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Alcohol & Drugs

All the latest news: Policy Practice Innovation Treatment Drug Use Trends

Here you can find over 500 posts tracking every major development in the substance misuse sector since 2011. You can keep up with latest treatment stats, funding news, policy developments and treatment innovations. If you’re looking for something in particular, try the search box below.
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

Do drug consumption rooms work?

Drug consumption rooms are currently the subject of political discussion in some European countries as calls for their implementation are debated. As frontline, low-threshold services, drug consumption rooms are often among the first to gain insights into new drug use patterns and thus they also have a role to play in the early identification of new and emerging trends among the high-risk populations using their services.

8th July 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

Binge drinking in Britain

New Office for National Statistics data shows big drop in young people’s binge drinking but big regional variations. 5 key trends highlighted on ONS digital channel…

7th July 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

20 million Europeans smoke cannabis

The most recent EMCDDA estimate suggests that almost 1% Europeans use cannabis daily or almost daily (defined as 20 days or more per month). Since 2008, cannabis use is the main reason that Europeans enter drug treatment for the first time. Over this time, the number of first-time cannabis clients has risen markedly and cannabis users represent around half a more of all service users entering drug treatment in Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary and the Netherlands.

1st July 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

NHS and probation reforms threaten offender health

Professor Brooker concludes with a plea that both the National Probation Service and the new private Community Rehabilitation Companies should be equipping their staff with training to at least recognise mental health disorders and to take some action in attempting to connect probationers to existing services.

30th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

Drug recovery Payment by Results pilots fail in first year

The researchers come to the very fair conclusion that PbR is not a straightforward guarantee of improving performance in drug and alcohol recovery. Although previous studies have shown that PbR can drive some limited improvements in quality, this study unambiguously found that: “the introduction of payment for outcomes had a significant, negative impact on successful treatment completion.”

26th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

Support, don’t punish women who use drugs

IDPC argues that women drug users experience greater stigma and discrimination, as they are often perceived to be ‘fallen women’. Their lack of decision-making power and economic resources, as well as vulnerability to physical and sexual violence heightens the risk of HIV, Hep C and other blood-borne viruses.

25th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

No health without justice, no justice without health

The reason for targeting health interventions at offenders is that poor health is often interlinked with offending. Offenders are known to suffer disproportionately from multiple and complex health issues which are often exacerbated by the difficulties they experience in accessing health and social care services in the local community.

25th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

UK has highest rates of drug use in Europe

The UK had the highest rate of heroin use in Europe (out of 21 reporting countries). The UK had the highest rate of cocaine use in Europe (out of 26 reporting countries). The UK had the highest rate of ecstasy use in Europe (out of 25 reporting countries). The UK had the 22nd highest rate of amphetamine use (out of 25 reporting countries). The UK had the 22nd highest rate of cannabis use (out of 27 reporting countries)

24th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

What did people buy on Silk Road?

Last month (29 May 2015) the founder of Silk Road, the online black market, was given a life sentence.
But why was the site so popular? The short answer is that it made the purchase of illegal drugs triaghtforward and secure.

According to prosecutors, the site generated about $214 million in sales between early 2011 and late 2013. In late 2011 and 2012, while the site was still active, Carnegie Mellon’s Nicolas Christin gathered eight months of data that shows the 20 most popular categories purchased on Silk Road.

19th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

The European Drug Report 2015

Earlier this month the EMCDDA published its annual European Drugs Report. My experience is that these reports get more useful every year. In addition to the opportunity to see how UK drug use both resembles and differs from patterns of use in different parts of the continent, the report also gives a very useful heads-up on trends in how countries respond to the issue of drugs. This year’s report focuses in particular on: Drug market dynamics – global influences and local differences; Trends in drug use and Developments in health and social responses

17th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

10 things I learnt from the 2015 Global Drug Survey

The Global Drug Survey becomes more valuable every year; this year over 100,000 people completed the survey. The survey is very different from research such as the Crime Survey for England and Wales because it is typically completed by regular, mainly recreational, drug users. The findings make fascinating reading and I recommend that you find time for a browse.

15th June 2015
Alcohol/Drugs/Gambling

Three key approaches to tackling complex needs

We are only just beginning to understand the full challenge of how to help people facing multiple or complex needs. People facing multiple needs are in every community in Britain and it is estimated that 58,000 people face all three problems of homelessness, substance misuse and offending in any one year. Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) is a coalition of Clinks, Homeless Link and Mind which has just (2 June 2015) published a report advising policy makers on this issue.

11th June 2015

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