DS Daily - 9th May 2011

Police swoop on courier as drugs haul at record level

A 39-year-old man was arrested by police at the train station with what is understood to be 1.5kg of the Class A drug | The Scotsman, UK

UK evidence-based guidance on alcohol dependence treatment

From the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, this impressive assessment of what evaluation research means for alcohol dependence treatment in Britain is distinguished by reviews of the latest literature on the sub-topics it covers; in some cases these starkly reveal the inadequacies of the evidence base | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

Building Recovery in Communities

Alcohol Concern's response to Building Recovery in Communities. PDF | Alcohol Concern, UK

MARAC Engagement report

MARACs and the Substance Misuse Sector: Supporting the development of safe and effective responses with drug and alcohol agencies. Findings from Stage 1 of the MARAC Engagement Project. Executive Summary - Full Report | AVA Project, UK

Warning issued over rough sleeping laws

An international federation of homelessness organisations has warned that London has joined a ‘worrying’ Europe-wide trend to criminalise homeless people | Inside Housing, UK

Could new anti-social behaviour powers back-fire?

As children's charity Barnardo's raises concerns that new plans to tackle anti-social behaviour could endanger children | BBC, UK

Mental illness 'top reason to claim incapacity benefit'

Mental health problems have overtaken musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain as the main reason for incapacity benefit claims, researchers have said | BBC, UK

Agency Workers Regulations guidance published

The Government has published guidance to help employers and the recruitment sector prepare for the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations | Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK

Are health and wellbeing boards part of the solution?

Amidst the hullabaloo about price competition, any willing provider and the replacement of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities with GP commissioning, one aspect of the Bill that has attracted remarkably little controversy is the proposal for health and wellbeing boards | The King's Fund, UK

There has always been a ‘Big Society’

Amid talk of a ‘Big Society’, Pat Thane explores the history of voluntary organizations and the shifting boundaries between state and society. She argues that government rhetoric masks a real shrinking of the voluntary sector | History Workshop

Patients win smoking ban challenge

Patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act have won permission to bring a legal challenge over a smoking ban | BBC, UK

BBC's guide to rolling cigarettes sparks medical row

Website advice how to roll up encourages smoking, say senior doctors, who accuse corporation of irresponsibility | Guardian, UK

Light and airy betting shops 'open the door to problem gambling'

Professor Gerda Reith, of Glasgow University, said the proliferation of the games, coupled with more comfortable and welcoming surroundings, had "normalised" gambling | The Scotsman, UK

HIV and Injecting Drug Use - A Global Call for Action

The Official Declaration of the 2011 International Harm Reduction Conference | Editorial, Lancet | SMMGP, UK

Marches to legalise cannabis held

Legalise cannabis marches were held in Dublin and Cork on Saturday | Irish Times

ICGP alcohol project ends due to lack of funding

The former director of the ICGP’s “Helping Patients with Alcohol Problems” project, which ended last month, has criticised the “powers that be” for only paying “lip service” to alcohol-related issues | Irish Medical News

Can Ireland's Increased Rates of Alcoholic Liver Disease Morbidity and Mortality be Explained by Per Capita Alcohol Consumption?

These results indicate that there has been a genuine increase in the occurrence of and mortality from ALD and this is consistent with an increase in per capita consumption and harmful drinking patterns | Alcohol and Alcoholism

Discussion to shed insight on Insite

Federal government heads to Supreme Court of Canada to shut down Insite next week | Metro, Canada

Extra-strength heroin claims 20 lives in Lower Mainland: coroner

A batch of extra-strength heroin is on a deadly rampage in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, the B.C. Coroners Service warned last Thursday | Vancouver Sun, Canada

Newly Born, and Withdrawing From Painkillers

As prescription drug abuse ravages communities across the country, doctors are confronting an emerging challenge: newborns dependent on painkillers | New York Times, USA

New Federal Crackdown Confounds States That Allow Medical Marijuana

Under President Obama, the federal government had seemed to make a point of paying little attention — until now | New York Times, USA

In the US Army, less young men and women die in combat than die by their own actions

The Army’s vice-chief of staff, General Peter W Chiarelli, noted, if accidental deaths, often the result of drinking or drug abuse are added to the suicide column, then “less young men and women die in combat than die by their own actions” | The Herald, Scotland, UK

Are Hospital Readmissions Really a Bad Thing?

If you follow the logic of the anti-readmission crowd out, you arrive at the conclusion that the best hospitals are those that close and those that kill every patient on the surgical table, because both types of facilities have a re-admission rate of zero | Washington Monthly, USA

Tens of Thousands March in Mexico City

At the rally Sunday, Mr. Sicilia called on the government to change its strategy in the war, calling first for the resignation of Genaro García Luna, the director of public security and an architect of Mr. Calderón’s battle against the drug gangs | New York Times, USA