DS Daily - 3rd March 2010 |
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The Cocaine Trade
Home Affairs Committee - Seventh Report [Parliament, UK]
Correct tactical approach but no less cocaine on streets warn MPs
In a report published today the Home Affairs Committee warns that a deadly, socially and environmentally destructive drug seems to be becoming more widely acceptable in the UK and says more must be done to tackle the demand side in the UK alongside international efforts to disrupt smuggling [Parliament, UK]
Child cocaine treatment rises by more than 65%
Number of under-18s receiving treatment rises to 745 [Guardian, UK]
Celebrity users made cocaine all the rage, say MPs
Celebrities who “get away” with using cocaine have helped to glamorise and normalise the use of a Class A drug now viewed as safe and non-addictive, according to a report by MPs to be published today [Times, UK]
Is taking cocaine socially acceptable now?
All classes now take cocaine, from bottom to top, though the quality will vary [Telegraph, UK]
At £2 a line, cocaine is now cheaper than a cup of coffee
The shock figure came in a parliamentary report which attacked 'woefully inadequate' efforts to stop imports of the Class A drug [Daily Mail, UK]
Britain is cocaine capital of Europe
Britain is the cocaine capital of Europe because Labour’s open-door immigration policy has made it easy for dealers to smuggle it in, the Tories warned yesterday [Daily Express, UK]
UK Drug Situation: UK Focal Point on Drugs 2009 Edition
Annual Report to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. 268-page PDF [Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, UK]
The Forgotten Generation?
The Treatment Experience And Needs Of Older Drug Users In Bristol [Bristol Drugs Project, UK]
Rehab centre forced to shut
The UK's only residential centre for young people whose lives are blighted by drugs and alcohol has been forced to close its doors [Guardian, UK]
£1.3m plan to reduce hepatitis in Wales
The risk of catching hepatitis B and C increases if people partake in high-risk behaviours, such as injecting drugs or having unprotected sex [Welsh Assembly Government, UK]
HIV prevention, treatment, and care services for people who inject drugs
Reuters quoted Professor Gerry Stimson, Executive Director of the International Harm Reduction Association, saying the government is “playing politics with people's lives” and that millions were at risk as a result [IHRA]
NSP’s in a recovery-orientated system
An article from a guest blogger Stephen Bamber ... on how he thinks needle programmes fit into the idea and ethos of Recovery [Injecting Advice, UK]
Portsmouth Launches Inquiry Into High Level Of Alcohol Related Hospital Admissions
An in-depth inquiry into Portsmouth’s high level of alcohol related hospital admissions gets under way on Thursday [eGov Monitor, UK]
Welsh rugby star Andy Powell fined for drunken M4 ride on golf buggy
A drunken rugby international celebrated his team’s victory last month by taking a golf buggy and driving it a mile and a half along the M4 to buy “munchies” at a service station, a court was told yesterday [Times, UK]
Head shops face threat of lawsuits but won't be closed
Head shops face the prospect of being sued if people suffer adverse effects after using substances bought there - but they will not be shut down [Independent, Ireland]
Some drugs face head shop ban
The Government has banned a range of substances being sold as legal highs in so-called head shops. The possession and sale of six items, including ketamine and BZP derivatives, will be illegal from June under the Misuse of Drugs Act [Irish Times]
Bad Science and Bad Policy
The federal law that mandates harsher prison terms for people arrested with crack cocaine than for those caught with cocaine powder is scientifically and morally indefensible [New York Times, USA]
More at Harvard try to drink away woes
The troubled economy is driving more Harvard University students to drink as they worry about job prospects and their parents’ ability to pay for tuition [Boston Herald, USA]
Public service announcement on effects of drugs
UNODC has partnered with CNN to air a public service announcement on the effects of drugs on youth [UNODC]
Guatemala police chief detained over drug case
Guatemalan authorities on Tuesday arrested two of their top anti-narcotics officials just days before Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, is due to visit the Central American nation to discuss the fight against drugs [Financial Times, UK]
US questions Jamaica's reliability in drug fight
Jamaica's reluctance to hand over an alleged crime boss is straining relations with the United States, which is questioning the Caribbean nation's reliability as an ally against drug trafficking [Washington Post, USA]
Detention of drug users to be examined by UN Working Group
The subject has gained considerable attention following a bombshell report by Human Rights Watch that documented torture, forced labour and even rape, in Cambodia’s drug detention centres [IHRA]