http://www.nacd.ie/publications/NACDPolydrugUseBulletin5.pdf (PDF) 

http://www.nwph.net/nwpho/publications/Drugs_indications.pdf (PDF)

Commissioned by Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England, the report provides a comprehensive picture of regional and national patterns of drug use prevalence and treatment, as well as trends in crime and hospital admissions related to drug use. The report is based on the collection and cross-analysis of a range of existing data from sources including the Home Office’s British Crime Survey, the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, the Offending Crime and Justice Survey and NHS statistics on hospital episodes and drug-related deaths. Some of the key patterns identified in the report are:

• overall, the number of people reporting using any drug in the last year and last month has decreased year-on-year between 2002/03 and 2007/08;

 • five out of nine regions reported an increase in the number of young people (age 10 to 25) reporting having ever used cocaine between 2003 and 2006;

• the expansion in drug treatment has led to a 130% increase in the number of people in contact with treatment between 1998/99 and 2006/07;

 • the majority of those in contact with treatment services in England in 2006/07, were primary opiate users (62.2%);

• the number of females (55,272) in contact with drug treatment is less than half of males (139,729);

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/horr13.pdf

 

The Drug Harm Index (DHI) was developed as the overarching measure for the PSA target to reduce the harm caused by illegal drugs. It combines robust national indicators of the harms generated by illegal drugs into a single-figure time-series index. The harms include drug-related crime, community perceptions of drug problems, drug nuisance, and the various health consequences that arise from drug abuse. This latest update adds data for 2006 and incorporates revised figures for earlier years. It shows that the DHI has fallen from 80.5 in 2005 to 68.8 in 2006. This is a drop of 11.7 points or 14.5 per cent. This compares to a decrease of 5.7 per cent between 2004 and 2005. The index has now fallen year-on-year since 2001.

The fall in the DHI between 2005 and 2006 is largely due to reductions in drug-related crime and a decrease in drug deaths.

http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/nta_tier_4_summary_0609.pdf - summary

http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/nta_tier_4_full_0609.pdf - full report

This report describes the good practice identified among the best-performing rehabilitation and detoxification centres in a recent joint review with the Healthcare Commission. The report highlights how innovative models of residential treatment are emerging in some parts of the country, including supported housing linked to structured treatment, and services tailored to local recovery communities.

New items from the Home Office

Home Office – The 2008 Drug strategy – one year on
http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/virtuallibrary/drugstrategy2008oneyearon.pdf

Home Office – Drug seizures in England and Wales
Main report – http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0809.pdf
Summary tables – http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0809summ.xls
Supplementary tables – http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0809supp.xls
Area tables – http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0809area.xls

Home Office – 2009 DIP success stories: case studies from the Drugs Intervention Programme
http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/publication-search/dip/dip-success-stories-2009?view=Binary

New items from the NTA
 
NTA – Harm reduction resources
Keep walking DVD and magazine http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/hrdvd4.pdf
Safer injecting DVD and booklet
http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/hrdvd5.pdf
Set of 7 HRW posters
http://www.nta.nhs.uk/publications/documents/hrpostersx.pdf
NTA – Needle and syringe programme implementation tools
http://www.nta.nhs.uk/news_events/newsarticle.aspx?NewsarticleID=151
 NTA – Helping problem drug users into work
http://www.nta.nhs.uk/areas/employment/docs/Helping_problem_drugs_users_into_work_JCP_0409.pdf
NTA – The story of drug treatment: effective treatment changes lives
http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/documents/PDF/virtuallibrary/storyofdrugtreatment.pdf.pdf
NTA – Planning, commissioning and delivering the training and employment pathway for problem drug users: Devolping practice for drugs partnerships, Jobcentre Plus and drug treatment providers
This is an updated version of the document published in January
http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/documents/PDF/virtuallibrary/NTAJobcentreplusAprilupdate.pdf

Reports

Centre for Policy Studies – The Phoney war on drugs
http://www.cps.org.uk/cps_catalog/the%20phoney%20war%20on%20drugs.pdf
 
Department of Children, Schools and Families – Independent review of the proposal to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education statutory
http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/virtuallibrary/MacdonaldPSHEReview.pdf
 
EMCDDA – Drug use: an overview of general population surveys in Europe
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_78300_EN_EMCDDA-TP-gps.pdf
 
EMCDDA – Internet-based drug treatment interventions
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_78709_EN_EMCDDA-Insight10.pdf
 
EMCDDA – Presentations from the recent conference Identifying Europe’s information needs for effective drug policy
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/events/2009/conference#presentations
 
International Harm Reduction Association (IHRA) – Drug, harm reduction and the UN convention on the rights of the child: common themes and universal rights
http://www.ihra.net/Assets/1633/1/2009-04_ConventionOnTheRightsOfTheChild_HarmReduction2009.pdf
 
Open Society Institute – Human rights documentation and advocacy: A guide for organisations of people who use drugs
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ihrd/articles_publications/publications/hrdoc_20090218/hrdoc_20090218.pdf
 
Scottish Government – Findings of a process evaluation and cost effectiveness analysis of the three Mandatory Drug Testing of Arrestees pilot schemes in Scotland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/05/12155538/19
 
Sentencing Advisory Panel – Sentencing for drug offences consultation paper
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/drug_offences.pdf
Responses should be received by 15 July 2009

Substance Misuse Management for General Practitioners (SMMGP) Newsletter 26
http://www.smmgp.org.uk/download/newsletters/network026.pdf
 
SMMGP Clinical update April 2009
http://www.smmgp.org.uk/download/smmgpupdates/2009/clin_2009_04.pdf