DS Daily - 2nd January 2013

Happy New Year to all our readers!

How to make drug policy better: key findings from UKDPC research into drug policy governance

This study of drug policy governance (PDF), or how drug policy is made has identified important issues for good governance, where the system seems to be going wrong, and options for improving the way policy is made | UKDPC, UK

Call for new drug policy research body

A new body is needed to assess existing and alternative drugs policies, and could be partly funded by assets seized from dealers, campaigners have said | BBC, UK

Money seized from drug dealers 'should be spent on research into treatment' say campaigners

In a highly-critical report, the UK Drug Policy Commission (UKDPC) warned a lack of leadership and high turnover of ministers and civil servants were hindering progress [on drug policy] | Mail Online, UK

Alcohol Concern and British Liver Trust launch January campaigns

Two national charities have launched different campaigns urging people to cut down on their alcohol consumption | BBC, UK

Liver charity calls for early screening

British Liver Trust wants doctors to test at-risk patients after random examinations show one in four have early damage | Guardian, UK

Is there any point in giving up booze for January?

Last year Jamie Merrill became one of thousands of 'dryathletes'. Will he be doing it again in 2013? | Independent, UK

Hamid Ghodse - Obituary

Hamid on 27th December 2012, peacefully at home | Times, UK

Quitting smoking 'reduces anxiety'

Smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards - despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say | BBC, UK

Boscombe drug clinics 'not root of social problems'

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in Dorset say addicts and treatment providers are being used as a scapegoat for a town's problems | BBC, UK

Dutch coffee shops 'must see ID'

New laws being introduced in the Netherlands mean people who visit so-called coffee shops that sell cannabis will have to provide ID and an official document confirming they live in the country | BBC, UK

Inside Brazil's hellish shantytown streets: Crack cocaine skid row where users steal, prostitute themselves, and pick through the trash to get their next fix

With a boom in crack use over the past decade, Brazilian authorities are struggling to stop the drug's spread, sparking a debate over the legality and efficiency of forcibly interning users | Mail Online, UK

Beer to become 'alcohol' in Russia on New Year's Day

Beer in Russia will become an alcoholic drink for the first time on New Year's Day. Tom Parfitt reports | Telegraph, UK

4,800 jobs at risk' as pub sales plummet

Up to 800 pubs are in serious financial trouble as they face the new year, putting more than 4,800 jobs at risk, the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) has warned | Irish Independent, Ireland

Studying Marijuana and its Loftier Purpose

Among the rows of plants growing at a government-approved medical marijuanafarm in the Galilee hills in northern Israel, one strain is said to have the strongest psychoactive effect of any cannabis in the world | New York Times, USA

Pot activists divided over new cannabis club

A small group of New Year's Eve revelers [in Denver] ditched the traditional champagne toast, lighting up joints instead at a newly opened marijuana club | CNN, USA

Emerging drugs

K2, Spice, Salvia, Bath Salts... Articles from NIDA | NIDA, USA

Deaths from prescription drug overdoses skyrocket - video

Across the US, health experts are battling a growing prescription drug epidemic that is killing almost 15,000 people a year – more fatalities than from heroin and cocaine overdoses combined | NBC News, USA

Study shows naloxone kits cost-effective in preventing overdose deaths

Giving heroin users kits with the overdose antidote naloxone is a cost-effective way to prevent overdose deaths and save lives, according to a study released this week | University of Washington, USA

Taxpayer Money Created 'Legal Marijuana' Used By Teens

The Drug Enforcement Administration has placed an emergency ban on a handful of the chemicals that are used to make Spice, but there are hundreds more chemicals readily available | ABC News, USA

No Proof Electronic Cigarettes Combat Addiction, Report Says

There is no scientific proof that electronic cigarettes are useful in combating smoking addiction and they should not be used by young people because they are still delivering nicotine to the body, a study by the Italian Health Ministry said today | ABC News, USA