Professor David Nutt argues in this podcast, that whilst the use of the law to control drug use is long established, it remains unproven in efficacy

Editorial by Dr Euan Lawson in the British Journal of General Practice states that "Anyone involved in addiction may understandably embrace it, but it’s important that the discussions and ideology around recovery don’t distract general practice from developing the full potential of a primary care based substance misuse service."

IDHDP thanks the GCDP for their excellent and much-needed report on the hidden hepatitis C epidemic, illustrating how this epidemic is being fuelled by failed drug policies and the devastating health consequences it is having on people who use drugs. We support their call for immediate, major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime to correct the policy distortions that favor criminal justice over public health evidence-based interventions such as methadone and buprenorphine maintenance treatments, and the provision of sterile drug using equipment and overdose prevention and training with naloxone for all who need and want them.

This report by EMCDDA "describes and analysis the current trends in illicit synthetic drug production in Europe and some of the challenges faced by law enforcement in this regard."

A discussion forum held at the CEU in Budapest. Participants: Sandeep Chawla (Deputy Executive Director and Director, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC), Niamh Eastwood (Executive Director of Release), Martin Jelsma (TNI Drugs and Democracy Programme Coordinator), Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch (Director of OSF Global Drug Policy Program) and Wolfgang Reinicke (Dean, School of Public Policy, CEU).

An executive summary by Dr Chris Ford and Dr Fergus Law on a guidance for general practitioners on how to reduce the misuse of benzodiazepine prescribing. Full report is in the final stage of publication.

This report by Canadian Drug Policy Coalition "documents the failing role that current federal drug policies play in supporting safety and health and draws attention to the acute need for an improved system of supports for people who use drugs including harm reduction."

"Retro Report: In the 1980s, many government officials, scientists and journalists warned that the country would be plagued by a generation of “crack babies.” They were wrong."

A groundbreaking high level discussion of what alternatives to drug prohibition may look like. Among the report's conclusions is the need for a "public health approach" to address drug problems -- and that "the decriminalization of drug use needs to be considered as a core element in any public health strategy."

This comprehensive report by Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) "contains 75 broad and incremental recommendations for federal legislative reforms related to civil rights, deficit reduction, law enforcement, foreign policy, sentencing and reentry, effective drug treatment, public health, and drug prevention education."

This report from The Bawnogue Youth and Family Support Group, Ireland aims "to inform a universal harm reduction strategy for Clondalkin specifically in response to new and emerging trends in crack cocaine use. It is hoped that a clearer picture will emerge about the qualities of the most effective form of crack pipe to distribute as part of a harm reduction strategy."

Dr Chris Ford's presentation at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on 16 May 2013.

Graham R Foster (Professor of Hepatology QMUL) presentation at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) on 16 May 2013

This edition has interesting articles on drug policy's, including; "How can and do empirical studies influence drug policies? Narratives and complexity in the use of evidence in policy making", "Confronting the challenges of conducting a CBA of cannabis policies", "Drug user dynamics: A compartmental model of drug users for scenario analyses" and many more.

News briefs on big developments in global harm reduction and the work of the International Harm Reduction Development Program at the Open Society Foundations.

This briefing paper by International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) stating that "Latin America has emerged at the vanguard of efforts to promote debate on drug policy reform."

Dr Juliet Bressan, presented the IDHDP presentation at the Global Addiction and Europad Joint Conference 2013.

The German Society for Addiction Medicine March Newsletter (in German)

The report is produced by Australian Crime Commission (ACC) "and is recognised as one of the most valuable tools for law enforcement agencies, policy and decision makers, research bodies and other stakeholders in developing strategies to combat the threat posed by illicit drugs. It provides a statistical overview of illicit drug arrests and seizures as well as profiling the current situation, national impact and the emerging trends and threats of illicit drugs in Australia."

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) May alert includes their activities, publications and news.

This issue from Drink and Drugs News (DDN) focuses on "The right support: from training to campaigning."

This issue highlights news, upcoming conferences, new publications, and more.

This paper by EMCDDA "contains the results of a study that examined drug prevention interventions for minority ethnic populations in 29 European countries. A total of 33 interventions were reported to the study and the issues they raise are presented and discussed in the paper. The results will inform the EMCDDA’s plans for 2013–15 in terms of monitoring drug prevention interventions particularly in three areas: data collection, design and quality, and the dissemination of knowledge."

"This is the third report from the National Drug Related Deaths Database (NDRDD) for Scotland and reports on the calendar year 2011. This is supplementary to the previously published, in August 2012, national reporting of drug-related deaths in Scotland by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) and reports on a subset of the overall drug-related deaths."

“The country is beginning to realize that it cannot enforce or imprison its way out of the addiction problem. But to create broadly accessible and effective treatment strategies for the millions of people who need them, it must abandon the “drug war” approach to addiction that has dominated the national discourse in favor of a policy that treats addiction as a public health issue. To create broadly accessible and effective treatment strategies for the millions of people who need them, it must abandon the “drug war” approach to addiction that has dominated the national discourse in favor of a policy that treats addiction as a public health issue.”

It provides an overview of Finland’s national strategies and programmes for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. A few highlights: • Prevention and care need to be adapted to a changed HIV epidemiology. Most infections seem to now occur among heterosexuals, either migrants coming from high-prevalence countries or Finnish nationals with travel-associated HIV infections. • Late diagnosis is frequent in all sub-populations. • It should be considered whether harm reduction would be expanded by providing clean injection rooms in low-threshold health service centres for IDUs. • It is suggested that it should be considered whether substitution treatment could be started in prison

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director, Gil Kerlikowske touts the U.S.’s latest drug control strategy as a “21st Century Approach to drug policy reform” in the Huff Post blog. Read the newly released U.S. Drug Strategy (at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/policy-and-research/ndcs_2013.pdf) and tell us what you think on our forums. And see 100 American celebrities who unite to call for an end to the war on drugs: http://globalgrind.com/endthewarondrugs

The Intercambios April Newsletter is available in Spanish and English. This issue highlights, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Drugs, HIV and civil society in Vienna, the 'new voice of drug policy' and much more.

“For decades, New York State has expended significant resources on drug use prevention, interdiction, and incarceration with relatively modest effect in stopping drug use or reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with it." The New York Academy of Medicine and Drug Policy Alliance in their new report, call for a paradigm shift to "a coordinated, evidence-based, and cost-efficient approach that reduces the harms of both drug use and our drug policies, while improving the health and safety of communities across the state.”

This study by Mohammed Abdu Abdu Akbar et al. "revealed several unsafe practices, particularly the recapping of needles after use, which occurred in 61.1% and 36.8% of the observations in the hospitals and the health centers, respectively."