DS Daily - 7th May 2013

Drugs Recovery Adviser appointed by Public Health England

Internationally recognised addiction expert Dr A Thomas McLellan will provide independent advice on PHE’s work to tackle the problem of drug misuse | PHE, UK

Launch of an Alcohol and Crime Commission

The drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction, supported by Heineken, has launched an Alcohol and Crime Commission to examine how support can be given to prisoners suffering from alcohol abuse - especially after release | InsideTime, UK [ See more from Addaction on this here]

Royal colleges join forces with Australian counterparts in call for standard packs

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has joined the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Australian counterparts, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, to call on the government to push ahead with plans for standardised packaging of tobacco products | RCP, UK

Tobacco lobby told Government: branding ban will cost you millions

Department of Health civil servants met lobbyists from the cigarette manufacturer Imperial Tobacco before the Government shelved proposals to introduce plain packaging laws this week, it can be revealed | Independent, UK

No 10 accused of 'caving in' to cigarette lobby as plain packs put on hold

Tobacco giant warned of loss of jobs in UK before packaging rules were dropped, and anti-smoking camp also cites possible fear of Ukip | Observer, UK

Lives will be lost if government scraps standardised cigarette pack plans

If the rumours are true, scrapping plans for standardised packaging will be a backwards step for public health | Guardian, UK

Death is tobacco companies' business

You can't blame tobacco firms for resisting plain packaging. But what's the government's excuse? | Guardian, UK

Portsmouth 'rogue' heroin claims sixth victim

A suspected contaminated batch of heroin in the Portsmouth area has been blamed for a sixth person falling ill | BBC, UK

Inside Denmark's 'fixing rooms', where nurses watch as addicts inject in safety

Away from public view, this safe haven for drug users has 1,000 regulars. Crime is down, the streets are safer. Could it work in Britain? | Guardian, uk

Loophole lets drug dealers sell deadly slimming pills openly over the web

British dealers are exploiting a loophole in the law to sell dangerous weight-loss drugs that have led to the deaths of several young people, a Sunday Telegraph investigation has found | Telegraph, UK

How bad is drug consumption? Well, it depends on your class

How does socio-economic status affect perceptions about the seriousness of drug consumption? | Guardian, UK

Minimum pricing: Challenge to Scottish alcohol legislation fails

A legal challenge to the Scottish government's plans to introduce minimum pricing per unit of alcohol has failed | BBC, UK

Scottish court rules minimum alcohol pricing is legal

Scotch Whisky Association's challenge to 50p minimum price a unit is dismissed | Guardian, UK

New drug can help alcoholics drink 60% less - but only if they are having counselling

A drug, which could help problem drinkers reduce the amount of alcohol they consume, will become available to patients in the UK today | Mail Online, UK

Martindale Pharma® launches Prenoxad® Injection for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose

World’s first licensed naloxone product for use by non-healthcare profession individuals in a community setting. Prenoxad Injection is a pre-filled syringe containing 1mg/ml naloxone hydrochloride solution for injection | Martindale Pharma, UK

Prenoxad injection [product site]

[Information on the Naloxone product for helathcare professionals, drus workers and those with a prescription for the product or their friends] | Prenoxad, UK

Jab for heroin addiction could offer hope to 10m

Heroin addiction and the misery it inflicts could soon be a thing of the past – thanks to a simple injection | Metro, UK

MSPs warned over easy assumptions about drug users

MSPs have been warned against making “easy assumptions” about the lifestyle of drug and alcohol users when issuing guidance on taking children into care | Scotsman, UK

#keeptheban campaign: Saying no to amending Wales’ smokefree premises legislation

In July 2012, on the same day that the National Assembly for Wales approved point of sale display bans for tobacco products in Welsh stores, the Welsh Government laid an amendment to Wales’ smokefree premises legislation to allow cast members to smoke on set for film and television productions | BMJ Blogs, UK

Latin America growth key for war on drug - Obama

President Barack Obama has said the war on drugs will not be effectively won unless the economies of Latin American countries are strengthened | BBC, UK

Barack Obama tells Mexico: 'Most of the guns used here come from the US'

President Barack Obama has concluded a trip to Central America by promising to help Mexico fight its deadly drugs gangs, and to enhance the trade between the two countries | Telegraph, UK

Colombian police catch three fake nuns with cocaine under their habits

Police in Colombia arrested three women masquerading as nuns with a total of more than six kilos of cocaine concealed about their persons | Telegraph, UK

The implementation of Universal Credit and the support needs of claimants: a study by the Social Security Advisory Committee (PDF)

This study is intended to inform the preparations for the phased implementation of Universal Credit from April 2013 | SSAC, UK

Funding of women’s centres in the community (PDF)

The NAO has prepared this briefing for the Justice Select Committee in support of its inquiry into women offenders. The briefing looks specifically at the new funding arrangements for women’s centres in the community, which have been funded partly by the Ministry of Justice, the National Offender Management Service, and partly by probation trusts since 2009 | Audit Office, UK

Breaking the Kafkaesque Cycle of Addiction

I wrote the first feature article about Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust (RAPt), it was in 1991 or thereabouts (my memory is a little hazy), and it ran in the Evening Standard Museum | Huffington Post, UK

The drugs do work: my life on brain enhancers

Could an unlicensed mind pill restore the energy lost to multiple sclerosis? For a novelist who feared her working life was over, it was worth the risk… | Guardian, UK

Marijuana smokers march in their thousands in Mexico City - video

Thousands march through the streets of Mexico City on Saturday for the 13th annual global marijuana march | Guardian, UK

Fugitive Balkans drug lord arrested in Kosovo

A fugitive drug lord suspected of masterminding organised crime across the Balkans has been arrested near the Kosovo capital Pristina, police said Monday | Telegraph, UK

In Latin America, U.S. Focus Shifts From Drug War to Economy

In February 2009, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. declared that international drug trafficking posed “a sustained, serious threat” to Americans | NY Times, USA

Vivitrol: A Shot in the Dark

The Fix evaluates Vivitrol, the newest anti-addiction drug—actually an injectable form of an old pill. It's definitely better than nothing. But is it $1,100 a month better? | Fix, USA

Robert Downey Jr.: Alcoholism Removed From Iron Man 3 Plot

Instead of seeing a character who uses alcohol in order to deal with tremendous pressure, we’re getting another fake hero | Movieballa.com, USA

Imperial Tobacco Venture Into Electric Cigarettes Reports DigitalSmoke.org

Imperial tobacco, the world’s number fourth brand in the tobacco market is trying its hand on electric cigarette | SB Wire, USA

Warning over addicts' implant

Drug-user advocates fear the ACT's courts may be encouraging heroin addicts to seek a largely untested and potentially dangerous implant to curb their habit | Canberra Times, Australia

Addicts ‘not welcome’ in practices: survey

Drug addicts “are not welcome in general practice” and more accessible specialist support would greatly facilitate GPs to prescribe opioid substitution therapy (OST), new Australian data shows | Medical Observer, Australia

Get smarter about illicit drugs to help balance the budget

A sudden reduction in corporate profits has blown a $12 billion hole in the federal budget. This development should spark a debate within and outside government about how we deal with illicit drugs in this country because it’s one of the areas where we aren’t getting value for our money | Conversation, Australia