Bringing Thomas McLellan to President Obama’s drug strategy team could reposition addiction treatment at the heart of mainstream healthcare. DDN met a man on a mission [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

“SMART Recovery is a US abstinence-based programme that’s gaining a foothold in the UK thanks to a pilot project with Alcohol Concern. David Gilliver spoke to its founding president, Dr Joe Gerstein [DDN, UK]

The interest of clients are not being served by a faceless, target-driven system [DDN, UK]

In the light of your recent decision that you had no confidence in Professor Nutt’s advice I would like to ask you to re-present the benzodiazepine submission to the ACMD for proper consideration on the grounds that there can be little confidence in any of Professor Nutt’s previous advice and that the benzodiazepine decision in particular is tainted by the undeclared conflict of interest described above [benzo.org.uk, UK]

by William L White and colleagues: These peer-based recovery support roles go by various titles: recovery coaches, recovery mentors, personal recovery assistants, recovery support specialists, and peer specialists. Complex ethical and legal issues are arising within the performance of these roles for which little guidance can be found within the existing literature [Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA]

I’ll never forget my first line. Andy had tried to talk me out of it but I wanted to know what the fuss was about. And anyway, it was only once. He kneeled before me and put the tooter in my mouth. All I was to do was inhale and he’d run it for me [Shell, Wired In]

Thinking of Michael my heart is aching and it is still difficult to believe that I will not see him again and, unfortunately, unlike the spring bulbs he will not burst through the ground and bloom again. But I hope that I will be able to start to move on in my life. I doubt if I will ever burst anywhere but I would like to ‘bloom again’ – just little steps as my friends would say [Susan C, Wired In]

I love my life. I have four wonderful kids and a husband who worships me. I ain’t got time to feel like this. Suboxone kept me safe from a danger zone which is long gone. I’ve totally recontructed my life and do you know that I’m so proud of how well I’ve done? [didn’t play well with others, WIred In]

I have just finished reading ‘Mum, can you lend me twenty quid?’ by Elizabeth Burton-Phillips… For those of you who have not read the book, it’s a must. Every man, woman and teenager should read it. The writing style is beautifully simple and it flows through the story. The story is honest to it’s core and is full of love, anguish, horror, compassion, friendship, hopes, shattered dreams and survival [Kato, Wired In]

Now what is it about the number one? Why is it so important in the grand scheme of things? We seem to crave some sort of oneness. When people get married they become one – which is a bit sci-fi if you think about it. There is one true god, one true faith, only one Alan Shearer. One love according to Bono and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (not if you’re a bird it isn’t [Michaela, Wired In]

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments you left on my last post. I have dipped in to read them, though it’s been a hectic ten days since I last wrote [Alcoholic Daze, UK]

Inexcess TV were fortunate to be invited to the UK launch of SoberLink in Exeter. Championing the right of all people who are alcohol dependent to access the best possible care the SoberLink launch was timely following Proffessor Nutt and others talking about an alcohol ”timebomb” in the UK [Inexcess TV, UK]

Each recording features three stories, together with information about recovery [Scottish Recovery Network, UK]

As part of the Narrative Research Project we interviewed 64 people across Scotland about their experience of recovery from long term mental health problems. From those interviews SRN worked with participants to create anonymous stories which we have then shared in the booklet Journeys of Recovery (10.39 MB) and via the website [Scottish Recovery Network]

After a range of meetings with high profile industry experts, five intense residentials and two international study visits, the ground-breaking Youth Commission on Alcohol has come to an end {long download} [Young Scot, UK]

Scottish Ministers asked Young Scot to deliver a Youth Commission on Alcohol, one of the actions identified in Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol: A Framework for Action published by the Scottish Government in March 2009. The brief was to support young people to make suggestions for policy and action to change Scotland’s culture in relation to alcohol [Young Scot, UK]

This advice to the Sentencing Guidelines Council makes proposals in relation to the sentencing of the most commonly sentenced drug offences. It considers those offences which derive from conduct intended to bring illicit drugs into circulation (including importation, production and supply) as well as those relating to possession and use [Sentencing Advisory Panel, UK]

They are behind a string of celebrity deaths. But these legal drugs also blight thousands of more ordinary lives [Independent, UK]

It is given to half the country’s estimated 300,000 heroin addicts while parliamentary answers have revealed that 65,000 prisoners were prescribed it in the past year, including nearly 20,000 on a maintenance programme which can last years — an annual rise of 57 per cent [Times, UK]

A Treatment Improvement Protocol Tip 52 [SAMHSA, USA]

Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment is for people who have co-occurring disorders, mental illness and a substance abuse addiction. This treatment approach helps people recover by offering both mental health and substance abuse services at the same time and in one setting [SAMHSA, USA]

This TIP endorses a biopsychosociocultural framework based on clinical practice and research centered on women. By placing emphasis on the importance of context, many topics examine the role of factors that influence women’s substance use from initiation of use to engagement of continuing care treatment services, i.e., relationships, gender socialization, and culture [SAMHSA, USA]

Pat Taylor joined Faces & Voices of Recovery as Executive Director in 2003, building on many years of grassroots advocacy leadership [Afflicted & Affected, USA]

Here is a drug that is pilloried on the one hand, and yet is used [diamorphine] in the UK without controversy to treat severe and intractable pain, arising from illnesses such as cancer [Wired In]

Advocacy has often resulted from a scramble to create something independent and responsive to people’s needs. In other words it has been reactive rather than organised. It has evolved into a movement that is now recognised as a valuable commodity by individuals who use it, services and government alike [UK Recovery Walk 2010]

Faces & Voices of Recovery grew out of the historic 2001 Recovery Summit in St. Paul, Minnesota. It rose as an organizational manifestation of a new recovery advocacy movement in the United States. In the years since, Pat Taylor has brought great passion, skill and creativity to her leadership of Faces & Voices [Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA]

We offer a theoretical, clinical and neurobiological perspective of the overlaps between these disorders, highlight common neural pathways that play a role in depression and substance use disorders and discuss how these commonalities may frame our conceptualization and treatment of co-occurring disorders [Addiction, UK]

Many people find that personal stories of recovery are an important source of both hope and of ideas. The Journeys of recovery audio recordings were created to make Journeys of recovery accessible to people who prefer the spoken word [Scottish Recovery Network, UK]

This briefing papers calls for a much needed Impact Assessment of drug policy. All stakeholders in the drugs debate share the goal of a policy and legal structures that maximise social, environmental, physical and psychological wellbeing. However, the debate around improving drug policy has been emotive, polarised and deadlocked [International Drug Policy Consortium]

Together we will be focusing on Community Recovery ‘Assets’, i.e. current strengths, abilities, experience, knowledge, passion and enthusiasm. These ‘Assets’ will be our foundation, the strengths-based framework from which we will build a strong Community based UK Recovery movement [UK Recovery Foundation]

This series of stages can provide a roadmap, albeit a fluid one, of the process of recovery that can be applied, specifically, to helping people recover from having a serious mental illness. For me, it has been a much better roadmap than the medical model’s version [David Clark, Wired In]

In possibly one of the most divisive interviews given within the recovery community in the UK, Joe Gerstein, described as the founder of SMART Recovery, talks to Guardian journalist Denis Campbell in an article published on 10th March 2010 [Peapod, Wired In]

These days, recovery for me is not about struggling to stay sober or clean (although not using or drinking is still at the top of my daily ‘to do’ list). It’s about living life to the full. It’s about connecting: to others, to myself, to things bigger than me. It’s about putting something back. It’s about being grateful for a new chance [Peapod, Wired In]

So as the continuing culture of binge drinking emerges, and with many of our clients becoming dependent on alcohol, is it time we revisited the recovery agenda within shared care? I say that because the standards within the treatment services are addressing many of the issues needed to help people sustain long term recovery [Oliver, Wired In]

And as for choice what is all that about? Am I choosing to sit here and be some kind of confused mad woman who doesn’t even know herself any more? Or should I leap up and down and scream or calmly start writing a plan of action? [Susan C, Wired In]

I have spent much of this morning lurking around my flat in a deerstalker hat, magnifying glass in hand,my trusty hound (not of the Baskervilles, he’s mine) by my side searching for my missing muse. I had it last week, I may well have had it the week before, but today my muse has gone AWOL [Michaela, Wired In]

In recovery many people report an increase in energy, a need to be active and often people begin to re-connect with the creative side of their make-up [Inexcess TV, UK]

Vinnie talks about his desire to stop using and his time at Pierpoint in their 12 step programme. He describes his mind as a washing machine, constantly churning over thoughts, the skills he has learnt in the programme help him rationalise and deal with those thoughts and the subsequent emotions {3’10”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Kevin Barron MP, Chairman of the Health Select Committee opened a debate in the Commons on the Committee’s recent report on alcohol. Gillian Merron, Minister of State, at the Health Department, responded to the debate [Parliament, UK]

The report is the result of face-to-face research commissioned by NHS North West, Our Life and Pfizer Limited. The partnership aimed to discover the health attitudes and lifestyle choices of an economically deprived population with existing health risk factors [Our Life, UK]

Some of us have been waiting a long time to be able to stock foil in our needle programmes, today’s article is from Allison my co-host on the Hooked podcast who is now in a position to do this [Injecting Advice, UK]

Three illustrations of the workings of the UK drugs policy this week, each very different yet all indicative of the dire state UK drugs policy is in [UKCIA, UK]

Findings suggest that treatment completion rates of individuals from poor South African communities can be enhanced by i) improving perceptions of substance abuse treatment through introducing quality improvement initiatives into substance abuse services, ii) strengthening clients’ abstinence-oriented social networks and, iii) strengthening the counselor-client therapeutic alliance [Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Policy, USA]

[Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA]

The drugs scene in Colombia is characterized by the fact that it is dominated by a confusion of insufficiently supported statistics and speculative diagnoses which produce policies that reflect this chaos. The common denominator is the political manipulation of the data [Transnational Institute, uSA]

Live monitoring of the 53rd session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Vienna, 8-12 March 2010 [CND Blog]

In simple terms, dependence can be seen as an impairment in a person’s ability or power to choose. The drug becomes more important to the person than other aspects of their life, which the majority of us would consider as essential [Wired In]

I’ve come away to the wilds for a couple of days to take a break, having checked I would have reliable internet access. Sadly, reliable is a relative term. It’s taking a lifetime to find anything so I’ve decided to give up. My sincere apologies for this interruption in your service. I will be back… Thursday. My best wishes [David Clark, Editor]

Many of you will be aware of the SDRC from previous blogs and discussions on Wired In. Well, here’s an update and more information about the SDRC as we are now up and running. Our membership will be drawn from Scotland but we are very keen to link across the broader UK Recovery networks [Dougie Paterson, Wired In]

Read a full round up from the DDN/Alliance National service user involvement conference [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

“Reduction in harm caused by problem drug use presents a complex and chronic challenge. This is being addressed by a series of strategies and programmes and very substantial resources: £1.2 billion a year. It is achieving improved results but we need to learn from experience as we go forward and measure effectiveness and value for money in order to make appropriate adjustments to programmes [National Audit Office, UK]

We already know much about how addiction behaves. To package it as a short term problem, cured at six months by treatment is unhelpful. Not to mention mutual aid is curious. If I were cynical, I’d be concluding that either the authors are not knowledgeable of how cocaine addiction behaves, or they want to put a positive spin on things. Neither is admirable [Peapod, Wired In]

More people are using powder cocaine, more people are seeking help for dependency, and more are being successfully treated, according to the results of the largest ever study into the effectiveness of treatment for powder cocaine dependency in England [NTA, UK]

This DrugScope document was published last week following a similar look at adult treatment last year… The word recovery is mentioned in this paper only three times. All in the same paragraph on page 30. That’s out of 65 pages. From a recovery perspective, it’s worse than the Cross Government Drugs Research Strategy and that was dire [Peapod, Wired In]

I have previously emphasised the primary importance of treatment and treatment professionals: to facilitate the person’s natural healing processes to help them find personal recovery. I recently found an excellent description of what is required of professionals working in the field in The Alcoholic Family in Recovery: A Developmental Model… [David Clark, Wired In]

I have been shocked recently to see people who I know to be good workers so disillusioned, angry, and upset. And leaving! And do you know what they are blaming it on – Recovery! Now of course its not Recovery that has made their jobs intolerable. That’s just the word that they see and blame for the changes they have been subjected to [Melody, Wired In]

Bitterness, resentment, accusation. None of these things happened for me – it was a warm, healing meeting. Yes it was difficult and painful, I think both of us were anxious. L gave me a hug when she saw me and we sat and chatted for nearly two hours. Her honesty and humility were a credit to her depth of personality [Susan C, Wired In]

I would like to tell Perry’s story. Of his descent into heroin addiction and his untimely death. Perry was 18 when he came to his mother and myself to tell us he had a problem. Right here we go again. It wasn’t the first time he came to us with a problem. But what a problem! [Keith F, Wired In]

We are really pleased (and I mean really, really and thrice really) to announce that our own Professor Clark, Mark Gilman and Phil Valentine will be speaking at the above conference. For those of you who may not know about Phil, he is Executive Director for the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) and has been an integral component in this recovery community organisation since January 1999 [Michaela, Wired In]

So in the spirit of all things new and leaping-lamb-like I have renamed this blog. Now it may not seem like much to you but change is afoot and this is my humble reflection of the amazing things that are still to come. And I really think they will, you know [MIchaela, Wired In]

This text provides a brief summary of key Brief Intervention research findings from the last three decadesand discusses a number of knowledge gaps that need to be addressed [Addiction, UK]

[Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

UN-commissioned guidance from international experts on how to mount prevention programmes involving parents and children in a joint effort to improve family dynamics and child development [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

The home affairs select committee (HASC) yesterday published its report on the cocaine trade, and what a woeful job they have done… The current report lacks evidence, contradicts current expert thinking and, frankly, panders to a “tough on drugs” stance that by their own admission does not work [Niamh Eastwood of Release, Guardian, UK]

Any successful policy against cocaine must address both supply-side enforcement and demand reduction. To co-ordinate action across the many disparate government agencies, we recommend the appointment of an Independent Drugs Advisor to ensure that Government drugs policy is fully implemented, and in an integrated manner [UK Government]

In a study published today in the journal Addiction, researchers in the United States have discovered that accidental overdose deaths involving cocaine rise when the average weekly ambient temperature passes 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) [Addiction, UK]

The UK’s only residential rehab centre for young people worked where other schemes failed. But short-termism has closed it [Kathy Gyngell, Guardian, UK]

Worldwide coverage of HIV prevention, treatment, and care services in IDU populations is very low. There is an urgent need to improve coverage of these services in this at-risk population [Lancet Abstract, UK]

The federal law that mandates harsher prison terms for people arrested with crack cocaine than for those caught with cocaine powder is scientifically and morally indefensible. Bills to end the disparity are pending in both the House and Senate [New York Times Editorial, USA]

… only 11% receive any treatment [CASA, Columbia University, USA]

This drug policy guide was compiled in 2009 through research and consultation with our network of experts. It aims to provide our regional and national partners with a resource that they can use to conduct reviews of the national drug policies and programmes in their areas, and engage with policy-makers to work towards policy and programme improvements [International Drug Policy Consortium]

Contrary to what is commonly assumed, psychoactive drugs do not produce fixed and predictable psychological effects that are dependent purely on their chemical properties [Wired In]

The overarching goal of the subcommittee is to improve the system of care offered in Pennsylvania by expanding to a chronic care model of care [Pennsylvania Drug and Alcohol Coalition, USA]

by William L White and John F Kelly: The language used to label alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems exerts a significant influence on people experiencing such problems and on how professional helpers, policy makers, and the public view such people [Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA]

William White at Scotland’s Futures Forum Event {37’00”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

An Interview with Phillip Valentine by William L. White, MA [Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center, USA}

Compared to being treated on their own, alcohol dependent women experienced more lasting improvements when couples-based therapy embedded therapeutic processes in a lasting relationship with a willing husband or partner [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

In preparing to do a presentation on the state of mutual aid in the UK, I discovered something very interesting. Mutual aid is not only alive and well, it is exceedingly healthy. The findings below are based on the best evidence I could find (including counting hundreds of meetings on websites!) [David McCartney, Wired In]

Have you ever seen a swan, gliding towards its destination, barely causing a ripple on the tranquil surface of the glittering river? Well underneath that swan there are a pair of legs going like the clappers. And so it is with the UKRF – our little limbs are toiling away at a terrific rate beneath the surface until we are ready to rise up in a flurry of splashes and take flight [UK Recovery Foundation]

I could weep. Really I could. At opportunity squandered… The publication of the Home Office document The Cross-Government Drugs Research Strategy this month was a great opportunity to advance recovery research in England… The word ‘Recovery’ is mentioned twice only. In a 26 page document [Peapod, UK]

The 2008 Drug Strategy, which sets out the Government’s response to the problems of drug use, made a commitment to improving the development and use of the evidence base by taking steps to better co-ordinate drugs research across Government {Home Office, UK]

Imagine walking onto your child’s room and finding them dead, this is another person’s tragic story not your own. You read and hear about it all the time. But living with a child who has a heroin addiction, you never think our want to think about worst case scenario, but here my wife, daughter’s and myself are right in the middle of a real nightmare. Perry’s dead [Keith F, WIred In]

Michaela has asked for information on how to respond to someone who writes about their bereavement on Wired In, and I’d like to add my thoughts to Elizabeth’s. Particularly with a substance-related death, people find it very difficult to know just what to say, and often even end up avoiding the issue. This is largely due to stigma and is yet another blow for those bereaved [Ian MacDonald, Wired In]

Time, it’s a funny old thing isn’t it? Not funny ha ha but funny weird. Maybe it is sitting down to the same task at roughly the same time each week (an Editor’s version of Groundhog Day) that makes me more conscious of the minutes, hours and days passing [Michaela, Wired In]

If further proof were needed of the government’s failed ‘methadone prescribing to reduce re offending’ strategy then it was given in a Scottish Court last week [Kathy Gyngell, Centre for Policy Studies, UK]

Inexcess TV Founder George Williams chairs the Question Time debate after a full day of discussions and workshops on the Road to Recovery. The exchanges range over questions of how we might see recovery being delivered, who will pay for it and what the future holds {46’03”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Young people’s specialist drug and alcohol treatment is ‘at a crossroads’. There are different directions it could take, particularly at a time of political change, high octane public debate and tight public finances. Against this background, DrugScope embarked on a consultation process in 2009 with people working in young people’s treatment [Drugscope, UK]

As the country awaits a new government, can we hope for improvement in guiding desperate, vulnerable people towards true recovery from addiction? [Addiction Today, UK]

Following consultation on the provisional recommendations, the National Clinical Guideline Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions and the Acute Coronary Syndromes Guideline Development Group (GDG) have considered and responded to stakeholder comments and amended the draft guideline [NICE, UK]

Authors of the Europe-wide study say that restricting access to pain-killing drugs in this way is a breach of patients’ human rights, and they conclude that “there is an ethical and public health imperative to address these issues vigorously and urgently” [Medical News Today, UK]

As new prescribing guidelines are launched, we reveal a huge rise in the use of opioids such as codeine and diamorphine [Telegraph, UK]

The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) at the University of California was created in 2000 to conduct clinical and pre-clinical studies of cannabinoids, including smoked marijuana, to provide evidence one way or the other to answer the question “Does marijuana have therapeutic value?” [CMCR, USA]

This month also marks the implementation of a new policy on tobacco papers at PLoS Medicine. While we continue to be interested in analyses of ways of reducing tobacco use, we will no longer be considering papers where support, in whole or in part, for the study or the researchers comes from a tobacco company. As a medical journal we do this for two reasons [PLoS Medicine, USA]

The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) annual report released today pointedly criticizes Argentina, Brazil and Mexico for moving to decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal consumption, cautioning that such moves may “send the wrong message” [International Drug Policy Consortium, UK]

The harmful use of alcohol has a serious effect on public health and is considered to be one of the main risk factors for poor health globally [World Health Organisation]

Introduces a classification of psychoactive drugs based on their major mode of impact on the mind, and briefly illustrates the multitude of factors that influence the way that a drug can affect a person and ultimately contribute to a drug problem [David Clark, Wired In]

Today, I have devoted Daily Dose to people who have lost loved ones to drugs and alcohol, the people we have lost, and to all those people who are helping families, friends and carers of those people affected by substance use problems [David Clark, Wired In]

May I encourage the bereaved members of Wired In to use therapeutic writing to express how they feel. I wrote the letter below in October 2008, 4 years after my son died. I realised even after four years how angry I was but writing it down inspired me not to give up hope that I could use my loss, our loss, to help others. Hence I wrote my book and set up my charity DrugFAM. Friday 19th February will be the 6th anniversary of my son’s death [Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, Wired In]

‘This book left me in tears. Nothing in my time as lead Judge for the West London Dedicated Drugs Court has brought home so clearly the hell addicts and their families go through, It should be compulsory reading… [Amazon, UK]

What do you if you don’t want to believe something? You can’t bury your head in the sand because once you pull your head out it will still be there. What do they call it, ‘the elephant in the room’ – it took me a long time to actually understand what people meant by this [Susan C, Wired In]

So with your pain a life saving message. And Michael will be on the phone in our recovery message, when the still struggling addict calls us in pain. We can not replace your son, but you now have millions of recovery sons and daughters with love and belonging [Verve, Wired In]

In 2008, nef was commissioned by the UK Government’s Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Well-being to review the inter-disciplinary work of over 400 scientists from across the world. The aim was to identify a set of evidence-based actions to improve well-being, which individuals would be encouraged to build into their daily lives [the new economics foundation, UK]

Commissioned by the Government’s Foresight project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing, this report recommends five ways towards well-being. It presents the evidence and rationale between each of the five ways, drawing on a wealth of psychological literature [the new economics foundation, UK]

The results from the most comprehensive international survey of well-being to date have been used to construct the first ever set of national well-being indicators [nef, UK]

Why should we embrace recovery? Because it can bring vital quality to life beyond addiction, say David Best and Mark Gilman {link to specific article not working, so please look at virtual magazine} [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Neil McKeganey makes a case for looking critically at stigma relating to drug use, while DDN reports on the first phase of UKDPC’s project on understanding stigma {link to specific article not working, so please look at virtual magazine} [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Treatment services do not have to ask patients to adopt the belief system on which 12-step groups are founded in order to encourage patients to tap in to the social support offered by these groups and improve their chances of sustained abstinence [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

A Community Interest Company (CIC), the ‘UK Recovery Federation’, is to be established and the following outlines the proposed vision, principles, aims and objectives of this company. This has been produced for wide distribution and consultation with all those interested in the development and establishment of a British Recovery Movement [UK Recovery Federation]

I did a blog last week around 12 ‘Principles of Recovery’. As those who will have seen it will know, I took principles that were developed in the US (check it our for details of source) and tinkered about with them a little. I think some of the ‘tinkering’ was fairly significant and I thought it was worthwhile bunging them out again and explaining my thinking [Alastair, WIred In]

Our champions of recovery will be working in the front line, taking referrals, doing syringe exchange, developing and facilitating Smart Recovery and working with the staff to embrace the recovery agenda. This has been a long time coming and is very exciting [Oliver, Wired In]

One of the most amazing, and perhaps unique, things about the Wired In community is its ability and willingness to give support to others [Michaela, Wired In]

Keith Humphreys, Stanford University School of Medicine, speaks about self-help/mutual help sustaining recovery {28’24”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

In 2009, Swansea drug agencies reported a 180 percent rise in heroin use, and it’s visible on the city’s streets. Early one morning we meet a young, homeless couple named Amy and Cornelius in a city centre alley. As heroin-addicted alcoholics, they’re smack in the middle of two of South Wales’s most ever-present epidemics [Parts 1 to 6 available on this site] {6’50”} [VBS TV, UK]

This research further indicates that physical access barriers result in treatment denials to persons with physical disabilities and that programmatic barriers may result in similar declines to persons of select disability groups [Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, USA]

The Review followed the publication of the global Commission on Social Determinants of Health, also chaired by Sir Michael Marmot and published by the WHO. The CSDH advocated that national governments develop and implement strategies and policies suited to their particular national context aimed at improving health equity [University College of London, UK]

In April 2009 Transform published a groundbreaking report, titled ‘A Comparison of the Cost-effectiveness of the Prohibition and Regulation of Drugs’ We sent a copy to the Secretary of State in July 2009 with the letter below. Our tardiness was to put to shame however, by the time it took the Home Secretary to respond – we received his response today, 15th Feb 2010 – eight months later [Transform Drug Policy Foundation, UK]

At the start of Children of Alcoholics Week, victims talk about their shame, loneliness and guilt with nowhere to turn for help [Observer, UK]

A supportive, helpful, practical book for family members of recovering addicts [Amazon, UK]

Companion Document to The Guidelines for the Treatment of Alcohol Problems [Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Government]

Over the coming months, we will be writing and publishing on this site a good deal of material focused on drugs and alcohol, substance use-related problems, addiction, treatment and recovery that will help family members and others gain a better understanding [David Clark, Wired In]

Provides the knowledge essential to help people reduce, cease, or manage their cannabis-use problems. The manual aims to provide facts, figures, and useful techniques to assist clinicians in providing evidence-based treatments for cannabis users wishing to change the patterns of their use. The manual also provides a number of worksheets to use with cannabis clients [National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, Australia]

‘Controlling and regulating drugs’ (NZLC IP16, Wellington 2010) is an Issues Paper which traces the history of drug policy and regulation in New Zealand, and reviews the current approach to drug control and regulation [Law Commission, New Zealand]

If you weren’t there (or even if you were there) this is the film that really gives you a sense of what happened at the Road to Recovery event. Behind the scenes and with comment and feedback from the delegates [Inexcess TV, UK]

by William L White and Larry Davidson: The mental health and addiction fields could use the concept of recovery to form a more effective behavioral health system [Behavioral Healthcare, USA]

by William L White and Larry Davidson: Structural differences pose the main challenge to integrating the mental health and addiction fields [Behavioral Healthcare, USA]

When I was using drugs and alcohol, I was always chasing a buzz of some kind. Anything to get me away from the bad feelings I always felt inside. Last night I had that same buzz. But, unlike the ones I knew before, this one has not worn off yet. And I am not dreading the come down like I used to [Louis, WIred In]

If we start to say that recovery is not for everybody, then there is a danger that we start to assess, suggest prerequisites or just decide who it is and isn’t for. Surely the point is that recovery is for everybody, because it’s a hope, a process of change, an opportunity [Melody, Wired In]

t’s been a hectic few weeks. Of course, I am not complaining because I am lucky enough to get paid very well for doing something professionally that I am passionate about personally and for that I am very grateful indeed [Mark Gilman, WIred In]

Last summer, someone who had recently stopped drinking asked me in a support group “How will I know when I’ve made it?”. I told him that I don’t think you ever really will know, but you will ask this question less and less as time marches on [Daemon, Wired In]

My earliest memory was coming home from an appointment with my dad when I was five and not being able to get into the house. My dad had to put me through the open window. When we got in, there was a note on the fireplace from my mum saying she had left [Louis, Wired In]

I think that maybe reality is starting to hit me and I keep pushing it away. I have had so much support in my grief, I value the comments and real feelings that are being sent to me from ex users and their honesty is so humbling [Susan C, WIred In]

Whoosh. That was the sound of the last seven days passing in a flurry of blogs and discussions that show recovery, despite being (willfully?!) misunderstood by some (see anthrax deaths and recovery) is on the march, the walk. The surfboard and could well be happening in a location not far from you [Michaela, WIred In]

Claire says the report recommends work to simplify arrangements and funding design. Claire talks about the uncertainty and constraints the services are facing {1’15”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

Ed recently returned to the streets in the Centrepoint Sleep Out, at Old Spitalfields Market in London. The event was designed to raise awareness of young people sleeping rough before Christmas, and to raise funds for the Centrepoint charity [Inexcess TV, UK]

In this episode of Hooked I’m interviewing Rupert George from the Talking Drugs website. We talked about the purpose of the site to inform drug policy and information, its international balance, some of Ruperts opinions of the international drug situation and the fact Talking Drugs needs more help from people like you [Injecting Advice, UK]

The results show that the average cotinine levels among non-smoking children declined by 59% from 1996 to 2006, indicating that children’s exposure to secondhand smoke has decreased markedly since the mid-nineties [Addiction, UK]

This monthly newsletter produced by the Home Office Drug Strategy Unit contains up-to-date news and developments about the drug strategy. It also has details of events, guidance and publications [Home Office, UK]

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Home Office contacted DIP intensive areas in June 2009 and encouraged local police forces to increase the use of the ‘inspector’s authority’ provision to drug test more people on arrest [Release, UK]

Help us save it: With 5 beds, Middlegate is open 24/7, 365 days a year and offers drug and alcohol treatment, including detoxification, for to 11-18 year olds; in a safe, rural setting [Addiction Today, UK]

“This announcement is a belated acknowledgement that the government has not been able to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder effectively on behalf of local residents. These changes will still not allow residents any greater say over local licensing issues – a travesty for those who’ve had to suffer alcohol-fuelled night time disorder for too long” [Alcohol Concern, UK]

By increasing cigarette taxes by $1 per pack, the states could raise more than $9 billion in new annual revenue to help close severe budget shortfalls, while also reducing smoking and saving lives, according to a new report released today by a coalition of public health organizations [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USA]

As cricket administrators ponder why the fans are switching off, scientists say the players have become “mobile billboards for unhealthy lifestyles”. Junk food and alcohol brands prominently feature during cricket broadcasts on television, researchers said [WA Today, Australia]

We must reform women’s prisons… Suicide, self-mutilation, drug abuse and serious mental illness: this is the terrifying reality of life in women’s prisons today. Prison governors now believe that at least 80 per cent of women who end up in jail are addicted to heroin, crack, alcohol, or a combination of all three [Observer Editorial, UK]

Robert and Linda Waxler tell the story of the long painful loss of their son as he became addicted to the heroin that finally killed him [Beautifully and powerfully written, highly recommended to those people who have lost a child to drugs – Ed]

It is in the individual and within communities that recovery lies. We all have had to ‘recover’ in our lives from the slings and arrows of life, the abuse of self and others, the traumas of loss, fear, grief and anger, the corrosive dependency’s that have polluted our minds and hearts. Who doesn’t need to recover? [Alistair, Wired In]

We are asking you to join us in this dramatic display of support for recovery. Over the last few years, here in the UK, recovered people have taken significant strides in ‘putting a face on recovery’. Indeed, by having the courage to proclaim that ‘recovery is a reality’ in our lives, we believe we can help shape public policy and begin to reduce stigma [National Recovery Walk 2010]

Part one of Kiri’s story starts at the end of the bad life she endured since the age of 16 – drugs, crime, prison. She is now clean of all drugs and in a fantastic relationship with her partner who has never taken drugs in any form. So here’s how it all began [Kiri Ann Sykes, Wired In]

I didn’t want to take that first hit because I was afraid that I may get hooked. My friend tried it first and said it was really nice and that I had to try this. I fought with an inner voice that said “don’t do it”. I had fought this same ‘inner voice’ thing on numerous other occasions – so I tried it [Ken K, WIred In]

We sought to determine whether referring to an individual as “a substance abuser” vs. “having a substance use disorder” evokes different judgments about behavioral self-regulation, social threat, and treatment vs. punishment [International Journal of Drug Policy]

High on the UK pre-election policy agenda, alcohol tax rises have now been accepted by a national US panel of experts as a major public health measure to curb excessive alcohol use and related harms. Politicians remain wary for reasons which cannot just be dismissed as populism [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

The review which led a national US task force to recommend limiting the concentration of retail alcohol outlets as an important public health measure to curb excessive alcohol use and related harms [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

For drug treatment in England, studies do not get any more important than this – the first national reassessment for over 10 years. A year after starting treatment drug use, crime and health risk behaviour were all down, but quality of life gains were minor compared to treatment costs [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

Middlegate is the UK’s only residential rehab for teens- with 5 beds, in a rural, safe location; staffed by a dedicated, professional team. Without immediate central funding of those beds- which are much needed- Middlegate will close any day; and the teams expertise will be lost [Number10.gov.uk]

Recently, when I was working on a research project as part of a university course looking at how doctors recover from dependent drug use, my fellow students were incredulous. “Addicted doctors? You’re having us on”. I had to tell them that having a medical degree does not protect you from alcoholism and other drug addiction [David McCartney, Wired In]

The first highlights from 2010 Road to Recovery, Merseyside Event, covering the morning session and featuring passionate and inspirational talks from George Williams, Mark Gilman, Ronnie Purslow, David McCollom, Tony Mellor and Simon Jenkins {12’20”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Benzodiazepines and other psychotropic drugs. What they do and problems of withdrawal. Discussion with: Prof. Heather Ashton, Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, Prof. David Healy and Adam Jhugroo {23’51”) [Vimeo]

I thought I’d share a little video I made using Windows Movie Maker to highlight a small part of my journey. I’ve used manipulated photographs of myself to highlight this along with various music that reflects what was going on for me at that time [Phil Hughes, Wired In]

David Gilliver hears about the Liverpool-based supported housing project providing intensive, round-the-clock support for families affected by substance use [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

As far back as the 19th century it was recognised that cannabis could induce a transient psychosis which mimics the symptoms of schizophrenia. Despite this, until the last decade or so, most psychiatrists regarded cannabis as essentially benign [New Scientist, UK]

This new tobacco control strategy for England establishes a vision of eradicating tobacco harms and creating a smokefree future, so that we can support people to live healthier and longer lives [Department of Health, UK]

The government wants to halve the number of cigarette users, infuriating the tobacco industry and diehard smokers [Guardian, UK]

The UK’s Department of Health (DoH) has announced an ambitious new strategy for reducing smoking in the population from 21% currently, to 10% by 2020 [Transform Drug Policy Foundation, UK]

Using data from three published randomized trials implementing BMIs, we examined motivation or readiness to change (RTC) as a potential mechanism of behavior change [Addictive Behaviour, USA]

[Faces and Voices of Recovery, USA]

What do people in prison have to say about the Canadian government’s unwillingness to permit the distribution of clean needles in prison? How has this policy, that denies the realities of injection drug use in prison, affected individuals who are struggling with drug addiction? [Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network]

Studies suggest that the popular drugs are no more effective than a placebo. In fact, they may be worse [Newsweek, USA]

IDPC has produce this short guide to provide logistical information to NGOs and civil society actors planning to attend the 54th session of the CND in Vienna from 8th to 12th March 2010 [International Drug Policy Consortium]

Cannabis supply to young people is largely through social networks and friendship groups rather than through overtly criminal drug markets [Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK]

Distinguished voices are lining up behind England’s chief medical officer Liam Donaldson in support of a minimum price for alcohol [British Medical Journal, UK]

The qualitative study of the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS) was designed to explore treatment providers’ and treatment seekers’ perspectives on the factors influencing the effectiveness of drug misuse treatment in England [University of Manchester’s National Drug Evidence Centre and Home Office, UK]

The overriding finding is that treatment reduces the harmful behaviours that are associated with problem drug use [University of Manchester’s National Drug Evidence Centre and Home Office, UK]

Population health tends to be better in societies where income is more equally distributed. Recent evidence suggests that many other social problems, including mental illness, violence, imprisonment, lack of trust, teenage births, obesity, drug abuse, and poor educational performance of schoolchildren, are also more common in more unequal societies [Universities of Nottingham and York, UK]

What comes first the chicken or the egg? In alcohol dependence, the question becomes; what comes first, the depression or alcoholism? And, I suppose what needs to be tackled first? [David McCartney, Wired In]

I was totally disgusted at the use of words in the following article which was written by Jasper Hamill. The title of this article is Doctors Criticise ‘Reckless’ Drug Abuse Guidance. The end result I am seeking here is that Herald Scotland should retract this article and apologies should be given for their use of words [KieCon01, Wired In]

Greetings one and all. Well that was the week that was, and what a week it was. Say it fast for a good oral work-out – who needs botox? This week my virtual and real worlds collided in a very positive way at the National Recovery Walk/Emerging Recovery Organisations planning meeting in Glasgow [Michaela, Wired In]

Or how I used booze and dope to get me by. Although booze is a powerful depressant and not exactly helpful to one subject to long periods of clinical depression, cannabis is a good cover for hypomania – I might have been thinking manic thoughts but being stoned was a powerful way of keeping me in check so that I did not actually do anything [Warriet, Wired In]

This was also the same day I had my last drink of alcohol at 8am in morning, shaking all over with my bottle of vodka and can of lager in my hands while waiting for someone to collect me from home to drive me through to the detox centre [Brian Morrison, Vimeo]

William talks about the treatments and beliefs held about addiction through history, and the need to remain humble. [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

William talks about the development of addiction treatment industries and the need to reconnect treatment to recovery. He talks about the need for the treatment and grassroots systems of support to be connected [Film Exchange on Alcohol and Drugs, UK]

In November last year, the Home Office, Department of Health and Department of Children, Schools and Families in partnership with colleagues in the North West hosted the 4th National Alcohol Conference, “Safe Sensible Social: Supporting Delivery” in Liverpool [Alcohol Policy, UK]

Transport for London’s Drug & Alcohol Assessment & Treatment Service enjoyed a success rate exceeding all properly researched treatment outcomes, can pay up to 50% of costs, offers six months’ aftercare and monitors clients for five years – but now finds it so hard to work with London Drug Action Teams that employees must be fired instead of treated [Addiction Today, UK]

Children of alcoholics can escape the emotional chaos at home with the right support. Here, three young people explain how their lives have been changed [Times, UK]

by William L White: The purpose of this document is twofold. First, it provides an overview of key findings drawn from historical and scientific research on social/professional stigma related to addiction to illicit drugs, with a particular focus on the stigma experienced by people in medication-assisted treatment and long-term medication-assisted recovery [Faces and Voices of Recovery, USA]

… it is critical to know the population – its needs, strengths, and resources. Equally critical is awareness of the rehabilitation and reentry capability of the institutions that serve as ‘home’ for this population for years and in many cases decades [Rutgers University, USA]

Patrick McGorry is an inspired choice for Australian of the Year, even if he is not – as has been routinely pointed out this week – a household name. The lack of name recognition is of little relevance when set against the importance and relevance of Professor McGorry’s mission: improving the mental health of young people [Sydney Morning Herald, Australia]

The US is slowly shedding the extremes of its long-standing war on drugs, as are other countries in Europe and South America. Australia cannot remain isolated from these powerful international trends [Alex Wodak, Australian]

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that, across all nations, 160 million people used cannabis in the course of 2005, 4% of the global adult populations – far more than the number that used any other illicit drug, though far less than the number that consumed alcohol or tobacco [The Beckley Foundation, UK]

In this Report, the aim has been to draw on the available evidence to offer some possible paths forward to a more realistic and effective global regime for cannabis control [The Beckley Foundation, UK]

This paper contributes to recent debates surrounding the improvement of the UN drug control system’s methods of gathering and analyzing data. It critically examines the current predominance of quantitative evidence, arguing for a greater emphasis on the cultural understanding of drug use and more attention to the taken-for-granted assumptions underpinning policies [International Drug Policy Consortium]

Sweden’s drug policies have recently attained symbolic status in international policy debates. This paper examines the country’s policies, their effectiveness or otherwise and the histrorical and cultural context that underpins them. It considers whether these policies should or could be applied in other countries [International Drug Policy Consortium]

The once closed debate on drugs policy shows signs of opening up. But liberalisation would require the international restrictions on narcotics which do untold harm to the developing world to be relaxed [Open Democracy, UK]

People who use drugs in Cambodia are at risk of arbitrary detention in centers where they suffer torture, physical and sexual violence, and other forms of cruel punishment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today [Human Rights Watch]

The government is spending £17.6m on alcohol education and information in 2009-10, but this is dwarfed by the UK drinks industry’s £600-800m annual spend on promoting alcohol [Editorial, British Medical Journal, UK]

Although the content of alcohol advertisements is restricted, Gerard Hastings and colleagues find that advertisers are still managing to appeal to young people and promote drinking [British Medical Journal, UK]

When it comes to alcohol awareness, is the government under the influence of the drinks industry? [British Medical Journal, UK]

We are delighted to announce that the Home Office has finally made the report available: Drugs Value for Money Review July 2007 Report. It’s worth a look to discover what the Home Office thinks is too sensitive for public viewing [Transform Drug Policy Foundation, UK]

This report is intended to inform the new Drugs Strategy, scheduled for publication in 2008 [Home Office, UK]

I lost my son, Marcus, seven and half years ago after a long battle with addiction. He tried desperately hard to overcome this, by going into rehab in Switzerland and then using opiate blockers. He was successful for a whole year when he met an old ‘friend’ [The Luke & Marcus Trust, Wired In]

I have been struck recently by the number of entries that mention how nervous people feel about dipping their toes into the blogosphere and ‘exposing themselves’ to others. So I have had a think and I hope the following helps those of you who are on Wired In and teetering on the verge of your first blog [Michaela, Wired In]

The NTA and the Guardian have launched a new resource about treatment and recovery. Hallelujah! It’s good to see the NTA moving on this front and it is welcome. But as I read through the site though something began to niggle [Peapod, Wired In]

Well I have to say that this has been a really good week in the Wired In community with some amazing entries and really insightful comments. A good reason to pat ourselves on our virtual backs I feel. I know that size doesn’t matter (!) but it feels good to see lots of blogs and lots of new people [Michaela, Wired In]

Ed Mitchell speaks to John Varley, Chief Executive of Barclays Bank, discussing the role and responsibilities that big organisations have towards society and disadvantaged groups {13’16”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Release, and other leading drug organisations including IHRA and Transform, have sent a public letter to the Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calling for an emergency public health plan to be initiated [Release, UK]

This is a website run by independent academics and healthcare professionals aimed at raising the awareness and profile of the use of take-home naloxone as a mechanism for reducing drug-related death, and to provide a forum for discussing innovation, training and practice developments [take-home naloxone, UK]

The chance to recover through abstinence-based residential programmes should be offered in jail – the place where most addicts go sooner or later [Mark Johnson, Guardian, UK]

The deaths of Michael Jackson and Brittany Murphy have highlighted the dangers of prescription drugs, and at least 1.5million people are thought to be addicted in the UK [Daily Mail, UK]

And the result is that our society is today being swamped as never before by ‘a torrent of gin and beer’ — as well as cut-price vodka, lager, rum and alcopops. Yet the politicians, who have presided over this social catastrophe, remain utterly supine in the face of this vast, destructive commercial monolith [Professor Roger Williams, Daily Mail, UK]

After 40 years, Washington is quietly giving up on a futile battle that has destroyed thousands of lives [Independent on Sunday, UK]

Eva Harvey describes how Phoenix Futures has piloted therapeutic communities training for its staff, and extends an open invitation to commissioners [Drink and Drugs News, UK]

Motivational interviewing can yield excellent results and the basic skills and techniques are easy to learn. Dr Malcolm Thomas sets out the basics of promoting behaviour change [DDN, UK]

Drug treatment, reintegration and recovery in the community and prisons: a guide for drug partnerships [National Treatment Agency, UK]

In this issue we focus on ‘new drugs’. In addition to our double feature on mephedrone, we also report from K-day – an event where ketamine users expressed concerns over the lack of treatment options available to them and we hear from a treatment service in Kent about their approach to dealing with so-called ‘legal highs’ {long download} [Drugscope, UK]

Justice Committee – First Report [UK Government]

Before patting yourself on the back for resisting that cookie or kicking yourself for giving in to temptation, look around. A new University of Georgia study has revealed that self-control – or the lack thereof – is contagious [Medical News Today, UK]

Despite the Obama administration’s tacit support of more liberal state medical marijuana laws, the federal government still discourages research into the medicinal uses of smoked marijuana [New York Times, USA]

The liquor industry shares the tunnel vision attitude of its more dangerously loyal customers, that nothing is more important than unfettered access to full-strength alcohol [The Age, Australia]

In conclusion, alcohol misuse imposes a substantial burden on Scottish society, costing between about £2,476.6 million and £4,635.4 million per year at 2007/08 prices, with a mid-point of £3,555.7 [University of York and Scottish Government, UK]

It is time the Government listened more to the CMO and the President of the RCP and less to the drinks and retail industry. If everyone drank responsibly the alcohol industry might lose about 40% of its sales and some estimates are higher. In formulating its alcohol strategy, the Government must be more sceptical about the industry’s claims that it is in favour of responsible drinking [Health Committee, UK Government]

The challenge of tackling blood-borne viruses in injecting drug users has been an important part of prison policy and strategy consideration for the past two decades because of the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B and C and drug dependence in prisons [Addiction Editorial, UK]

Could the biggest ever media campaign by the US government aiming to turn US youth away from cannabis actually have done the reverse? At best it was a disappointment; at worst, it counterproductively fostered the impression that cannabis use was commonplace and hard to resist [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

My story starts back in 1989 when I first took any kind of drug. I was 16 years old. The drug back then was temgesic which I snorted – you got a tray for £20 and they had 10 tablets. But the first drug I fell in love with was DF118s. I used to have every DF you could buy in Baillieston, Glasgow [Jed Brady, Wired In]

My life slowly became more and more entrenched in the drug world – shop-lifting, buying, selling and finding ways and means to get more. I had heard of Narcotics Anonymous but I never thought people like me got clean. This was reinforced by doctors and key workers who kept telling me I had used for too long and should just stick to my script [Sharon Daniel, Wired In]

Well semi back into the swing of things after the season to be jolly but the weather is now getting on my nerves. Enough snow already. 2010 has a buzz about it in recovery terms (and I hope in other terms too) and it is good to see so many of you starting the New Year with hope in your hearts and eyes firmly focused on next steps [Michaela, Wired In]

If we don’t develop our drug interventions within a framework of harm reduction – pragmatically and sensibly dealing with the public and personal health issues related to drug use as they are, not as we wish they were, people will die. Harm reduction and recovery are not mutually exclusive [Sarah McGrail, UK]

I received a letter from Downing Street this week, in response to my meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call for an Impact Assessment of the Misuse of Drugs Act. In July of last year I met with the PM… [Transform, UK]

Whatever the cause, the result is a country with a significant drink problem. The figures quoted by the committee give the lie to the claim that alcohol is responsibly consumed by all but a minority [Mark Easton, BBC, UK]

A special treat this week on the Hooked podcast we have an interview with Niamh Eastwood from Release. Release are a charity working to help people with legal issues arising from their substance use [Injecting Advice, UK]

The group discuss the future of detox, and the speed with witch people can access detox in the North West. Therapeutic process’ are also on the agenda, the group look at how these process’ can be measured, as evidence based results become a priority {21’46”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Nick distinguishes between harm reduction and harm elimination. He describes the way in which views of harm reduction in the USA have ‘muddied the waters’ in relation to the goal of controlled drinking {4’13”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

The Mental Welfare Commission has a duty under section 11 of the Mental Health (Care & Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 to investigate the case of any person subject to ill-treatment, neglect or some other deficiency in care and treatment [Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, UK]

Changing the words used to describe someone struggling with alcoholism or drug addiction may significantly alter the attitudes of health care professionals, even those who specialize in addiction treatment [Medical News Today, UK]

Home Secretary Alan Johnson today announced the new interim chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Professor Les Iversen’s role as interim chair starts immediately and will run for 12 months {Home Office, UK]

HCLU presents the results of its video advocacy work in 2009, in a new report published today [Hungarian Civil Liberties Union]

In this report, Corporations and Health Watch analyzes changes in alcohol industry responses to criticisms of its marketing practices. One source for such an analysis is the documents disclosed by the tobacco industry[Corporations and Health Watch, USA]

This briefing paper offers a guide to public health professionals and activists for understanding and responding to the alcohol industry’s public awareness and education initiatives. Its central thesis is that these programs can only be understood in the context of the industry’s marketing and political agendas [American Medical Association, USA]

Get the tools and resources you need to work on two important Faces & Voices initiatives – The Recovery Bill of Rights and The Recovery Voices Count campaign [Faces & Voices of Recovery, USA]

This Guide is intended to help Level I and II Trauma Centers plan, implement, and continually improve the new Committee on Trauma (COT) alcohol-screening and brief intervention requirements [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, USA]

Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD is the recipient of the Research Society on Alcoholism Journalism Award for Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems—Advice From Those Who Have Succeeded [The Afflicted & Affected, USA}

These once confidential internal documents provide new evidence on the drinks industry’s concerns about possible alcohol control measures and the strategies used to help overcome these concerns. These document findings justify the public health community’s cynicism about the alcohol industry… [Australian Medical Journal]

‘Your attitude and your repeated statements lead one to despair of politicians. Like journalists they seem only interested in the subject for one moment. They may pay lip service but then turn to other matters. I understand that politics and academic medicine are worlds apart but feel that your interest in prescribed benzodiazepine users is facile and so far futile. As Health Minister the public expects more of you’ [Professor C Heather Ashton, UK]

Consumption of alcohol in the UK has increased by 19 per cent over the last three decades and is now higher than in any other European country. Recent reports indicate that 10.5 million adults in England drink above sensible limits and around 1.1 million have a level of alcohol addiction [NHS Confederation, UK]

One of the disadvantages of wine, Samuel Johnson said, was that “it makes a man mistake words for thoughts”. Alcohol seems to have a similar effect on government policy, causing a confusion between words and action [Observer Editorial, UK]

The national charity, the Mental Health Foundation, has today released a report calling for people who suffer repeated episodes of depression to be offered Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a clinically approved treatment based on meditation technique [Mental Health Foundation, UK]

An extensive report in response to the growing evidence for and popularity of Mindfulness. It examines the evidence for the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based therapies, lays the groundwork for developing the use of Mindfulness-based approaches within the NHS and beyond – and explores the potential positive knock-on effects for society at large [Mental Health Foundation, UK]

Professor Mark Williams talks about mindfulness meditation as an alternative treatment for depression [Be Mindful, UK]

By Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn: A proven program from leading scientists, including a CD of guided meditations [Amazon, UK]

Bringing together addiction professionals to exchange practical perspectives: Europe’s largest conference on addiction treatment, 13-15th May 2010, London [UKESAD, UK]

Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a magician known as Phil the Sorcerer. It was this man our merry bunch of heroes were discussing one night, round a large open fire, whilst also sharing tales of the battles they had fought in his name [Phil Hughes, WIred In]

Here’s my take Scotland’s drug delivery commission, we have a 19-strong advisory committee which is made up of five methadone-prescribing doctors, one policeman, one academic, a social work head but no one specifically from children’s services and nobody from education [Dagny Taggart, Wired In]

On Monday I had a interview with a reporter about my recovery and its going to be placed in the local NHS newsletter and hopefully the local newspaper. I didn’t want to do this at first as I have had a bad experience in my past with the local newspaper [Mark Burns, Wired In]

Well, there were plenty of interesting movements in 2009 for the alcohol policy field, setting up an interesting but certainly challenging year ahead [Alcohol Policy, UK]

Nick says we demonise illicit drugs use to irrational levels but equally we underestimate the harmful effects of alcohol. He goes on the discuss ways of reducing alcohol-related harm by pricing, ontrolling the alcohol industry and reducing health inequalities [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

George brings together members of three of our earlier shares, to discuss and summarise some of the key issues that have been spoken about over the series. In this part, the group talk about the language that is used in the industry and between clients, specifically the term ‘recovery’ itself {16’10”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Dedicated to sufferers of iatrogenic benzodiazepine tranquilliser addiction everywhere. Launched on July 6, 2000 with a dozen pages this site now has more than 1150 pages of articles and information, expert medical documents, news stories and personal accounts [benzo.org.uk]

Stephen Valle’s accountability model yields dividends in clinical eff ectiveness and cost eff ectiveness. It can cut re-off ending rates by an extra 10-40%, and has been applied to domestic violence programmes, courts, community and in-prison therapeutic communities. He gives us the inside story [Addiction Today, UK]

What all these have in common is that they are mostly female, all poor, and at the lowest rungs of the drug trading hierarchy. The very term “mules” denotes a beast of burden, that which does the labour no-one else wants to do [Release, UK]

The debate on drugs in sport has been driven by fanaticism for too long. The idea has been abroad that the only way to confront the scourge of cheating is to adopt a zero-tolerance approach that treats professional sportsmen as something akin to criminals. Oppressive monitoring, invasive scrutiny, blood testing — all are part and parcel of the Orwellian reality of modern sport [Times, UK]

Each year we lose far too many people to overdose (lets face it, one person dead is ‘too many’) so I decided it was about time I wrote a new workshop to try and help address the situation [Injecting Advice, UK]

The recovery model is a social movement that is influencing mental health service development around the world… Do the research data, in fact, support optimism about outcome from serious mental illness, the value of work, the importance of empowerment and other tenets of the recovery model? [The Psychiatrist, USA]

G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D spent many years as a Prof. of Psychology and Dir. of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington. He has published over 200 articles and 5 books, and his work on relapse prevention, assessment and harm reduction has had a wide impact on the treatment of addictions in the U.S. and abroad [Afflicted & Affected, USA]

Nobody overdosed, but some of them had 10 times more cocaine coursing through their systems than researchers had encountered before, according to Kosten. He said some of the addicts reported to researchers that they had gone broke buying cocaine from multiple drug dealers, hoping to find a variety that would get them high [Washington Post, USA]

As 2009 winds to a close, we review the global year in drug policy [Stop the Drug War, USA]

In short, the impasse the U.S. faces in Afghanistan, in its efforts to support an unpopular and corrupt regime, must be understood in the light of its past relations to the drug traffic there – a situation which resembles the past U.S. involvement in Laos even more than in Vietnam [Global Research, Canada]

Incarceration, Ill-Treatment and Forced Labor as Drug Rehabilitation in China [Human Rights Watch]

Human rights group says Chinese authorities did not take British man’s mental health into account [Guardian, UK]

The case made by China in the execution of Akmal Shaikh undermines its claim to have a rational drugs policy [Clive Stafford Smith in Guardian, UK]

The more important an issue is, the more likely it is to be contested. These are the hot topics, some new, some perennial. From today we are offering one-click access to Findings analyses on a selection of hot topics renewed every two months [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

Thousands of Britons are also addicted to painkillers and other pills obtained legally from GPs or on internet [Observer, UK]

People drinking spirits at home in England are giving themselves more than double (12 percent extra) what they would get in a pub if they ordered a single shot according to new figures revealed today by the Know Your Limits campaign [Department of Health, UK]

Doug Sellman is a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine in New Zealand. In the most recent edition of Addiction, a leading scientific journal, he attempts the difficult task of distilling the ten things you need to know about addiction from the research of the last thirty years. No mean feat [Peapod, Wired In]

The conclusion of this two-parter. Professor Selman’s last five essentials. Not everyone agreed with the professor’s first five things, is there more agreement on the second five? [Peapod, Wired In]

I published the story of how addiction affected my family in ‘Mum, can you lend me twenty quid? – what drugs did to my family’ hoping that the book would benefit other families and that they could learn from our experiences [Elizabeth Burton-Phillips, WIred In]

I don’t blog this as a boast, but rather to let those who are in the early stages of recovery, or thinking of going in to recovery, that there really is light at the end of the tunnel – and it’s not a train, it’s a future, and one that’s all yours [Brian White, Wired In]

As someone who attends most recovery events, it’s quite moving to see people who were previously parked up in the chemical graveyard of the treatment system, with little hope of recovery, who are now the very people that are going to continue to build and maintain the recovery net [Oliver, Wired In]

If the Chinese are going to bandy around meaningless statistics to justify their tawdry policies then the numbers deserve some scrutiny. Particularly when they are used to justify a grim act of abject inhumanity [Northern Doctor’s Antidote, UK]

Three drugs were prohibited yesterday; a synthetic cannabinoid often sold as ‘spice’, the synthetic stimulant benzylpiperazine or BZP, and the synthetic sedative gammabutyrolactone or GBL which also happens to be an industrial solvent [Transform, UK]

According to the Morning Advertiser, pub giant JD Wetherspoon will be running a ‘January sale’, with the 99p pint deal reportedly extended to glasses of wine and shots of gin [Alcohol Policy UK]

As it’s Christmas week and just before New Year we’ve decided to do a show on how to stay safe at parties [Injecting Advice, Uk]

{I had trouble downloading pdf} [Institute of Alcohol Studies, UK]

All 17 of Scotland’s public health chiefs have called on politicians to back a minimum price for alcohol [BBC, UK]

The British Medical Association Scotland unveiled a series of New Year resolutions for the country’s politicians. And top of the list was a plea for all parties to get behind the Scottish Government’s Alcohol Bill [Scotsman, UK]

Parents in England are being warned not to under-estimate the “dangerous consequences” of under-age drinking [BBC, UK]

Police, courts and prisons will test all adult offenders for attention deficit disorders in a bid to reduce reoffending rates and cut aggressive behaviour in prisons [Observer, UK]

The death brings the total number of infected heroin users to five, including the three who have died from the infection [Scotsman, UK]

Public health advocates held an understandably muted celebration when President Obama signed a bill repealing a 21-year-old ban on federal financing for programs that supply clean needles to drug addicts [New York Times Editorial, USA]

To weaken the cartels, some argue the U.S. should legalize marijuana, let cocaine pass through the Caribbean and take the profit motive out of the drug trade [Wall Street Journal, USA]

Senior Mexican officials have begun a sweeping review of the military’s two-year occupation of this dangerous border city, concluding that the U.S.-backed deployment of thousands of soldiers against drug traffickers has failed to control the violence and crime, according to officials in both countries [Washington Post, USA]

Despite the remarkable international trend towards the abolition of capital punishment over the past twenty years, the number of countries expanding the application of the death penalty to include drug offences has increased during the same period [International Harm Reduction Association]

If you were asked: ‘What are the most important things we know about addiction?’ what would you say? This paper brings together a body of knowledge across multiple domains and arranged as a list of 10 things known about addiction, as a response to such a question [Addiction, UK]

Compared to a typical group therapy model, holistic family therapy helped younger teens and their families get back on track before substance use escalated – but was substance use really their focal problem? [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

In April 2008 I was asked by the Secretaries of State for Health and for Children, Schools and Families to prepare guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people – Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer of England [Department of Health, England]

The purpose of developing alcohol treatment pathways is to have the right people, doing the right things, in the right order at the right time, with the right outcome, right first time – all with attention to the service user’s experience and allowing for comparison of the planned care with the care that was actually delivered [Department of Health, UK]

This study compares the views of final year medical, and nursing and allied health professional (NAHP) students in relation to four governmental proposals impacting on the sale and purchase of alcohol [Alcohol and Alcoholism, UK]

“Treatment changed my life. Because it changed my life, it has effectively changed the lives of those I love and come into contact with: my partner, my family, my friends and, of course, my clients” [Androcles, Wired In]

I often said in rehab I would feel like I had achieved one of my biggest goals when I got up on a cold wet morning and HAD to go to work. This might sound strange but I had never done that before. I did what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, always on my terms [Carl C, Wired In]

So here’s the deal. As I see it, there’s a big noise happening at governmental level on recovery, there’s a big noise happening at research/policy level on recovery – but where in Scotland is the big noise at treatment level? [Kuladharini, Wired In]

We attended the Wirral Recovery Convention that saw Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust come together with Wirral DAAT to deliver a convention that celebrated the great strides that have been made to deliver treatment and recovery {4’31”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

The two overall winners in this year’s Tackling Drugs Changing Lives Awards were announced by Home Office Minister, Alan Campbell, at an awards ceremony in London. The awards, now in their fourth year, recognise and celebrate the unsung heroes who go over and above the call of duty to tackle drug use and drug related crime in communities across the country {10’05”} [Inexcess TV, UK]

Joy says that if communities could resolve their own problems they would have done it by now {2’02”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

Routine survey measures of alcohol consumption in the UK grossly underestimate actual consumption. A new analysis carried out by Liverpool John Moores University finds that the discrepancy between alcohol surveys calculating consumption and actual alcohol sales equals 430 million units a week [Alcohol Concern, UK]

Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are among those selling beer at just over 5p per 100ml. This contrasts with a typical price of about 8p for 100ml of brand-name mineral water [Sunday Times, UK]

Heineken plans to de-list the infamous ‘White lightning’ cider brand, reportedly to ‘reinforce its stance on responsible drinking and drive more value into the cider market’ [Alcohol Policy, UK]

Discusses the necessity of engaging people in recovery in the development of a recovery-oriented model of care to address individual employment, education, housing and other needs under a chronic-care model of sustained recovery management [Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, USA]

Promise to clamp down on happy hours shelved after industry lobbying and rows inside government [Observer, UK]

Afghanistan remains the world’s largest producer of opium and has an under-reported but growing heroin-use problem. Current drug control policies in Afghanistan lack focus and are unrealistic, driven by headlines rather than evidence [Transnational Institute, Netherlands]

Prepared for the Chicago Community Organizing Summit, “From Saul Alinsky to Barack Obama and Beyond …” by the Woods Fund of Chicago [National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, USA]

Janette, a 46-year-old woman who was recently divorced from her third husband, walked into a community mental health center with slurred speech, unable to make decisions, exhibiting extremely poor self-care and diminished expectations [Counselor, USA]

The Canadian federal government is again proposing mandatory sentences and stiff penalties for certain drug offences. But evidence shows that they only worsen an already dire situation [Canadian HIV/Aids Legal Network]

David L. Rosenbloom, Ph.D., is Professor of Public Health at Boston University where he directs Join Together, a program that helps communities throughout the country prevent and reduce alcohol and drug problems, and the Youth Alcohol Prevention Centre

The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing funded the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) to develop guidelines on the management of co-occurring mental health conditions in alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment settings {NB. Long download on pdf} [NDARC, Australia]

The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) was established by the Prime Minister in 1998 as a part of the Australian Government’s response to reduce the uptake and use of drugs and the harm it causes in our community [Australian National Council on Drugs]

To redress gaps in injection drug users’ (IDUs) knowledge about hepatitis risk and prevention, we developed a brief intervention to be delivered to IDUs at syringe exchange programs (SEPs) in three US cities [Harm Reduction Journal, UK]

Discusses the necessity of engaging people in recovery in the development of a recovery-oriented model of care to address individual employment, education, housing and other needs under a chronic-care model of sustained recovery management [Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, USA]

In Hooked this week we’re talking about social media and drugs work. We discuss the need to use these new services to engage with drug users and how they can be helpful for networking and research [Injecting Advice, UK]

Anyway, once again the issue of how an emerging recovery organisation should organise in terms of governance, structures and finance was raised [Mark Gilman, Wired In]

Summary of key findings from the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS) [Home Office, UK]

The provision of methadone in prisons is considered best practice by esteemed national and international expert bodies [Times, UK]

Keeping drug addicts in jail under control with prescriptions ensures that the marginalised remain disempowered – and costs a fortune [Guardian, UK]

How should we cover drug dependence? [Addiction Inbox, USA]

Joy describes the model that built on the contributions of women who were tackling the problems drug use brought for them and their children. Joy continues to describe the work at Aberlour {7’36”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

In the British context, it was expected to decide whether an evidence-based, well structured and well resourced drug education programme could contribute to reducing youth substance use, yet the multi-million pound Blueprint study never got near fulfilling its promise [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

The first trial of implanted versus oral versions of the opiate-blocking drug naltrexone found that in the treatment of heroin dependence, the extended action of the implants helps avoid relapse to regular opiate use [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

Most people value providing treatment for drug addiction because it improves their local community and benefits society as a whole, rather than because it helps addicts become drug free, according to independent research by Ipsos MORI published today by the [National Treatment Agency, UK]

Problem drug use for many is a chronic and relapsing condition, where “cure” is often neither a reasonable or appropriate expectation and it can further be argued that in these circumstances problem drug use is no different from any number of chronic and enduring health conditions [Substance Abuse Policy, UK]

Highly-educated, professional women drink more often and more heavily than almost any other female group, a new study has found [Times, UK]

Compared to a typical group therapy model, holistic family therapy helped younger teens and their families get back on track before substance use escalated – but was substance use really their focal problem? [Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK]

This blog is aimed at families – its point is to answer why people take drugs. This is, as always, my perspective and a belated answer to a question my mum used to ask, a woman who doesn’t even like alcohol for it’s effects make her off her guard [Tony A, Wired In]

Mr Hayes said the growing numbers in recovery were due to the efforts of services like CRI and others that help people to overcome dependency and tackle the effects of their drug use. Well-organised, flexible services, such as those provided by CRI, were the key to helping people to move through treatment successfully [CRI, UK]

More people who inject illegal drugs are being offered and are accepting confidential tests for Hepatitis C through contact with drug treatment services in England, figures from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) show [NTA, UK]

So what advice should you give someone who has had or is planning a break from opiates? [Injecting Advice, UK]

Government ministers talk of “striking the right balance” between risk and regulation as they soften the effect of their vetting scheme.But another balance we may need to consider is that between risk and wider risk: the potential harm to an individual against the potential harm to the fabric of our society [BBC, UK]

The mental strain of expanded deployments is prompting the military to institute new programs aimed at helping soldiers most at risk. The Army’s corps of substance-abuse counselors is hundreds short of the number of trained personnel needed [Time, USA]

The report outlines the continued commitment to bringing about improvements for women offenders in both custody and the community. 22-page PDF [Ministry of Justice, UK]

Presents for the first time information in regards to Mental Health Officers in Scotland, as official statistics [Scottish Government, UK]

Joy says that there is a need for minimum standards, and people working with drug users need to have a theoretical grounding and competencies. She says this needs to be underpinned with an understanding of the value and nature of relationship. There has to be an honesty and a valuing of strengths as well as deficits {7’08”} [Film Exchange on Alcohol & Drugs, UK]

NIDA director discusses cannabis, addiction vaccines, and gambling [Addiction Inbox, USA]