DS Daily - 10th May 2010

Overcoming the odds

Editorial: Lessons from global harm reduction - and other magazine features [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

IHRA conference update

All of the conference daily magazines as well as photos and video from the event [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Freedom of information appeal on drugs classification

Almost 40 pages of black censor pen [UKCIA]

Hair of the dog can be addictive

The traditional hair of the dog hangover cure can work, scientists have proved. But it leads drinkers down the slippery slope to alcoholism [Daily Express, UK]

Tough new laws for head shops may drive drug-takers online

Government plans to tackle head shops with tough new laws will drive drug-takers online and may have little impact on the purchase of so-called legal highs, drugs groups have warned [The Post, Ireland]

Obama's First National Drug Strategy -- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

A leaked draft of the overdue 2010 National Drug Strategy ... despite the Obama administration's rhetorical shift away from the "war on drugs," the drug war juggernaut is still rolling along [StopTheDrugWar, USA]

Number of Soldiers Seeking Opiate Abuse Treatment Skyrockets

The number of American soldiers seeking treatment for opiate abuse has skyrocketed over the past five years, at a time when the U.S. military has been surging forces into the heart of the world's leading opium producer [FOX NEWS, USA]

Native Americans Targeted for Anti-Meth Ad Campaign

The Office of National Drug Control Policy recently unveiled a new anti-methamphetamine ad campaign targeting Native American communities, where methamphetamine use is a major concern [CADCA, USA]

Could marijuana save California?

With cannabis now its largest cash crop, the state will soon vote on whether to legalise it fully – and even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is thinking the enormous tax revenues might just solve his budget deficit [Observer, UK]

Courts on relatively new ground with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Debate flares over treatment for adults unable to understand consequences of actions [Chicago Tribune, USA]

What Would a Genuine Drug War Look Like?

An essay on biomedicine and the body politic [Addiction Inbox, USA]

Governments in Southeast Asia Detain Thousands in Abusive Drug Detention Centers

Number of Centers Has Increased Exponentially in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, Despite Lack of Effectiveness [Open Society Institute]

Amnesty International raises concerns about executions of Afghans for drug offences in Iran

Amnesty International is urging the Iranian authorities to reveal how many Afghan nationals it is holding on death row amid reports 45 Afghans may have been executed in Iran in recent weeks [IHRA]

Opium-Addicted Children Pay Heavy Price for Afghan War

The revelation that the number of opium-addicted Afghan children has reached new highs is a sad unintended consequence of that war [Ariana, Afghanistan]