Reports March 2013

Health first: an evidence based drug strategy for the UK (PDF)

This report has been produced by an independent group of experts with no involvement from the alcohol industry. It has been written for everyone with an interest in promoting public health and community safety, at both national and local levels | Univ Stirling, UK

Drug related deaths in the UK (PDF)

Drug-related deaths reported by Coroners in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man; Police forces in Scotland; & the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency | np SAD, UK

Barriers and facilitators to hepatitis C treatment for people who inject drugs. A qualitative study

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global public health problem. The burden of HCV infection is concentrated among people who inject drugs (PWID), with an estimated five million PWID living with chronic HCV in the European Region. Download the report here (PDF) | WHO, Switzerland

The Contribution of Clinical Psychologists to Recoveryorientated Drug and Alcohol Treatment Systems

The British Psychological Society have published a guide for service commissioners and service managers (PDF), that describes the unique contribution of clinical psychologists to effective recovery-orientated drug and alcohol treatment systems. It details clinical psychologists' competences and how these can be deployed to enhance recovery outcomes for service users and their families | BPS, NTA, UK

Analysis of the impact of employment on re-offending following release from custody, using Propensity Score Matching (PDF)

This report presents analysis which aims to identify the impact (if any) that employment (measured by having a PAYE employment spell notified by a P45) has on reducing re-offending | MoJ, UK

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

Fall in heroin and crack use as drugs lose appeal, particularly for the young

The number of heroin and crack cocaine users in England has fallen below 300,000 for the first time. The latest estimates (PDF) support the continuing shift away from the most harmful drugs, particularly among younger people. Independent research published today by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) reveals a significant fall in use among the under 25s and under 35s in the last year | NTA, UK

Government response to the Home Affairs Committee report on drugs (PDF)

This Command Paper is published in response to the Home Affairs Select
Committee’s Ninth Report of Session 2012-13 entitled ‘Drugs: Breaking the Cycle.' | UK Parliament, UK

Drinking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey)

The General Household Survey (GHS) and the General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) have, between them, been measuring drinking behaviour for over 30 years. This chapter presents information on recent trends over time in drinking behaviour and detailed data for the 2011 survey year | ONS, UK

Smoking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview - a report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey)

The General Household Survey (GHS) and General Lifestyle Survey (GLF) have been monitoring smoking prevalence for over 35 years. The 2011 survey included questions on cigarette consumption, type of cigarette smoked, how old respondents were when they started smoking, and dependence on cigarettes | ONS, UK

Driving under the influence of drugs (PDF)

Report from the Expert Panel on Drug Driving | Dept of Transport, UK

Limiting the exposure of young people to alcohol advertising:sixth annual report 2011 (PDF)

Our task as a Monitoring Body is to oversee the implementation of and adherence to Voluntary Codes of Practice to limit the exposure of young people under the age of 18 to alcohol advertising. As this Sixth Annual Report shows there was overall compliance in 2011 by television, radio, cinema, outdoor advertisers and newspapers and magazines | Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body, Ireland

Charity warns lack of planning in hepatitis C services risks future chaos and huge healthcare costs (PDF)

Published by The Hepatitis C Trust, the report found that local authorities are not ready to take responsibility for hepatitis C from April 2013 which risks huge healthcare costs and a burden on services. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that causes liver disease. 216,000 people are estimated to have the virus in the UK but less than half have been diagnosed | Hep C Trust, UK

The challenge of new psychoactive substances: A Report from the Global SMART Programme (PDF)

This report is the first global situation assessment on new psychoactive substances put forward under the Global SMART Programme | UNODC, Austria

A growing EU illicit drugs market shows the impact of the crisis

The economic crisis is expected to have a major impact on the drugs market, for example through an increase of demand for illicit drugs, according to the findings of a study - Further insights into aspects of the EU illicit drugs market (PDF) - published today by the European Commission | European Commission, Belgium

Building Evidence into Education

Dr Ben Goldacre today set out how teachers in England have the chance to make teaching a truly evidence-based profession. Download report (PDF) | Dept for Education, UK

Chief Executive's report to the NTA board (PDF)

As the Board convenes for the last time I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the changes to the provision and effectiveness of drug treatment over the eleven and a half years since the National Treatment Agency’s first Board meeting in July 2001 | NTA, UK

150% rise in hospital admissions for over 60's with alcohol related mental health problems

Huge rise in number of over 60's requiring hospital admission for alcohol related mental health problems. Read the briefing (PDF) | Alcohol Concern, UK

Price-based measures to reduce alcohol consumption (PDF)

In this briefing note we compare the effectiveness of the proposed minimum unit price and quantity discount ban to an alternative policy which reforms and significantly simplifies the structure of excise taxes levied on alcohol | IFS, UK

Affordability of alcohol in Europe (PDF)

Measuring the affordability of alcohol across countries is difficult because price alone tells us little. Factors such as the average wage and the price of other goods in the economy are just as relevant to researchers investigating how affordable alcohol is in different countries | Inst. Alcohol Studies, UK

One Million Police Hours (PDF)

A new report documents the number of hours the New York Police Department has spent arresting and processing hundreds of thousands of low-level misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure from 2002 to 2012 | DPA, USA

Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia 2010-11: state and territory findings

About 700 agencies provide treatment for alcohol and other drug issues in Australia, and three-quarters of these agencies are in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Most of the closed episodes were for clients receiving treatment for their own drug use, and alcohol was the most common principal drug of concern | AIHW, Australia

Consultation on PSHE education - Summary report (PDF)

This report has been based on 699 responses to the consultation document. The report is presented in sections. It addresses consultees’ responses with regard to the content of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, the teaching of PSHE, issues of accountability and assessment, and respondents’ evidence and examples of good practice | Dept for Education, UK

Drink drive consultation

The vast majority of people who responded to a Scottish Government consultation would like to see a lower drink drive limit in Scotland | Scottish Government, UK

Revised safeguarding statutory guidance - working together

Following formal consultation we have published the revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013). This guidance has been published in response to recommendations from Professor Eileen Munro's report, 'A child-centred system' | Dept for Education, UK

Landmark report on achieving parity between mental and physical health published

A major report demonstrating how parity between mental and physical health can be achieved is published today by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Whole-Person Care: From Rhetoric to Reality (PDF), defines parity as valuing mental health equally with physical health | RGCP, UK