DS Daily - 8th March 2013 |
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Government response to the Home Affairs Committee report on drugs (PDF)
This Command Paper is published in response to the Home Affairs Select
Committee’s Ninth Report of Session 2012-13 entitled ‘Drugs: Breaking the Cycle.' | UK Parliament, UK
Driving under the influence of drugs (PDF)
Report from the Expert Panel on Drug Driving | Dept of Transport, UK
Theresa May orders study into which drug laws work in other countries
Review will look at 'depenalisation' in Portugal, but home secretary rejects MPs' call for rapid royal commission on reform | Guardian, UK
Liberal Democrat minister on drugs fact-finding mission
A Liberal Democrat minister is to visit Portugal on a fact-finding mission to study the nation’s softer drugs laws | Telegraph, UK
Drinking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey)
The General Household Survey (GHS) and the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) have, between them, been measuring drinking behaviour for over 30 years. This chapter presents information on recent trends over time in drinking behaviour and detailed data for the 2011 survey year | ONS, UK
Smoking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey)
The General Household Survey (GHS) and General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) have been monitoring smoking prevalence for over 35 years. The 2011 survey included questions on cigarette consumption, type of cigarette smoked, how old respondents were when they started smoking, and dependence on cigarettes | ONS, UK
ONS survey: Smoking halves in 40 years
Smoking in Britain has more than halved and people are drinking on fewer nights of the week, according to a snapshot survey covering the past 40 years | BBC, UK
Dying habits: UK cuts down on heavy drinking and smoking
Office for National Statistics issues snapshot of demographic, social and economic change over 40 years | Guardian, UK
Revealed: The 'drug-drive' limits which will lead to prosecutions of drivers under the influence of illegal substances
Experts have analysed levels of substances likely to cause a crash. Roadside tests expected by 2014 to arrest and prosecute drug-drivers. Motorists on prescribed medication such as morphine will not be penalised | Mail Online, UK
Recovery Partnership Residential Rehabilitation Definition consultation
The Recovery Partnership's residential rehabilitation expert group is currently developing quality standards for residential rehabilitation services. As an initial part of that work they are conducting a survey to support the development of an agreed definition of residential rehabilitation services, and responses from services would be appreciated. Developing an agreed definition will help progress work on developing quality standards | Recovery Partnership, UK
Police warn over mystery 'Rockstar' drug
A mystery drug known as "Rockstar" has prompted a warning from police after three people were admitted to hospital suffering a severe reaction to it | Independent, UK
Legal high drugs: Charity Sands Cymru warns of problems
The rise of new "legal high" drugs in south Wales has the potential to cause even more problems than those from the influx of mephedrone, a drugs charity is warning | BBC, UK
Anti-drug agencies 'missed quick wins' in battle against mephedrone in Wales
One of Wales’ most senior intelligence officers has said he personally feels the country missed “some quick wins” in the fight against the illegal drug mephedrone | Wales Online
Will plain packaging of cigarettes work? A look at the current evidence
If tobacco companies are forced to sell all products in plain, standardised packets, will this deter young people from taking up the habit or result in small businesses losing money? | Guardian, UK
For methadone’s failures, prescribing injectable heroin benefits women as well as men
From Canada the first study to show that among long-term, severely opiate dependent patients who have not responded well to prior treatment, women as well as men benefit more from being prescribed injectable heroin than oral methadone | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Police foiled Shetland drug plot, court hears
A court has heard how police foiled a drug gang's efforts to smuggle a kilogram of heroin into Shetland | BBC, UK
Scientists hit back at drinks industry criticisms of research on minimum pricing
Scientists have today spoken out against criticisms from the drinks industry of research on the effects of minimum pricing | IAS, UK
The challenge of NPS
There’s an interesting opinion piece by Yury Fedotov, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime looking at the messages for young people around new psychoactive substances | MentorThinks, UK
Lord Patten makes his first visit to BBC Children in Need funded charity, Blenheim CDP
Lord Patten, Chair of the BBC Trust, visited Insight K&C on 5th March to see the invaluable work that they do with young people who are affected by drug and/or alcohol problems | Blenheim CDP, UK
Major drugs haul in India's Punjab
Police in India's Punjab state say they have seized 26kg (57lbs) of heroin and arrested two men, including a Canada-based Indian, media reports say | BBC, UK
Women and drug use in Europe - video
For most people affected by drug use problem, there are family members who are affected also. The negative consequence can be more serious when it is a mother who is using drugs - released to mark Internatinal Women's Day | EMCDDA, Portugal
Testing the waters: conference on detecting illicit drugs in wastewater - video
The conference will review the 'state of the art' in this emerging discipline, providing an opportunity to present latest research findings, methodological developments and new applications | EMCDDA, Portugal
About one in five U.S. adult cigarette smokers have tried an electronic cigarette
In 2011, about 21 percent of adults who smoke traditional cigarettes had used electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes, up from about 10 percent in 2010, according to a study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC, USA
Legal Killer: New psychoactive substances are often lawful, but deadly. What's the message to young people?
In the most famous section of the 1940 film Fantasia, when the Sorcerer's Apprentice splits the broomstick with an axe, he finds the splinters multiplying into yet more magical brooms. New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) are just like the brooms in Fantasia | UNODC
UN Drugs Chief: Legal Highs are "A Threat to Public Health". Angelus says: "'Legal Highs' Are a Bigger Danger Than Horsemeat."
Following the UN's report this week on legal highs, the drugs charity, Angelus, has called for the Government to accept that the threat to public safety from legal highs is considerably greater than that of horsemeat | PRNewswire, UK
U.N. Report Suggests Some Autism & Addiction Treatments Are Akin to Torture
So-called treatments for drug users and the disabled in some places of the world—including the U.S.— are far from helpful, says a new United Nations (U.N.) report | Time, USA