Weekly news - 6th November 2009

Profesor Nutt

For comprehensive coverage (54 articles!) please consult the DS Daily Archive

Estimating drug harms: a risky business?

Professor David Nutt Eve Saville Lecture 2009. 13-page PDF [Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, King’s College, UK]

2009 Annual report: the state of the drugs problem in Europe

The report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe presents the EMCDDA's yearly overview of the drug phenomenon. English PDF [EMCDDA]

Market innovation and sophistication challenge drug policies, says EMCDDA

Europe is faced with an increasingly complex and volatile synthetic drug market, says the EU drugs agency [EMCDDA]

Understanding the ‘Spice’ phenomenon

Although advertised as an ‘exotic incense blend which releases a rich aroma’ and ‘not for human consumption’, when smoked, Spice products have been reported by some users to have effects similar to those of cannabis [EMCDDA]

Drug offences: sentencing and other outcomes

When comparing drug policies of countries in the European Union, the level of penalties set out in the national laws is a common feature in the discussion. 28-page PDF [EMCDDA]

Keeping tabs on synthetic drugs

Globally, there are significantly more users of synthetic drugs than there are users of heroin and cocaine combined [UNODC]

David Best on the compatibility between Recovery and the Risk Reduction model

David says that the recovery agenda and risk reduction technologies model are compatible. Recovery would support capacity building and community regeneration [FEAD, UK]

David Best on choice for drug users balanced against 'risk and governance

David suggests that choice for drug users is often limited to prescribing with limited support for recovery options. David suggests that a 'choice driven menu is illusory' due to confidence about safety and risk [FEAD, UK]

Moves to provide a greater protection for children living with drug addicts

The children of drug addicts will get special help if they are at risk when their parents are receiving treatment, under a new agreement between the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) [NTA, UK]

Joint Guidance

Joint Guidance on Development of Local Protocols between Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services and Local Safeguarding and Family Services. 24-page PDF [DCFS, DoH and NTA, UK]

Questions the NTA has answered

The NTA has responded to 20 questions posed by Addiction Today about drug treatment policy and practice - the questions and answers in full [NTA, UK]

Cast adrift

Closing the gaps - Services must link to provide a stronger net [Editorial - Drink and Drugs News, UK]

DDN Features

Full list of DDN features for download [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Role of the Prison Officer

The twelfth Report together with the Proceedings of the [Justice Committee, Parliament, UK]

Public hearing on harmful use of alcohol

340 contributions were sent in by individuals, civil society groups, WHO Member States and government institutions, academic and research institutions, economic operators and other interested parties [World Health Organisation]

Evidence-based practice?

The National Probation Service’s work with alcohol-misusing offenders. 86-page PDF [Ministry of Justice, UK]

Using a factor mixture modeling approach in alcohol dependence in a general population sample

The primary goal of this study was to assess whether the alcohol dependence criteria in the population could be better characterized by a continuous dimension, a few discrete subgroups, or a combination of the two [NIH, USA]

Trends in alcohol- and drug-related ED and primary care visits: data from three U.S. national surveys (1995–2005)

These data suggest that drug-related ED visits are continuing to increase, although the increase has not been as substantial between 2000 and 2005, as that which was observed between 1995 and 2000, and highlight the opportunity provided by the ED and primary care settings for screening and brief intervention for substance-related problems. 7-page PDF [NIH, USA]