poppy farmers in Afghanistan would gain access to the world's legal pharmaceutical market through a two-tiered licensing program. A careful examination of India's experience as the world's sole licensed exporter of raw opium and of the world market for legal opiates casts serious doubt on this proposal. Legal medicinal opium production is an improbable answer for at least five reasons: first, illegal production will continue; second, diversion from the legal market to the illegal market is inevitable; third, diversion will involve further corruption; fourth, there may not be a market; and fifth, Afghanistan lacks the institutional capacity to support a legal pharmaceutical industry.
Professional support in rural New South Wales: perceptions of new graduate occupational therapists.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the experiences of professional support among new graduates working in rural New South Wales, including the current availability of professional support and the impact of support levels on professional practice.


DESIGN
Qualitative, using semistructured face-to-face or telephone interviews.


SETTING
New graduate occupational therapists employed in public and private hospitals and community health services in rural New South Wales.


SUBJECTS
Nine new graduate occupational therapists within their first year of practice.


MAIN OUTCOME
A description of participant experiences of professional support and strategies to enhance the recruitment and retention of occupational therapists in rural areas.


RESULTS
Participants reported varied experiences of professional support and emphasised the importance of having access to a wide variety of resources. Participants highlighted that professional support could assist in developing independence and other skills. However, ultimately a lack of support resulted in decreased confidence and subsequent decreased job satisfaction among participants.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that greater effort should be directed to ensuring that all new graduates have access to professional support, including structured supervision, and that strategies be explored and adopted to ensure that this occurs.