DS Daily - 28th October 2010 |
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Joint crackdown on crime begins with drug raids
Grampian Police yesterday launched a crackdown on drug trafficking, violence and anti- social behaviour in an offensive involving the region's fire service and health authority [The Scotsman, UK]
Labour claim 500kg of heroin is smuggled into Scottish jails each year
At least half a ton of heroin is smuggled into Scottish jails every year, Scottish Labour claim [The Courier, UK]
Mental Health Act Annual Report 2009/10
Welcome to our online annual report into the use of the Mental Health Act (MHA) during our first year of operation – from April 2009 to March this year [Care Quality Commission, UK]
Twitter ye not (presentation)
On the 8th of October my Hooked podcast co-host and I delivered a presentation at the National Conference on Injecting Drug Use. This was to around 25 drug workers and activists who wanted to find out how to use twitter both for networking and activism [Injecting Advice, UK]
How is Keith Richards still alive?
The Rolling Stone's autobiography reveals a lifetime of substance abuse. Why on earth hasn't it killed him? [BBC, UK]
Patient-focused alcohol treatment aids wives and children too
Whether families benefit from alcohol treatment as well as the patients has rarely been studied. This US analysis demonstrated that they do, positioning alcohol treatment as also contributing to child and family welfare objectives. Print publication 2006 [Drug and Alcohol Findings]
Sticking to the therapy manual: a happy medium works best
A US study which dug unusually deeply in to the dynamics of cocaine treatment found that counsellors who either strictly followed a counselling manual or largely ignored it had the worst outcomes, especially when the therapeutic relationship with the client was relatively poor. Print publication 2006 [Drug and Alcohol Findings]
South West publishes young persons toolkit
This Toolkit has been produced in partnership with Alcohol Concern and aims to inform and guide professionals and carers, concerned with looked after children and young people with special educational needs [Alcohol Learning Centre, UK]
24/7 sobriety programme may be piloted with offenders in the UK
The "24/7 sobriety" programme which involves people being made to pay to be tested for alcohol twice a day after being convicted of drink-related crime, may be piloted in London [Alcohol Concern, UK]
Drinking alcohol is not a crime, even for prisoners on parole
It might be persuasive for drivers in South Dakota – but breath-testing to stop violence in London is a non-starter [Guardian, UK]
New Derby alcohol abuse advice line launched
The opening of a new advice line for people with alcohol problems is the final part of a £2.1m NHS investment in Derby's alcohol treatment programme [BBC, UK]
New bid to track drug and drink problems
A two-year project to develop more effective systems for monitoring people with drug and alcohol problems is being launched today by Dundee University [The Scotsman, UK]
Prop 19: Panacea or pipe dream?
You’d be forgiven for believing from recent editions of the Guardian that legalising pot will deliver salvation to the ($20 billion in the red) golden state; that in one sweep the legal cultivation of cannabis will eliminate crime, restore human rights, rescue the Californian economy, create new centres for marihuana pain research, guarantee happiness and halt cancer - Kathy Gyngell [Centre for Policy Studies, UK]
White House official backs effectiveness of drug courts
Drug-court doubters who believe the program doesn’t work should see its results firsthand, said R. Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy [Daily Progress, USA]
Repeal would be disaster, foes say
Opponents of Question 1 warned yesterday that repealing the state’s new sales tax on alcohol would lead to “people dying on the streets’’ by taking funds away from alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment programs [The Boston Globe, USA]
Starving Themselves, Cocktail in Hand
Among those who are described as drunkorexics are college-age binge drinkers, typically women, who starve all day to offset the calories in the alcohol they consume [New York Times, USA]
Mexico's Calderon: US not doing enough in drugs war
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has told the BBC the US should do more to reduce the demand for drugs that is fuelling violence in Mexico [BBC, UK]
An overview of the 2010 IDRS: The injecting drug user survey
Key findings [NDARC, Australia]
An overview of the 2010 EDRS: the regular ecstasy users survey
Findings [NDARC, Australia]
Qld drug drivers on the rise
The average number of drug-affected Queenslanders getting caught behind the wheel is on the increase, police statistics show [The Age, Australia]
The Quit Group welcomes funding anti-smoking aid
The Quit Group has welcomed today’s announcement that Champix will be fully funded from 1 November 2010 [Scoop, New Zealand]
Blame and Banishment
The underground HIV epidemic affecting children in Eastern European and Central Asia [IHRA]
Eradicating illegal drugs business requires concerted efforts
The UN Drugs Control Committee begins its 99th session today in Vienna, and one of the issues on its agenda is the working out of a new strategy in the fight against illegal drugs from Afghanistan [The Voice of Russia]