DS Daily - 6th June 2012 |
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Health risks of cannabis 'underestimated', experts warn
Experts are warning that the public dangerously underestimates the health risks linked to smoking cannabis | BBC, UK
Drug driving devices to undergo testing
Devices to test if drivers have taken drugs could be approved for use in police stations by the end of the year | Home Office, UK
'Pink ecstasy' drugs warning issued in north Wales
Police have issued a warning about a potentially fatal drug dubbed "pink ecstasy" after samples were seized in a raid in Bangor, Gwynedd | BBC, UK
Drug addicts need a clean break
Chip Somers, a former drug addict turned government adviser who got Russell Brand off heroin says abstinence is the only cure | Guardian, UK
Scaling the heights for addicts
Richard Atkinson, 39, will begin to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on June 27 | This is Nottingham, UK
Call for leniency under new drink-drive limits
A leading road safety charity has suggested sentences for breaking drink-drive laws should be lowered when the legal alcohol threshold is reduced by the Scottish Government | The Herald, Scotland, UK
Increase in demand is leading to boom in the cultivation of cannabis
Anomalies in Ireland's drug laws and the huge demand for cannabis have led to a boom in the cultivation of the drug | Independent, Ireland
Italian police break mafia drug smuggling operation
Ndrangheta gang imported €50m worth of cocaine from Latin America on boats manned by Italian and foreign crews | Guardian, UK
Harper Government Clamps Down on Street Drug "Bath Salts"
Will give law enforcement ability to deal with new drug threat | Health Canada
New York mayor and NYPD back marijuana decriminalisation proposal
Proposal partly a reaction to NYPD's controversial stop-and- frisk tactics, which have seen sharp increase in civilian stops | Guardian, UK
Screening for Drug Use in General Medical Settings
Provides clinicians serving adult populations in general medical settings with the tools and procedures necessary to conduct screening, brief intervention, and/or treatment referral for patients who may have or be at risk of developing a substance use disorder | NIDA, USA
The D.S.M. Gets Addiction Right
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (D.S.M.), the standard reference work for psychiatric illnesses, announced updated definitions of substance abuse and addiction, including a new category of “behavioral addictions.” | New York Times, USA
"War on Drugs": America's second lost war of the last 50 years
An estimated 100 million Americans have smoked marijuana, including two (and almost certainly three) drug-using recent presidents. Possession arrests clog the courts. Drug cartels are moving to control the business along the Interstate 5 corridor. Drug gangsters are killing each other in once-peaceful British Columbia | Seattle PI, USA
One drug connection that everyone ignores
Recreational users and hard-core addicts in the U.S. give little thought to the violence by Mexican cartels that is consuming our southern neighbor | LA Times, USA
'War on drugs' under attack
Australia's''war on drugs'' should be evaluated by the Productivity Commission to see how cost effective it is for taxpayers, former Defence Department chief Paul Barratt says | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Raising awareness about cannabis
Its use and impact on health and wellbeing among Indigenous Australians | National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, Australia
Psychostimulant users seek information, not drugs, online
A national survey of ecstasy and related-drug users found 60 per cent of participants had gone online in the past six months to get information about drugs. In contrast, only nine per cent had gone online to buy drugs | NDARC, Australia
Alcohol treatment centre closes doors
A drug and alcohol treatment organisation says many Aboriginal alcoholics are going untreated because South Australia's only Indigenous rehabilitation centre has closed its doors | ABC News, Australia
Alcohol a bigger problem than drugs for young
The Children's Court has sounded the alarm about the intensity of underage drinking in the community, saying that alcohol consumption - rather than drug use - is the ''big catalyst'' for youth offending in the state | The Age, Australia
Draft consultation of the National Tobacco Strategy 2012-2018
Call for public submissions on the draft for consultation of the National Tobacco Strategy 2012-2018. Closing date for submission – Monday 25 June 2012 | Australian Government
Call time on dangerous energy drinks
Why do alcohol companies continue to make high-potency alcopops with added caffeine that are specifically marketed to appeal to our riskiest drinkers - young people? | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Tajik Drug Control Agency marks another successful year
UNODC Executive Director, Yury Fedotov, attended a celebration today in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe to mark the 13th anniversary of the Tajikistan Drug Control Agency | UNODC
Fifa alarmed at widespread 'abuse' of painkillers
Fifa's chief medical officer has said the "abuse" of painkillers is putting the careers and long-term health of international footballers in jeopardy | BBC, UK