'ENDING BINGE DRINKING HOLDS KEY TO SOLVING DRUG PROBLEM'

Delegates at the Acpos annual drugs conference this week will be shown a DVD of boys in Polmont young offenders institute, describing the natural transition for them from binge drinking to taking cannabis and other drugs, including heroin and cocaine. For many of them, this was the reason they ended up behind bars.

The progression of young people trying cannabis and then moving on to harder drugs is a well-known argument against legalising cannabis but Graeme Pearson, the head of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), says it is time to tackle the problem much earlier, from before the stage of underage binge drinking.

"Reducing binge drinking among 11 to 15-year-olds will decrease the numbers who go on to be involved in drugs," he says, after speaking to scores of offenders about their experiences.

To the people, including the advocate Donald Findlay, who have recently called for cannabis to be decriminalised and regulated in the same way as alcohol, he suggests looking at Scotland's worsening public health record on drinking.

National statistics revealed last week that, despite having only 8.5% of the UK population, Scotland has three-quarters of the worst 20 areas for drink-related fatalities. Between 2004 and 2005, there were 3500 psychiatric discharges where the main diagnosis was linked to alcohol. In the same period there were 931 drug-related discharges.

"Why would we want drugs to be managed or licensed in the same way as drink and see the problems more than triple?" he asks. "I see the Scottish habit of abusing alcohol as being inextricably tied into our experience of drug abuse at the user level. Evidence from prisoners reinforces this view. The link to an alcohol strategy will be critical. One without the other will not work."

There is growing concern not only about the increas-ing use and cultivation of cannabis since it was reclassified, but about its strength. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction THC, the active ingredient in herbal cannabis, has doubled in strength between 1995 and 2002.

Mr Pearson says educating young people about the dangers of substances such as cannabis and using treatment to help people come off drugs, is vital. Sweden takes a hard line on alcohol and drugs misuse. It also has one of the lowest prevalence of cannabis use in Europe.

Its policy of a "drug-free society" has brought the introduction of new laws since the 1980s, calling for the prosecution of all drugs cases, even the very minor. Those caught for possession can be imprisoned for up to six months. Mr Pearson said: "Sweden has taken a very hard line on drugs. But it is still about a package of education, protection and enforcement.

"Scotland surprisingly accepted the challenge of public smoking and proved it could accept the impossible. If we can change behaviour in respect of smoking after 200 years of a love affair, we should surely be capable of facing the challenge of alcohol and drugs."

Source: The Herald, Pubdate: Wed, 28 Feb 2007

Cirrhosis in young people doubles over last decade

The number of cases of alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver has more than doubled amongst young people aged 25-34 over the last decade, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats. The new figures from parliamentary answers provide a breakdown by age group of the total number of cases of alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver, which has also soared nearly threefold.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley MP said: “The UK has one of the worst binge drinking problems in Europe. Ministers should have woken up to this issue and taken action years ago. It is especially worrying to think how early these young people must have started drinking to get so ill. These tragic cases are symptomatic of the serious and growing problem of underage drinking. Health professionals have repeatedly warned ministers about the increasing danger of binge drinking amongst our young people, but too little has been done.
"The Government’s obsession with hospital waiting times means it has ignored prevention. The root causes of ill-health must be understood and the balance shifted towards prevention rather than cure.” 24dash.com
The Parliamentary question from Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver there were in each of the last10 years, broken down by age.
The figures are available on Hansard here.

Source: Alcohol Policy UK March 21, 2007 Permalink

Raise age limit for buying alcohol to 21 and cut death toll

ALCOHOL sales should be restricted to over-21s, according to a new report that reveals that the drug is killing tens of thousands of teenagers and young adults in the developed world.
One in four deaths of people aged 15 to 29 in the developed world is down to drink - a total of 82,000 fatalities a year.
Males accounted for 70,000 of those deaths, meaning alcohol is responsible for a third of deaths among young men in the developing world, the Adolescent Health Study, published by the Lancet, revealed.
The figure is made up of mainly accidents when the victims are inebriated, such as swimmers drowning and drink-driving deaths.
At the launch of the study in London yesterday, doctors called for the legal age for buying alcohol to be raised to 21.
Dr Russell Viner, a paediatrician at University College London, said Britain had only just woken up to the alcohol problem, which was most prevalent in northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
He said: "We are recognising that binge drinking in young people is a serious problem. We thought it was a lot of fun, but we now realise that, particularly amongst young people, not drinking much all week and splurging at the weekend is harmful."
He said the solution was to raise the legal limit for buying alcohol to that in the United States, where the number of young people drinking has been falling for 20 years.
He went on: "I would like to see a European model where most young people drink with their family at a younger age, learning to drink in a social context. But it would be difficult to bolt this on to established Anglo-Saxon practice, so the best is probably what Americans do. We need a rethink of ages we license young people to buy various products."
The report, a collection of several studies from around the world, claims brain development continues through adolescence and can be placed at risk by the use of alcohol.
It claims that zero-tolerance approaches to alcohol are ineffective, and that harm-reduction strategies, such as random breath-testing and early intervention from GPs advising youngsters on the risks of alcohol consumption, can be more effective.
The study says that, partly as a result of alcohol misuse, there is a danger of a substantial drop in life expectancy, with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and early signs of cardiovascular disease, appearing in teenagers and young adults.
Professor Glenn Bowes, the head of the paediatric department at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said alcohol misuse was likely to cause further problems later in life.
Citing the statistic that 98 per cent of adult drinkers began drinking in their adolescence, he said: "Adults who have alcohol-related health issues often exhibit behaviour patterns that began in their teenage years.
"Preventive work needs to be done at the stage where the behaviour starts," he added.
"The education in school is important, but we really have to look at what the health system is doing. Doctors need to be shown how to talk to adolescents, so that when they come in to a GP's surgery with a cold, for example, the doctor can use it as an opportunity to ask them about their lifestyle and advise them on the health risks
Source Scotsman.com 27 March 2007

More help asked for cannabis addiction

UTRECHT –The use of cannabis remained stable between 2001 and 2005, but the number of requests for help with addiction to the substance rose 12 percent in 2005 alone. This has emerged from the annual report 2006 published by the National Drug Monitor on Tuesday.
The percentage of cocaine users also remained stable, while the number of users that reported to addiction treatment centres for help fell for the first time in years, by 2 percent. Cocaine use is significantly more prevalent among young people who frequent nightlife spots than in other segments of the population, the Monitor reported.
The number of ecstasy users also remained stable.
The number of consumers who used alcohol remained stable as well, though there are significant differences between age groups when it comes to heavy drinking. Men aged 18 to 24 drink the heaviest and are more likely to engage in binge drinking. The percentage of school students that start using alcohol at a young age increased between 1999 and 2003. Many of these children start drinking between the ages of 11 and
The number of 12-year-old who use alcohol decreased between 2003 and 2005 however. More and more young drinkers are drinking at home before going out (to save money). And binge drinking seems to be the rule rather than the exception in this group. Despite a legal ban on sales to under-16s young people have little trouble getting alcohol.
Of the 1.2 million problem drinkers only a small percentage turns to the addiction treatment services for help. In 2005 31 thousand people were treated for a drinking problem, up 5 percent from 2004.
Source: Expatica News. August 2007

'ENDING BINGE DRINKING HOLDS KEY TO SOLVING DRUG PROBLEM'

Delegates at the Acpos annual drugs conference this week will be shown a DVD of boys in Polmont young offenders institute, describing the natural transition for them from binge drinking to taking cannabis and other drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

For many of them, this was the reason they ended up behind bars.

The progression of young people trying cannabis and then moving on to harder drugs is a well-known argument against legalising cannabis but Graeme Pearson, the head of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), says it is time to tackle the problem much earlier, from before the stage of underage binge drinking.

"Reducing binge drinking among 11 to 15-year-olds will decrease the numbers who go on to be involved in drugs," he says, after speaking to scores of offenders about their experiences.

To the people, including the advocate Donald Findlay, who have recently called for cannabis to be decriminalised and regulated in the same way as alcohol, he suggests looking at Scotland's worsening public health record on drinking.

National statistics revealed last week that, despite having only 8.5% of the UK population, Scotland has three-quarters of the worst 20 areas for drink-related fatalities.

Between 2004 and 2005, there were 3500 psychiatric discharges where the main diagnosis was linked to alcohol. In the same period there were 931 drug-related discharges.

"Why would we want drugs to be managed or licensed in the same way as drink and see the problems more than triple?" he asks.

"I see the Scottish habit of abusing alcohol as being inextricably tied into our experience of drug abuse at the user level. Evidence from prisoners reinforces this view. The link to an alcohol strategy will be critical. One without the other will not work."

There is growing concern not only about the increas-ing use and cultivation of cannabis since it was reclassified, but about its strength.

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction THC, the active ingredient in herbal cannabis, has doubled in strength between 1995 and 2002.

Mr Pearson says educating young people about the dangers of substances such as cannabis and using treatment to help people come off drugs, is vital.

Sweden takes a hard line on alcohol and drugs misuse. It also has one of the lowest prevalence of cannabis use in Europe.

Its policy of a "drug-free society" has brought the introduction of new laws since the 1980s, calling for the prosecution of all drugs cases, even the very minor. Those caught for possession can be imprisoned for up to six months.

Mr Pearson said: "Sweden has taken a very hard line on drugs. But it is still about a package of education, protection and enforcement.

"Scotland surprisingly accepted the challenge of public smoking and proved it could accept the impossible. If we can change behaviour in respect of smoking after 200 years of a love affair, we should surely be capable of facing the challenge of alcohol and drugs."
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