DS Daily - 4th April 2011 |
 |
Health Lives, Healthy People - DrugScope response
The public health service’s responsibilities for drug and alcohol treatment will have a vital role to play in delivering the step-change in the quality and effectiveness of drug service delivery set out in the 2010 Drug Strategy, with a greater emphasis on recovery and social reintegration…However, the removal of the specific ‘ring fence’ from the pooled drug treatment budget…creates a risk of disinvestment [DrugScope, UK]
Drugs Seizures Scotland
The total number of drug seizures in Scotland increased slightly in 2005/06 but then decreased in 2006/07 [Scottish Government, UK]
Do 'smart drugs' really make us brainier?
What Prof Sahakian would like to see is a formal policy on smart drugs. "The government should consider the harms of cognitive enhancers and address them," she said. "Universities need policies on the use of these drugs, guidance on what is acceptable and what is not." [BBC, UK]
Drug gangs moving on to internet, claims Manchester study
The police view of how gangs operate is "outdated and stereotypical", according to a study by the University of Manchester [BBC, UK]
Twenty four years for 'central organiser' of drug trafficking network
One of SOCA’s most-wanted, who went on the run for more than three years, has today been sentenced to 24 years in prison for his part in a sophisticated criminal gang which trafficked cocaine worth millions of pounds into the UK [SOCA, UK]
Letters: The pointless 'war on drugs'
[Independent, UK]
Why we must take the public's lead... and jail ALL drug dealers
A major newspaper poll published at the weekend revealed something that should surprise no one - that an overwhelming majority of people believe Britain has gone soft on law and order [Daily Mail, UK]
Labour pledges jails drug crackdown
Prison visitors will face random drug searches in a bid to crack down on the "hundreds of kilos of heroin" being brought into jails every year, Labour has pledged [Press Association, UK]
Alcohol Harm Reduction - Best Practice Guidance
This document records the methodology and findings of the Alocohol Harm Reduction National Support Team. It provides collated and aggregated information about what the team have recommended in visited areas, with the intention to provide readers with helpful information to draw upon in their current work [DoH, Alcohol Harm Reduction, National Support Team, UK]
Excessive drinkers in Hull face fines
Revellers in Hull city centre who drink so much they cannot look after themselves are being threatened with fines [BBC, UK]
UK Recovery Federation - new website
We said that we would launch this site on the 1st of April so here we are. There are lots of gaps that still need filling. We'll be looking to people out there in communities to help us out with this [UK Recovery Federation]
Why is smoking back in fashion?
Here, our tobacco devotee asks why, despite all the dire health warnings, fashion is falling back in love with smoking [Guardian, UK]
Exclusive: Cameron signals retreat on NHS reforms
Health Secretary's plans have been put on hold as PM has yet again signalled an embarrassing about-turn [Independent, UK]
Leading article: The mystery of NHS reform
The kindest way to put it is that we are baffled [Independent, UK]
Assembly report: Busy hospitals mistaking MS patients as being drunk or on drugs
The damning report by the Assembly Government’s Cross- Party Group for Neurosciences found patients being admitted to emergency units after falls or accidents were being misdiagnosed by junior doctors as drunk, when they were in fact suffering from a neurological condition [Wales Online, UK]
Mexico: Thousands missing in drugs war says CNDH
Mexico's human rights commission, CNDH, said 5,397 people had been reported missing since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels [BBC, UK]
How a big US bank laundered billions from Mexico's murderous drug gangs
As the violence spread, billions of dollars of cartel cash began to seep into the global financial system. But a special investigation by the Observer reveals how the increasingly frantic warnings of one London whistleblower were ignored [Observer, UK]
‘Just say no’ to state employee drug testing
Mr. Scott’s executive order gives a whole new meaning to the slogan “Just say No.’’ Only in this case, “No’’ is exactly where the federal courts have come down on the issue of random drug testing for public employees [Miami Herald, USA]
Alternatives to Imprisonment
Those surveyed were especially supportive of community sentences for mentally ill offenders (92% support) and youngoffenders (88% support) - Report [Sentencing Advisory Council, Victoria, Australia]
Blitz on teen crime in the city highlights drinking and violence
They thought their children were at the movies or a friend's place - until they were contacted by police following a blitz on under-age drinking and children at risk in central Sydney [SMH, Australia]