DS Daily - 29th June 2010

Comment from Professor Neil McKeganey on Drug Dealing and Communities

As a result of an article that initially appeared in the Scotsman newspaper a number of media outlets have reported that I have proposed that drug dealers and drug dealing can have a number of positive impacts on communities. I would like to make it clear that the report in which that view is set out was a summary of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation drugs research programme [Professor Neil McKeganey]

Reserve heroin prescribing for methadone failures

Should heroin prescribing be a mass treatment entry route or a niche option for the few who have not done well in optimised (but still cheaper) mainstream treatments? With nearly all the latest studies to hand, this review came down firmly on the niche side of the debate [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

Should heroin be used to treat addicts?

Debate over heroin prescription needs to reopen [Irish Times]

'Woof woof' is new miaow miaow

A new legal high nicknamed woof woof has emerged as the successor to the drug miaow miaow [Telegraph, UK]

'Three strikes and out' drug dealer gets 10 years

The defence counsel, Michael Anderson, said the accused's entire adult life had been blighted by drug addiction. He added the quantities of heroin were among the lowest in weight and value to feature in a case in the High Court, and he asked the judge to find there were special reasons to spare McCole from jail [The Scotsman, UK]

Drug dealer told ‘it’s cheaper not to put you in jail’

After hearing that he was a life-long amphetamine addict who had been unusually candid with police about his dealing, Judge Roger Thomas QC took the unusual step of not locking him up on the spot [Manchester Evening News, UK]

46th anthrax case confirmed but rate of new cases slowing

Health Protection Scotland says that due to the decreasing frequency of new cases, the information on the total number of cases associated with this outbreak will be updated on a weekly basis [Scottish Drugs Forum, UK]

Lives destroyed by happy pills

As our use of antidepressants doubles in a decade, experts say thousands are being given dangerous drugs they don't need [Daily Mail, UK]

Booze-buying parents 'put teens at risk'

Parents are fuelling underage drinking after admitting buying booze for their children, a leading alcohol charity warned yesterday [Daily Express, UK]

Dramatic Pattern Shifts in Admission to Substance Abuse Treatment among Pregnant Teens between 1992 and 2007

Admission rates for pregnant teens abusing marijuana and methamphetamines increased significantly from 1992 to 2007 -- Rates for substance abuse treatment admissions among Hispanic pregnant teens have risen while rates for Black pregnant teens have dropped [SAMHSA, USA]

Chicago's Heroin Problem Worst In The Nation, Says New Study

The study, released Monday by the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University, also showed that overdose deaths from heroin were rising quickly in the suburbs, and that more inmates in Cook County Jail have been testing positive for the drug [Huffington Post, USA]