title: Drug driven psychoses and legal responsibility or insanity in six Western Pacific nations.
abstract: Prompted by four questions, forensic mental health clinicians from Russia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand provided information on both the legislative basis and current practice concerning the relationship between legal insanity, intoxication and drug induced psychosis in their six Pacific Rim Countries which account for nearly 20% of the world's population. Details of the survey for each contributing nation are provided. While there are significant variations in practice that have been shaped by regional legal, clinical and cultural influences there is considerable similarity in the legislation underpinning how these issues are considered. Consequently there remain similar challenges for each nation. In none of the legislative bases was the issue of drug induced psychosis specifically addressed. The authors conclude that evolving pharmaco-neuropsychiatric knowledge, societal values and patterns of substance misuse require nations to consider developments in scientific and clinical knowledge to support their interpretations of the relationship between altered mental states as a result of substance use and the legal construct of insanity.
authors.affiliation: University of Auckland, New Zealand. Electronic address: graham.mellsop@waikatodhb.health.nz.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mellsop
authors.affiliation: Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Central Regional Forensic Services, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Every-Palmer
authors.affiliation: Queensland Forensic Mental Health Services, Australia.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: Queensland Forensic Mental Health Services, Australia.
authors.forename: Ed
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heffernan
authors.affiliation: Serbsky National Research Centre for Social & Forensic Psychiatry, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kachaeva
authors.affiliation: Chiba University Hospital, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shiina
authors.affiliation: Mental health Institute of the second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D001315:Australia; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000633:toxicity*; D007298:Insanity Defense; D007564:Japan; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000633:toxicity; D009520:New Zealand; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D012426:Russia; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008694:Methamphetamine
keywords: Drugs; Legal insanity; NGRI; Psychosis