DS Daily - 29th July 2010

Alcohol consultation launched

Proposals have now been unveiled for new measures that would crack down on 'problem premises' and give more powers to local communities to influence licensing decisions - Consultation here [Home Office, UK]

Home Office retracts alcohol crime claim

It is inaccurate for the Home Secretary to claim that the number of alcohol-related crimes has risen since November 2005, when the Home Office’s own data shows that this is not the case. We have looked at the available evidence in further detail on the Full Fact blog [Full Fact, UK]

Crime in England and Wales

Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime [Home Office, UK]

Drug Misuse Declared

Findings from the 2009/10 British Crime Survey England. Accompanying tables and reports [Home Office, UK]

Alcohol is too cheap, and treatment is underfunded

Changing the licensing laws is only going some way in addressing Britain’s binge drinking culture [Addaction, UK]

BBPA statement on Home Office Licensing Law Consultation

Pinning the consultation to 24 hour drinking is a bit like tilting at windmills. 24 hour drinking is and always has been an enormous urban myth – great for headline writers, but far from reality [British Beer & Pub Association, UK]

Trade groups question licensing shake-up

Trade figures have been left disappointed by the details of government’s licensing regime shake-up [The Publican, UK]

Alcohol myth buster

Test your knowledge of alcohol-related risks and find out the facts about drinking. Can you tell fact from fiction? [NHS Choices, UK]

Moving beyond the ASBO

In a speech the Home Secretary called for changes in how anti-social behaviour is tackled, including more local control and more freedom for police to decide how to deal with each case [Home Office, UK]

Time to 'move beyond' Asbos, says home secretary May

Launching a review of the system, Theresa May said it was time to "stop tolerating" bad behaviour [BBC, UK]

Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) Statistics England and Wales 2008

The number of ASBOs issued (in the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December
2008) [Home Office, UK]

DDN Reader Survey 2010

[Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Quick guide to... Laughing gas

Although sold legally for food-related purposes, such as making whipping cream, the government classes it as a volatile substance because it can be used for inhalation as a recreational drug [Children & Young People Now, UK]

Doctors plead for ban on cigarette machines

Greater Manchester’s top doctors are calling on Health Secretary Andrew Lansley not to scrap a ban on cigarette vending machines brought in by the previous government [Manchester Evening News, UK]

Congress Moves to Narrow Cocaine Sentencing Disparities

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would reduce the disparities between mandatory federal sentences for crack and powder cocaine violations, a step toward ending what legal experts say have been unfairly harsh punishments imposed mainly on blacks [New York Times, USA]