DS Daily - 26th March 2012

Druglink magazine

Latest issue: March/April 2012. Our free article this month is the cover story, Trouble ahead, lets face the music and dance | DrugScope, UK

The alcohol strategy sets out proposals to crackdown on our 'binge drinking' culture, cut the alcohol fuelled violence and disorder that blights too many of our communities, and slash the number of people drinking to damaging levels - Download | Home Office, UK

PM on alcohol pricing

Prime Minister: "We have to tackle the scourge of violence caused by binge drinking. And we have to do it now." | Number 10, UK

Coalition slashes government spending on drugs education by 80%

Experts condemn cuts and say the need for awareness about drugs among young people is greater than ever | Guardian, UK

Spend more of £2 billion health budget on alcohol – or new drinks strategy will struggle

A major shake-up of spending on health initiatives is vital if today’s welcome Alcohol Strategy announcement is to make a real dent on the country’s massive drink problems – including I in 4 adults drinking at hazardous levels and nearly half of 11-15 year-olds admitting having tried alcohol | Alcohol Concern, UK

Drinks companies threaten legal action over Prime Minister's assault on cheap alcohol

They claim the proposal is illegal under EU competition law. Some ministers are also understood to fear that the strategy could fall foul of the courts | Daily Mail, UK

Cameron's U-turn on alcohol pricing should be applauded

Too many people in Britain are drinking in the last chance saloon | The Herald, Scotland, UK

Lansley 'furious' but admits defeat over cheap alcohol

Andrew Lansley has dropped his opposition to plans to enforce a 40p minimum alcohol-unit price in an attempt to hang on to his place in the Cabinet after his handling of the NHS reforms | Guardian, UK

Patients to be quizzed by GPs about drinking under new alcohol strategy

Doctors may be paid to monitor patients' drinking in effort to tackle spiralling cost of alcohol-related disease | Guardian, UK

The new challenges of designer drugs and alcohol misuse

Leading doctors say drug treatment services should adapt their "tremendous" success to the new challenges of designer drugs and alcohol misuse | NTA, UK

Baroness Newlove - £1 million fund to tackle binge and underage drinking

A new £1 million fund to give local communities the tools they need to tackle binge and underage drinking is now open. The Alcohol Fund Prospectus and bidding form for applicants can be found here | Communities and Local Government, UK

Alcohol pricing

Example retail prices | Home Office, UK

Insurer confusion over drink driving

There are concerns that people with a minimal level of alcohol in their blood or who have taken prescription drugs could be caught out | BBC, UK

Anti-binge drinking plans: Can Britain call time on 1,000 years of boozing?

We need to be clear what we are up against: a culture of drinking going back centuries and the poverty underpinning it | The Mirror, UK

Extra smoking counselling 'doesn't help quitters'

Offering free nicotine patches or intensive counselling to smokers calling the English NHS helpline does not help them quit, a study in the BMJ says | BBC, UK

Tackling tuberculosis among hard-to-reach groups

To help drive down rates of the disease, NICE has published its second piece of guidance on TB which focuses specifically on hard-to-reach groups. This follows on from a 2011 updated clinical guideline on diagnosis and management of TB | NICE, UK

Two-thirds of drug users in study dead

Almost two-thirds of a group of intravenous drug-users have died in the 25 years since they enlisted in a unique medical study, research just published has found | Irish Times

UK sells drugs to Amsterdam

Sun joins raid on cannabis factory that supplied Amsterdam | The Sun, UK

'Explosive' increase in teenage girl drunks

The number of girls aged 10 to 24 treated in hospital for alcohol poisoning went up an 'explosive 104%' between 2005 and 2010, according to consumer safety association Consument en Veiligheid | Dutch News, Netherlands

Russian Heroin Market Worth $6 Bln – Drug Police

The heroin market in Russia is valued at $6 billion because of an influx of imports from Afghanistan’s booming drug production industry, head of the Federal Drug Control Service said on Friday | RIA Novosti, Russia

Latest research reveals new problems with drug testing

Criminal defense attorneys who specialize in drug cases may have clients charged with violation of conditions of probation, parole or pre-trial reliance on the basis of “proof” of drug use reported by drug testing laboratories | National Workrights Institute

'Master growers' cultivating a higher grade of marijuana

A new breed of connoisseur is producing pot that is potent, tastes smooth and has a pleasing aroma — the kind of product now expected by ever-more discriminating consumers who frequent medical cannabis dispensaries | LA Times, USA

Methed up

Attempts to prohibit the drug have caused a cottage industry to scale up | The Economist

Guidance in addressing viral hepatitis in people with substance use disorders

Addressing Viral Hepatitis in People With Substance Use Disorders is a new manual developed to provide behavioral health care programs offering substance abuse treatment services information to better address the needs of clients who have viral hepatitis | SAMHSA, USA

Managing chronic pain in adults with or in recovery from substance use disorders

Managing Chronic Pain in Adults With or in Recovery From Substance Use Disorders , is a new manual developed to equip clinicians with practical guidance and tools for treating chronic noncancer pain in adults with histories of substance use disorders | SAMHSA, USA

Guatemalan president leads drug legalization debate

just two months after taking office - the 61-year-old Guatemalan president is pushing a controversial proposal that has come under fire from U.S. officials and earned praise from people who were once his critics | CNN, USA

Guatemalan president wants US, other ‘consumer’ nations to pay for cost of seizing drugs

For every kilo of cocaine that is seized, we want to be compensated 50 percent by the consumer countries | Washington Post, USA

Guatemala's president urges debate on drug legalisation

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina has said the war on drugs has failed, and it is time to end the "taboo" on discussing decriminalisation | BBC, UK

Connections: family violence and AOD

This paper discusses the relationship between AOD misuse and family violence. It argues that a stronger focus by AOD services on the relationship between AOD misuse and family violence would improve the safety of women and children | VAADA, Australia

$10m trap nets drug ring

The Australian government authorised more than $10 million in suspected drug funds to be sent offshore in an extraordinary operation that revealed top Asian political and policing officials are involved in a criminal syndicate, according to an intelligence briefing | The Age, Australia

Follow UK drink rule, say Greens

Britain's decision to lift the minimum price of alcohol in a bid to counter widespread drunkenness should prompt the Australian government to rethink its refusal to increase taxes on cheap grog | The Age, Australia

Guide on Estimating Requirements for Substances under International Control

The Guide is meant to assist Governments of countries with low levels of consumption of controlled substances in calculating their requirements so that they can then submit to INCB estimates and assessments that accurately reflect those requirements. It could also be useful for Governments of countries in which the consumption levels for some substances are disproportionately high | INCB