Measuring improvement in knowledge of drug policy reforms following a police education program in Tijuana, Mexico

Mexico's 2009 "narcomenudeo reform" decriminalized small amounts of drugs, shifting some drug law enforcement to the states and mandating drug treatment diversion instead of incarceration. Data from Tijuana suggested limited implementation of this harm reduction-oriented policy. We st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Harm reduction journal 2017-11, Vol.14 (1), p.72-72, Article 72
Main Authors: Arredondo, J, Strathdee, S A, Cepeda, J, Abramovitz, D, Artamonova, I, Clairgue, E, Bustamante, E, Mittal, M L, Rocha, T, Bañuelos, A, Olivarria, H O, Morales, M, Rangel, G, Magis, C, Beletsky, L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Cannabis
Decriminalization
Drug policy
Education
Female
Harm Reduction
Heroin
Humans
Hypodermic needles
Hypodermic syringes
Interpretation and construction
Knowledge
Law Enforcement
Laws, regulations and rules
Male
Methamphetamine
Mexico
Narcomenudeo
Needle-Exchange Programs
Pharmaceutical policy
Police
Police - education
Public Policy
Socioeconomic Factors
Street Drugs
Syringes
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Summary:Mexico's 2009 "narcomenudeo reform" decriminalized small amounts of drugs, shifting some drug law enforcement to the states and mandating drug treatment diversion instead of incarceration. Data from Tijuana suggested limited implementation of this harm reduction-oriented policy. We studied whether a police education program (PEP) improved officers' drug and syringe policy knowledge, and aimed to identify participant characteristics associated with improvement of drug policy knowledge. Pre- and post-training surveys were self-administered by municipal police officers to measure legal knowledge. Training impact was assessed through matched paired nominal data using McNemar's tests. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of improved legal knowledge, as measured by officers' ability to identify conceptual legal provisions related to syringe possession and thresholds of drugs covered under the reform. Of 1750 respondents comparing pre- versus post training, officers reported significant improvement (p 
ISSN:1477-7517
1477-7517
DOI:10.1186/s12954-017-0198-2