DS Daily - 7th November 2011

Castle Craig rehab clinic a new sponsor of DS Daily

A big thank you to all our sponsors for supporting DS Daily. If you think that you might be able to sponsor DS Daily then please Email Jim Young jimy@drugscope.org.uk to discuss sponsorship options

Class A drug seizures rise - UK Border Agency

More heroin and cocaine was found between April and September than in the whole of the previous 12 months, UK Border Agency (UKBA) figures show | BBC, UK

Spirit of enterprise - Editorial

Teen spirit. When using inspiration makes all the difference | Drink and Drugs News, UK

Spirit of enterprise - Feature

Rejecting a ‘one-size-fits-all’ education system was the start of a much bigger venture for serial entrepreneur and founder of TSBC, Amar Lodhia | Drink and Drugs News, UK

Trouble ahead

At this year’s Alison Chesney and Eddie Killoran Memorial Lecture, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula looked at how recession can affect alcohol and drug use | Drink and Drugs News, UK

Young drug users turn to 'bubble' for a cheap high

After the ban on mephedrone, the market for generic, unidentified white powders has grown, says new report | Observer, UK

Multi-Agency Approach to Tackle Crime in Southwark

A new multi-agency team has been set up in Southwark to provide a robust approach to offender management in the borough. Specialist Police Officers, Resettlement Workers, the Probation Service Substance Misuse Team and CRI Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) case managers will come together under one roof from early 2012 in a new approach to tackling repeat offending | CRI, UK

Will the SNP’s alcohol pricing policy have an unhealthy effect on the drinks industry?

Leaders in the whisky industry are warning that decisions designed to address domestic issues could throw their booming export trade into reverse. They say minimum pricing is certainly misguided, and most probably illegal | The Scotsman, UK

Minister considers Portuguese drugs strategy

Decriminalisation of drug use in Portugal has not made the country a "paradise" for users or resulted in more children taking drugs, according to the country’s drugs chief | Irish Examiner

Teens run up €1k drug debt for tranquilliser

Young people are increasingly becoming addicted to tranquillisers such as Valium and Xanax — known on the street as "sweets" and "smarties" — and are running up massive debts to buy them | Irish Examiner

Tranquilliser craze - We are awash with drugs

The latest craze involves Valium and Xanax, tranquillising pills known on the street as "sweets" and "smarties", an image that could hardly be less appropriate | Irish Examiner

Buprenorphine Guideline for treatment of Opioid Dependence

A new clinical guideline released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health will help enable health care practitioners to provide buprenorphine (combined with naloxone), the most effective medication since methadone to treat the growing problem of opioid addiction in Canada | CAMH, Canada

Anti-overdose kit is raising the controversial spectre of harm reduction

For about two months, public health has been handing out special kits in eyeglass-like cases that contain two doses of naloxone, a drug that can stop an opiate or opioid (one is natural, one is synthetic) overdose because it knocks it off the brain receptors | National Post, Canada

Screen all prison inmates for fetal-alcohol syndrome, doctor urges

A Winnipeg doctor says he hopes all inmates will be screened for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as a matter of course within the next five years, just in time for an expected spike in the country's prison population | Vancouver Sun, Canada

Reefer Madness

Mr. Obama briefly showed a willingness to challenge the drug-war mind-set that permeates the federal drug-control establishment. He needs to show leadership and intervene now, to encourage and defend responsible state and local regulation of medical marijuana - Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance | New York Times, USA

Wall Street turns a blind eye to drugs

It was evident that Wall Street in the past was a thriving drug culture, but whether that subculture exists today remains a question | The Vista, USA

More people landing in the ER after abusing muscle relaxant

The SAMHSA team concluded that though carisoprodol abuse and misuse in the United States continues to be a relatively small problem, it is one that is notably on the increase | USA Today

Calls for analysis of comp claims for pill-mill probe

While some insurers, self-insured employers and state agencies already track prescription data to prevent abuse and misuse of prescription narcotics known as opioids, others could undertake such measures or refine their practices | Business Insurance, USA

D.E.A. Squads Extend Reach of Drug War

The D.E.A. now has five commando-style squads it has been quietly deploying for the past several years to Western Hemisphere nations - including Haiti, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Belize | New York Times, USA

Child Protection and Mothers in Substance Abuse Treatment

This report presents the major findings from the Child Protection and Mothers in Substance Abuse Treatment study, a three-year study funded by NSW Community Services, Department of Family and Community Services, and the University of New South Wales | NDARC, Australia