Research

June 10, 2009: COCAINE HARMS: THE FACTS
Comments: 1 | Categories: Medical , Research
A brief over of the medical damage caused by cocaine; more to be added - please feel free to add your own research. Just click on the links below for information. Cocaine damage to brain cells 1 Cocaine damage to...

June 1, 2009: MORE BABIES ARE BORN DRUG-DEPENDENT
Comments: 1 | Categories: Research
Newborns with drug-withdrawal symptoms are up by 67% in 10 years as money for specialist rehab units runs out, writes Nina Lakhani of The Independent on Sunday. In 2007-8, 1,230 babies in England suffered from symptoms including poor sleep, agitation...

May 18, 2009: THE PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS
Comments: 1 | Categories: News , Research
FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT DRUG POLICY IS EXPOSED The government has repeatedly declared that it is fighting a "war on drugs". But Kathy Gyngell shows that this has been a facade, in The Phoney War on Drugs, published today by the...

March 10, 2009: FACTS vs PROPAGANDA
Comments: 0 | Categories: Research
Members of the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime are to sign a declaration to extend a "war on drugs" – a policy that some critics argue is ineffective and contributes to the spread of HIV. But the views...

March 3, 2009: "DRUG-RELATED DEATHS": DEFINITION
Comments: 4 | Categories: Medical , Policies, legislation , Prevention , Research
Further to the debate on what does or does not count as a "drug-related death", Peter O'Loughlin gives the authoritative definition, as below. In 2000, the advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published a report, Reducing Drug Related...

March 1, 2009: RESIDENTIAL REHABILITATION: WHAT’S THE STORY?
Comments: 3 | Categories: News , Research , Therapeutic Techniques
The government’s Commission for Social Care Inspection and the NTA carried out a review of treatment services last year – inspector David Finney reveals findings that “residential rehabs outstrip other sectors in every outcome group we measure”. Print-friendly version: Download...

February 22, 2009: GPs, THE NTA AND THE NUMBERS GAME
Comments: 14 | Categories: Policies, legislation , Research
In good faith, the Substance Misuse Management in General Practice issued guidance now proven to be based on unfounded figures – they were taken at face value from the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. Peter O’Loughlin puts the record...

February 21, 2009: ECSTASY/MDMA: THE RESEARCH FACTS
Comments: 2 | Categories: Research
REPLY TO MARK EASTON, BBC From Professor Andy Parrott Swansea University, Wales. I would like to reply to the Mark Easton ‘blog’ about my MDMA-presentation to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. This 20 minute Powerpoint presentation comprised...

February 2, 2009: DRUG-RELATED DEATHS - UK 2008
Comments: 1 | Categories: Research
NATIONAL PROGRAMME ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE DEATHS ST GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY OF LONDON The National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths is managed by the International Centre for Drug Policy, which is within the Division of Mental Health, St George's University of London....

December 1, 2008: WHO ARE THE 70,000 NOT IN REHAB NOR ON SUBSTITUTE MEDICATION?
Comments: 3 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
Jon Hibbs, communications director of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, has written to Addiction Today stating that "one third of people in treatment (sic) are not on substitute medication. NDTMS figures, given in a recent parliamentary question, confirmed...

November 17, 2008: REHABS WORK: RESEARCH ON SUCCESS
Comments: 11 | Categories: Research , Therapeutic Techniques
Peter McDermott, a Board member of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, stated in The Observer national newspaper [16 November] that "Residential rehab doesn't actually work very well" alongside other negative comments. After Addiction Today complained to the NTA...

November 17, 2008: DRUGS UNCOVERED
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
ASPECIAL REPORT BY THE OBSERVER Click here for an indepth report by the Sunday newspaper on drug attitudes and much more.

November 13, 2008: "AN OPEN LETTER TO THE ACMD ABOUT ECSTASY"
Comments: 9 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
BY PROFESSOR ANDREW PARROTT The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has been devoting time to reclassifying ecstasy downwards, even though not requested by government to do so. Deirdre Boyd recalls parliament’s criticism of the ACMD here. Read Professor...

November 12, 2008: ACMD: ACRONYM OR ANACHRONISM?
Comments: 16 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
After the debacle and harm stemming from its recommendation to downgrade the classification of cannabis, the ACMD now wants to downgrade a drug which can be 10 times more powerful than cocaine. It is an opportune time to recall the...

November 3, 2008: NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE: ALCOHOL
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
The National Audit Office has published a report on Reducing Alcohol Harm: health services in England for alcohol misuse. The report found that a quarter of Primary Care Trusts had not accurately assessed the alcohol problems in their area and...

October 8, 2008: TREATMENT EFFECTIVENESS:
Comments: 0 | Categories: Policies, legislation , Research , Therapeutic Techniques
ALCOHOL SERVICES The National Treatment Agency has released its Review of the effectiveness of treatment for alcohol problems. It is mostly excellent and a great reference tool – but some conclusions have led to a judicial review being explored by...

October 3, 2008: THE NTA: SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Policies, legislation , Research
MARK EASTON'S UK Excerpt from Today programme, BBC Radio 4 "Drug treatment officials were busy rubbishing my journalism yesterday afternoon, telling anyone who would listen that the man from the BBC had got his figures wrong. (Listen to my report...

September 25, 2008: ASSESSMENT IS THE KEY
Comments: 1 | Categories: Research , Therapeutic Techniques
Heated debates about abstinence vs harm minimisation could be coolly eliminated if... satisfactory, appropriate assessment identifies whether someone is dependent/ addicted or merely a misuser/abuser, states Norman Hoffmann. This article was first published in Addiction Today journal in 2002. It...

September 17, 2008: "ADDICTION IS A DISEASE"
Comments: 2 | Categories: Medical , Policies, legislation , Research , Therapeutic Techniques
“Drug [including alcohol] addictions are medical diseases which deserve parity in national healthcare programmes...” states scientist and professor Carlton Erickson, as he reveals the neurobiological research. Although this article was first printed in Addiction Today journal in 2002, the vast...

August 30, 2008: CANNABIS IS STRONGEST PREDICTOR OF LIFETIME ILLICIT DRUG USE
Comments: 2 | Categories: Cannabis comment , News , Research
DATA FROM 1,265 CHILDREN ACROSS 25 YEARS “The use of cannabis in late adolescence and early adulthood is the strongest risk factor for later involvement in other illicit drugs,” confirms a study led by Professor David Fergusson at the Department...

August 26, 2008: “TIMEBOMB GENERATION”:
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research
TEENAGERS HOOKED ON DRUGS, BINGE-DRINKING, SMOKING AND UNDERAGE SEX, WARN CONSERVATIVES. The scale of the health problems facing youngsters aged 11 to 19 was laid bare perhaps for the first time by official figures from the NHS Information Centre. The...

August 25, 2008: Addiction Today survey: doctors speak out
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research
A survey of all doctors in private practice across the UK makes heartbreaking reading when it comes to treating people with alcohol and drug problems. Of the first 114+ doctors who responded: 96.5% are currently treating patients with alcohol problems...

August 20, 2008: GOVERNMENT ISSUES LATEST FIGURES ON DRUG USE
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research
The Information Centre for Health and Social Care and the Home Office have released new statistics on trends in drug use. The Information Centre has published Drug use, smoking and drinking among young people in England 2007, an annual survey...

July 4, 2008: SWPHO: STATISTICS ON HAZARDOUS DRINKERS
Comments: 1 | Categories: News , Research
Almost 25% of 16-64-year olds in the south west – about 750,000 people – are "hazardous" drinkers, and over 100,000 are dependent on alcohol, according to statistics from the South West Public Health Observatory. It states that over 500 adolescents...

June 26, 2008: BRAIN SCIENCE, PHARMACOLOGY & ADDICTION:
Comments: 0 | Categories: Research
A CUTTING-EDGE GUIDE Unrestrained use of substances is the external expression of a neurobiological scenario not a moral issue, states PROFESSOR ICRO MAREMMANI. He shares the latest scientific findings. This article appears in the July 2008 issue of Addiction Today...

June 6, 2008: UKDPC NON-CONSENSUS OF RECOVERY
Comments: 1 | Categories: News , Research
The UK Drup Policy Commission charity was funded to draw up a consensus definition of "recovery". Addiction Today sees the definition publicly rolled out in May as divisive to the field, excluding those who seek alcohol- and drug-free lives for...

June 5, 2008: DOES TREATING PEOPLE INCREASE THEIR CHANCE FOR ABSTINENCE?
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research , Therapeutic Techniques
“Interventions geared for public-health and safety purposes can delay or prevent long-term recovery,” find DR DAVID BEST, JESSICA LOARING and SAFEENA GHUFRAN. They advocate a ‘life-course model’ offering hope to client and clinician alike. * This article will be published...

May 23, 2008: CHILD CASUALTIES OF BINGE DRINKING
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research
NHS INFORMATION CENTRE REVEALS SCALE OF HARM TO TEENAGERS Over 160 children each week are admitted to hospital with alcohol-related problems. 8,494 youngsters under 18 ended up in hospital through drink in 2007. The NHS Information Centre issued a survey...

May 13, 2008: CANNABIS: HEART ATTACK RISKS
Comments: 0 | Categories: Cannabis comment , News , Research
Smoking cannabis can raise the risk of heart attacks, reveals authoritative research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Baltimore, reported in Molecular Psychiatry. The researchers focused on apolipoprotein, a blood protein which regulates the breakdown of fats linked...

May 8, 2008: What are today's social evils?
Comments: 0 | Categories: News , Research
ANSWER: "ALCOHOL AND DRUGS" AND "DECLINE OF FAMILY" Over a century has passed since the Joseph Rowntree Foundation identified poverty, war, slavery, intemperance, the opium trade, impurity and gambling as the "great scourges of humanity". Now it reveals the findings...

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