DS Daily - 26th July 2010 |
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Drugs & diversity: the impact of drugs on different minority groups
These wide-ranging reports describe what is known about treatment and prevention within diverse communities, including LGBT groups, disabled people and BME communities [UKDPC]
Gay men and lesbians are putting their health at risk by abusing drugs
The report, by the UK Drug Policy Commission, to be published on Monday, claims drug services are of little relevance to many in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-sexual (LGBT) groups [Observer, UK]
DrugScope responds to new official data on drug use trends
DrugScope has responded to the publication of two sets of official statistics detailing the prevalence of drug use among adults and young people: Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2009 and Drug Misuse Declared: findings from the 2009/10 British Crime Survey [DrugScope, UK]
NHS reports fall in drug, tobacco and alcohol use among schoolchildren
Biggest decline in smoking, where number of 11- to 15-year-olds who had smoked has fallen to 29%, from 54% in 1982 [Guardian, UK]
Child health expert calls for review of testing practice for parental substance misuse
A medical expert in child health, with a specialist clinical and research interest in child protection, has called for an impartial review of the current use of testing to detect parental substance misuse [Concateno, UK]
Adfam website relaunched
The website is brand new so if you have any thoughts or comments please feel free to email us and let us know [Adfam, UK]
Tell us which datasets you want released
The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, has today called for the British people to nominate which new government datasets they would like to see released on data.gov.uk [Cabinet Office, UK]
Coroner warns of cocaine deaths
The Dublin city coroner again warned about deaths from cocaine abuse yesterday at an inquest on a teenager who had been so afraid he had worn a bulletproof vest for more than a week before his death [Irish Times]
Fears ‘mysterious’ head shop drugs are toxic
Experts have issued warnings over a new generation of head shop drugs containing "mysterious and unknown" substances which could be toxic [Irish Examiner]
Chemical imbalance: New drugs defy ban
While legislation banning all mind-altering drugs is just days away from becoming law, manufacturers of head shop products are still busily churning out new drugs [Irish Examiner]
Labelled drug-related public expenditure in relation to gross domestic product in Europe: A luxury good?
"Labelled drug-related public expenditure" is the direct expenditure explicitly labelled as related to illicit drugs by the general government of the state [Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy]
Anya Sarang on HIV, Drug Policy and Harm Reduction
Anya Sarang, the director of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation criticizes Russia's drug policy at the International AIDS Conference [Drug Reporter, Hungary]
Why our drug policy is 'inconsistent' with all available evidence
Most of the public has never heard of the Vienna Declaration. Why not? [Ottawa Citizen, Canada]
A Shot That Saves the Lives of Addicts Is Now in Their Hands
Naloxone is now directly dispensed to drug users like Mr. Kamenicky, who are trained by the Chicago Recovery Alliance and receive Naloxone through a doctor-supervised program [New York Times, USA]
The House Should Listen and Learn
A bill that reduces this onerous sentencing disparity has passed the Senate easily. The House, which has been vacillating over whether or not to schedule a vote on the Senate bill, needs to show the same good sense [New York Times, USA]
FDA Advisors Reject Agency Plan to Control Opioid Use as Too Soft
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted 25 to 10 to reject the agency's proposed plan to prevent inappropriate prescribing, misuse, and abuse of extended-release opioid painkillers, saying the plan lacks the teeth to stem the "public health crisis" of opioid addiction, overdose, and death [ABC News, Australia]
Critique 012: Effects on mortality of alcohol drinking in the elderly
In people over the age of 65 years, alcohol intake of four standard drinks per day for men and two standard drinks per day for women was associated with lower mortality risk [Boston University School of Medicine, USA]
Medical marijuana to be OK in some VA clinics
The directive from the Veterans Affairs Department in the coming week is intended to clarify current policy that says veterans can be denied pain medication if they use illegal drugs. Veterans groups have complained for years that this could bar veterans from VA benefits if they were caught using medical marijuana [Associated Press]
California’s legalised marijuana factories seen as cash pot solution
The city of Oakland, in California, is bidding to become the Silicon Valley of marijuana cultivation, following a council vote to approve four huge cannabis factories, taxed and regulated by the authorities [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Heroin in Viet Nam: The Robins Study
Origins of the Disease Model of Addiction (Part 2) - part one here [Addiction Inbox, USA]
U.S. falls short in helping Mexico end its drug war
The United States has not entirely ignored this crisis. But its efforts to help Calderón's government have been late, paltry and mired in bureaucracy [Washington Post, USA]
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder study
The first Australian study into the prevalence and impact of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder on Indigenous children will be undertaken in Fitzroy Valley, Western Australia, with the support of a $1 million Gillard Government grant [Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Australia]
Court program to treat alcoholics
The state government is to expand a successful drug treatment program to include alcohol, and roll it out to more courts [SMH, Australia]
New court for homeless, addicts
Repeat drug offenders, the homeless, addicts and the mentally ill will soon have their day in a special court that will "sentence" them to treatment programmes instead of jail [Stuff.co, New Zealand]
Breaking the cycle of drug addiction and HIV infection in Russia
Christian Today spoke to Kostya Lyubimov, a former drug addict who now runs a drug rehabilitation centre in Russia supported by Tearfund, and Galia Kutranova, Tearfund’s Russia Manager, to find out more about what drug users and HIV sufferers face in Russia and what the church can do [Christian Today]