DS Daily - 16th June 2009 |
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2009 Annual Evidence Update - Drugs misuse treatment in offender populations
As it is the first AEU, the period it covers is wider. Evidence is presented from January 2005 to March 2009 [NHS Evidence, UK]
National Offender Management Service drug strategy 2008-2011
The drug strategy provides staff, delivery partners, service providers and other stakeholders with an overview of the role NOMS will take in addressing drug misuse and the crime it causes. PDFs Strategy - Action plan - Getting the message across [Home Office, UK]
Children aged 12 using heroin
Children as young as 12 are using heroin in parts of Wales, say drugs workers.BBC Wales' Week In Week Out also found some addicts prepared to be caught for crimes to ensure they got onto drug treatment programmes [BBC, UK]
Harm reduction case for crack kits from needle exchanges
After needle exchanges started distributing crack smoking equipment, drug injectors in Ottawa shifted from injecting to smoking the drug and less often shared their smoking equipment. The result was safer drug use and greater service contact by crack smokers [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Alcohol – The Next Steps for Policy
With the Chief Medical Officer and the Scottish Government laying out plans for a revised approach to alcohol policy, and with the Home Office beginning a consultation on changing the law regarding alcohol sales, this timely seminar will look at the effectiveness of alcohol strategies and media campaigns in England and Wales [Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum, UK]
Patients face alcohol quiz as GPs chase counselling target
Doctors are set to grill 100,000 Lothians patients over the next two years on drinking habits – in order to meet targets on counselling alcoholics [Edinburgh Evening News, UK]
Testing for chronic, excessive alcohol consumption
A paper (Ethyl Glucuronide detection experience) presented to scientific community [Concateno, UK]
From the Glass to the Brain in Six Minutes
For the first time, researchers from Heidelberg prove the rapid,
but reversible changes alcohol causes in human brain cells
[University of Heidelberg]
Cambridge students celebrate end of exams with binge-drinking festival
A 24-hour drinking, staggering and vomiting marathon which demonstrated that even the brilliant can be brainless [Daily Mail, UK]
What attracts young people to alcohol?
Latest videos [Guardian, UK]
'Sip red wine' for health
Researchers emphasise that red wine contains only a small amount of resveratrol and a human would need to drink an unrealistically large amount to have the same levels as those demonstrated in animal studies [NHS Choices, UK]
Get e'm Young – Mapping young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Ireland
This report is the first of its kind in Ireland as it involves young people recording their experience of alcohol advertising and marketing in their own surroundings. 28-page PDF [National Youth Council of Ireland]
Hundreds of minors in North treated for drink and drug addiction
More than 400 under-18s are treated for alcoholism and drug addiction in the North each year [Ireland Online]
Junkies at birth
‘Junkie’ babies born at Ulster hospitals are being treated for heroin withdrawal. The infants, born to one or two heroin-user parents, are requiring treatment to overcome addiction to heroin and other synthetic heroin substitutes [Belfast Telegraph]
Allow GPs take 1,000 addicts off waiting list
Family doctors could take 1,000 drug addicts off treatment waiting lists if they were allowed treat more people, a leading GP has said [Irish Examiner]
Body shaping: a dangerous new trend
The fashion for pumped-up gym physiques is leading boys as young as 12 to risk their health by taking anabolic steroids [Times, UK]
Economic downturn – the impact on charities
Our most recent Economic Survey of Charities, published in March, revealed the deepening impact of the recession on charities in England and Wales [Charity Commissioin, UK]
What’s it all for? Removing unnecessary bureaucracy in regulation
Despite Government focus on promoting better regulation and minimising the burden of egulation and inspection, this report demonstrates that healthcare providers continue to experience over-regulation. 32-page PDF [Independent Healthcare Advisory Services, UK]
How rave culture changed Britain for ever
For many, taking a pill at weekends became as normal as having a pint – and only marginally more expensive [Sunday Times, UK]
A Drug War Inside the Government
Obama administration is taking aggressive measures to ensure that the drug violence in Mexico does not spill over more than it already has into this country. But a dispute between two federal agencies, if not remedied, will seriously hamper these effort [New York Times, USA]
As College Drinking Problems Rise, New Studies Identify Effective Prevention Strategies
The special issue describes the results of a broad array of research-based programs to reduce and prevent alcohol-related problems at campuses across the country [NIAAA, USA]
Legal Pot in California in 2010? "Oaksterdam" Provides the Model
Pot entrepreneur Richard Lee envisions a professional marijuana industry much like the one that exists in Amsterdam [AlterNet, USA]
High Sensation Images Compete with Public Health Message
Study Suggests Low-Key Anti-Smoking Ads Are More Likely to Be Remembered than Attention-Grabbing Messages [NIDA, USA]
Momentum builds for broad debate on legalizing pot
The savage drug war in Mexico. Crumbling state budgets. Weariness with current drug policy. The election of a president who said, "Yes — I inhaled." These developments and others are kindling unprecedented optimism among the many Americans who want to see marijuana legalized [Associated Press, USA]
Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS specifications: 2009-10
Data dictionary, collection guidelines and validation processes [AIHW, Australia]