Article Analysis

This article analysis focuses on music festival attendees' illicit drug use, knowledge, and practices regarding drug content and purity. It discusses the research questions, design, methods, results, and limitations of the study. The findings indicate the prevalence of drug use among festival attendees and the importance of drug testing services in reducing harm. The study suggests the need for further research and the development of harm reduction strategies.

Running head: ARTICLE ANALYSIS 1
Day, N., Criss, J., Griffiths, B., Gujral, S. K., & John-Leader, F. (2018). Music festival
attendees’ illicit drug use, knowledge, and practices regarding drug content and purity: a
cross-sectional survey. Harm Reduction Journal, 15(1).
Student’s Name
University

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 2
Day, N., Criss, J., Griffiths, B., Gujral, S. K., & John-Leader, F. (2018). Music festival
attendees’ illicit drug use, knowledge, and practices regarding drug content and
purity: a cross-sectional survey. Harm Reduction Journal, 15(1).
Introduction
Drug testing has been a debate in Australia for some time with different people taking
different stands on the same. This calls for the need for research to understand the views of most
Australians on the topic and propose the best way of approaching the issue. Thus this means that
from the Day, Criss, Griffiths, Gujral, & John-Leader (2018) drug testing is supported by most
people but in some cases, as seen by Emily’s mother, the issue has raised the controversy on the
relevance of the tests.
PART A – Critical appraisal
Authorship
The authors are credible researchers who have published different research articles on
different topics in the field. They have the authority to publish since they have credible
qualifications based on the level of academic qualification and achievement that they have
acquired in the field. The authors are all affiliated to the research topic since they have published
several papers in the area of drug use and thus lack bias in the study.
Research questions
The main question of was investigation of the patterns and proportion of illicit drug use,
attitudes towards testing of the drugs and its impact on the behaviour of the young people who
took in festivals. Bhakar & Nathan (2015) a good research question is supposed to be clear
allowing the reader to identify the aim of the study and the variables that are being measured.
Thus this research question has been adequately framed to meet the above criteria. The

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 3
significance of the study is to determine the effectiveness of drug testing during music activities
in reducing drug intake among the youth. The current knowledge on the topic is that much
research has been done on harm reduction and through monitoring systems to reduce the type of
drugs that exist. However, the gap that exists is the lack of adequate research on the knowledge
of drugs that youth take through making testing accessible to them.
Research design
The study used the survey method of study since it offers an opportunity for the
researcher to describe the characteristics of a larger population. Since the study was focusing on
a large population with different demographic characteristics, then the survey method is the best
for dealing with extensive research studies (Saris & Revilla, 2015). Thus through quantitative
data collection methods, the researchers were to collect adequate data that can be used in the
field.
Research methods
The study used a primary method of research to gather information form the respondents,
document and analyze. The research methods used for the study was the survey questionnaire
that had a set of questions that respondents were supposed to fill. Survey offers the best way for
researcher since it allows researchers to gather information from a large number of respondents.
However, sometimes it is difficult to validate the accuracy of the data since the researcher has no
means of verifying the data. The study started by purposively sampling the required population
which was between 18-30 years and recruiting them in the survey through a consent form that
they were supposed to fill (Donald & White, 2014). Survey questionnaires are appropriate for
such studies since they allow the researcher to explore and measure the attitudes, views, and
opinions of the respondent on the research topic on rated Likert scale.

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 4
Results and limitations
The findings of the study indicated that 73.8% of the respondents had used illicit drugs at
least once in their lifetime while alcohol was the most used drug with 97.8% of the respondents
reporting having used the drug in their lifetime. However, within the last 12 months, the
commonly used drugs were cannabis, ecstasy, and cocaine rated at 63.9, 59.8 and 34.1%,
respectively. On drug testing, the participants agreed that the testing need to be made available at
no cost was at with 86.5% of the respondents believed that this will reduce harm and thus the
need to combine the service with harm reduction approaches. Further, a higher proportion of
male participants (73.5%) were for the provision of drug services at a cost compared to females
at 64.0%.
Megan, Ranney, Garro, Sasson & Morrow (2016) suggests that the limitations of the
study need to be identified to determine how the validity and relevance of the study are affected.
The major limitation of the study is the fact that it was based on convenience which was a
specific event and thus the respondents do not represent the general population. Further, the
percentage of females in the study did not correspond with the national demographic figures.
PART B – Application of evidence to practice
According to Colquitt & George (2011), good grand research needs to have relevance to
the industry that the research represents by adding knowledge to the existing study and providing
directions for future research. The strength of this study confirms the importance of drug testing
services in reducing harm and assisting the youth to identify and determine the best approaches
for addressing the problem. Since this study was measuring the attitudes, perceptions, and views
of the respondents, these study findings are applicable in future research to develop harm
reduction strategies for assisting young people to address the problem of drug use. The fact that

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 5
this study reported a higher percentage of the youth who have used drugs at one point in their life
means that this is a red flag and the need to develop measures for addressing such issues and
ensuring that the young people are able to identify and address the challenges that they expose
themselves to. This study is supported by other studies like Auriacombe, Roux, Briand (2019)
who suggested that testing is a way of creating awareness and reducing the effects of drugs.
Further, this study is supported by Strickland & Smith (2014) who argue that testing
reducing drug consumption since it creates awareness on the risks of different types of drugs The
fact most young people are willing to participate in the tests means that young people are
interested in reducing the harm that they face in drug use due to lack of information. I, therefore,
feel that this study will add knowledge to the existing debate on drug checking services being
made free or at any cost. The fact that most young people acknowledged the importance of drug
testing during festivals means that people like Emilly will benefit most since the respondents
acknowledged that they would not have taken some drugs if they knew that they contain certain
substances. On the other hand, I think that the concern of Emily’s mother is genuine since by
testing drugs and acknowledging that some drugs are fit for use, it means that it will like rubber
stamping their use since they will have been tested and reported that they have no effects.
Conclusion
The current debate in Australia on drug testing has attracted mixed reactions with some
believing that the test should be free since they have health benefits of harm reduction while
others like Emily’s mother believe that this will lead to increased intake since it will be like
giving the young people a leeway to use the approved drugs. This means that there is the need
for adequate research on the objectives of this process and at the same time understanding the
risks that it brings to most people before it can be fully acknowledged as the best method for

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 6
addressing the issue of harm in the society. Thus this research has revealed that most young
people support the testing of drugs but was limited by the fact that the population was convenient
thus not valid for generalization.

ARTICLE ANALYSIS 7
References
Auriacombe M., Roux P., Briand M. L. (2019). Impact of drug consumption rooms on risk
practices and access to care in people who inject drugs in France: the COSINUS
prospective cohort study protocol. BMJ Open, 9.
Bhakar, S. S., & Nathani, N. (2015). A Handbook on Writing Research Paper in Social. New
Delhi: Bharti Publications.
Colquitt, J., & George, G. (2011). From the editor publishing in amj—Part 1: Topic Choice.
Academy of Management Journal, 54(3), 432-435.
Day, N., Criss, J., Griffiths, B., Gujral, S. K., & John-Leader, F. (2018). Music festival
attendees’ illicit drug use, knowledge, and practices regarding drug content and purity: a
cross-sectional survey. Harm Reduction Journal, 15(1).
Donald, H. M., & White, T. L. (2014). Research Methods. London: Cengage Learning.
Megan L. Ranney, M. M., Garro, A., Sasson, C., & Morrow, K. (2016). Interview-Based
Qualitative Research in Emergency Care Part II: Data Collection, Analysis, and Results
Reporting. Academic Emergency Medicine, 22(9), 1103-1112.
Saris, W. E., & Revilla, M. (2015). Correction for measurement errors in survey research:
necessary and possible. Social Indicators Research, 127(3), 1005–1020.
Strickland, J. C., & Smith, M. A. (2014). The effects of social contact on drug use: behavioral
mechanisms controlling drug intake. Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology,
22(1), 23–34. doi:10.1037/a0034669