No doubt drug treatment services need to be improved. But, as Peter Mason points out in the second of our four articles on the NHS, real progress faces equally substantial barriers. Carry on regardless: the battle to modernise NHS drug…
Author Archive for admin
Druglink article 2003 – Snakes and ladders: five years inside government drug policy by Mike Trace
Mike Trace has worked in the drugs field for nearly 20 years, most recently as the deputy drug czar and head of performance at the National Treatment Agency. At the end of last year, he was appointed chief of the…
Druglink news item 2003 – Local authority bans drug education service
Tower Hamlets too the unprecedented steps after Narconon failed to respond to concerns about their practices and alleged links to the Church of Scientology Local authority bans drug education service (PDF)
Druglink Findings 2012 – Will intensive testing and sanctions displace treatment? by Mike Ashton
Enforce frequent drug testing and levy swift, certain and meaningful sanctions for substance use and many dependent users stop using without treatment. Mike Ashton asks if this is the future, or just a niche option applicable to users over whom authorities can exercise…
Druglink article 2012 – A Bridge Not Far Enough by Paul Wells
Walk the line (Druglink July/August) clearly demonstrated the vulnerable position that service users can be placed in when the recovery agenda is poorly understood or implemented. The change of emphasis in the 2010 Drug Strategy has done more than simply shake the complacency of some drug services who…
Druglink/DrugWatch factsheet 2012 – Nitrous Oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is used in surgery for its mild anaesthetic and analgesic effects and is one of the safest medical inhalants/anaesthetics, because it has little effect on critical body functions – which it is why it is a…
Druglink article 2012 – Birth of the Narco-state by Andrew Craig
In Ghana, greater self-sufficiency, improvements in health care and a reduction in poverty have all contributed to its stability over the last 20 years. However, the result of the national election to be held in December 2012 has the potential to destroy these…
Druglink article 2012 – Wash day by Euan Grant
To paraphrase The Wire, if you just go after the drugs, all you get is drugs; chase the money and you never know where it may lead. But with HSBC the latest bank to be embroiled in a drug money scandal, how effective…
Druglink article 2012 – Whatever happened to ‘glue-sniffing?’ by Richard Ives and Nicola Morgan
Although technically incorrect, the expression gained traction with the media when the practice was at its height back in the 1980s. But whatever you call it, the misuse of solvents has dropped off the radar. Whatever happened to ‘glue-sniffing?’ (PDF)
Druglink article 2012 – Red, white and booze by Bill Puddicombe
The latest figures for alcohol consumption in England indicate that consumption is falling including among the young, more of whom think it is not acceptable to be drunk even once a week. Yet figures for hospital admissions have soared by 40% since 2002 which suggests that people…