DS Daily - 25th April 2012

Charting New Waters: Delivering drug policy at a time of radical reform and financial austerity

The funding, commissioning, management and delivery structures for addressing the problems associated with illicit drugs in England are experiencing an unprecedented level of change. Our study reveals a broad picture of upheaval and uncertainty and this summary sets out our study’s main findings - Download | UKDPC

Putting Public Health First

A Response to the Home Office "Putting Full Recovery First | UK Harm Reduction Alliance

Charities unite in opposition to government drugs policy

Charities have united to condemn the government's 'dangerous' and 'trivialising' approach to drug treatment | Guardian, UK

Home Affairs Committee hears evidence from Russell Brand

The Home Affairs Select Committee's fourth evidence session in the inquiry into drugs policy - Parliament TV Also from Chip Somers, Focus12, Mary Brett, Kathy Gyngell, and Peter Hitchens| Parliament, UK

Russell Brand says drug addiction should be treated as a health matter

Actor tells MPs committee on drugs that an abstinence-based recovery approach would better benefit addicts | Guardian, UK

The pro-drugs lobby never sleeps

Can we trust wobbly Dave to silence fresh demands for legalisation? - Kathy Gyngell | Daily Mail, UK

Hitchens urges tough drugs policy

Newspaper columnist Peter Hitchens has told a committee of MPs that he would like to see the government introduce a more hardline policy on drugs | BBC, UK

Decriminalise drugs says Labour peer Robert Winston

Labour peer Robert Winston said there was a "strong case" for the decriminalisation of drugs, arguing that the policy of prohibition used around the world was not working | BBC, UK

A methadone user's view of the government's abstinence policy

'I see it as a recipe for disaster' | Guardian, UK

Police probing “counterfeit” diazepam health scare

The drug at the centre of an urgent health alert in the Highlands maybe similar to a drug which recently caused adverse effects among users in the Lothians | Scottish Drugs Forum, UK

More than 250 officers arrest 38 in drugs operation

Police have arrested 38 people in an operation across five counties into the supply of Class A drugs | BBC, UK

Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces, 2010-11

The statistics in this bulletin relate to drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which divides drugs into three classes A, B and C | Scottish Government, UK

Leeds Prison helping inmates to break free from drugs

A zero-tolerance crackdown and a new recovery wing are helping Leeds Prison fight back in the war on drugs. Sam Casey was given exclusive behind-the-walls access to find out how a change in approach is working | Yorkshire Evening Post, UK

Britain has world's third highest proportion of sexually active teens

UK also ranks badly among high-income nations for harmful teenage drinking, according to study in Lancet medical journal | Guardian, UK

LGA taskforce to support councils setting up police and crime panels

A pool of experts set up by the Local Government Association (LGA) will support the work of councils establishing police and crime panels ahead of elected police commissioners taking office later this year | LGA, UK

Ministers report progress on diversion schemes for mentally ill young offenders

Youth justice minister Crispin Blunt and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley have outlined the progress made towards diverting the mentally ill away from the justice system into treatment and care | Children & Young People Now, UK

Databases continue to proliferate across Whitehall

A newly created Home Office database holds anonymised information on more than one million drug-misusing individuals identified through contact with treatment services or criminal justice agencies between 2005 and 2009 | Guardian, UK

Government revives plan for greater data-sharing between agencies

Proposals expected to include fast-track procedures to license sharing of personal data in areas where it is currently prohibited | Guardian, UK

Help us improve access to local practice and innovation

This questionnaire seeks to explore how health and social care professionals share practice and innovation with other organisations and individuals | NICE, UK

NICE publishes final guidance on two new drugs for chronic hepatitis C

Healthcare guidance body NICE has today issued final guidance recommending boceprevir (Victrelis, Merck Sharp & Dohme) and telaprevir (Incivo, Janssen Cilag), in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, as options for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C in adults with compensated liver disease | NICE, UK

Interview with the Clinical Services Manager Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre

This is an interview with Jennifer Holmes Clinical Services Manager for the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) focuses on the work of the MISC and discusses the impact it has on the community in the area | INEF, Ireland

Youth mental health and addictions centre badly needed – Hoskins

Ruby Hoskins indicated school councils are supposed to advocate for education improvements. However, for the past five years, she said a lot of that time has also been spent campaigning to address mental health and drug issues among students | Southern Gazette, Canada