Weekly news - 3rd May 2013 |
 |
If you only want a summary of the week's news, you can sign up just for that service here.
Public Health England: Our priorities for 2013/14 (PDF)
The priorities encompass the organisation’s broad remit, ranging from protecting and improving the nation’s health to building the public health system and increasing its own expertise | PHE, UK
Substance Misuse Skills Consortium conference: ‘Building effective practice’ – 28th June 2013, London
The Skills Consortium conference will focus on the practical applications of workforce development in this period of transition and change for the drug and alcohol sector Fee: £65 (including VAT) Consortium members, £95 non-members | Skills Consortium, UK
Invitation to bid to carry out research with schools as part of the new DfE-funded ADEPIS project
Mentor would like to invite bids to carry out a piece of research with schools as part of our new DfE-funded ADEPIS project (Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service). We would like to improve our understanding of how schools currently choose and use resources for drug and alcohol education | Mentor, UK
The hidden dangers of legal highs
In the last five years, the market for legal highs has exploded. It's never been easier, or cheaper, to buy drugs online – but no one knows what's in them, or how dangerous they are | Guardian, UK
Clubbers mix former legal high mephedrone with ecstasy, despite ban
Research shows that polydrug use is increasingly common | Observer, UK
Public Health Report on Commissioning of HCV services in London for People who Inject Drugs (PDF)
Chronic hepatitis C infection in people who inject drugs represents a major health inequality in a marginalised group in society. In London the prevalence of hepatitis C is 55% in people who inject drugs compared to 1-2% in the general population. This report represents a call to action for commissioners of drug addiction services and specialist liver services | London Joint Working Group On Substance Misuse and hepatitis C, UK
Two found dead in Bolton after taking 'contaminated amphetamine'
Two people have died after taking what police believe to be a contaminated batch of amphetamine | BBC, UK
Plain packaging lobbyists under fire over links to tobacco company
Former police officers who gave evidence to Lords on upcoming legislation worked for Common Sense Alliance, funded by BAT | Guardian, UK
Cigarette display ban to come into force in Scotland
New laws governing the display of cigarettes and tobacco in large stores in Scotland will come into force on Monday | BBC, UK
Getting our priorities right (PDF)
The updated guidance sets out the challenge of adult problematic alcohol or drug use, its possible impacts on children and families and how services should respond. It provides all child and adult service practitioners working with these vulnerable families with an overview of the supporting evidence base | Scottish Government, UK
Cocaine and heroin use costs Wales £780m a year - video
The social and economic cost of Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin is estimated at £780m a year in Wales, according to those working to help the estimated 20,000 problem drug users in the country | BBC, UK
President Obama and #DrugPolicyReform: A Leap in the Right Direction
On April 24th, the Obama Administration released its 2013 National Drug Control Strategy – and it contains some huge gains for harm reduction advocates | Open Society Foundations, USA
"UK should welcome heroin room" say addicts
Brighton & Hove will today decide whether to open the UK's first drug consumption room. A handful of European cities have drug consumption rooms. Newsbeat's Declan Harvey has visited Frankfurt's biggest one, and spoke with some of the addicts who inject there | BBC, UK
LOOK: Newsbeat visits a Drug Consumption Room
The IDH Frankfurt is the biggest drug consumption room in the city. All day a group of addicts could be seen outside. It's open from 11am - 11pm | BBC, UK
HOT TOPICS for May/June 2013
This latest set of hot topics examines commissioning. Motivational interviewing is a favourite for commissioners looking for evidence-based practice, and the commonly poor mental health of patients is something their services must know how to address. Finally, the preventive promise of contrasting one’s substance use with population norms | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
More children in Scotland losing parents to drug deaths
More than 300 children in Scotland lost a parent or parental figure to a drug-related death in 2011, according to new figures | BBC, UK
The National Drug-related Deaths Database (Scotland) Report 2011 (PDF)
This is the third report from the National Drug Related Deaths Database (NDRDD) for Scotland which presents data for the calendar year 2011. The NDRDD was established to collect detailed information regarding the nature and social circumstances of individuals who have died a drug-related death | NDRDD, UK
Changing trends in fatal polydrug use could reflect increasing mental health issues among users
Changing trends in drug combinations featuring in Scotland’s drug deaths over the past two years may reflect increasing mental health problems among drug users, especially women, according to the National Drug-related Deaths Database (Scotland) Report 2011 published today | SDF, UK
New reduced hours for scottish drug and alcohol helplines from 1 May
New operating hours for the Scottish Government’s Know the Score (Drugs information and advice) and Drinkline Scotland (Alcohol information and advice) free, confidential helplines are to come into force from tomorrow, 1 May | SDF, UK
Rural drug funding cuts opposed by support group
Money to help drug users in parts of rural Wales is being cut by up to a third in a new Welsh government funding formula, a support charity has warned | BBC, UK
Smoking 'poses bigger risk to women'
Smoking may pose a bigger health threat to women than men, say researchers | BBC, UK
Rural drug support future funding cuts denied
Fears that money to help drug users in parts of rural Wales could face a future cut of up to a fifth have been denied by the Welsh government | BBC, UK
GHB/GBL - every drop counts - video
Every drop counts. Whether it's GHB or GBL there are no other drugs where dosing is so important and where tolerance does not protect you against overdose. We talk to a forensic toxicologist on G dosing and risks | YouTube, UK
Plain fag packets plan up in smoke
David Cameron has scrapped plans to force all cigarettes to be sold in plain packs, The Sun can reveal | Sun, UK
Four in hospital as rogue heroin is sold in Portsmouth
Four heroin users are in hospital after a rogue batch of the class A drug was sold in Portsmouth. Police believe at least four people have been taken to hospital in the past 24 hours, after suffering an adverse reaction to the drug | Portsmouth News, UK
The online drug marketplace Silk Road is collapsing – did hackers, government or Bitcoin kill it?
At 6am this morning, I got an email from one of my sleazier contacts. It simply said "looks like Silk Road has collapsed". I fired the Tor browser you need to connect to the site and, indeed, it wasn't there | Telegraph, UK
Helping service users to engage with treatment and stay the course (Turning evidence into practice series) (PDF)
The second in a series of briefings to support commissioners and providers who want to improve the recovery orientation of their services as recommended by ‘Medications in recovery: re-orientating drug dependence treatment’, the final report of the John Strang-chaired Recovery Orientated Drug Treatment expert group | PHE, UK
Doctors condemn Government's decision to hold plans for plain cigarette packaging
President of Royal College of Physicians appeals for a rethink from Jeremy Hunt | Independent, UK
Teenager killed by sniffing gas balloon
Public schoolboy Joe Benett, 17, believed he was taking nitrous oxide — also known as laughing gas — from a canister marked Smelly Balloon, an inquest heard | Sun, UK
Man dies and three in hospital as rogue heroin alert is raised in Portsmouth
A 36-year old man has died after taking heroin from a suspected rogue batch. Three other people also needed hospital treatment – with one man still in a critical condition. Three men have this afternoon, been arrested by Hampshire police, on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a class A drug | Portsmouth News, UK