Addiction Today

A PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS – AND THE MYTH OF ADDICTION TREATMENT PROVISION

2009-07-03T13:54:00+01:00

Has pouring £300million a year into methadone helped – or quicksanded the UK into the worst drug problem in Europe? Deirdre Boyd reacts to rigorous research from the Centre for Policy Studies. Print-friendly version: Download Addiction Today 119-Myth of treatment...

THE PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS

2009-07-03T12:03:03+01:00

Despite this government spending £10billion – £1.5billion a year – on its drugs policy, the numbers emerging from government treatment programmes are the same as if there had been no treatment at all, revealed Kathy Gyngell in a recent document...

ADDICTS COMMIT CRIME TO GET TREATMENT

2009-06-17T19:03:42+01:00

Heroin addicts are committing crime to get fast tracked into drug rehab because of waiting lists for treatment, a BBC programme reveals. This confirms anecdotal reports given to Addiction Today over a number of years. BBC Wales' Week In Week...

COCAINE HARMS: THE FACTS

2009-06-10T09:55:00+01:00

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...

ANOTHER REHAB TO CLOSE

2009-06-09T09:04:00+01:00

The Norfolk-based Diana Princess of Wales Treatment Centre has failed in its battle to stay open since it went into administration in July 2008. Receivers say they will try to find new places for the 19 patients being treated there....

MORE BABIES ARE BORN DRUG-DEPENDENT

2009-06-01T23:04:18+01:00

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...

SERBIAN TORTURE UNIT FOR ADDICTS CLOSES

2009-05-25T22:27:00+01:00

A happy ending to our story on brutality meted to addicts trying to recover at Crna Reka "treatment" centre for drug abusers: Reuters reports that the Serbian Orthodox Church ordered its closure after a video showed a patient being beaten...

STOP THIS TORTURE NOW

2009-05-23T12:07:55+01:00

OUTRAGE AT SERBIAN 'TREATMENT' OF PATIENTS WITH ADDICTIVE DISORDERS Officials in Serbia are investigating a 'rehabilitation centre' affiliated to the Orthodox Church where drug addicts have been filmed being beaten. Vreme magazine shows a man appearing to assault a patient...

RECOVERY MOVEMENT HAS ARRIVED!

2009-05-18T12:41:25+01:00

As 500 people attended the UK/European Symposium on Addictive Disorders, to participate in Effective approaches to intervention, treatment and recovery, it was clear not that a grassroots recovery movement has started - but that it has arrived. And within 36...

THE PHONEY WAR ON DRUGS

2009-05-18T12:06:31+01:00

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...

INVOLUNTARY TRANQUILLISER ADDICTION

2009-05-12T11:50:11+01:00

An All-Party Parliamentary Group recently drew the nation’s attention to the damage caused by prescription and over-the-counter drugs – harms to a greater volume of people than from all illicit drugs. Michael Behan reports a worsening situation. Printer-friendly version here:...

OPEN LETTER FROM MIDDLEGATE LODGE

2009-04-24T21:30:00+01:00

UNIQUE REHAB FOR CHILDREN FACES CLOSURE "By way of introduction, I am chairman of Middlegate,a unique Ofsted-registered, residential rehabilitation unit treating young people aged 11-18 years of age which has been caring and treating young people since 1995. Middlegate's aim...

EFT: TAPPING INTO NEW SOLUTIONS

2009-04-16T13:55:00+01:00

After an initial period of scepticism – “I have a background in science and am suspicious of new ‘fads’ unless they have good evidence base” – Masha Bennett trained in EFT and has become a convert. She explains how it...

2009-04-09T14:22:00+01:00

EAAT 2009 The 5th European Association of Addiction Therapy Conference 5-7 October 2009 Cankarjev Dom Cultural and Congress Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia Chairman: Dr Andrej Kastelic · The EAAT Conference has been developed to create a series of dynamic conferences with...

FREE AT LAST: MOMENTS OF CLARITY

2009-04-02T14:56:00+01:00

As a member of the Kennedy clan, Christopher Kennedy Lawford had it all – including a full-blown addiction to alcohol and drugs. Here he talks about how he finally managed to stop, and stay stopped for the past 23 years....

US BANKERS SEEK TREATMENT

2009-03-30T14:54:16+01:00

Reuters reports that people in finance are seeking treatment for addiction as the global economic crisis sinks its teeth into a high-stakes industry where confidence is the name of the game and nobody wants to admit to a weakness. This...

BRITISH TEENAGERS ARE BINGE-DRINKING 'CHAMPIONS' OF EUROPE

2009-03-27T21:48:00+00:00

A European survey of 35 countries reveals 'chronic' drinking problems in 15-16 year-olds, which leads to rifts with parents, unplanned pregnancies and injuries. British teenagers are among the worst binge drinkers in Europe, with girls more likely to get drunk...

MISUSE & ADDICTIONS MONTH

2009-03-25T11:25:00+00:00

WHERE TO FIND HELP Treatment agency 'open days' May 2009 Join in a series of 'open days' or half days throughout May, when addiction-treatment providers, referrers and commissioeinrs can visit each other and learn from service users. They will welcome...

7-8 May 2009

2009-03-25T10:44:00+00:00

WORKING WITH DRUG & ALCOHOL USERS IN PRIMARY CARE: 14th National Conference Family Medicine: from cradle to grave 7&8 May 2009, ACC, Liverpool Don’t miss the opportunity to promote your products and services to 600 GP’s Shared Care Works, Nurses...

UNITY GROUP: WORKING TOGETHER

2009-03-24T11:36:00+00:00

MISUSE & ADDICTIONS WEEK: WHERE TO FIND HELP PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS - 2008 Addiction Recovery Foundation Addiction Today journal staff will be partnering with The Recovery Network to hold a London-based event during the Misuse & Addictions Awareness Week. ******* The...

THE DEADLY COST OF NOT RAISING DRINK PRICES

2009-03-17T09:14:22+00:00

It's clear: if alcohol is more expensive, lives are saved and crime falls. So why the resistance? Magnus Linklater investigates a sobering issue in The Times. Can you be “lukewarm” about a proposal that would save lives and cut crime?...

MINISTER LOOKS AT WEANING PATIENTS OFF METHADONE

2009-03-15T11:14:16+00:00

Minister John Curran wants evidence on whether patients manage to stave off addiction, reports Stephen O’Brien in The Times newspaper. In Ireland, drug detox programmes for heroin addicts are to be overhauled in an attempt to reduce the death toll...

FAMILIES TORN APART BY TEENAGE CANNABIS USE

2009-03-15T10:58:01+00:00

It is the end of a taboo: articulate, middle-class parents are speaking out about the nightmare of seeing their children spiral into drug abuse and, all too often, mental illness. Many blame themselves for staying silent, assuming that modern strains...

FACTS vs PROPAGANDA

2009-03-10T13:48:00+00:00

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...

WILL GOVERNMENT SET DRUG-FREE TARGETS FOR TREATMENT?

2009-03-08T18:56:52+00:00

DECISION MUST BE MADE IN MARCH 2009 In January, Drug Action Teams around the country submitted draft treatment plans for 2009/10 to the government’s National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse – NTA approval is needed before they can receive funding...

RECRUITMENT: SUBSTANCE MISUSE PRACTITIONER

2009-03-07T11:50:00+00:00

Printer-friendly version: Download Substance Misuse Practitioner - Long Yard Rugby House-ARP provides a range of community and residential services in London for people with alcohol and drug related problems. The Organisation is underpinned by a strong learning culture and actively...

RECRUITMENT: SENIOR SUBSTANCE MISUSE PRACTITIONER

2009-03-06T11:48:00+00:00

Printer-friendly version: Download Herbert Street - Senior Substance Misuse Practitioner Herbert Street Senior Substance Misuse Practitioner (No overnights) Based in North London Herbert Street is an intimate 9 bed residential project that is managed by a trained clinical supervisor, counsellor...

RECRUITMENT: OLDER PEOPLE SPECIALIST ALCOHOL PRACTITIONER

2009-03-06T11:44:00+00:00

Printer-friendly version: Download ARC - Older People Specialist Alcohol Practitioner Rugby House - ARP Older People Specialist Alcohol Practitioner Based in Hammersmith & Fulham 2 Year Fixed Term Contract This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, self motivated alcohol...

USE STRUCTURED INTERVENTIONS...

2009-03-04T16:39:57+00:00

... TO SPEED CLIENTS INTO CARE Structured family and workplace interventions are a powerful catalyst for change, raising a troubled person’s ‘rock bottom’ to the here and now without the dangers of a progressively-worsening addictive life. Deirdre Boyd studied cutting-edge...

"DRUG-RELATED DEATHS": DEFINITION

2009-03-03T21:00:10+00:00

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...