DS Daily - 17th August 2012 |
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Crises and radical thinking on drug policy
Reform has always been a “two-steps forward, one-step back” undertaking | New Statesman, UK
The battle to tackle drug addiction is not lost - Paul Hayes responds to the New Statesman
Responding to an article by Malcolm Beith in the current issue of The New Statesman magazine (Mexico's drug war: the battle without hope, 13/8/12), NTA chief executive, Paul Hayes argues that, despite the situation in producer countries, the battle to tackle drug addiction in England is far from lost and the debate about legalisation is a distraction from facing and comprehensively addressing the social and economic factors that underpin drug use, addiction and the drugs trade | NTA, UK
Fears as 'Meow Meow' drug use explodes in South West Wales
Director of Swansea Drugs Project Ifor Glyn said he had never seen a drug take hold in South West Wales so quickly in his 20 years of working as a drug therapist | This is South Wales, UK
SMMGP Policy Update
Medications in recovery. Re-orientating drug dependence treatment - From access to recovery: analysing six years of drug treatment data - The role of residential rehab in an integrated treatment system | SMMGP, UK
Baby boomers urged to get tested for hepatitis C
Hepatitis C virus is most commonly spread today through sharing needles to inject drugs | Daily Mail, UK
New recovery community
By registering on our website, you can access the 'SMART Community' social network, chat system, training site and other resources such as videos and 70 pages of SMART Recovery tools and articles. There are separate spaces for people in recovery, interested professionals and family members | SMART Recovery, UK
Local Alcohol Profiles for England
Annual update of Local Alcohol Profiles for England | Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
A positive choice: young people who drink little or no alcohol
This study examined the lives of young people who drink little or no alcohol. Summary | Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK
A tipple at dinner 'could turn children into binge drinkers'
Parents who believe that following the Continental way of introducing their children to alcohol early as a way of promoting responsible drinking could actually risk them developing alcoholism in later life, a new study has claimed | Telegraph, UK
An evaluation of the implementation of, and compliance with, the objectives of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005
The study found that although there were perceived barriers to all of the approaches aimed at enforcing underage alcohol sales regulations, test purchasing was seen as a very useful way to gauge and potentially improve licensed trade staff practice. Download | Health Scotland, UK
Making every contact count: A joint approach to preventing homelessness
In this report we turn our attention up stream to think about how services can be managed in a way that prevents all households, regardless of whether they are families, couples, or single people, from reaching a crisis point where they are faced with homelessness. Download | Communities and Local Government, UK
HomelessLink responds to Government homeless prevention plan
Four additional commitments to realise the ambition behind the ‘Making Every Contact Count’ report | Homeless Link, UK
Charity demands welfare policy rethink as homelessness grows
Charities have called for a "rethink of damaging welfare policies" after official figures revealed that levels of homelessness rose in 2011-12, while the number of homes being built fell | Guardian, UK
Councils say Government's homelessness report 'misses the bigger picture'
Councils are working closely with partners to place people into secure, appropriate accommodation and provide the most comprehensive support they can ... "However, this is only getting tougher as a result of job losses, rent increases and welfare cuts | Local Government Association, UK
Police and crime commissioners to swear an oath of impartiality
The oath is designed to provide a platform for PCCs to set out publicly their commitment to tackling their new role with integrity | Home Office, UK
Statistics on Smoking - England, 2012
The report aims to present a broad picture of health issues relating to smoking in England and covers topics such as smoking prevalence, habits, behaviours and attitudes among adults and school children, smoking-related ill health and mortality and smoking-related costs | NHS Information Centre, UK
Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services
England, April 2011 to March 2012 | NHS Information Centre, UK
About 1,260 hospital admissions a day due to smoking, new figures show
An estimated 460,000 hospital admissions in 2010/11 among people aged 35 and over were due to smoking, according to new figures | NHS Information Centre, UK
New self-management guidance launched to help people with long term mental health problems
Today the Mental Health Foundation, in collaboration with Hafal and Bipolar UK, is launching a new self-management booklet, Take Control, to ensure people with serious mental health problems are able to take more control of their lives | Mental Health Foundation, UK
Alcohol pushes up suicide rates in teenagers
The first analysis of the suicide rates of those under the age of 18 reveals that the number among 15- to 17-year-olds has increased substantially | Independent, Ireland
Canadians among top buyers, sellers on site for illegal drugs
Canadians are among the top sellers and buyers of marijuana, steroids, cocaine and other drugs available at the click of a mouse on an anonymous website that functions like a black market version of eBay, a study has found | CTV, Canada
Clinical Drug Testing in Primary Care
Offers information to clinicians deciding whether to introduce drug testing in their practice; presents the mechanics of testing and the steps clinicians can take to prepare their staff; and provides guidance on implementing it in their practice. Download | SAMHSA, USA
Mexico's drug war: the battle without hope
Beheadings, torture, shootings uploaded to YouTube – the “war on drugs” has ravaged Mexico. But as the US considers treating the cartels as terrorist threats, the one solution it won’t consider is decriminalisation | New Statesman, UK
Crises and radical thinking on drug policy
Reform has always been a “two-steps forward, one-step back” undertaking | Transnational Institute, Netherlands
SA rejects ACT's prison drug program
The South Australian Department for Correctional Services has rejected a call to introduce a needle exchange program into the state's prisons | ABC News, Australia
Prison guards step up needle action
Prison guards are stepping up their opposition to a needle exchange program at Canberra's jail, by taking the matter to the industrial umpire | ABC News, Australia
A deadly wait
Heroin use in jails has been substantially reduced through the use of methadone programs. A total of 17% of all prisoners in NSW are now on methadone treatment. But problems arise when prisoners are released from jail, and cannot get on to the methadone program on the outside | Radio ABC News, Australia
Alcohol in Cross-hairs but Premier is gun-shy
Let's be perfectly clear. The measures announced on Wednesday amount to little more than a glorified responsible service of alcohol initiative. Any plan that fails to address the availability and dangerous oversupply of alcohol has missed the point | The Age, Australia