DS Daily - 17th September 2012

DrugScope Survey on the Public Health Reforms in England

The 2012 Health and Social Care Act has introduced sweeping reforms that will see the delivery of public health services in England, including drug and alcohol treatment and prevention, become the statutory responsibility of local authorities from April 2013. DrugScope has produced a short survey in order to help shape the debate and inform national and local priorities | DrugScope, UK

Residential Rehabilitation – Quality standards framework

The Recovery Partnership is inviting bids or applications to produce a quality standards framework for residential rehabilitation services providing drug and/or alcohol treatment. Full details | DrugScope, UK

Children found taking mephedrone as usage soars, say drug workers

Anecdotal evidence grows of drug's prevalence on UK streets, while police in south Wales issue warning to parents and schools | Guardian, UK

'The worst mistake I ever made': a 12-year-old's life on mephedrone

Now 14, this girl from Maidenhead began using mephedrone at the age of 12. She is currently getting help at Turning Point | Guardian, UK

Tories call for more drug centres

Tories are calling for more drug rehabilitation centres as an alternative to the continued use of the heroin substitute methadone. The number of centres in Scotland has been reduced from 29 to 23 since 2008-9, according to figures highlighted by the party | Press Association via Google

Scotland's drug rehabilitation centres shutting down.. despite drug deaths rise

Twenty per cent of centres have shut down in past three years even as Record reveals methadone kills more than heroin | Daily Record, UK

Surge in jail drugs

There were 4,708 seizures in England and Wales last year — a ten per cent leap from 4,278 in 2010| The Sun, UK

Recovery resources available to help commissioners and services meet the drug strategy outcomes

Organised around the eight drug strategy outcomes, the Recovery Resources are primarily for commissioners, though treatment services and professionals will also find them usefu | National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, UK

'Having anthrax didn't make me think I should stop taking heroin'

As a second drug user dies of anthrax in Blackpool, a former addict explains why warnings about the disease are ignored | Guardian, UK

Can MDMA help to cure depression?

It is thought to have 500,000 users in the UK, yet research into MDMA – the main ingredient in ecstasy – has been minimal. Now Channel 4 is funding a controversial study with volunteers including writer Lionel Shriver and actor Keith Allen | Guardian, UK

Brief intervention makes no difference to heart disease risk

General practice patients in the Netherlands at risk of cardiovascular disease did not further reduce their risks (including drinking and smoking) in response to brief advice from the practice nurse intended to be delivered in accordance with motivational interviewing principles | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

Supermarkets in line for alcohol windfall

Supermarkets will be handed a profits windfall worth as much as £2.2bn if Government plans to impose a minimum alcohol price succeed, according to research | Telegraph, UK

EU bid to block Scotland's minimum drink price plan

The Bulgarian Government lodged a formal objection with the European Commission, which is seeking the views of members states | The Herald, Scotland, UK

The 29th British Social Attitudes report

Anxiety Britain: Worries on cuts and public services present big challenges for Cameron's Coalition | NatCen Social Research, UK

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Annual Report

Unfortunately, as with all public services, considerable efficiencies are being required of me (my budget allocation reduced by 7% this year and it has been indicated that it will reduce overall by some 21% between 2010–11 and 2014–15). | Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales, UK

Children in peril as women are jailed in record numbers

Britain has the highest rate of female imprisonment in the European Union, with 10,181 women put behind bars last year alone. That statistic has raised fears that the criminal justice system is creating a lost generation of children raised without mothers | Independent, UK

Special Independent investigation: Babies behind bars

The shocking rate at which Britain jails women damages thousands of innocent children every year and poses mounting risks for society | Independent, UK

Tsar quality

Dr Ruth Levitt and her colleagues at Kings College London have been studying tsars and I've been talking to her and three-times tsar Sir Peter North, who recommended changes to laws on driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol | BBC, UK

Private sector 'could control local services'

All local services could eventually be outsourced to private companies or charities, a third of council leaders and chief executives believe | Independent, UK

Health firms told to get set for £20bn NHS bonanza

Report says there is 'significant opportunity for private sector in primary and secondary care' | Guardian, UK

Welfare bill won't work, key advisers tell Iain Duncan Smith

Committee condemns 'unfair' plans for part-time workers amid growing controversy over universal credit | Guardian, UK

Lethal powder the first of kind in Europe

The powder combination of ecstasy and the amphetamine PMMA found in Cork might be the first discovery of its kind in Europe | Irish Examiner

Chemical chaos: the new drugs

The recent deaths of two men in Kinsale highlight the wide availability of new synthetic drugs. Their ingredients are often unknown to users, and their effects can be lethal | Irish Times

Homeless charity: Needle exchange clients on rise

Merchant's Quay Ireland has released details of its annual review, which also shows the group provided over 73,000 meals to homeless people last year | Irish Examiner

Recreational users warned about mixing drugs

Recreational drug users need to become more aware of the dangers of mixing cocaine, ecstasy, and amphetamines with alcohol, according to some of the country’s drug experts | Irish Examiner

Drug centre for mothers closes doors to new cases

The only residential drug treatment centre in the State for mothers and their young children has stopped taking new referrals and plans to close when the women residing there have completed their treatment because it can no longer fund itself | Irish Times

Has Britain's war on drugs led to more executions in Iran?

Human rights campaigners are increasingly worried that funding to combat the narcotics trade is providing indirect assistance to a judicial system that is engaged in what has been described as 'a killing spree of staggering proportions' | Guardian, UK

Iran's children look on and families cry for pardons at daily hangings

Amnesty International has received credible reports of 100 other executions which were not officially acknowledged, mostly of convicted drugs offenders | Observer, UK

InSite enflames indoor smoking controversy

B.C. seniors looking to get their smoking room back have found a strange bedfellow in their fight — the group that runs the safe-injection facility InSite in the Downtown Eastside | 24Hours, Vancouver, Canada

OHRC consultation report on human rights, mental health and addictions

This report outlines what the OHRC heard in its largest-ever policy consultation across Ontario, and sets out a number of key recommendations and OHRC commitments to address human rights issues that affect people with mental health disabilities or addictions. Download | OHRC, Canada

Venezuela, Bolivia slam U.S. for drug traffic accusations

The governments of both Venezuela and Bolivia rejected Saturday the accusations made against them by the White House in its latest memo regarding the war on drugs, and said the U.S. was chiefly responsible for this scourge | FOX NEWS, USA

Drug policy reform

Moving beyond strict criminal penalties for drugs | Policy Talk, Australian Drug Foundation

AOD Treatment Principles Consultation

The Mental Health, Drugs and Regions Division within the Victorian Department of Health has developed a consultation paper on AOD treatment principles. The purpose of this document is to present an overview of various principles and to seek feedback on how these might inform the development of a set of AOD treatment principles that are specific to the Victorian system | Victorian Department of Health, Australia