DS Daily - 2nd May 2013

Rural drug support future funding cuts denied

Fears that money to help drug users in parts of rural Wales could face a future cut of up to a fifth have been denied by the Welsh government | BBC, UK

GHB/GBL - every drop counts - video

Every drop counts. Whether it's GHB or GBL there are no other drugs where dosing is so important and where tolerance does not protect you against overdose. We talk to a forensic toxicologist on G dosing and risks | YouTube, UK

Plain fag packets plan up in smoke

David Cameron has scrapped plans to force all cigarettes to be sold in plain packs, The Sun can reveal | Sun, UK

Four in hospital as rogue heroin is sold in Portsmouth

Four heroin users are in hospital after a rogue batch of the class A drug was sold in Portsmouth. Police believe at least four people have been taken to hospital in the past 24 hours, after suffering an adverse reaction to the drug | Portsmouth News, UK

The online drug marketplace Silk Road is collapsing – did hackers, government or Bitcoin kill it?

At 6am this morning, I got an email from one of my sleazier contacts. It simply said "looks like Silk Road has collapsed". I fired the Tor browser you need to connect to the site and, indeed, it wasn't there | Telegraph, UK

Drug consumption rooms in Brighton

The Independent Drugs Commission for Brighton and Hove made the proposal that Brighton should consider establishing a drugs consumption room... Unsurprisingly, there has been huge professional and media interest with all points of view expressed. This is a fairly representative sample | Russell Webster.com, UK

Not yet good enough: personal, social, health and economic education in schools

This report (PDF) evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education in primary and secondary schools in England | Ofsted, UK

Parliamentary Question – DfE spending on drug education

Conservative MP Nick Dubois asks the DfE: (1) how much the Department spent on educating young people on the risks associated with ... drugs; (2) how much the Department spent on advertising the risks associated with... drugs via the Frank drug information campaign in each of the last five years | Mentor Thinks, UK

Public Health England – marketing plan and youth

Public Health England have published their Marketing Plan 2013-14 (PDF) which includes a section on youth. The plan acknowledges that teenagers face a number of pressures and that it’s a time when many choose to smoke, drink, take drugs and have sex for the first time | Mentor Thinks, UK

Lindsay Sandiford accuses UK of condoning death penalty

The British woman facing death by firing squad for drug smuggling in Bali has said the UK government is doing "very little" to support her | BBC, UK

McDonnell 'annoyed' at cannabis factory in rented house

SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell has said he is annoyed that a cannabis factory with an estimated value of £100,000 was found in a house he rented out in Belfast | BBC, UK

Channel 4 boss Jay Hunt wants to bring back Drugs Live with celebs smoking cannabis and getting drunk

Last year's controversial show saw 25 volunteers, including a vicar and actor Keith Allen, take ecstasy, and the live experiment show could be back soon | Mirror, UK

Complicated Matters: improving responses to domestic and sexual violence, substance use and mental ill-health

AVA has worked with agencies to improve responses to survivors and perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence who are also affected by problematic substance use and/or mental ill-health. To mark the end of the project, we invite you to join us for a breakfast seminar to learn about meeting the needs of these survivors | AVA, UK

Prisons aren’t the right place for people with mental illness. We must find another way

Despite overwhelming evidence there is still continuing reluctance from politicians to accept just how useless short prison sentences are | Independent, UK

Canada is proof that state-controlled drinking is good for health

New research finds minimum alcohol prices in Canada save lives without harming the drinks industry | BBC, UK

Team GB runner Lynsey Sharp: Drugs are a huge problem in athletics

Scottish runner Lynsey Sharp believes doping in athletics is a “huge problem” and plenty of athletes are cheating without being caught | Independent, UK

Drugs and security to top Obama and Pena Nieto talks in Mexico - video

US president Barack Obama will begin a two-day visit to Central America and Mexico on Thursday | BBC, UK

Ghost pueblos of Mexico

In the war against the drug cartels, Mexican villagers have paid a terrible price. In the Costa Grande region of Guerrero state, whole communities have been driven from their homes | BBC, UK

Papua New Guinea PM plans to implement death penalty

Papua New Guinea's prime minister has announced plans to begin implementing the death penalty and to increase prison sentences for violent crimes | BBC, UK

Obama urged to address drug war related human rights violations during visit to Mexico

US President Barack Obama should address human rights violations related to Mexico’s Washington-backed war on drugs when he visits the country this week, Human Rights Watch urged | Raw Story, USA

The World's Best Drug Laws

What are the best and worst countries to live in if you're a drug user? What is a really good set of drug laws, anyway? One man's view: as provocative and contentious as you'd expect | Fix, USA

Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001; what can it teach Illinois?

Liberalized drug laws are on the rise, with Chicago decriminalizing marijuana possession, the Illinois House approving pot for medical use and two states legalizing the substance altogether. But those are baby steps compared with the drug policy adopted by Portugal | Chicago Tribune, USA