DS Daily - 29th October 2010

Seizures of Drugs in England and Wales, 2009/10

The statistics in this publication relate to all drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 [Home Office, UK]

NTA supports new innovative treatment centre

A new centre of excellence for drug and alcohol treatment has opened in Birmingham, offering a unique 'one-stop-shop' approach to detox, stabilisation and rehabilitation for residential and community patients [NTA, UK]

Funding decision deferred on Suffolk drug centres

Focus 12 and the Iceni Project claimed their grants were threatened because their services were not county-wide. But after the intervention of Ipswich MP Ben Gummer the government demanded a review of the funding criteria [BBC, UK]

Drug workers and users poll at NCIDU

Drug workers and users poll at NCIDU urge government not to neglect harm reduction strategies [Concateno, UK]

Providing personalised support to rough sleepers

This study evaluated the impact of a new pilot project offering personalised budgets to rough sleepers in the City of London, and explored the reasons for the project's success. Summary - Full report [Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK]

Sharing workshop (presentation)

On the 8th of October I delivered a presentation at the National Conference on Injecting Drug Use focused on the Sharing issues of injecting drug use [Injecting Advice, UK]

Let the pupils choose their peer education leaders

Fascinating study suggests that peer-led substance use prevention curricula which involve interactive exploration of sensitive topics work best when pupils are grouped with peer leaders they look up to, creating workgroups whose members like and respect each other. Print publication 2006 [Drug and Alcohol Findings]

Personal touch and positive message works for school-based media campaign

A rare finding of substantially reduced youth substance use following a media campaign demonstrates the value of well tailored content and a cost-effective, personal delivery mechanism which enables messages to be pervasive and reinforced by face-to-face contact. Print publication 2006 [Drug and Alcohol Findings]

Poor it away

Pubs & clubs could be banned from opening in poor areas in a blitz on binge drinking [The Sun, UK]

Bars agree to £1.50-a-drink minimum

Stevenage venues come to agreement with police and council over binge-drinking fears [The Publican, UK]

Booze puts one Briton in hospital every 7 minutes

The figures from the NHS Information Centre show that almost 70,000 people were admitted to NHS hospitals last year wholly due to alcohol, compared with 45,000 in 1999/2000 [Daily Mail, UK]

Smoking: the north-south divide

APHO's Local tobacco control profiles provide a detailed picture of the burden of smoking-related disease, costs and action in each local authority for England [London Health Observatory, UK]

Unseen disability, Unmet needs

A review of the impact of Work Capability Assessment on people living with HIV [NAT, UK]

Risk and Protection Factors for Substance Use Among Young People

A Comparative Study of Early School-Leavers and School-Attending Students [NACD, Ireland]

Dublin's new drug dealers: 'I never thought I would be doing this'

A heroin drought has created a new market in prescription sleeping tablets, bringing novice female dealers on to the streets [Guardian, UK]

Comprehensive examination into the prevalence and impact of parental alcohol problems on children

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues, says a comprehensive examination into the prevalence and impact of parental alcohol problems on children is urgently needed to establish the extent of parental alcohol-related harm to thousands of children across the country [Alcohol Action Ireland]