DS Daily - 4th May 2010 |
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A man on a mission to spread the message of recovery
The roadshow would bring together agencies tackling a range of social problems including alcoholism, drug-taking, gambling and smoking, but also mental health problems including depression and eating disorders [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
The NHS shouldn't be dishing out free drugs to addicts
Finger on the pulse: Heroin addicts must undergo intensive psychotherapy if they are ever to be cured [Telegraph, UK]
Brief alcohol interventions: can they deliver population-wide health gains?
Not so long ago, virtually universal screening of adult primary care patients, followed by a few minutes of advice for risky drinkers, was seen as a major way to reduce the burden of alcohol-related harm. Now ambition in Britain has been scaled back to screening new patients and/or those thought in advance to possibly be at risk. The rethink was driven partly by hotly contested research which seemed to show how difficult it was to implement universal programmes [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
The therapeutic potential of patients and clients
Hard times and thoughts turn to ways to make dwindling resources go further. Ally this with the new recovery agenda and the emphasis on getting people out of treatment, and it is no surprise that mutual aid groups have moved up commissioning and planning agendas. User involvement too is (at least in the rhetoric) in vogue. Does all this actually benefit clients and patients, or just tick boxes and save money? [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Message that everyone is NOT doing it offers new hope for preventive education
Science is littered with shining new discoveries which became somewhat tarnished as accumulating data forced a reappraisal. In substance misuse, normative education (contrasting how common pupils think substance use is with the reality) retains some of its shine, but what seemed the great hope for school- and college-based prevention now seems a tactic of limited application and with inconsistent impacts - and some believe, one way the drinks industry avoids truly effective restrictions [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Ever controversial: prescribing opiates to opiate addicts
Traditional divisions of opinion over methadone maintenance and allied treatments are reflected in the policies of parties contesting the election on 6 May 2010, from the Conservatives who denigrate it as state-induced dependence, to the Greens who want more heroin prescribing. Because opposing camps value different things, evidence alone will not decide the issue, but research does reveal what we and the patients stand to lose or gain from a change in policy [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Alcohol and Older People event pt.1
Alcohol and mental health event for social care [Alcohol Policy UK]
Alcohol and Older people event pt.2
Taking notice in the South West [Alcohol Policy UK]
Supermarkets urged to raise standards on alcohol pricing
Supermarkets must raise their standards on alcohol pricing to match the example set by pubs and clubs, industry leaders have said [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Can cannabis cafes refuse to serve non-Dutch?
The European Court of Justice will soon rule on whether a ban on selling soft drugs to non-Dutch nationals breaks EU internal market rules [Dutch News]
Tories may revive minimum pot sentences
The Tories are poised to revive a bill that would impose mandatory-minimum sentences on people convicted of growing small numbers of pot plants [CTV, Canada]
The White House Drug Czar's Diminished Status
These have been tough times for White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske. After spending much of his first year in office crafting a new anti-drug strategy, he had hoped to unveil it two months ago with President Obama. But Kerlikowske couldn't get on Obama's schedule [Newsweek, USA]
D.C. set to vote on legalizing marijuana, already a widely used drug
The D.C. Council is set to vote Tuesday on legalizing medical marijuana, thereby allowing the chronically ill -- including those with HIV, glaucoma or cancer -- to buy pot from dispensaries in Washington [Washington Post, USA]