DS Daily - 9th June 2009 |
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Recovery and the UK Drug Treatment System: key dimensions of change
This discussion aims to develop the ongoing debate about the future of the Drug
Treatment field in the United Kingdom. It takes up certain themes from the
current debates and discussions about the Recovery Orientation in drug
treatment and seeks to locate these discussions historically in terms of a
paradigm analysis, but also contemporaneously in terms of other key dimensions
of current change. 60 Pge PDF with References [Ian Wardle, Lifeline, UK]
Tackling drugs in our communities
National Tackling Drugs Week was launched yesterday by Home Office Minister Alan Campbell. The awareness week runs from 8 – 12 June 2009 [Home Office, UK]
Tackling Drugs Week
Radio 1 drugs page - check out the "Videos" and "Stories" tabs [BBC, UK]
More young people seek help for problems with drugs as services expand
Figures published for BBC Radio 1 [NTA,UK]
Drug habits see a 'major shift'
A record number of young people were treated for a drugs and alcohol problem last year [Radio 1 Newsbeat, UK]
Controversial pilot scheme to be tested by health bosses in Hampshire
Heroin addicts in Hampshire will help decide how public cash is spent on treating their addiction [Daily Echo, UK]
Anti-binge drinking campaign reminds people to know their limits
A new advertising campaign including a video which confronts young people with the reality of their drunken behaviour was unveiled by Home Office Minister Alan Campbell on Monday. Copies of the television, internet and print adverts can be downloaded at the Beam TV Website [Home Office, UK]
SMMGP Policy Update May 2009
All the papers included in this Update were tabled at the IHRA conference - Bangkok April 2009 [SMMGP, UK]
Smoking disease costs NHS £5bn
Smoking costs the NHS five times as much as previously thought, researchers have calculated [BBC, UK]
Confidential drugs hotline to shut down despite success
A Government-funded confidential phone line to combat drug dealing will be shut down in September – despite gardaí responding to a high number of tip-offs [Irish Examiner]
Will Portugal or any other country ever make drugs fully legal?
In 2001 Portugal became the only European country to decriminalise all drugs from cannabis to heroin. Eight years later Claudia Hammond reports from Lisbon to find out how the policy has affected drug use [BBC World Service]
Opioid Risk Management
With rising concerns about fatalities associated with opioid analgesic overdose, we have posted a long-overdue subsection at Pain-Topics.org addressing Opioid Emergencies [Pain-Topics, USA]
Schwarzenegger’s Call to Consider Marijuana Legalization To Boost Taxes Is “Irresponsible,”
Recent calls by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others to study the legalization of marijuana as a way of boosting tax revenues are “irresponsible” and send a dangerous message, the chairman of the board of the drug abuse education program [D.A.R.E, USA]
Decriminalize marijuana
The war on drugs has caused too much collateral damage: Even the ill face stigmatization by using an alternative to harsh pharmaceuticals [LA Times, USA]
The price of legalizing pot is too high
Deterrence is preferable to encouraging marijuana use, which would follow alcohol and tobacco in soaring costs to society [LA Times, USA]
News Scan
June edition [NIDA, USA]
Feds New Drug Policy: Blah, Blah, Blah.
How many more of these ridiculous documents can the government waste taxpayer money on before people agree to stop funding idiocy? [D'Alliance, USA]
A
national physician survey on prescribing syringes as an HIV prevention
measure
Physicians within their medical practice have an important opportunity to intervene in substance abuse behavior on an individual level. Prescribing syringes to IDUs should figure among such interventions because it can help prevent the transmission of bloodborne disease and enhance overall IDU care27-page PDF [Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, USA]