DS Daily - 28th May 2010 |
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Supervised injectable heroin
Supervised injectable heroin or injectable methadone versus optimised oral methadone as treatment for chronic heroin addicts in England after persistent failure in orthodox treatment (RIOTT): a randomised trial [The Lancet, UK]
Heroin therapy call for 'chronic addicts'
Injectable "medical" grade heroin should be offered under supervision to the most hardened addicts, say UK researchers [BBC, UK]
Scottish dealers source drugs direct from South America
Scotland’s drug dealers are significantly boosting their profits and criminal spending power by sourcing cocaine bound for the streets of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen direct from South America [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Scots tip-offs help stem flow of cocaine from South America
Once the preserve of the rich and famous, cocaine use has become increasingly mainstream and the UK is now Europe’s largest market – with more than a million regular users [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Anthrax Outbreak Information
Confirmed Cases 42 and deaths 13 [Health Protection Scotland, UK]
Stigma & drug use - what's the problem?
The UKDPC invites tenders to under take a media analysis to investigate how drug users, particularly recovering drug users, are portrayed in the print media and how this has changed over time [UKDPC]
Warning over workplace drug testing
Clear guidance is needed from the Government on drug testing in the workplace to clear up "confusion" over the legality of random or routine checks, union leaders said [Daily Express, UK]
Over 173,000 needles supplied to drug users
More than 173,000 free needles were supplied to drug users in Dumfries and Galloway last year [Dumfries and Galloway, UK]
Drugs gang members jailed for scrap metal plot
Two members of an organised crime gang which tried to import more than £10 million-worth of Class A drugs hidden in huge consignments of scrap metal, have today been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison [Serious Organised Crime Agency, UK]
Dozens of kids treated for drug and alcohol addiction in Lambeth
Dozens of Lambeth children aged as young as 12 are being treated for addiction to drugs, including cocaine [Streatham Guardian, UK]
Committee gives qualified support to alcohol bill to allow it to proceed to next stage
The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee agrees that the scale of the country’s alcohol problem is such that it must be addressed, according to a report published today [Scottish Parliament, UK]
Health and Sport Committee Report
Stage 1 Report on the Alcohol etc. (Scotland) Bill [Scottish Parliament, UK]
Health committee split on alcohol pricing
Holyrood's health committee has urged the Scottish government to specify what minimum price it would set for alcohol [BBC, UK]
MSPs seek clarity on alcohol pricing
The Scottish Government has been ordered by MSPs to specify an initial figure for the minimum unit price of alcohol before its controversial legislation proceeds to its final stage [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Nicola Sturgeon told to name minimum price
Nicola Sturgeon has been urged by a powerful Holyrood committee to name the minimum price she wants to impose on alcohol so MSPs can decide if it is legal [Telegraph, UK]
Ask heavy drinkers to make plans to drink less ... and they do!
All this British study did was ask people out shopping, working or relaxing to complete a brief written survey about their drinking which ended with an injunction to make concrete plans to drink safely. A month later the heavy drinkers among them had made worthwhile average reductions [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
New campaign warns: 'don't drink and drown'
Posters and beer mats in Perth pubs and clubs will warn against dangers of taking to the water after a booze session [STV, Scotland, UK]
Professionals 'more likely to drink than those in working class jobs'
Middle class professionals who relax with a bottle of wine in the evening are now more likely to drink to excess than those in working class jobs, according to official figures [Telegraph, UK]
Alcohol-fuelled violence is plague of Britain, says judge after jailing 'drunken barbarian' female student
District Judge Alan Berg said young women, in particular, who were intent on getting 'senselessly drunk,' were behind a dramatic escalation of mindless violence on the nation's streets [Daily Mail, UK]
Snails yield drug addiction clue
The researchers say that this work lays the foundations for ultimately targeting memory in the treatment of drug addiction [BBC, UK]
One in seven methadone users had taken head shop products
Fourteen cent of methadone users also test positive for substances previously sold in head shops, new research has shown. Approximately one in seven samples tested by the Drug Treatment Centre Board (DTCB) were positive for compounds sold in the shops [Irish Times]
Government study to quiz legal high users on ill-effects
The Government’s advisory group on drugs is to investigate the experience of hospital emergency departments & treating patients suffering ill-effects from using head shop substances, as well as question users of the legal highs [Drugs.ie]
Council calls on EU scientific experts to assess risks of mephedrone
Europe has responded to rising concern over the use of the synthetic drug mephedrone by formally requesting a scientific investigation into the health and social risks of the substance [EMCDDA]
Europol–EMCDDA joint report on mephedrone
In January 2010, Europol and the EMCDDA examined the available information on a new psychoactive substance, mephedrone, through a joint assessment [Europol–EMCDDA]
New Drugs.ie website
Drugs.ie is funded by the Health Service Executive and maanged by Crosscare Drug and Alcohol Programme [Drugs.ie]
South Western RDTF: 2010 Innovation Fund
We are now inviting applications from Community and Voluntary groups for the 2010 Innovation Fund [City Wide, Ireland]
Needle exchange plans destructive
The VIHA decision removes our community's capacity to address open drug use and provide basic health care [Times Colonist, Canada]
Hazelden Launches Free Online Substance Abuse Screening Tool
Signing up is free and anonymous, and it gives you access to personalized tools and information [Hazelden, USA]
The NSDUH Report - Substance Use among Hispanic Adults
Rates of past month alcohol and illicit drug use were lower among Hispanic adults than the national averages for adults however, past month binge alcohol use was higher among Hispanics than the national average [SAMHSA, USA]
Story of a Drug Court Graduate
It is easy to incarcerate an addict. It is more challenging, however, to require that the addict change his life and contribute to society [ONDCP, USA]
Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services National Minimum Data Set 2010-11
Specifications and collection manual [Australian Government]
Drinking drops as alcopop tax bites
Australians greatly cut their consumption of alcopops in the year after the federal government introduced its tax rise, figures show [SMH, Australia]
Nurses promote World Smokefree Day
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is preparing to celebrate World Smokefree Day – a global event that draws attention to the effects of smoking, on Monday 31 May [Scoop, New Zealand]
IDPC Report - Response to the INCB Annual Report
Although at points perhaps more conciliatory in tone than in previous years, the document reveals the Board as a body that maintains a very narrow and selective interpretation of the drug control conventions PDF [IDPC]
World Bank Report
Innocent bystanders: developing countries and the war on drugs PDF [IDPC]
UN body warns against reintroduction of the death penalty for drug offences in Mauritius
UN human rights monitors have warned against the reintroduction of the death penalty for drug offences in Mauritius, suggesting instead a range of public health interventions [IHRA]