Round up

Citation

(2011), "Round up", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 11 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dat.2011.54411caa.004

Round up

Article Type: Round up From: Drugs and Alcohol Today, Volume 11, Issue 3

Alcohol

Addressing the harmful use of alcohol – a guide to developing effective alcohol regulation

This World Health Organisation (WHO) guide is to “assist government agencies and ministries in developing country-level legislation to implement, monitor and enforce effective alcohol policies”. It provides “practical advice based on international experience about the implications of legislative options, steps to be taken to implement legislation and best practice on how to enforce legislation and support compliance” (www.wpro.who.int/NR/rdonlyres/FB634693-8DCE-47E3-B1B5-C01122A803A7/0/Addressingtheharmfuluseofalcoholforupload.pdf).

The Global status report on alcohol and health (2011)

The WHO Global status report on alcohol and health (2011) presents a comprehensive perspective on the global, regional and country consumption of alcohol, patterns of drinking, health consequences and policy responses in member states (www.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/en/index.html).

Alcohol and Older People – leaflet produced by The Royal College of Psychiatrists outlining the key alcohol issues for older people. It is aimed at older people who are worried about their drinking; carers, friends or health professionals who are worried about an older person’s drinking; and anyone who wants to know more about the problems of drinking in older people (www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/problems/alcoholanddrugs/alcoholandolderpeople.aspx).

Alcohol Learning Centre presentations from recent events on alcohol and the elderly available at: www.alcohollearningcentre.org.uk/Regions/SW/topics/presentationsSW/

Statistics on Alcohol NHS information centre report setting out the data on alcohol-related hospital admissions and new data on prescriptions (www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/alcohol11).

You are Not on Your Own – a booklet produced by The Children’s Society to help children and adults talk about a parent’s drinking (www.childrenssociety.org.uk/youarenotonyourown).

Comparing European Alcohol Policies: What to Compare? – a paper which compares policies and their impacts on alcohol consumption across Europe (www.euro.centre.org/detail.php?xml_id=1926).

Drugs

Technical Briefs on Amphetamine-type Stimulants. The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific have produced four technical briefs which comprise the most recent evidence on ATS use:

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  Technical Brief 1: patterns and consequences of the use of amphetamine-type stimulants.

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  Technical Brief 2: harm reduction and brief intervention for ATS users.

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  Technical Brief 3: principles of prevention and treatment for the use of amphetamine-type stimulants.

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  Technical Brief 4: therapeutic interventions for users of amphetamine-type stimulants.

Khat Use in Europe: Implications for European Policy The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) have produced a paper on Khat which looks at the challenges associated with the consumption of Khat (www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drugs-in-focus/khat).

Addiction to Medicine: an investigation into the configuration and commissioning of treatment services to support those who develop problems with prescription-only or over-the-counter medicine: National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse with an accompanying literature review (www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/addictiontomedicinesmay2011a.pdf). www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/depts/addictions/research/drugs/benzodiazepinesz-drugsandcodeineproducts.aspx

EMCDDA – Europol 2010 Annual Report – finds that a total of 41 new psychoactive substances have been notified via the EU early warning system to the EMCDDA and Europol (www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/home).

Survey Results: Youth Attitudes to Drugs – Eurobarometer fourth survey exploring young people’s attitudes to drugs and it covers: perceptions on the health risks of drug use; attitudes to banning or regulating substances; views on the availability of drugs; and opinions on the effectiveness of policies. For the first time, questions were included on new psychoactive substances (“legal highs”) (www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/2011/fs-5).

Drug Deaths in Fife, Scotland 2008-2010 reports on drug deaths under headings such as drug use, physical and emotional well-being and contact with services prior to death (www.nhsfife.scot.nhs.uk/newsItems/html/20110523-drug_deaths.html).

Taking Drugs Seriously a Demos and UK Drug Policy Commission report on legal highs (www.ukdpc.org.uk/resources/Taking_Drugs_Seriously.pdf and background papers (www.ukdpc.org.uk/resources/Reuter_Legal_highs_report.pdf).

World Drug Report 2011 UNODC report that gives an overview of the illicit drug situation worldwide and regionally, followed by more comprehensive discussions and statistical trends for the key transnational drug markets, namely opium/heroin, coca/cocaine, amphetamine-type stimulants and cannabis (www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html).

Smoking and tobacco

Smoking in Top-grossing Movies – United States 2010 a report updates a previous report on the number of tobacco incidents in youth-rated movies, which continued to decline in 2010. However, the three major motion picture companies with published policies designed to reduce tobacco use in their movies had an average decrease in tobacco incidents of 95.8 per cent, compared with an average decrease of 41.7 per cent among the three major motion picture companies and independents without such policies (www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6027a1.htm?s_cid=mm6027a1_w).

Other media – films, DVD, videos, journals and conference reports

Better Drug Treatment in Prison, a short animated film, that tells through the words of offenders, the personal stories of three users and the extensive support they received inprison in their battle to kick their habit (www.insidejobproductions.org.uk/our_work).

Wolverhampton’s Service User Involvement Team (SUIT) Film. The film is available on YouTube and is split into six sections: a guide to adult services, A guide to young peoples’ services, cannabis, solvents, stimulants and blood borne viruses.

The First National Skills Consortium Conference, “An inspirational recovery-orientated drug and alcohol workforce: how to deliver the drug strategy commitments” “What can we learn from each other?” was the question William Butler, chair of the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium, asked at the start of conference. A conference briefing is now available to download. Film footage and presentations are also available.

Compiled byChristine Goodair Chair-Elect, of SALIS, The International Organisation for Substance Abuse Librarians and Information Specialists.

July 15 2011.