DS Daily - 6th March 2013

DrugScope blog - Poverty: the state of being extremely poor?

A recent government consultation has been looking afresh at the issue of child poverty - DrugScope, Adfam and Alcohol Concern submitted a joint response | DrugScope, UK

Relaxation of US cannabis laws 'violates UN drug conventions'

International Narcotics Control Board criticises decision by some US states to legalise use of cannabis | Guardian, UK

UK falls behind Europe for healthy life expectancy

Smoking, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption among biggest risk factors for illness and disease in Britain | Independent, UK

UK health performance: findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

The UK has had universal free health care and public health programmes for more than six decades. Several policy initiatives and structural reforms of the health system have been undertaken | Lancet, UK

Government to legislate for plain cigarette packaging this year

UK to follow example of Australia, where cigarettes must be sold in drab packets with graphic health warnings | Guardian, UK

Phoenix Futures celebrates the too often ignored role of Mothers in supporting recovery

To raise awareness of the vital role of Mothers this Mother’s Day, Phoenix Futures services have been organising local events and a nationwide competition encouraging service users to take part by sharing messages and stories | Phoenix Futures, UK

Bath Literature Festival: The Tory peer who told author - the PM wants to legalise drugs – he's just too scared to say so

Why do politicians "scuttle sideways like a startled crab" whenever the legalisation of drugs is mentioned? Three experts on the drugs trade trained their headlights on the crab today | Independent, UK

Former DEA chiefs call on Obama to crack down on cannabis legalisation

Attorney general to announce response to Washington and Colorado resolutions as UN joins call to shut down legalisation | Guardian, UK

US ex-drug enforcement chiefs urge marijuana crackdown

A group of ex-US drug enforcement chiefs say Washington must crack down on marijuana use in two states that recently voted to legalise the drug | BBC, UK

The only way to help addicts is to treat them as sick, not bad

Here is a special preview of Russell Brand’s brilliant piece in this week’s Spectator | Spectator, UK

Behavioural Addiction - A 21st Century Threat

Diseases come and go and epidemics are often linked to trends in human behaviour. In the 19th century it was syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, while the 20th century brought us addiction to mood altering drugs and AIDS | CastleCraig blog, UK

Scare tactics may be back in vogue, but they still don't work

Using scare tactics to change lifestyle behaviour is beginning to creep back into public health practice | Irish Times, Ireland

Daughter (10) of ‘cocaine Kingpin’ kidnapped

Three masked man abducted the 10-year-old daughter of a convicted Bulgarian gangland boss today, police said | Irish Independent, Ireland

INCB Press Release: We must halt unprecedented proliferation and abuse of 'Legal highs'

INCB Annual Report highlights the importance of shared responsibility in reducing drug-related suffering, warns of global trafficking of precursor chemicals and of prescription drugs being misused, and highlights regional trends | INCB, Austria

INCB Annual Report 2012

Based on its activities, INCB publishes an annual report that is submitted to ECOSOC through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the drug control situation in various parts of the world | INCB, Austria

Walking the "legal high" wire…

Once thought to be a largely Western problem, a report due to be released shortly by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that new psychoactive substances, so called "legal highs," are now a global issue being fuelled by the Internet | UNODC, Austria

Development, health and new psychoactive substances are on the agenda at this year's 56th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

This year's Commission on Narcotic Drugs will focus on a number of high profile issues in the area of international drug control including the relationship between illicit drugs and the Millennium Development Goals | UNODC, Austria

Is the INCB Dangerous to Your Health? 5 Ways the UN's Drug Watchdog Fails on Health and Human Rights

In what has become a chilling annual exercise, the UN's drug watchdog the International Narcotics Control Board released its annual report today. The INCB describes itself as a "quasi-judicial" group of experts charged with monitoring compliance with international drug control treaties, but the report's drug war bias and egregious omissions makes us wonder who is judging the judges | Huffington Post, USA