DS Daily - 15th November 2011

EMCDDA Annual report 2011

Launch Time: 10:00 Western European Time (Lisbon) | EMCDDA

New guidance on prison prescribing

The Secure Environments Group at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has published guidance for GPs and pharmacists on Safer Prescribing in Prison. Download | RCGP, UK

A recent presentation on "Barriers to recovery: Stigma and discrimination" by Associate Professor Julian Buchanan to the NZ Drug Policy Symposium entitled "Through the Maze, Making Treatment Better | SMMGP, UK

New research highlights harms from mixing alcohol and energy drinks

New research on the consumption of alcohol and energy drinks has led to FARE calling for urgent action to prevent further harms from their consumption | FARE, UK

Alcohol policy a joke, says British Liver Trust

Government-led policies on alcohol throughout the UK have been branded a joke by the chief executive of the charity the British Liver Trust | BBC, UK

World cancer statistics: Oesophageal cancer

Lists the 50 countries with the highest oesophageal cancer rates in the world | World Cancer Research Fund

Children aged 10 being treated for drink abuse

Children as young as 10 have been admitted to hospital in Northern Ireland because of alcohol abuse | Belfast Telegraph, UK

Alcohol campaign targets Hull kids as young as 11 after increase in drinking

ReFresh, Hull City Council's young people's alcohol and drugs support service, has seen an increase in the amounts young drinkers are consuming at an earlier age | This is Hull & East Riding, UK

Supermarket’s appeal of underage drink ruling fails

Retailers caught in underage alcohol stings are more likely to receive serious sanctions after a sheriff failed to overturn a decision by Scotland’s largest local authority | The Herald, Scotland, UK

Manchester Council leads drive to force last orders for cut-price alcohol

Town hall bosses are trying to get national campaigners to rally around a Greater Manchester bid to ban cut-price booze | Manchester Evening News, UK

68 NGOs call of a new EU alcohol strategy

Under Eurocare’s leadership, 68 international, European and National NGOs (including EPHA) joined forces to call for a comprehensive Alcohol Policy Strategy in the European Union 2013-2020 | European Public Health Alliance

Can smoking bans lead to sustained improvements in population health

This presentation was delivered at the World Epidemiology Congress in August 2011 by Professor Sally Haw of the University of Stirling and formerly of | NHS Health Scotland

Child runaways in significant danger as professionals fail to step in

Still Running 3 (full text, summary), the first comprehensive picture of running away for under 16s for six years, also shows that one in five child runaways have begged, stolen or done 'other things' to survive | Children's Society, UK

Clever children more likely to end up on drugs

Dr James White of Cardiff University's Centre for Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Understanding, said: "Although it is not yet clear exactly why there should be a link between high IQ and illicit drug use, previous research has shown that people with a high IQ are more open to new experiences and keen on novelty and stimulation." | Telegraph, UK

Rethinking charity law and regulation?

Audio from National Council for Voluntary Organisations | Internet Archive

OxyContin smuggling from Canada rises sharply

Americans desperate for a heroin-like high are turning to a version of the popular pain killer OxyContin smuggled in from Canada, which is easier to abuse than an updated formula available in the U.S. | Globe and Mail, Canada

Cannabis crackdown threatens legal trade in 'medical marijuana'

Federal prosecutors target legal marijuana trade despite Obama's liberal stance on medical use of cannabis | Guardian, UK

Cities seek an antidote to medical marijuana

Costly lawsuits do not always succeed, many municipalities have discovered | LA Times, USA

Why Police Officers Need to Understand Addiction

Our recruits receive the same instruction as other recruits concerning narcotics identification and investigation (certified); however, we offer additional training we feel is critical to an officer’s development – the understanding of drug addiction and the behaviors associated with addiction | ONDCP, USA

Physicians struggle to treat pain amid opioid overdose crisis

More than 14,000 people died in 2008 after overdosing on painkillers, more than triple the amount in 1999 | Amednews, USA

Women drinking, smoking in pregnancy

Research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies has found 18 per cent of women smoked and 38 per cent of women drank alcohol while pregnant, with younger mothers more likely to smoke and older mothers more likely to drink while pregnant | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

Labor to target alcohol abuse and truancy in NT by withholding welfare

Gillard government will legislate to improve appalling school non-attendance rates in the Northern Territory, hauling truant indigenous children and their parents in front of school officials and Centrelink officers for counselling before welfare is cut off as a last resort | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia

The Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations

An Assessment of Mexican Security Based on Existing RAND Research on Urban Unrest, Insurgency, and Defense-Sector Reform | RAND, USA