DS Daily - 19th February 2010

Cross-government drugs research strategy

This strategy provides a foundation, direction and guidance for collaboration within government and between government and other stakeholders [Home Office, UK]

General practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the prevention and management of alcohol-related problems

A survey of general practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the prevention and management of alcohol-related problems: an update of a World Health Organisation survey ten years on [Alcohol Education and Research Council, UK]

When feasible, couples therapy helps alcohol-dependent women sustain their recovery

Compared to being treated on their own, alcohol dependent women experienced more lasting improvements when couples-based therapy embedded therapeutic processes in a lasting relationship with a willing husband or partner [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

Overdose workshop resources

Since releasing the Overdose Workshop in mid January its been viewed over 1000 times. So I've decided to provide some more supporting resources for it [Injecting Advice, UK]

Scottish eye radical legal change in effort to close down legal high shops

The proposal will shift drug laws away from banning specific substances to a blanket prohibition on the sale of drugs, including some legal substances [Irish Examiner]

Anti-head shop campaign must be run in a measured way

They are perfectly legitimate businesses flourishing in the midst of the recession. However, head shops, which among other things, sell legal synthetic drugs have been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately [Irish Examiner]

Concern over ban on 'designer drugs'

Minister of State John Curran has expressed particular concern that the banning of certain drug substances previously sold in Britain and Northern Ireland in head shops could lead to the Republic becoming a “dumping ground” for some of them [Irish Times]

Don’t lose your snooze - cut back on the booze

Drinkers across England are losing valuable sleep and disrupting vital brain functions without knowing that their boozing is the cause, new research for the Government’s Know Your Limits campaign has today revealed. [Department of Health, UK]

Police Chief: send fewer criminals to prison

One of Scotland’s most senior police officers has called for less use of prison and a greater emphasis on tackling the causes of crime rather than just punishing the offenders [The Herald, Scotland, UK]

Caernarfon mother who fed baby drugs jailed

A 30-year-old mother who bottle fed her baby the heroin substitute methadone has been jailed for three years [BBC, UK]

The prince and the pauper

It was Crisis which helped 53-year-old Mr Hubbard turn his life around [Daily Mail, UK]

The lack of needles and the damage done

If needle exchange works in Canadian cities big and small, then why do we refuse to implement the practice in our prisons? [Globe and Mail, Canada]

Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research: Report to the California Legislature

As a result of the vision and foresight of the California State Legislature Medical Marijuana Research Act (SB847), the CMCR has successfully conducted the first clinical trials of smoked cannabis in the United States in more than 20 years [Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, USA]

Hypocritical Obama and Corporate Media Are Aggressively Undermining Pot Normalization

While marijuana is more mainstream than ever, legalization still faces backlash from the powers that be [AlterNet, USA]

Senator Bob Bennett's official response regarding medical marijuana in Utah

"I do not support this more lenient stance on marijuana use. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) places marijuana, along with heroin and several other addictive drugs, in the category reserved for controlled substances with 'a high abuse potential'". [Examiner, USA]