Volume 102, Issue 1, Page 62-70, Jan 2007.
ABSTRACT Context The concept that assessment of a person's health status without subsequent intervention has beneficial effects in itself has stimulated much interest in underlying psychological mechanisms, methodological implications and its public heal...
Treatment For Homeless Youth Pays Off In Long Run, Study Finds
One of the few studies examining methods to help homeless youth found that a comprehensive intervention program can indeed dramatically improve their life situation.The six-month study of homeless youth in Albuquerque found that teens who completed the program significantly reduced their substance abuse and depression and increased their social stability, including the number of days living off the streets, compared to those who received standard treatment. [click link for full article]
Social Gradients In Binge Drinking And Abstaining In British Women
British women's binge drinking is clearly defined by their age and education, suggests a large, long term study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.Educated women binge drink in their 20s, but curb their habits by their 40s. But the reverse is true of women with little education, whose binge drinking is more likely to take off in their 40s, shows the research. [click link for full article]
Gambling Treatment MUST Be Available On The NHS, Say Doctors
In its hard-hitting report, Gambling addiction and its treatment within the NHS, released recently, the BMA is calling for gambling to be a recognised addiction that requires treatment on the NHS.This recommendation is part of a tough set of proposals aimed at helping healthcare professionals deal effectively with the growing problem of gambling addiction in the UK. The report is timely given the 2005 Gambling Act is due to come into force this September. [click link for full article]
Liver transplant and hepatitis C in methadone maintenance therapy: a case report
Methadone maintenance therapy for the treatment of opioid dependence continues to carry a social stigma. Until recently, patients on methadone were not considered for liver transplantation. We describe the first case of a patient on methadone who received a liver transplant for end stage liver disease and was successfully treated for recurrent hepatitis C. More than five years post transplant and three years post viral clearance, the patient continues to do well and is stable on low-dose methadone. This case emphasizes the need to reconsider the non-evidence based policy adopted by transplant centers that require methadone maintenance therapy patients to stop methadone prior to consideration for transplant evaluation.
Drinking: adults’ behaviour and knowledge in 2006
A report on research using the ONS Omnibus Survey produced by the Office for National Statistics on behalf of the Information Centre for Health and Social Care. Keywords: drinking patterns, consumption, alcohol misuse, prevention, education.
'Moral panic' threat to children of drug addicts
HUNDREDS of children whose parents are drug addicts face the risk of being taken into care because of a "moral panic" over the issue, Scotland's drug and alcohol tsar has warned.
What five cigarettes a day does to your arteries
A new scan at the University College London is showing the damage that a five-a-day cigarette habit can do to an otherwise healthy person's arteries. Here KATHRYN KNIGHT tries it out
Online early issue.
ABSTRACT Objectives To describe the circumstances and draft a typology of drug-related overdose deaths. Setting London, 2003. Methods An audit of 148 drug overdose deaths (involving heroin, methadone, dihydrocodeine, cocaine, amphetamine or MDMA) inves...
Volume 102, Issue 1, Page 41-50, Jan 2007.
ABSTRACT Aim Through a complex combination of direct (face-valid) and indirect (subtle) subscales, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) is purported to detect substance use disorders with a high degree of validity regardless of responde...
Improving services for substance misuse
NTA and Health Commission joint review of drug treatment services in England. Keywords: treatment services, outcomes, quality standards, English.
U.S. Lawmakers Suggest Legal Poppies for Afghanistan
In the face of failed U.S.-backed efforts to eradicate opium poppy production in Afghanistan, some lawmakers, scientists and economists are proposing that Afghan farmers be encouraged to grow their crops for medicinal use, not to produce heroin.
[In The News] Tip for Avoiding Arrest on Drug Charges
On NPR Today: He was known in Texas as a great narcotics cop. But now Barry Cooper is offering advice on how to get away from people like him. He's selling a video called Never Get Busted Again. A local paper reports it offers tips on how to hide your stash, avoid profiling and even fool dope-sniffing dogs. Cooper's former colleagues now want to determine if he broke the law.
Improving services for substance misuse
NTA and Health Commission joint review of drug treatment services in England. Keywords: treatment services, outcomes, quality standards, English.
North Americas first government sanctioned medically supervised injection facility (SIF) was opened during September 2003 in Vancouver, Canada. This was in response to a large open public drug scene, high rates of HIV and hepatitis C transmission, fatal drug overdoses, and poor health outcomes among the citys injection drug users. Between December 2003 and April 2005, a representative sample of 1,035 SIF participants were enrolled in a prospective cohort that required completing an interviewer-administered questionnaire and providing a blood sample for HIV testing. HIV infection was detected in 170/1007 (17%) participants and was associated with Aboriginal ethnicity (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR], 2.70, 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI], 1.84-3.97), a history of borrowing used needles/syringes (aOR, 2.0, 95% CI, 1.37-2.93), previous incarceration (aOR, 1.87, 95% CI, 1.11-3.14), and daily injection cocaine use (aOR, 1.42, 95% CI, 1.00-2.03). The SIF has attracted a large number of marginalized injection drug users and presents an excellent opportunity to enhance HIV prevention through education, the provision of sterile injecting equipment, and a supervised environment to self-inject. In addition, the SIF is an important point of contact for HIV positive individuals who may not be participating in HIV care and treatment.
Cannabis 'affecting young minds'
Half of young people using cannabis have side effects including paranoia and blackouts, a survey suggests.
Sport 'social drugs' ban queried
Sports people should not be banned for using "social" drugs, UK sports minister Richard Caborn suggests.
Systemic disease among cases of fatal opioid toxicity
Examining 841 cases of death due to opioid toxicity found that systemic disease, particularly liver disease was common. This may be a factor in understanding the dynamics and age demographics or opioid related deaths.
Cash award delivers college hopes to recovering addicts
HUNDREDS of recovering drug addicts and alcoholics are to be offered college courses and job training thanks to a £600,000 grant from the National Lottery.
Date rape drug use 'not widespread'
(UK) Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) was found in just two out of 120 cases. (Thu Nov 16 01:04:04 2006 PST)
Date-rape drugs 'hardly used' - News - channel4.com
(US) Date-rape drugs 'hardly used' - News - channel4.com Date-rape drugs 'hardly used' A widespread study on date rapes - the first of its kind in the UK - suggests fears of having a drink spiked by notorious date rape drug Rohypnol are unfounded and that drinking too much is really what puts wom... (Thu Nov 16 [via breaking drug news - uk]
Legendary promoter says steroids widespread in sports
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After extolling the virtues of bodybuilding for 65 years, legendary publisher and promoter Joe Weider does not mince words about the spread of steroids in the sport.
Illegal drug use 'is in decline'
The use of illegal drugs has fallen in Northern Ireland, according to latest figures.
Killer's psychiatric care condemned
An NHS report criticises the care given to a paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed a cyclist to death.
Test to expose sports drug cheats
Scientists have found a way to detect use of a banned performance-enhancing drug by athletes for the first time.
Payments for prison 'cold turkey'
Home Office expected to settle claims from inmates who say they were forced to go 'cold turkey' to quit drugs.
Mental health row set to reopen
Controversial laws to detain people with untreatable personality disorders are to be revived.
Chocolate addiction leads to sweet discovery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They were so addicted, they just could not give up their favorite daily snack -- not even in the interest of science.
Prisoners get compensation for going cold turkey in jail
PRISONERS are to receive compensation for being forced to come off drugs cold turkey while in jail.
The ‘meth’ epidemic: Managing acute psychosis, agitation, and suicide risk
Michael J. Bostwick, MD; Timothy W. Lineberry, MD
Safe sex advertising campaign offers the bare facts
Society: Campaign aims to make 18- to 24-year-olds think of condoms as 'essential wear' when they go out for a night.
Drink deaths double for thirty-somethings
Deaths due to alcohol have doubled in the past 14 years, figures show. The biggest rises were seen in men and women in their thirties and forties who were the first generation to start binge drinking as teenagers
Hangovers hit older people harder
It is something that many of us have long suspected - hangovers really do get worse as you get older. Scientists have shown that teenagers have a greater resistance to alcohol
Government 'ponders drug testing in schools'
(UK) Report claims It is claimed that ministers will ask schools across England to take part in a six-month long drug testing trial from January.
Since the earliest days of the drugs panic there tends to have been a split standard. The types of drugs that are indulged in by the middle classes are seen as OK or almost healthy whilst working class pleasures are penalised. Cocaine is an aspirational and clean drug whilst crack is dirty and associated with disease and crime. Hence the reason that large numbers of people who buy organisc milk and fairtrade coffe buy a drug that at every stage of its production is soaked in death and misery. The Colombian Government is trying to make people realise that their little white line has huge consequence in perpetuating poverty, war and disease.
UK: News - Hartlepool Today: News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars, Entertainments and More
(UK) A MUM and dad accused of feeding their baby son methadone have had their trial halted until next yea... (Wed Nov 01 10:59:43 2006 PST)[$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(55%), $propaganda_theme3(55%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $chemicals(100%), $analgesic(100%), $opioid(100%), $narcotic(100%), $methadone(100%)]
Mental health: Mental health matters
(UK) Who was involved in drug dealing and petty crime and whose problems stemmed from unresolved grief over the death of both parents when he was 12. (Tue Oct 31 07:34:20 2006 PST)[$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(70%), $propaganda_theme2(70%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $propaganda_theme5(60%), $propaganda_theme6(65%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $drugs(90%), $various_drugs(90%), $various_illegal_drugs(100%), $youth(60%), $school(100%)]
Call for methadone death inquiry
The family of a teenager killed by an addict who gave her alcohol and methadone seek an inquiry into her death.
'Baby Danger For Pregnant Crystal Meth Users'
(UK) 'Baby Danger For Pregnant Crystal Meth Users' - UK News Headlines 'Baby Danger For Pregnant Crystal Meth Users' 'Baby Danger For Pregnant Crystal Meth Users' 'Baby Danger For Pregnant Crystal Meth Users' Women who take an increasingly popular club drug during pregnancy are three times more l... (Tue Oct 31 00:03:32 2006 PST)[$drug_related(100%), $drugwar_propaganda(100%), $propaganda_theme2(70%), $propaganda_theme3(50%), $use_is_abuse(95%), $gateway(100%), $propaganda_theme4(100%), $propaganda_theme5(60%), $propaganda_theme6(65%), $illegal_drugs(100%), $drugs(95%), $chemicals(100%), $euphoric_stimulant(100%), $stimulant(100%), $methamphetamine(100%), $amphetamines(100%), $cocaine(100%), $various_drugs(95%), $various_illegal_drugs(100%), $drug_test(100%), $youth(60%)]
Methadone fails 97% of drug addicts
A KEY government drugs policy has been exposed as a shocking failure after it emerged that giving methadone to heroin addicts has a 97% failure rate.
There have been numerous stories in the press about children using their parents precribed controlled drugs either with or without their knowledge. A particularly unpelasant case was recently reported by the BBC where a baby had been drugged with methadone to keep it quiet - the child died and the parents are currently on trial for manslaughter. There is a link to the story below.
