DS Daily - 22nd May 2009 |
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Encouraging general practitioners to treat drug users: an analysis of the policy of ‘shared care
Different agendas are apparent in policies to encourage GPs to become involved in drug treatment services. These include views that GP services are less stigmatising and more easily and ‘naturally’ accessible (without much supporting evidence) and will prevent the overload of secondary care [SMMGP]
RCGP 14th National Conference (May 2009) - Download Documents
A number of presentations, workshop notes and other documents from the conference are available to download [SMMGP, UK]
Proposals for the control of GBL
New controls for a range of substances, including gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), were set out today in two public consultations launched by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith [Home Office, UK]
New video contributions from Professor Neil McKeganey
A new series of video contributions by Professor Neil McKeganey have been added to [FEAD, UK]
Statistics on Alcohol, England 2009
The report aims to present a broad picture of health issues relating to alcohol in England and covers topics such as drinking habits and behaviours among adults and school children, drinking related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol and alcohol related costs [NHS, UK]
24% of adults 'risking health through alcohol'
New NHS figures show rise in people admitted to hospital with alcohol-related injuries or conditions, and increase in deaths linked to drinking [Guardian, UK]
Steroid abuse among image-conscious youngsters prompts Government ban
Twenty-four anabolic steroids are to be banned under plans to tackle their abuse by boys seeking to improve their physique [Times, UK]
Strengthening our Collective Responses
Strategic Plan 2009-2013. 36-page PDF [Dublin 12 Local Drugs Task Force, Ireland]
Prohibition doesn't work, so lets have more prohibition!
A principle error made by by advocates of prohibition is a failure to distinguish the harms caused by drug use from those caused or exacerbated by our attempts to stamp out their use [TDPF]
Building on Our Strengths
Canadian Standards for Youth Substance Abuse Prevention. 71-page PDF [Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse]
National Report Finds Low Levels of Substance Use among Pregnant Women, but Higher Levels in New Mothers
The data from the SAMHSA report suggest that once they give birth, many new mothers resume the use of alcohol, cigarettes, illicit drugs or engage in binge drinking [SAMHSA, USA]
New Drug Czar Has Limited Vocabulary
The problem is that continuing with criminalization while opposing prison revolving doors is not an approach that has a lot of options [DPA, USA]
Time for Drug Treatment to Rattle Its Saber
"Regardless of how you try to explain to people it's a 'war on drugs' or a 'war on a product,' people see a war as a war on them," Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, told the Wall Street Journal last week [Washington Post, USA]
The American prohibition on thinking smart in the drug war
The Washington consensus on drugs rests on two widely shared beliefs. The first is that the war on drugs is a failure. The second is that it cannot be changed [Foreign Policy, USA]
Ten-year anniversary for Sydney’s ‘Tolerance Room’
The following speech was given by Professor Alex Wodak at an event to mark the 10 year anniversary of the opening of Australia’s first safer injecting facility. Currently, eight countries around the world have drug consumption rooms [IHRA HR2]
Drug World
Edition for May 2009 [Paul Cook]