Australian Research Council funds new drug policy studies

November 2014

Researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre's (NDARC) Drug Policy Modelling Program (DPMP) enjoyed multiple successes in the latest round of Australian Research Council funding.

DPMP Research Fellow Dr Caitlin Hughes will lead an international team that will measure the deterrent effects of four Australian policing strategies on current and would-be offenders’ decisions to use, possess and traffic illicit drugs.

Dr Michael Livingston, also of DPMP, will lead a team aiming to uncover why alcohol-related harms have increased in Australia in the last decade despite the fact that drinking behaviours appear largely unchanged. Professor Tanya Chikritzhs of NDRI is a co-investigator on the study.

DPMP’s Dr Jenny Chalmers and NDARC's Dr Stephanie Taplin are co-investigators on a study led by the Australian Catholic University that aims to better understand and address the tensions between the protection of children and their participation in research.

All funded projects will commence in 2015.

For more information on 2015 research funding outcomes see the Australian Research Council's website.