DS Daily - 17th December 2010

Getting Serious about Stigma: the problem with stigmatising drug users

This report provides an overview of the findings of a wide ranging research project looking at the extent and nature of stigma towards current and ex-drug users and their families. Overview and Summary Background material ... Attitudes and Representations in British Press [UKDPC]

DrugScope welcomes UKDPC report on stigma

The report’s findings evidence what members and particularly service users tell us is their experience: that stigma has a profound impact on many aspects of recovery, such as accessing health and social care services, accommodation and employment [DrugScope, UK]

Fight against drugs to benefit from £125 million

The government has today committed £125 million in the fight against drugs over the next financial year to help users kick their habit for good and lead drug free lives [Home Office, UK]

LDAN/DrugScope conference 2011

Capital Concerns - the future for drug and alcohol services [DrugScope, UK]

Pathways to employment in London

A guide for drug and alcohol services [DrugScope, UK]

Why did Nick Clegg cross the road? Because he pledged not to do so…

It is a peculiar feature of modern politicians how the desire to make a change can be totally reversed once the power to make that change is granted [Release, UK]

Modernising Commissioning Green Paper

The Modernising Commissioning Green Paper asks for views on how the Government can create a level playing field for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises that want to bid for public service contracts [Cabinet Office, UK]

No change in health gap between England's richest and poorest

In contrast to other health measures, alcohol consumption is one area where lifestyles are less healthy among the better off [National Centre for Social Research, UK]

High income households among biggest alcohol drinkers

The Health Survey for England 2009 found that 29% of men and 17% of women in the highest-earning group consumed alcohol on five or more days a week [BBC, UK]

Can we imagine a Britain where all drugs are legal?

Many people find inconceivable the idea that you could pop to the High Street and buy some cannabis or ecstasy along with a packet of twenty and a bottle of scotch Mark Easton's blog [BBC, UK]

Ed Miliband rebukes Bob Ainsworth over 'legalise drugs' call

Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said today that the legalisation of drugs would send out "the wrong message" to young people as he distanced himself from a Labour backbencher's calls for a "grown-up debate" on the issue [Guardian, UK]

Alcohol and Drug Deaths

Alcohol and drug deaths [Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]

Tackling health inequalities together – Good Practice Guides

The guides: Reducing young people’s drinking; Obesity and Reducing smoking in pregnancy will identify practices that have been shown to reduce health inequalities [Public Health Agency, UK]

A Guide to Evaluating Prevention Programs

Targeted prevention measures around alcohol provide information, raise knowledge and awareness, and aim to help change behavior in an effort to reduce potential harms around drinking [International Center for Alcohol Policies]

Heroin Alert Guidelines

Irish Needle Exchange Forum is encouraging services across Ireland to be on the alert for increased overdose and other health risks among opiate users following reports of low purity heroin in various parts of the country [INEF]

EU court clears the way for tourist ban from cannabis cafes

Maastricht city council is not breaking European law by attempting to stop non-residents buying soft drugs in the city's cannabis cafes, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday [Dutch News]

Brit 'drug mum' faces death

Shivaun Fadilah is facing execution in Malaysia after a £16,000 drugs bust [The Sun, UK]

More smokers now than before 2004 ban

Minister of State for Health Áine Brady pointed to figures showing that 29 per cent of the population smoked despite the ban, the abolition of packs of fewer than 20 cigarettes, the ending of in-store displays and advertising, and the cost of cigarettes, which at € 8.55 a pack “are the highest in the world” [Irish Times]