Pekka Hakkarainen
Biographic Data
| ID | 288773 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pekka Hakkarainen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pekka |
| FAMILY NAME | Hakkarainen |
| SIGNATURE | HAKKARAINEN P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6402-5579 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Identifying Risk Factors of Substance Use in Finland
Background: This study explores the dynamics of substance use in Finland, employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning techniques to identify key risk factors and predict patterns of drug use. Objectives: Using data from the Finnish National Drug Survey and applying 15 feature selection methodologies, this study identifies 23 risk factors associated with the five most used illicit substances: cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, cocain…
Global patterns in small-scale cannabis growers’ distribution practices
We discuss the implications of the findings on the structural process of import-substitution in low-end cannabis markets, including a growing normalization of cannabis supply
Conflict and social control among cannabis growers
Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cannabis cultivation and use in 18 countries
This study is the first to document an increase in cannabis cultivation activity following COVID restrictions. Increased home cultivation was not only driven by higher use as a result of home isolation, but also by disruptions of wider illegal cannabis supply. Limitations of this study include the non-representativeness of the sample as well as differences in approaches and duration of restrictions in different countries
Are cannabis use problems comparable across individuals using for recreational and medical purposes? An international cross-sectional study of individuals who use self-grown cannabis
The perceived risk of illicit drug use and views on drug policy in the general population
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
The Complexity of Drug Consumption Room Policy and Progress in Finland
Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) have been established to reach high-risk people who use drugs (PWUDs) and reduce drug-associated harm. Despite effectiveness, their establishment requires strong advocacy and efforts since moral perspectives tend to prevail over health outcomes in many countries. DCRs have generally emerged as a local response to inadequate central government policy. Likewise, the initiative of the Municipality of Helsinki in 2018 op…
How do People Attribute their Polydrug Use? A Mixed Methods Approach
In Finland, polydrug use is generally seen as stigmatized deviant behavior. By means of the mixed methods approach, this article focuses on how people explain their polydrug use and what they attribute it to. Our findings show that these explanations vary according to sociodemography. Moreover, polydrug use is not always presented as planned and goal-oriented behavior, but also something that can occur due to sudden situational factors beyond the…
The challenges and benefits of analyzing feedback comments in surveys
It is common practice in survey questionnaires to include a general open and non-directive feedback question at the end, but the analysis of this type of data is rarely discussed in the methodological literature. While these open-ended comments can be useful, most researchers fail to report on this issue. The aim of this article is to illustrate and reflect upon the benefits and challenges of analyzing responses to open-ended feedback questions. …
The burgeoning recognition and accommodation of the social supply of drugs in international criminal justice systems
Growing medicine
There is a wider demand for licit access for medical cannabis than currently available in these countries. Ideologically, medical growers can be seen distancing themselves from both the legal and illicit drug markets. From a harm reduction perspective, it is worrying that, in the context of present health and control policies in these countries, many medical growers are using cannabis to treat serious medical conditions without proper medical adv…
Lessons from conducting trans-national Internet-mediated participatory research with hidden populations of cannabis cultivators
Global patterns of domestic cannabis cultivation
From political controversy to a technical problem? Fifteen years of opioid substitution treatment in Finland
Tobacco Road Finland - How did an accepted pleasure turn into an avoidable risk behaviour
Measuring the Cannabis Market in Finland—A Consumption-Based Estimate
According to a frequently voiced opinion drug seizures represent 5 to 10 percent of drug traded in the market. In this article we estimate the size of the Finnish cannabis trade by calculating the number of users and the amount of the substance consumed in a year. We divide the subjects into five different groups based on the annual frequency of use: experimenters (1–4 days), modest occasional users (5–12 days), frequent occasional users (13–51 d…
The challenges and benefits of analyzing feedback comments in surveys
It is common practice in survey questionnaires to include a general open and non-directive feedback question at the end, but the analysis of this type of data is rarely discussed in the methodological literature. While these open-ended comments can be useful, most researchers fail to report on this issue. The aim of this article is to illustrate and reflect upon the benefits and challenges of analyzing responses to open-ended feedback questions. …
The Complexity of Drug Consumption Room Policy and Progress in Finland
Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) have been established to reach high-risk people who use drugs (PWUDs) and reduce drug-associated harm. Despite effectiveness, their establishment requires strong advocacy and efforts since moral perspectives tend to prevail over health outcomes in many countries. DCRs have generally emerged as a local response to inadequate central government policy. Likewise, the initiative of the Municipality of Helsinki in 2018 op…
Measuring the Cannabis Market in Finland—A Consumption-Based Estimate
According to a frequently voiced opinion drug seizures represent 5 to 10 percent of drug traded in the market. In this article we estimate the size of the Finnish cannabis trade by calculating the number of users and the amount of the substance consumed in a year. We divide the subjects into five different groups based on the annual frequency of use: experimenters (1–4 days), modest occasional users (5–12 days), frequent occasional users (13–51 d…
Measuring the Cannabis Market in Finland—A Consumption-Based Estimate
According to a frequently voiced opinion drug seizures represent 5 to 10 percent of drug traded in the market. In this article we estimate the size of the Finnish cannabis trade by calculating the number of users and the amount of the substance consumed in a year. We divide the subjects into five different groups based on the annual frequency of use: experimenters (1–4 days), modest occasional users (5–12 days), frequent occasional users (13–51 d…
From political controversy to a technical problem? Fifteen years of opioid substitution treatment in Finland
Tobacco Road Finland - How did an accepted pleasure turn into an avoidable risk behaviour
Growing medicine
There is a wider demand for licit access for medical cannabis than currently available in these countries. Ideologically, medical growers can be seen distancing themselves from both the legal and illicit drug markets. From a harm reduction perspective, it is worrying that, in the context of present health and control policies in these countries, many medical growers are using cannabis to treat serious medical conditions without proper medical adv…
Lessons from conducting trans-national Internet-mediated participatory research with hidden populations of cannabis cultivators
Global patterns of domestic cannabis cultivation
The burgeoning recognition and accommodation of the social supply of drugs in international criminal justice systems
How do People Attribute their Polydrug Use? A Mixed Methods Approach
In Finland, polydrug use is generally seen as stigmatized deviant behavior. By means of the mixed methods approach, this article focuses on how people explain their polydrug use and what they attribute it to. Our findings show that these explanations vary according to sociodemography. Moreover, polydrug use is not always presented as planned and goal-oriented behavior, but also something that can occur due to sudden situational factors beyond the…
The challenges and benefits of analyzing feedback comments in surveys
It is common practice in survey questionnaires to include a general open and non-directive feedback question at the end, but the analysis of this type of data is rarely discussed in the methodological literature. While these open-ended comments can be useful, most researchers fail to report on this issue. The aim of this article is to illustrate and reflect upon the benefits and challenges of analyzing responses to open-ended feedback questions. …
The Complexity of Drug Consumption Room Policy and Progress in Finland
Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) have been established to reach high-risk people who use drugs (PWUDs) and reduce drug-associated harm. Despite effectiveness, their establishment requires strong advocacy and efforts since moral perspectives tend to prevail over health outcomes in many countries. DCRs have generally emerged as a local response to inadequate central government policy. Likewise, the initiative of the Municipality of Helsinki in 2018 op…
The perceived risk of illicit drug use and views on drug policy in the general population
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Identifying Risk Factors of Substance Use in Finland
Background: This study explores the dynamics of substance use in Finland, employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning techniques to identify key risk factors and predict patterns of drug use. Objectives: Using data from the Finnish National Drug Survey and applying 15 feature selection methodologies, this study identifies 23 risk factors associated with the five most used illicit substances: cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines, cocain…
Global patterns in small-scale cannabis growers’ distribution practices
We discuss the implications of the findings on the structural process of import-substitution in low-end cannabis markets, including a growing normalization of cannabis supply
Conflict and social control among cannabis growers
Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cannabis cultivation and use in 18 countries
This study is the first to document an increase in cannabis cultivation activity following COVID restrictions. Increased home cultivation was not only driven by higher use as a result of home isolation, but also by disruptions of wider illegal cannabis supply. Limitations of this study include the non-representativeness of the sample as well as differences in approaches and duration of restrictions in different countries
Are cannabis use problems comparable across individuals using for recreational and medical purposes? An international cross-sectional study of individuals who use self-grown cannabis
Psychology (11 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Cannabis (9 works) · Psychiatry (8 works) · Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research (7 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Geography (5 works)