DS Daily - 1st February 2010 |
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Drink and Drugs News
Editorial and also Magazine Features including: [Drink and Drugs News, UK]
"High stakes"
Scotland’s recent anthrax outbreak from contaminated heroin has raised urgent questions about forfeiting essential public health measures, says Sara McGrail [Drink and Drugs News, UK]
"Keeping it together"
David Gilliver hears about the Liverpool-based supported housing project providing intensive, round-the-clock support for families affected by substance use [Drink and Drugs News, UK]
"Going public"
New research demonstrates the importance of understanding drug use in public settings. Stephen Parkin, Ross Coomber and Gary Wallace look at a controversial issue [Drink and Drugs News, UK]
Residential treatment directory
Spring 2010 issue [DDN, UK]
Why the latest party drug brings new dangers
A new drug called mephedrone, created in a backstreet lab just for recreational purposes, is catching on quickly [Daily Mirror, UK]
Doctors call for ban on ‘legal high’ after woman dies
Doctors are calling for a ban on the latest “legal high” craze to sweep Scotland – the plant food mephedrone [The Herald, Scotland, UK]
This new killer drug is legal. So why has it not been banned?
It's chemically similar to illegal amphetamine and costs a fraction of the price of cocaine, but campaigners say mephedrone could pose even graver health risks [The Scotsman, UK]
When it comes to drugs, we should all expand our minds
Head shops wouldn’t be there, after all, if they weren’t meeting a “need”, real or perceived, in the marketplace [Times, UK]
Drug use more rife in middle classes
Middle-class Scots are now more likely than the unemployed to take drugs [Scotland on Sunday, UK]
It's one of the great mysteries of our age. Why, after 22 drug convictions, isn't Pete Doherty in jail?
Time after time, Doherty has somehow been able to persuade the courts to let him off with a fine or a community or rehabilitation order - leaving him at liberty to draw still more young people into his drug-infested world - Melanie Phillips [Daily Mail, UK]
Doctors and dentists who 'substance abuse' helped
A pilot project giving special help to doctors and dentists with health problems has treated 184 people in its first year [BBC, UK]
'You're helping keep drugs off street'
Tip-offs from the public and pubs are helping the police tackle drugs in Beverley [Hull and East Riding, UK]
Prohibition – from the “when in a hole dig faster” school of problem solving
So why is cannabis illegal? This is a really simple question which should be easy to answer, but it’s not really [UKCIA]
Getting advice
A report of children’s experience by the Children’s Rights Director for England [Ofsted, UK]
US experts recommend alcohol tax rises as an important public health measure
High on the UK pre-election policy agenda, alcohol tax rises have now been accepted by a national US panel of experts as a major public health measure to curb excessive alcohol use and related harms. Politicians remain wary for reasons which cannot just be dismissed as populism [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]
Distiller backs bid for minimum drink pricing
Edradour distillery in Perthshire is one of the latest drinks manufacturers to back controversial Scottish Government plans for minimum pricing [Scotland on Sunday, UK]
Petition over Urdd eisteddfod alcohol plan
A drugs advisory body has launched a petition against an annual Welsh language youth festival's plan to sell drink to visitors for the first time [BBC, UK]
A Smokefree Future
An ambitious new strategy will halve the number of smokers, from 21 to 10 per cent of the population by 2020, Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham announced today [DoH, UK]
Smokers to face doorway ban in new public health policy
Smokers could be forced to light up away from the entrances to public buildings under government moves aimed at ensuring that no more than one in 10 Britons smoke cigarettes [Guardian, UK]
Ministers aim to halve number of people smoking by 2020
A plan to halve the number of smokers in England over the next 10 years has been unveiled by ministers [BBC, UK]
Tobacco firms could be forced to sell cigarettes in plain packets
Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, will signal his support for the move as he launches the government's "tobacco control strategy" tomorrow which aims to halve the number of smokers in Britain by 2020 [Telegraph, UK]
Sick and Tired of Homelessness
Health Profile of People Using Cork Simon Services [Cork Simon Community, Ireland]
The Depressing News About Antidepressants
Studies suggest that the popular drugs are no more effective than a placebo. In fact, they may be worse [Newsweek, USA]
500 euro is financing a global crime wave of cocaine trafficking
Why has the 500 euro note become so central to the drugs trade? [Daily Mail, UK]
FDA Wants Drug Companies To Look For Abuse
The Food and Drug Administration is calling on pharmaceutical firms to give more attention to the potential for abuse of new drugs when subjecting them to pre-market testing [Baltimore Sun, USA]
Obama Administration Issues Rules Requiring Parity In Treatment Of Mental, Substance Use Disorders
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury today jointly issued new rules providing parity for consumers enrolled in group health plans who need treatment for mental health or substance use disorders [SAMHSA, USA]
The Three-Headed Dragon
A symbol of need [Addiction Inbox, USA]
Chocolate vs the Drug Lords
Peru's move from Coca to Cacao [TIME, USA]
More than 100 Australian ecstasy deaths in eight years
A ground-breaking report into the use of the stimulant MDMA has revealed it claimed 82 Australians over five years from 2000 - and the number fatalities is increasing [Perth Now, Australia]
Drug and alcohol unit expanded
The NSW Government has acknowledged the roles mental illness and domestic violence play in parental drug and alcohol abuse by expanding the Community Services Drug and Alcohol Specialist Unit [SMH, Australia]
Drug problems escalating in SA: Liberals
Escalating drug problems have prompted the South Australian opposition to release its substance abuse policy early in the state election campaign [The Age, Australia]
Police to be drug tested under new laws
Targeted and mandatory drug testing is set to be introduced for South Australia's on-duty police officers later this year [ABC News, Australia]
Big drinkers, slow learners, quick fixes
In Australia, where there's a way there's a swill but attitudes are changing - slowly - and 'themed' dry months are delivering a healthier message [SMH, Australia]
Police, soldiers hit bottle shops and bars in Baghdad alcohol crackdown
Now Baghdad is almost dry, for the second time since the US-led invasion in 2003. But this time the Government is enforcing the prohibition, not militias or insurgents [SMH, Australia]
Guide for NGOs Attending the CND
The International Drug Policy Consortium has produced a guide to for civil society participation at meetings of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs [IDPC]