DS Daily - 21st April 2010 |
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Harm reduction: evidence, impacts and challenges
The EMCDDA’s 10th scientific monograph, entitled Harm reduction: evidence, impacts and challenges provides a comprehensive overview of the harm reduction field. 3.9MB PDF [EMCDDA]
DrugScope letter to The Times regarding piece on methadone treatment in prisons
On the 17th March, The Times ran a story on methadone treatment in prisons Below is DrugScope's letter to the editor outlining some of our concerns about the way the issue was covered [DrugScope, UK]
Methadone: to use or not to use
Should we maintain drug users on methadone treatment or move towards a more abstinence-based drugs policy? [Joe Public Blog, Guardian, UK]
Will Conservative plans to overhaul heroin addiction treatment work?
Prescribing methadone to addicts has become a favoured option to cut drug-related crime and treat users, but a Tory government would overhaul the system. What are the implications? [Guardian, UK]
Concateno’s drugs of abuse testing wins the Queen’s Award for Enterprise
Concateno has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of its outstanding innovation and commercial performance [Concateno]
International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies (IDHDP)
International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies (IDHDP) network is for medical doctors to share expertise and good practice in reducing the health social and economic harms of people who use drugs [SMMGP, UK]
Manchester midwife urges support for drug pregnancies
A Manchester midwife believes that pregnant women with drug or alcohol issues "need a pat on the back" to ensure they "make great mothers" [BBC, UK]
Cases of inflammation of the heart muscle through the ingestion of mephedrone
Professor Joe Barry has issued this warning regarding inflammation of the heart muscle, and lining of the heart, through the ingestion of mephedrone [Ana Lifley Drug Project, Ireland]
The teen vodka epidemic
Thousands of middle-class girls drink themselves senseless on neat vodka with deadly results [Daily Mail, UK]
Security, development and human rights
Normative, legal and policy challenges for the international drug control system [TDPF, UK]
D.C. Council approves medical marijuana
The D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to allow chronically ill patients to receive a doctor's prescription to use marijuana and buy it from a city-sanctioned distribution center [Washington Post, USA]
The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition
This report examines the budgetary implications of legalizing drugs. The report estimates that legalizing drugs would save roughly $48.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition - Report PDF [Mark Haden, USA]
Breaking the Cycle of Intergenerational Drug-Use
As I travel the country for my work educating people about this vulnerable population, I was asked the same questions – "What can we do to "break the cycle" of intergenerational crime, addiction and incarceration? [Of Substance Blog, ONDCP, USA]
Five years in jail for Michael Douglas's son for selling drugs
Judge handed out the term, which was less than the expected minimum sentence, after a series of heartfelt pleas from members of the Douglas family [Guardian, UK]
Pot smokers out for high holiday
An estimated 12,000 to 15,000 people all exhale marijuana smoke as the clock hit 4.20pm during the 4/20 event on Norlin Quad at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado [Stuff.co, New Zealand]
Law Enforcement And Harm Reduction Network
Launch of their new website - LEAHRN aims to connect people who want to know more about how police and harm reduction services can work together more effectively [LEAHRN]
Drug war violence appears in Mexico's northeast, near Texas border
More than 22,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderón unleashed his war on traffickers in December 2006 [Washington Post, USA]
A “Most Serious Crime”?
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences and International Human Rights Law' [IHRA]
Skyrocketing Heroin, Opium Use Ensnaring Afghan Children
State Department Finds Kids' Exposure to Drugs Could Create 'Whole Generation' of Addicts in Afghanistan [Ariana, Afghanistan]