DS Daily - 3rd April 2012 |
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The 2011 Home Affairs Select Committee Inquiry into Drugs - Response from DrugScope
We welcome the Government’s recognition of the importance of social re integration, but there are concerns among our members about their ability to access ‘recovery capital’ locally, as ring-fences are removed, and local authorities work to balance competing priorities at a time of radical changes to local strategic and commissioning structures, in a period of significant financial constraint | DrugScope, UK
Drink and Drugs News published
With a focus on families, a report from the Adfam conference and an interview with Viv Evans | Drink and Drugs News, UK
Family business
The importance of supporting families and parents was a sentiment echoed by speakers from all areas of family support at Adfam’s conference, as DDN reports | Drink and Drugs News, UK
Family favourite
Adfam chief executive Vivienne Evans talks to David Gilliver about the challenges facing family support in a world of tight budgets and political change | Drink and Drugs News, UK
The Hepatitis C Trust and Addaction join forces
Addaction will draw on the expertise of the Hep C Trust by seconding a member of their staff for the duration of the partnership. Utilising Addaction’s comprehensive service coverage across England, the shared staff member will deliver a nationwide training programme to 600 frontline staff | Hep C Trust, UK
Drug campaigners back 'legal high' warning
The UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC), which analyses drug laws, said simply adding to the long list of substances already banned "won't make much difference". Roger Howard, the UKDPC's chief executive, said: "We are deluding ourselves if we think that the temporary ban will solve the problem." | Independent, UK
Drug testing on arrest extended to Brighton
People arrested in Brighton on suspicion of a range of offences are to be tested for drugs at the city's custody centre | BBC, UK
Shelter launches new strategy
Shelter has launched a new strategy, which sets out our plans for the next three years | Shelter, UK
Homelessness Transition Fund opened
Two grants programmes available to applicants: Main and Small grants | Homeless Link, UK
Briefing Paper: Payment by Results for the Family Sector
The paper follows a roundtable event in late 2011 attended by policy-makers and sector leaders representing a range of family sector organisations, including charities, the civil service, local government, the private sector, think tanks and academics | The Children’s Society and the Family and Parenting Institute, UK
Why the WCA isn't working
Following his resignation from the Government's review panel for the Work Capability Assessment, our Chief Executive Paul Farmer blogs about the damage the process is doing to the lives of people with mental health problems | Mind, UK
Transcript: Troubled families reception
PM: "I really think it is a realistic prospect to try and turn around the lives of these 120,000 families over the next three years" | Number 10, UK
How to prepare for public health reforms
Councils are gearing up to take on public health, but what should they watch out for and how can services be maintained and protected? | Guardian, UK
Law Could Hamper Drug Tourism in the Netherlands
Coffee shop owners have so far failed in court to overturn the ban on sales to foreigners, but another lawsuit is being brought by the Cannabis Retailers Association, which represents the country’s 680 coffee shops | New York Times, USA
Toronto Public Health worried OxyContin addicts could overwhelm detox clinics
One month after OxyContin was replaced with a harder-to-abuse pill, Toronto Public Health warns treatment and detox programs are already stretched beyond capacity | The Star, Canada
Federal Officials Raid Medical Marijuana School in Oakland
Federal agents on Monday raided a medical marijuana training school in the San Francisco Bay area that is at the heart of California’s marijuana legalization movement | New York Times, USA
War on drugs takes center stage as Calderon meets with Obama
The unchecked scourge of drug violence in Mexico and that country's campaign to hobble the cartels is expected to overshadow economic discussions when Mexican President Felipe Calderon visits the White House | LA Times, USA
Obama says drug violence can hurt US-Mexico relations
Testy Calderon says US partly to blame | Washington Post, USA
US, Mexico leaders trade barbs on drug violence
The explosion of drug-fueled violence along Mexico's border with the United States could harm relations between the two nations, President Barack Obama said Monday; Mexico's leader retorted that much of the problem of drugs and guns begins on the U.S. side of the line | CBS, USA
Evaluation of Practice Guidelines for Cannabis Use Treatment - Survey
We are looking for health professionals who work with people who use cannabis to participate in an online survey about cannabis use guidelines | National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, Australia
Decriminalisation of illicit drugs
Julia Gillard has criticised a new report advocating the decriminalisation of illicit drugs saying tough policing was necessary to prevent the devastating consequences of drug use | The Australian
Carr joins calls for rethink of drugs laws
Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr says the policing of 'soft' drugs is a waste of police time, and that he would support their "effective decriminalisation" | ABC News, Australia
What are the likely costs and benefits of a change in Australia’s current policy on illicit drugs?
This is a background paper for the Australia 21 Roundtable, to be held in early 2012, at which national opinion leaders familiar with Australian and international public policy, and drug policy experts, will discuss the question ‘What are the likely costs and benefits of a change in Australia’s current policy on illicit drugs’. It is shaped around the following 15 questions | Australia 21
Benzodiazepine update
Our findings support research that among people who inject drugs those who use benzodiazepines have poorer physical and mental health and are more likely to have been involved in violent crime - Download | NDARC, Australia
DrugWorld Update
Paul Cook