DS Daily - 23rd August 2010 |
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2010 Drug strategy consultation paper
The government plans to publish a new drug strategy later this year. This targeted consultation provides an early opportunity for a wide range of partners to contribute to the development of the new strategy [Home Office, UK]
Online response for the 2010 Drug Strategy
You can either respond to all sections in turn by selecting 'Start', or jump to individual sections [Home Office, UK]
DrugScope welcomes open-ended drug strategy consultation
DrugScope welcomes the open-ended and wide ranging nature of the questions contained in the consultation paper published Friday. We hope this signals a readiness on the part of the government to be open and receptive to the views of the substance misuse sector about the best way forward to reduce the harms caused by drugs and alcohol [DrugScope, UK]
Drug addict benefit withdrawal considered
People dependent on drugs and alcohol who refuse treatment could have their welfare benefits withdrawn under plans being considered by the Home Office [BBC, UK]
Removing drug user benefits 'not the way forward'
DrugScope's chief executive Martin Barnes discusses the drawbacks of such a scheme [Today, BBC, UK]
Made in Kabul - shot up in Glasgow
Last week David Pratt followed heroin’s journey from the poppy fields of Afghanistan to the shooting galleries of the country’s capital. This week he traces its route to the addicts in Scotland [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Cameron to push ahead with 'cold turkey' drug policy
David Cameron is to push ahead with radical "abstinence" plans for the most serious drug addicts [Telegraph, UK]
Benzo Fury
The polish drugs gang flooding Scotland with lethal new legal high Benzo Fury [Daily Record, UK]
Experts warn over the dangers of 'Ivory Wave'
Banning a new “legal high” drug every single day of the year would not be enough to stop people using them, experts have warned [Wales Online, UK]
NTA supported students make the grade on Harm Reduction Academy course
The first students of the International Harm Reduction Academy graduated this summer and include a number of NTA-sponsored ex-service users well advanced in their recovery journey. Their academy qualifications will help reinforce their reintegration into society [NTA, UK]
Wired In To Recovery On-Line Forum Goes Live!
Navigate to the forums by clicking on the Forums button next to Practitioners [Wired In To Recovery]
New FEAD videos - Professor John Strang
John Strang on the 'tsunami of HIV', harm reduction, and work with the ACMD - John Strang critiques the quality of drug service provision and oral methadone prescribing - John Strang on the Department of Health Guidelines on drug misuse and their charting of change [FEAD, UK]
Britain's cannabis producers go global as factories multiply
Once the preserve of hippies, grow-your-own pot is now run by organised crime [Observer, UK]
Alcohol related social norm perceptions in university students
A review of effective interventions for change [Alcohol Education and Research Council, UK]
Internet-based alcohol advice helps risky drinkers cut back
Canadian study suggests that internet-based programs which offer feedback to risky drinkers on their consumption relative to the general population and on the risks they may be running can lead to drinking reductions of the same order as face-to-face advice [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Drink laws ruining us, say shops
Fears that Scotland’s licensing laws are crippling businesses with a fresh layer of bureaucracy and extra costs have been raised by trade lobbyists, who have urged the Government to change the legislation [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Binge drinking 'ladettes more likely to need help after unprotected sex'
Women who drink to excess are almost twice as likely to need emergency contraception, such as the morning pill, than those who remain within safe limits, a study found [Telegraph, UK]
Meta-analysis of drug-related deaths soon after release from prison
Studies have indicated an increased risk of drug-related deathsoon after release from prison, particularly in the first 2 weeks. For precise, up-to-date understanding of these risks, a meta-analysis was conducted on the risk of drug-related death in weeks 1 + 2 and 3 + 4 compared with later 2-week periods in the first 12 weeks after release from prison - Download from Addiction [INEF, Ireland]
Why Overdose Matters for HIV
This document presents arguments that organizations can make to AIDS funders to show that overdose prevention and response matter for HIV programming [Irish Needle Exchange Forum]
‘Guide to Ethnobotanical Plants and Herbs, Synthetic Chemicals, Compounds and Products’
This Guide has been produced in response to requests from workers, users, medical professionals and academics for information on the emerging issue of legal herbal highs, plants and chemical alternatives available to buy in shops and online [Substance Misuse Service HSE South Tipperary, Ireland]
Adolescent Drug Use and the Deterrent Effect of School-Imposed Penalties
An instrumental-variables approach to retrieving an estimate of the causal response of marijuana use to sanctions and thereby demonstrate the efficacy of school-imposed penalties as a deterrent to adolescent drug use [Institute for the Study of Labour, Bonn]
Underage drinkers exploit online sales
The Government has admitted it is effectively powerless to stop off-licences selling alcohol to underage drinkers on a cash-on-delivery basis [Irish Examiner]
Building on Our Strengths
Canadian Standards for School-based Youth Substance Abuse Prevention [CCSA, Canada]
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Aged 50 or Older
Between 1992 and 2008, the number of admissions to substance abuse treatment aged 50 or older more than doubled (from approximately 102,700 in 1992 to 231,200 in 2008) [SAMHSA, USA]
President Obama's New Drug War Strategy
The Low-Down on 'America's Trillion Dollar Dope Game' [Stop the Drug War, USA]
Politicians ignore key alcohol policies ahead of election
The Alcohol Policy Coalition has released a document provided to all federal MPs outlining a suite of evidence-based strategies to address Australia’s growing problem with alcohol. All federal Members of Parliament received copies of the document last month but Australians are yet to see any serious action from the major parties [Australian Drug Foundation]
Drug Foundation scores government liquor review
The government’s alcohol law reform package takes steps in the right direction, but overlooks a number of key reforms which could help bring real change to New Zealand’s binge drinking culture, said the [New Zealand Drug Foundation]