DS Daily - 21st April 2011 |
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Thousands claim incapacity benefit for addictions
More than 80,000 people are claiming incapacity benefits because they are addicted to alcohol and drugs or are obese, according to government figures | BBC, UK
This housing benefit cut would push many out of their homes – to where?
The government is preparing to rush through regulations that mean up to 88,000 25- to 34-year-olds will suddenly be dropped from a benefit rate designed to cover the cost of a one-bedroom flat to the shared accommodation rate | Guardian, UK
Jeremy Sare on drug sentencing
Most drug users are not addicted. Most suppliers of drugs are not dealers. These central truths about patterns of drug use in Britain are incompatible with the policies adopted by those in power who believe ever more muscular enforcement will somehow steer young people away from taking them | British Medical Journal
Crime in England and Wales
Quarterly Update to December 2010 | Home Office, UK
Recovery in Scotland: a fading dream?
Dr David Best guest blogs | Binge Inking
Investing in youth services is essential, say auditors
Spending on youth services represents ‘an investment in the country’s future’ even at a time of spending cuts, the Audit Commission said yesterday | Public Finance, UK
Services for Young People
Value for Money Self-Assessment Pack | Audit Commission, UK
Steal this manual
Guide to Developing and Managing Syringe Access Programs | HRC via Injecting Advice, UK
Carrying cannabis medicine to be legal
Department of Health officials have been instructed by the Department of Justice to enact an EU agreement which allows people to carry legally prescribed narcotic or psychotropic drugs for medical use | Irish Examiner
Ask your GP for Alcohol Action Ireland’s new leaflets
Alcohol Action Ireland’s new leaflets are now available free of charge at your local GP sugery | Alcohol Action Ireland
Counterpoint: Drug addicts can’t recover if they’re already dead
InSite’s purpose is to help prevent addicts from dying, either from an overdose or from a disease, before they get a chance to recover | National Post, Canada
U.S. FDA Releases Long-Awaited Opioid-REMS
On April 19, 2011, the United States government unveiled a multi-agency, multi-pronged master plan aimed at stemming the “nationwide epidemic” of prescription drug abuse. Part of the plan was the long-awaited FDA-backed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, focusing on reducing the misprescribing, misuse, and abuse of opioid analgesics | Pain Treatment Topics, USA
Heroin treatment boosts Reckitt profits
The division, a legacy of Reckitt & Colman's pharmaceutical operations, has enjoyed enormous success recently, because its Suboxone tablet has become a preferred treatment for heroin addiction in America | Guardian, UK
Systems-Scale Analysis Reveals Pathways Involved in Cellular Response to Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (METH), an abused illicit drug, disrupts many cellular processes, including energy metabolism, spermatogenesis, and maintenance of oxidative status. However, many components of the molecular underpinnings of METH toxicity have yet to be established | PLoS ONE
Legalizing Marijuana: An Exit Strategy from the War on Drugs
Legalization could eliminate illegal demand for Mexican marijuana and curb drug-related violence | Council on Hemispheric Affairs, USA
Bolivia accepts financial aid offer from US to monitor coca eradication
President Evo Morales rules out return of US agents, but says he will accept $250,000 from Washington for satellite monitoring | Guardian, UK
New monitoring centre helps tackle HIV in prisons in Latin America and the Caribbean
Its primary aim is to help governments and civil society define and implement national HIV prison policies based on international standards |UNAIDS
One battle has been won. The war continues
Mokbel's empire has gone. Not so drug-related crime | The Age, Australia
Calls for support for alcohol education for young women
The call to action from Chief Coroner, Gordon Matenga, for alcohol education in schools is already underway in Wellington with a new programme for young women being piloted in Wellington schools this year by the YWCA of Greater Wellington | Scoop, New Zealand