UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk United Kingdom Addiction Services Support Agency Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:00:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 How to make drug policy better http://www.ukassa.org.uk/how-to-make-drug-policy-better http://www.ukassa.org.uk/how-to-make-drug-policy-better#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:58:16 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=593 Continue Reading]]> How to make drug policy better: key findings from UKDPC research into drug policy governance

Drug use and dependence is a very complex area, which impacts in different ways on many people and has ramifications throughout society. It is also a particularly controversial area. There is a range of new challenges facing drug policy, including the rapid development of new drugs and new routes of supply, which require responses. However, it is difficult to discuss even the possibility of new approaches and it increasingly appears from the range of people who call for reform on leaving office that those involved in drug policy making are not satisfied with, or helped by, the architecture within which they work.

http://www.ukdpc.org.uk/publication/how-to-make-drug-policy-better/

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/how-to-make-drug-policy-better/feed 0 Mephedrone: the rise of heroin’s cheap rival http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mephedrone-the-rise-of-heroins-cheap-rival http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mephedrone-the-rise-of-heroins-cheap-rival#comments Sun, 02 Dec 2012 14:36:19 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=586 Heroin, speed and cocaine use is down but mephedrone is more popular than ever since it became illegal. There is now an epidemic of addicts injecting it as ‘M-smack’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/shortcuts/2012/dec/02/mephedrone-heroin-cheap-rival

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mephedrone-the-rise-of-heroins-cheap-rival/feed 0 Mexxy, Black Mamba and other ‘legal highs’ to be banned http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mexxy-black-mamba-and-other-legal-highs-to-be-banned http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mexxy-black-mamba-and-other-legal-highs-to-be-banned#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:33:32 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=583 A number of so-called ‘legal highs’ will become illegal Class B drugs, the Home Office announced today

http://homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/legal-high-drugs-banned

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/mexxy-black-mamba-and-other-legal-highs-to-be-banned/feed 0 Special report: Super-strength lager causing more harm than crack or heroin http://www.ukassa.org.uk/special-report-super-strength-lager-causing-more-harm-than-crack-or-heroin http://www.ukassa.org.uk/special-report-super-strength-lager-causing-more-harm-than-crack-or-heroin#comments Sat, 06 Oct 2012 14:26:36 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=580 A single can contains more alcohol than the recommended daily maximum. The companies behind them claim they are committed to responsible drinking, yet are still content to make a fortune…

MARTIN HICKMAN

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/special-report-superstrength-lager-causing-more-harm-than-crack-or-heroin-8200242.html

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/special-report-super-strength-lager-causing-more-harm-than-crack-or-heroin/feed 0 ALCOHOL ADDICTS AS YOUNG AS 12 BEGGING FOR HELP http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-addicts-as-young-as-12-begging-for-help http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-addicts-as-young-as-12-begging-for-help#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2012 14:22:11 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=576 HUNDREDS of children as young as 12 and 13 are seeking professional help for alcohol abuse, the Sunday Express can reveal.

By Kirsty Buchanan

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/344869/Alcohol-addicts-as-young-as-12-begging-for-help

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-addicts-as-young-as-12-begging-for-help/feed 0 ‘Legal Highs’ and the Dangers of Bad Laws http://www.ukassa.org.uk/legal-highs-and-the-dangers-of-bad-laws http://www.ukassa.org.uk/legal-highs-and-the-dangers-of-bad-laws#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:16:38 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=572 A recent UK Home Office report sounded the alarms about the identification of 17 previously ‘unknown’ drugs that had never before been seen in the UK – setting off a legislative rush to ban these so-called ‘legal highs’.

Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch

Director, Global Drug Policy
Program, Open Society Foundations

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/kasia-malinowskasempruch/legal-highs-and-the-dangers-of-bad-laws_b_1746185.html

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/legal-highs-and-the-dangers-of-bad-laws/feed 0 The end of HIV/Aids may not be possible if the war on drugs continues http://www.ukassa.org.uk/the-end-of-hivaids-may-not-be-possible-if-the-war-on-drugs-continues http://www.ukassa.org.uk/the-end-of-hivaids-may-not-be-possible-if-the-war-on-drugs-continues#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:10:31 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=569 The danger in ignoring rising HIV rates among drug users is it could reignite the virus when it enters manageable decline

Douglas Haddow
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 July 2012 15.48 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/26/hiv-aids-war-on-drugs

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/the-end-of-hivaids-may-not-be-possible-if-the-war-on-drugs-continues/feed 0 Charities are providing drugs and alcohol services in place of the NHS http://www.ukassa.org.uk/charities-are-providing-drugs-and-alcohol-services-in-place-of-the-nhs http://www.ukassa.org.uk/charities-are-providing-drugs-and-alcohol-services-in-place-of-the-nhs#comments Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:05:18 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=565 Experts accuse the coalition of putting ‘vital’ NHS programmes at risk by transferring drugs provision to charities

Mary O’Hara
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 June 2012 17.00 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/26/charities-drugs-alcohol-service-nhs

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/charities-are-providing-drugs-and-alcohol-services-in-place-of-the-nhs/feed 0 Alcohol limit ‘should be cut for public health’ http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-limit-should-be-cut-for-public-health http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-limit-should-be-cut-for-public-health#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 14:02:42 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=562 If people drank just half a unit of alcohol a day it could cut deaths from chronic conditions such as cancer, The Guardian has reported today.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/05may/Pages/alcohol-limit-should-be-cut-for-public-health.aspx

]]> http://www.ukassa.org.uk/alcohol-limit-should-be-cut-for-public-health/feed 0 Can a hallucinogen from Africa cure addiction? http://www.ukassa.org.uk/can-a-hallucinogen-from-africa-cure-addiction http://www.ukassa.org.uk/can-a-hallucinogen-from-africa-cure-addiction#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:58:53 +0000 UKASSA http://www.ukassa.org.uk/?p=559 Continue Reading]]> Since the 1960s a disparate group of scientists and former drug addicts have been advocating a radical treatment for addiction – a hallucinogen called ibogaine, derived from an African plant, that in some cases seems to obliterate withdrawal symptoms from heroin, cocaine and alcohol. So why isn’t it widely used?

By Stephanie Hegarty
BBC World Service

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17666589

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