Daily news - 23rd June 2015 |
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UK news
Substance Misuse Sector 'Collective Voice' Project
A group made up of third sector providers including Addaction, Blenheim, Cranstoun, CRI,Lifeline Project, Phoenix Futures, Swanswell and Turning Point have agreed to accept leadership responsibility to collectively fund a piece of work which will establish how the drug and alcohol treatment sector can help the government achieve its ambition and identify the most effective structures and mechanisms to enable the entire drug and alcohol treatment sector to represent the interests of its service users to relevant stakeholders | Guardian, UK
CrushDabWait
The Loop conducts forensic testing of drugs at UK festivals and nightclubs and provides associated welfare support. Forensic testing suggests that whilst the MDMA content of ecstasy pills has fallen a little in recent months from its peak to just under 100mg MDMA per pill, the MDMA crystal currently in circulation in the UK is very high purity - 83% – and even higher at recent festivals where The Loop has been testing | The Loop, UK
Drug welfare groups advise users to crush, dab, wait
The Loop and Chill Welfare issue advice as crystal purity in the UK hits 83% | MixMag, UK
Patients must be given life-saving hepatitis C drugs now, say charities
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt must intervene to overturn attempts by NHS England to stop people living with hepatitis C receiving life-saving treatments, 14 leading charities and top liver doctors have written to him to say | Blenheim CDP, UK
Call to halt legal highs ban based on 'flawed' Irish system
The UK government is being urged to put off a ban on so-called legal highs after claims similar legislation in the Republic of Ireland is flawed | BBC, UK
Legal highs: Lab-made drugs 'made me dead inside'-video
On Tuesday the House of Lords will debate government plans to ban so-called legal highs, but there is a warning from Ireland, which brought in a similar ban five years ago, that the model for Britain's legislation is flawed | BBC, UK
Lib Dems: legalise medicinal cannabis and possession of drugs for personal use
‘Locking up drug users is not the answer,’ says Lord Paddick, who has tabled amendments to government’s controversial psychoactive substances bill | Guardian, UK
Drinking in pregnancy 'significant' cause of childhood brain damage
Susannah Mackay, from Dundee, has an adopted son and foster daughter who have both been diagnosed with disorders related to exposure to alcohol while in the womb. Her son was placed with her when he was seven and her daughter when she was six | BBC, UK
ACMD open meeting registration form: 2 July 2015
Complete this form to attend the open meeting of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in Cardiff on 2 July 2015 | ACMD, UK
Smoking Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England (SDD) Consultation
This is a public consultation on the future format and content of the survey of Smoking Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England (SDD). The HSCIC is consulting with users to ensure the survey continues to be relevant and to meet users' needs | HSCIC, UK
Media Release: Scottish Families launches national Bereavement Counselling Service
Today Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (Scottish Families) launches the first national Bereavement Counselling Service dedicated to families impacted by a drug-related death | SFAD, UK
Just two drinks a day can increase risk of developing breast cancer by 18%
A new factsheet from Alcohol Concern, released on Monday 22 June, looks at how alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer | Alcohol Concern, UK
LGBT Hate Crime: Recognise It, Report It
A new campaign to raise awareness of LGBT hate crime, and to encourage people to report it, begins today. With the message of ‘Recognise it. Report it.’ the campaign will empower LGB and T people to stand up against hate crime through education and training as well as establishing local partnerships. The campaign is delivered jointly by 31 LGBT organisations across England & Wales and funded by the Equality & Human Rights Commission | London Friend, UK
Clubs and bars are vital revenue generators for UK economy, not hotbeds of binge drinking and drug abuse
The 'night-time economy' is worth £66bn to the UK and must be treated with respect, says new report | Telegraph, UK
Preliminary results of the IDHDP global naloxone survey
Slideshare of conference presentation | IDHDP, UK
The Recovery Games
This is a one day event which involves teams of people from services within the substance misuse field across Yorkshire and The Humber. The teams will be made up of service users and their families as well as staff members. The main purposes of the event is to promote that recovery does and can happen, to reduce the stigma faced by substance users and their families, to promote physical activities and to make connections with the local community and services | Recovery Events, UK
Arches closure won't reduce drug use says MSP
Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow will use a debate in the Scottish Parliament to speak out against the decision which led to the arts venue and club closing this month | Herald, UK
Cannabis factory found at former NHS clinic in Harlow
About 800 plants were discovered | BBC, UK
Cannabis grower Manny Naveed to lose £38,000 crime cash
An illegal cannabis grower has been ordered to hand over £38,000 under proceeds of crime laws | BBC, UK
International news
Drug dealers are allegedly using emoji to indicate what they have on sale now
And not the pill one like you might be expecting | Independent, UK
Indonesia executions: Frenchman Serge Atlaoui faces death by firing squad after court rejects final appeal against sentence for drugs trafficking
The married father-of-four looks set to be the latest foreigner to be executed in renewed crackdown by Indonesian government | Independent, UK
Spike in assaults recorded at Sydney casino following city's lockout laws
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics figures show an increase in alcohol-related assaults in Pyrmont, with the trend driven by a rise in incidents at The Star | Guardian, UK
Revenue destroyed a whopping €90m-worth of drugs last year
The figure represents a five-fold increase on 2013 | Journal, Ireland
A year in review: Highlights from the EMCDDA’s General Report of Activities 2014
The series ‘A year in review’ contains the essence of the EMCDDA's General Report of Activities. It is designed to provide interested audiences with a brief, four-page summary of the agency’s achievements for the year concerned with a focus on key topics | EMCDDA, Portugal
Innovation Born of Necessity: Pioneering Drug Policy in Catalonia (PDF)
Innovation Born of Necessity is the first of the Lessons For Drug Policy Series to explore and document drug policy formulation at the state level in Catalonia, Spain | OSF, USA
Jailhouse nation: How to make America’s penal system less punitive and more effective
With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States holds roughly a quarter of its prisoners: more than 2.3m people, including 1.6m in state and federal prisons and over 700,000 in local jails and immigration pens | Economist, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Armed Forces Day: Frank’s Story
At Right Turn, everyone shares their stories and we all recover together and support each other.’’ Frank, 65 | Addaction, UK
Men’s Health – A Recovery Approach
Shaaban is a Substance Use Worker at our west London hostel. To mark Men’s Health Week, he shares his own story and how it has influenced his approach to recovery | St Mungo's, UK
Is red wine really healthy?
As new research suggests yet another health benefit linked to red wine, we weigh up the positives and negatives | Telegraph, UK
Smoking is associated with an increased risk of dementia
Previous reviews looking at the possible association between smoking and dementia have concluded that smoking may be a risk factor, but they have included relatively few studies. Around 20 new studies have been completed in recent years, so Zhong and colleagues felt a more comprehensive meta-analysis was warranted, and reported the results in PLoS ONE in March 2015 | Mental Elf Blog, UK
An 80th anniversary tribute to Alcoholics Anonymous
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. A.A.’s early decades have been well chronicled in both fellowship texts and in Not-God, the scholarly history of A.A. by Harvard-trained historian, Ernest KurtzThis week marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous | Selected Papers of William White, USA