DS Daily - 15th November 2010 |
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Why Britain tops world drug use league
Appetite for cocaine grows as use breaks class barrier and prices tumble [Observer, UK]
Life after the Army: Centre opens for homeless veterans
A house in Newcastle is the new home for former service personnel who have struggled to adapt to civilian life. There will be 24-hour-a-day support to help those suffering from family breakdowns, and alcohol, drug and mental health problems [Independent, UK]
'My childhood took a wrong turn': The human tragedies behind the bars
Most have suffered emotional, physical or sexual abuse, and almost all developed long-term dependency on drugs and alcohol [Daily Mail, UK]
Short jail terms ‘no solution to drug problems’
Short-term prison sentences are largely driven by the drug and alcohol problems of offenders who see community-based punishments as more challenging and useful than the boredom of time behind bars, according to a new report [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
The new weapon in turning criminals away from a life of crime: their kids
Drug dealer Andrew Downie is one of the first prisoners in Scotland to come through a new programme designed to stop criminals returning to a life of crime for one very simple but special reason: their children [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
Parliamentary Committee hones in on drug driving
Concateno delivers evidence to Transport Select Committee drink and drug driving inquiry [Concateno, UK]
Drug addict bill could pay for 11000 nurses
Heroin substitute methadone costs the NHS £235million a year - the same as the annual salary of 11,000 nurses [The Sun, UK]
Warning over heroin emergencies in Dorset
Police in Dorset have issued a warning to heroin users after six people were taken to hospital having suffered adverse reactions to the drug [BBC, UK]
Hooked 41: Ray Stephens
Todays Hooked podcast is a conversation I had with Ray Stephens during the IHRA conference in April. Ray is a trainer at Moreland Hall in Australia and also runs the stimulant based site called Bluebelly [Injecting Advice, UK]
Home Secretary and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs set for embarrassment over alcohol and tobacco policy
Separate proceedings have been initiated at the High Court against both the Home Secretary and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) for their respective abdication of power and duty under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 with regards to alcohol and tobacco control [Drug Equality Alliance, UK]
The Government on drugs
It hasn’t been a good week for politics in this country, especially for the libDems ... where they seem to be going along with the prohibition mad Tory proposals at the heart of the new drugs strategy to be announced soon [UKCIA]
Rehab evidence & NTORS
Further to the Rehab works evidence, this post is an extract from the paper about rehab I wrote eight years ago. I think you will find it says it all, including the cost-effectiveness element - George Christo [Addiction Today, UK]
Alcohol Concern's annual conference - downloads
Download copies of presentations made at the conference [Alcohol Concern, UK]
How alcohol is fuelling a new wave of murder
Drinking – and drink-fuelled violence – is more dangerous at home than it is in a pub or club. Only two killings so far this year have got anything to do with licensed premises [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
The touchy-feely nonsense that killed my beautiful sister-in-law
This week, the Scottish Parliament, despite the fact alcohol abuse north of the border costs the Scottish economy and public services up to £4.6 billion a year, failed to bring in any of these measures. I never find savings of billions of pounds particularly meaningful. But what is tragic is the loss of one life because of alcohol, and the terrible grief that loss has brought one family. My family [Daily Mail, UK]
Number of 24-hour drinking bars up by about a half in just two years
According to a study, 946 pubs and clubs can sell alcohol round the clock, up from 637 in 2008 [Daily Mail, UK]
A Cop Says Legalize Drugs - in Central-Europe
Jack Cole, a former anti-narcotics policeman and a founding member of LEAP visited Central-Europe [Drug Reporter, Hungary]
The Influence of Personal, Family, and School Factors on Early Adolescent Substance Use
This study of middle school students in Southern California found that racial and ethnic variations in substance use among young adolescents are influenced by individual, family and school factors [RAND, USA]
Arizona Becomes 15th State to Approve Medical Marijuana
By a narrow margin, Arizona voters have approved medical marijuana for people with chronic or debilitating diseases [New York Times, USA]
Backers of Legal Marijuana Find Silver Lining in Defeat of California Measure
Proposition 19, which would have legalized marijuana in California, received more votes than the Republican nominee for governor, Meg Whitman [Washington Post, USA]
Calif rejects legal pot, but cities embrace drug
Californians may have rejected legalizing recreational marijuana, but voters across the state are more than ready to reap revenue from the state's largest cash crop [Washington Post, USA]
Drug warriors coming in from the cold? Calls for legal marijuana to be strictly regulated
With US support for the legalisation of cannabis/marijuana fast approaching the 50% threshold (California's Prop 19 legalisation ballot measure recently polling the highest ever US support, at 46.1%), and a string of new referendums and Bills coming up in the next couple of years, the debate is moving from if marijuana is legally regulated, to how should it regulated properly [TDPF]
Clinical Guidelines for the Use of Buprenorphine
The Guidelines stress the key principles of safety, stabilisation, assessment and review, treatment planning, clinical case management and integrated treatment [Ministry of Health, New Zealand]
A life in free fall
A Russian drug addict's story [openDemocracy, UK]