Reports January 2012

 

Transcript of oral evidence

Home Affairs Committee Drugs | House of Commons, UK

A resounding success or a disastrous failure:

Re-examining the interpretation of evidence on the Portuguese decriminalisation of illicit drugs | Drug and Alcohol Review

Hepatitis C and HIV Co-infection

Approximately 9% of HIV positive people in the UK are co-infected with hepatitis C | NAT, UK

Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner’s Guide

NIAAA developed the Guide and Pocket Guide in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, a team of underage drinking researchers and clinical specialists, and practicing health care professionals - Download | NIAAA, USA

Alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom, 2010

In 2010 there were 8,790 alcohol-related deaths in the UK, 126 more than in 2009 (8,664) | Office for National Statistics, UK

Drug advice for schools

Updated: 25 January 2012 | Department for Education and the Association of Chief Police Officers, UK

A Framework for Reducing Alcohol and Drug Related Harm in Northern Ireland

Phase 2, 2011-2016 | DHSSPS, UK

Pricing and Taxation Policy Reforms

What are the Options? Pricing and Taxation Policy Reforms to Redress Excessive Alcohol Consumption and Related Harms in Australia | NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Australia

Advertising ban on alcohol products necessary

Committee on Health and Children Report | Oireachtas, Ireland

Sentencing Council launches new definitive guideline for drug offences

The new guideline, which has been issued following a 12-week public consultation, will come into effect on 27 February 2012 | Sentencing Council, UK

Drug Advice for Schools

Drugs and drug-related incidents - advice for local authorities, head teachers, school staff and governing bodies from the | Department for Education and the Association of Chief Police Officers, UK

Consultation Paper on Mandatory Sentences

That current minimum sentence law for drugs offences be reviewed because it has led to bulge in prison population without any major effect on those at the top of the drugs industry. Consultation Paper | Irish Penal Reform Trust

The Year in Tobacco Control

The tenth annual State of Tobacco Control report chronicles a frustrating mix of progress and backsliding as it monitors progress on key tobacco control policies at the federal and state levels | American Lung Association

Adult Drinking Patterns in Northern Ireland 2011

This report presents the main findings of a survey carried out to provide an up-to date picture of adult drinking patterns in Northern Ireland in 2011. The findings are based on responses to a questionnaire from a representative sample of 2,022 respondents aged between 18 and 75 years old | Central Survey Unit, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agenct, UK

Penalties for illegal drug trafficking

The following table shows the penalties foreseen in, and the most common judicial practices applied by, the EU Member States | EMCDDA

Legal topic overviews: classification of controlled drugs

This Topic Overview looks at the UN system, the EU’s system of pan-European control, and finally gives a table outlining the similarities and differences of the national systems in the EU and Norway | EMCDDA

Possession of cannabis for personal use

The legal status of cannabis when used or cultivated/possessed for personal use in the different countries | EMCDDA

Afghanistan - Opium survey 2011

According to the Survey, a joint project between the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN) and UNODC, cultivation in 2011 has reached 131,000 hectares compared to 123,000 hectares of the previous two years. The amount of opium produced has risen from 3,600 metric tons in 2010 to 5,800 metric tons in 2011 | UNODC

HIV in injecting drug users in the EU/EEA

In response to a notified increase in HIV cases among injecting drug users (IDU) in Greece and Romania, the European Commission asked the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in November 2011 to conduct a rapid inquiry among their network of HIV surveillance- and drug focal points to investigate whether such increases had occurred in other countries | EMCDDA

Tackling drug-abuse is a national priority, er, depending on where you live

The drug strategy sets out a compelling vision which can engage and motivate local communities, but localism in a period of austerity risks disinvestment for a stigmatised group. If we get this wrong the consequences will be far-reaching and devastating for people willing to make the commitment to turn their lives around and begin the recovery journey, as well as their families and communities - Noreen Oliver, Martin Barnes | Parliamentary Briefing, UK

Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance report 'More for less? Independent advocacy - more demand, less funding'

Independent advocacy aims to help people by supporting them to express their own views, wishes and desires and to make informed choices | IRISS, UK

Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2009

The DAWN public-use dataset provides information for all types of drugs, including illegal drugs, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, anesthetic gases, substances that have psychoactive effects when inhaled, alcohol when used in combination with other drugs (all ages), and alcohol alone (only for patients aged 20 or younger) | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, USA

Alcohol guidelines

Eleventh Report of Session 2010–12 | Science and Technology Committee, House of Commons

Minimum pricing study published

The research, out of the Centre for Addictions, is based on 20 years of data from 1989 to 2010, and suggests that a 10 percent increase in the minimum price of an alcoholic beverage leads to a more than 16 percent decrease in its consumption compared to other beverages | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK

Extent of illicit drug use and dependence, and their contribution to the global burden of disease

This paper summarises data for the prevalence, correlates, and probable adverse health consequences of problem use of amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids | The Lancet, UK

Drug policy and the public good: evidence for effective interventions

Evidence-based interventions are increasingly being identified that are capable of making drugs less available, reducing violence in drug markets, lessening misuse of legal pharmaceuticals, preventing drug use initiation in young people, and reducing drug use and its consequences in established drug users | The Lancet, UK

How well do international drug conventions protect public health?

Over the past 50 years international drug treaties have neither prevented the globalisation of the illicit production and non-medical use of these drugs, nor, outside of developed countries, made these drugs adequately available for medical use | The Lancet, UK

Drug markets and corruption in Tajikistan

This report is a short summary of a book chapter published in the Russian language | Eurasian Harm Reduction Network

Alcohol and sex: a cocktail for poor sexual health

A report of the Alcohol and Sexual Health Working Party | Royal College of Physicians, supported by the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV