The Australian Drug Blog

Funds Available for Drug, Alcohol Prevention Activities

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:03:39 +0000

Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems announced that the Committee on Prevention Education (COPE), an alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention support program, has extra funds available for drug and alcohol prevention activities.The funding is available for grassroots community groups (Act 211 groups, PTO’s, civic associations, community tasks forces, etc.), post-prom committees, and/or non-profit organizations to implement activities, educational programming, and school or community events that are specific to preventing youth substance use, and/or increasing community awareness of substance abuse issues.This community-based prevention program has supported a variety of activities including: family game nights, drug-free concerts and dances, high school after prom parties, town hall meetings, and evidence-based and parenting programs.
Via media.patch.com

Still Crazy: Some Dabble In Hard Drugs After 50

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:44:55 +0000

The specter of a burned-out Baby Boomer using hard drugs way into middle age may conjure images of addiction, destruction and death.That certainly can be true, but it’s not the complete picture, at least according to a new study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who found that people who occasionally use drugs like cocaine, amphetamines and opiates over the course of their lives are more common than anyone might suspect.“When you think of a drug user, you often think of someone strung-out, using every day, and in deep trouble, but national data shows that that’s not the most common thing you see,” says Dr. Stefan Kertesz, an associate professor in the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine. “The most common pattern is illicit drug use at lower levels.”In other words, these sporadic drug users are “dabblers,” says Kertesz, lead author of the study that followed more than 4,300 people from four cities recruited between the ages of 18 to 30 in 1985 and 1986 — and then tracked them for almost 20 years.He confirmed what he suspected from his experience in clinical care: that some perfectly functional middle-agers still turn to the drugs of their youth.
Via www.witn.com

Nominations Open – 2012 National Drug and Alcohol Awards

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:23:24 +0000

Get your nominations in!

Outstanding drug and alcohol workers and organisations will be recognised for their tireless work preventing or minimising harm in our community.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said: “Every day, thousands of dedicated professionals offer their experience, expertise and compassion to those struggling with the consequences of drug use. Their interventions help protect public health, reduce crime, and enable users to come to terms with their condition and regain control of their future. If these are difficult endeavours, they are never thankless. Rather our hardworking drug and alcohol workers have the nation’s gratitude and admiration.”

Nominations for the National Drug & Alcohol Awards are now open at www.drugawards.org.au

The Awards recognise the many people and organisations doing exceptional work to reduce the harm and impact of alcohol and other drugs in Australia.

Awards will be presented at the National Drug & Alcohol Awards Presentation Dinner at the Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne on Friday 22 June 2012.

Categories for nomination are:

v Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to Drug and Alcohol Endeavours
v Excellence in Prevention and Community Education
v Excellence in Treatment and Support
v Excellence in Research
v Excellence in Services to Young People
v Excellence in Law Enforcement
v Excellence in Alcohol and other Drugs Media Reporting
v Excellence in School Drug Education
v Excellence in Creating Healthy Sporting Communities

The 2012 inductees for the National Drug and Alcohol Honour Roll will also be announced – for which nominations can also be made.

If someone you know deserves recognition for their valuable contribution make sure you nominate them by Monday 30 April 2012.

Each category winner will receive $2000 prize money.

To find out more about the selection criteria and access the nomination form visit
www.drugawards.org.au

The National Drug and Alcohol Awards are a collaborative initiative by the Ted Noffs Foundation (TNF), the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD), the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), and the Australian Drug Foundation. This year’s Awards are coordinated by the Australian Drug Foundation.

Awards and Presentation Information: Vanessa Ferguson 0415 561 243 or info@drugawards.org.au

Media Enquiries: Jaki Colgan or Renee Lustman, Australian Drug Foundation, 03 9278 8100 or 0430 948 380.

Twitter is harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, study finds

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:50:13 +0000

Tweeting or checking emails may be harder to resist than cigarettes and alcohol, according to researchers who tried to measure how well people could resist their desires.They even claim that while sleep and sex may be stronger urges, people are more likely to give in to longings or cravings to use social and other media.A team headed by Wilhelm Hofmann of Chicago University’s Booth Business School say their experiment, using BlackBerrys, to gauge the willpower of 205 people aged between 18 and 85 in and around the German city of Würtzburg is the first to monitor such responses “in the wild” outside a laboratory.
Via www.guardian.co.uk

Heroin use in teens increase

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:32:26 +0000

Teenage drug use is a constant problem. Now more teens are turning to heroin.According to local drug counselors, they’re seeing more high schoolers using heroin because it’s cheaper and easier to get.For a long time, prescription drugs like Oxycodone and Oxycontin were popular because they were found in the medicine cabinet.But getting a prescription and high cost of the drug put a limit on where addicts could turn. The connection between oxycondone and heroin is opiate. A highly addictive substance used to relieve pain.”Easier to get if the youth don’t have somebody to get the pills. Somebody’s got to get it prescribed to them and have in their possession and be willing to sell it. Where heroin it’s just there to be sold on the streets,” explains drug counselor Penny Bell.
Via www.kndo.com

New plans for minimum drink price in Ireland

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:49:55 +0000

Health authorities have decided upon a cross-border strategy on a minimum price for alcohol.Health authorities have decided upon a cross-border strategy on a minimum price for alcohol.The proposals were outlined at the first formal North/South conference on alcohol misuse, held in Armagh on Thursday.Health Minister Edwin Poots was joined by the Irish Republic’s Health Minister Dr James Reilly and Minister of State for Health Roisin Shortall.They said they hoped to agree a minimum drink price before December 2012.
Via www.bbc.co.uk

Starbucks to Start Selling Alcohol in Some US Stores

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:48:53 +0000

You soon may be able to get a different kind of brew at your neighborhood Starbucks. The coffee company announced this week they will begin selling beer and wine at stores in Atlanta, Chicago, Southern California and the Pacific Northwest by the end of 2012.Starbucks has not yet identified the locations yet, however there will be four to six shops serving alcohol in the Atlanta area later this year. They will also serve premium food such as savory snacks, small plates and hot flatbreads.
Via peachtreecorners.patch.com

Seminar: Pills, powder, plonk: how to reduce alcohol and other drug related harms in our community

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:33:59 +0000

Pills, powder, plonk: how to reduce alcohol and other drug related harms in our community
When: Thursday,16th April 2012
State: Queensland (QLD)
Where: Surfair, Marcoola Beach

Description: Australia has long been recognised as a drug taking society. The landmark Senate Report in 1981, chaired by then Senator Dr Peter Baume painted a stark picture of the way excessive alcohol and prescription drug consumption impacted on the lives of all Australians. With the exception of our efforts to curb drink driving, we appear to have achieved little in the way we use and misuse alcohol. The estimated cost of alcohol related problems now stands at a staggering $36 billion per year. The economic impact of all other drugs (excluding tobacco) is in comparison, modest at $6 billion.

Communities throughout Australia are increasingly concerned about the problems posed by excessive alcohol and drug fuelled violence. Many communities and businesses have taken action in an effort to reduce alcohol and drug related harm. Efforts at the national level to tackle our excessive alcohol consumption have been limited and poorly coordinated. Building our effectiveness to advocate for better public policy from local, state and federal governments is increasingly seen as important for communities to ‘take back the streets’ and turn around the level of alcohol and drug-fuelled violence.

This seminar will examine:

The problems of alcohol and drug related harm in communities
The role of marketing in alcohol use
Community advocacy and action for better alcohol-related policy
A range of community based initiatives to tackle alcohol related harm including those in Indigenous communities.
http://www.focushealth.com.au/activities.html

Administration continues to consider alcohol policy

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:16:48 +0000

October 6, 2011, was an unusually silent Thursday night in Blacker Hovse. The courtyard was quiet, devoid of the loud music usually played by Ricketts Hovse on such a night. The crowd usually attracted by Thursday Night Drinking, or TND, in Ricketts, was suspiciously absent. The evening was disturbingly calm.Calm, until Priyam Patel ran into an otherwise placid Blacker lounge and yelled:“Alcohol has been banned on campus!”Caltech, like many private colleges across the nation, is a “wet” school. Students of-age (over 21) are allowed to possess and consume alcohol in private. According to the previous alcohol policy, officially registered student parties could serve alcohol via bartenders with relatively little hassle or approval required. Major campus parties such as Big Interhouse (Big I), as well as smaller parties such as Apache or Page Interhouse, have historically had free-flowing booze available through the alcohol policy. The primary requirements of the old policy were the existence of an “Event Host” to organize the paperwork, “professional bartenders” to serve the alcohol, and permission from three organizations, including the Undergraduate Deans. But this may no longer be the case.
Via tech.caltech.edu

Stella and Budweiser cut alcohol levels in bid to save millions

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:51:42 +0000

Lager drinkers are in for a shock after brewing giant AB InBev decided to cut the alcohol volume in Stella Artois, Budweiser and Beck’s, according to The Grocer.
The shake-up of the three top brands should save millions of pounds that will offset duty hikes and cost increases, the trade magazine says.
The world’s largest brewer is cutting the alcohol volume of the popular beers from 5per cent to 4.8per cent.

Via www.dailymail.co.uk