DS Daily - 11th June 2012 |
 |
Why the Scots die younger: Synthesizing the evidence
Full text of article on | Public Health
Drink and drugs put Scots at twice the risk of suicide
Dependency on drugs and alcohol in Scotland is fuelling a suicide rate almost double that of the rest of the UK | The Herald, Scotland, UK
The seven ages of drug addiction: The highs and the lows by those who experienced them
Alcohol, LSD, cannabis, heroin, Ecstasy, cocaine and now legal highs – seven drugs that encapsulate seven decades. But how did they feel to those who took them? And do they have any regrets? | Independent, UK
Donna Dougan – Carrying the Olympic Torch 2012
Donna, who is Recovery Navigator will be carrying the Olympic Torch through the streets of Dunfermline. Donna has been chosen as an official Olympic Torchbearer because her enthusiasm for recovery shines through | Phoenix Futures, UK
Taking the Leadership Challenge
The 100 per cent pass rate showed that their investment in an accredited course paid off | Blenheim CDP, UK
Doctors call for ban on TV adverts for alcohol
Thirty leading medical bodies and charities have called for a total ban on advertising for alcohol on television | Telegraph, UK
Government's Alcohol Strategy
On 12 June the Health Committee will hold its final oral evidence session on the Government’s Alcohol Strategy | Parliament, UK
Threat of aversive disulfiram reaction does deter drinking
Given effective supervision from family or clinicians to help ensure patients take the tablets, this first systematic synthesis of research finds that the drug disulfiram, which produces an unpleasant physical reaction to drinking, does promote abstinence in the treatment of alcohol dependence | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Sainsbury's sorry for alcohol sign
A supermarket has been forced to remove a sign encouraging people to buy large amounts of alcohol following pressure from a leading campaign group | The Herald, Scotland, UK
Alcohol costs Chorley £43million a year
The figures, released for the first time in a report, commissioned by North West Employers and Drink Wise North West, were put together to show the cost of alcohol to our society | Lancashire Telegraph, UK
Child neglect cases reported to NSPCC rise 30% in a year
Callers to the NSPCC helpline described children going hungry and begging neighbours for food. Others were worried about children left at home alone, or outside in the cold for hours on end, or children whose parents had drink or drug addictions | Observer, UK
We must not abandon the battle against child poverty
Last week, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), established by Iain Duncan Smith, the welfare secretary, published a paper called Rethinking Child Poverty. The report was woefully inaccurate in its analysis of Labour's strategy, muddled in its "rethinking" and unremitting in its determination to frame child poverty as mainly an issue of morality and behaviour, citing adult addiction, poor parenting, worklessness and family breakdown - Editorial | Observer, UK
Is the future of drugs safe and non-addictive?
In years to come alcohol may be replaced with happier alternatives and we could all be immunised against developing harmful habits. An edited extract from Drugs Without The Hot Air by David Nutt | Guardian, UK
Draft Council Conclusions on the new EU drugs strategy
The Council adopted conclusions on the new EU drugs strategy (10231/12), which is the political framework in the field of drugs for 2013-2020 setting out the longer-term strategic development of the EU drugs policy | Council of the European Union
Big rise in prescription drugs for sale illegally
There has been an alarming rise in the volume of prescription drugs, including date rape pills, being seized from illegal street traders | Irish Examiner
Determination of the burden of hepatitis c virus infection in Ireland
This is a interview with Dr Lelia Thornton of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre in Dublin | INEF, Ireland
Block, amend, delay
Tobacco industry efforts to influence the European Union’s Tobacco Products Directive (2001/37/EC). Download | Smokefree Partnership
Researchers launch website that monitors the tobacco industry
A ground-breaking new online resource, called TobaccoTactics.org, has been launched by researchers at the University Tobacco Control Research Group | University of Bath, UK
Health drive is going up in smoke
The Rhondda Cynon Taff pension fund – which controls the pension assets of Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and RCT County Borough Council employees – invested £36.5m in global tobacco companies including Japan Tobacco, Reynolds American and Imperial Tobacco in 2010-11 | Daily Post, UK
Impaired Judgment: Assessing the Appropriateness of Drug Treatment Courts as a Response to Drug Use in Canada
The purpose of this report is to critically examine drug treatment courts (DTCs) in Canada using the available evidence, which includes process and outcome evaluations of existing DTCs, grey literature and academic research | Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
OxyContin, not Bath Salts, is the drug of choice of Appalachian addicts
Prescription drug abuse, specifically opioids, such as OxyContin derived from natural or synthetic forms of opium or morphine, is so prevalent in Appalachia that a new word has been created just to describe those addicted to their abuse: Pillbillies | Washington Times, USA
‘Study Drugs’ Popular Among High School Students
Stimulant medications prescribed for children with A.D.H.D. are being abused by high school students wanting to study late into the night and stay focused during exams. Related article | New York Times, USA
Grieving Mom Lobbies for Mandatory Drug Rehab
Struggling to have Florida lawmakers pass The Jennifer Act to enforce current laws that allow relatives to force addicts into long-term treatment despite their objections | TrustLaw, USA
Candidates in Mexico Signal a New Tack in the Drug War
The top three contenders for Mexico’s presidency have all promised a major shift in the country’s drug war strategy, placing a higher priority on reducing the violence in Mexico than on using arrests and seizures to block the flow of drugs to the United States | New York Times, USA
On the border: Guns, drugs - and a betrayal of trust
This article is part of an occasional series looking at the violence tied to Mexican drug cartels, their expanding global connections and how they affect people's daily lives | CNN, USA
Puerto Rico: A forgotten front in America's drug war?
Up to 80% of the drugs that pass through Puerto Rico end up in cities across the eastern seaboard of the United States, officials say. And nearly a third of drugs destined for the continental United States pass through the Caribbean | CNN, USA
New directions for alcohol and drug treatment: a roadmap
The Minister for Mental Health, Mary Wooldridge has released New directions for alcohol and drug treatment services: A roadmapto guide the reform of Victoria’s alcohol and drug treatment services - Download | Department of Health, Victoria, Australia
Decriminalization and Initiation into Cannabis Use
Decriminalizing cannabis shifts the age distribution of uptake towards younger age groups while leaving the proportion of those who will start using cannabis unchanged. This suggests that decriminalization e ects when individuals start using cannabis, rather than whether or not they start | University of Melbourne, Australia
Big Tobacco scrambles to change government's mind on plain packaging
Big tobacco is still trying to talk the government out of its plain packaging plan for cigarettes. But it is still unclear if one of the world's most powerful lobbies will be any match for MMP backroom politics as the National Party seeks to keep the anti-smoking Maori Party onside | National Business Review, New Zealand
I had to smuggle drugs to save son says Bali mother
The British mother facing the death penalty for smuggling £1.6million of drugs into Bali has claimed she did it in a desperate bid to try to save her son’s life | The Express, UK