DS Daily - 22nd October 2012 |
Peter Hitchens: 'I don't believe in addiction. People take drugs because they enjoy it'
The contrarian rightwing journalist claims the war against drugs is lost because no one actually tried to wage it. But despite his outrageous inconsistencies and high moral judgments, he remains hard to dislike | Observer, UK
Police seize £25k of drugs at T in the Park music festival
Twenty grams of ectasy, nearly 50 grams of speed, 151 diazepam tablets, quarter kilo of cocaine and a half kilo of grass and cannabis resin were recovered by Tayside police at the festival | Daily Record, UK
The Lincolnshire cannabis farmers join a band of do-gooding criminals
The Lincolnshire couple jailed this week for three years for growing and selling cannabis used much of the profits to pay for medical treatment for people in a Kenyan village | Guardian, UK
Running away and taking drugs broke my mother’s heart
In some parts of the country there are four times more under-16s sleeping rough or missing from home or care than in 2008 | Daily Express, UK
Social cost of drinking totals little better than nonsense
Devastating broadside from prominent alcohol expert argues that estimates that drinking imposes billions of pounds of costs on society are so value-laden and bloated that their main use is as propaganda | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Supermarkets 'to be banned from discounting multiple wine bottles'
Supermarkets will be banned from discounting multiple bottles of wine under Government plans to be set out within days | Telegraph, UK
SNP's minimum booze price set to face first legal challenge by Scotch Whisky Association
The minimum pricing which was due to be introduced next year has faced criticism from five EU countries who believe it would infringe free trade rules | Daily Record, UK
A new documentary leaves Esther Rantzen horrified - and deeply concerned
Knives in their handbags, hell-bent on out-drinking men - The TV show that makes me weep for young women today | Daily Mail, UK
Richard Madeley: My shock as I witnessed the squalid world of Britain's squatters
Richard Madeley has just made a documentary on Britain’s squatters and is still plainly horrified when he talks about the plight of one group he met | The Mirror, UK
Anti-smoking campaigners accuse tobacco lobby after office break-in
Brussels police have swept the offices of two major public health organisations for bugs following a break-in at a building in the rue de Tréves in which laptops and documents relating to their battles against the tobacco industry were stolen | Guardian, UK
Latest bulletin collating additions to the Effectiveness Bank
Features a trenchant critique of the kind of cost-benefit calculations which have influenced national alcohol policy, a resource-light way to deliver alcohol interventions at emergency departments, and a review and first evaluation of positive psychology in substance use treatment | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Crusade for better mental health: crisis over mind drugs
Mental health issues are too often dismissed as “all in the head,” says a pioneer in treatment, Professor James Nutt | Daily Express, UK
Customs reports rise in ecstasy seizures
Customs officers have reported a large increase in the discovery of ecstasy in items entering the Republic in the postal service and in private courier parcels | Irish Times
Ban on head shop drugs did not end trade, it simply pushed it underground
Customs sources say the evidence is mounting to suggest that many recreational drug users are ordering the drugs from websites based abroad and are having them delivered in the post | Irish Times
The Raising of Minimum Alcohol Prices in Saskatchewan, Canada
Minimum pricing is a promising strategy for reducing the public health burden associated with hazardous alcohol consumption | American Journal of Public Health
U.S. stance on marijuana unchanged by legalization votes: official
A top Justice Department official has told "60 Minutes" the federal government is ready to combat any "dangers" of state-sanctioned recreational pot, amid criticism of the Obama administration for its relative silence on legalization drives in three states | Reuters
Will Seattle vote to keep on the grass?
If a vote on November 6 gets up, as polling strongly predicts, Washington will become the first state in America to decriminalise marijuana | The Age, Australia
Kingpin bowling
The most wanted men in Mexico are tumbling. Will crime follow suit? | The Economist
ReGen says ‘takeaway’ methadone a necessary response to a flawed system
Response to Coroner Kim Parkinson’s repeated call for the scrapping of Victoria’s system for take-home (or ‘takeaway’) methadone | VAADA, Australia
Fear drug dogs will drive users from injecting centre
The medical director of the supervised drug injecting centre in Kings Cross has warned that new laws that make it easier for police to use drug sniffer dogs in the area risk driving away clients from the centre and could lead to more overdose death | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Detox clinic reignites implant debate
The few doctors in Australia who continue to prescribe naltrexone implants do so legally, despite lack of official approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia