Posts Tagged ‘Addiction News’
Drink deaths: failure to act will cost an extra 250,000 lives , say doctors
Soaring rates of liver disease will only be reduced by charging more for alcohol and restricting its availability, experts argue
Up to 250,000 people could die because of alcohol over the next 20 years unless ministers take strong action to tackle Britain’s chronic drink problems, leading doctors are warning.
The prediction comes in edition of the Lancet medical journal by three senior experts on alcohol, two of whom are advising the coalition on how to reduce drink-related harm.
In a scathing critique of the government’s approach to alcohol, the trio accuse ministers of pursuing policies that will make no difference to the soaring rates of drink-related liver disease. Ministers, including the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, are “too close” to the drinks industry and too reluctant to take effective steps, they say.
Gambling problems on the increase in Britain
Nearly three-quarters of Britons engaged in gambling last year, a survey has concluded.
The survey of 7,756 people done for the Gambling Commission found the amount of betting has increased to levels last seen in the late 1990s.
The proportion of what the regulator calls “problem gamblers” has also increased.
The report estimates that 451,000 people have issues with betting, a rise on previous surveys in 2007 and 1999.
The analysis, entitled The British Gambling Prevalence Survey, was drawn up by experts at the National Centre for Social Research.
It found the number of people gambling in the UK is on the rise.
Nearly three-quarters of adults – 73% – gambled in the previous year, a rise from the 63% who were betting at the time of the last report in 2007.
Confronting the alcohol issue
Alcohol affects every part of the body and heavy use can be a contributory factor in more than 80 illnesses.
writes IAN McCABE
IN IRELAND, we are sometimes shocked when people at the height of their career, particularly men between the ages of 35 and 55, suddenly drop dead with a heart attack. While there are several reasons for fatal cardiac arrests, the contributory effects of alcohol are often ignored. Given our national relationship with alcohol, perhaps we should come out of our collective denial and acknowledge alcohol abuse as being one of the causes of heart attacks.
Teenage girl ‘ladettes’ just as likely to be alcohol binge drinkers
Teenage girl ‘ladettes’ just as likely to be alcohol binge drinkers
Teenage girls are now just as likely to embark on binge drinking as boys, new figures have disclosed.
Government statistics show that girls aged under 15 are consuming an average 11.3 units of alcohol a week, the equivalent of six medium glasses of wine or five pints of beer.
This compares with 11.9 units for an average male teenage drinker who is aged 11 to 15.
People being prosecuted for possession on the rise.
Number of heroin and cocaine prosecutions soars
Published Date: 03 January 2011
THE number of people being prosecuted for possession of heroin or cocaine has risen by more than 50 per cent in a year.
A total of 288 people were prosecuted in the Lothians and Borders for possession of either cocaine or heroin in 2008-9 compared with 184 in the previous year, new figures show.
Across Scotland as a whole the number of people prosecuted for possession of heroin rose by 17.5 per cent and cocaine by 27 per cent.
Prosecution for the possession of ecstasy decreased by 42 per cent. The figures were revealed following a parliamentary question by Lib Dem MSP Robert Brown.
He said: “It is extremely worrying that prosecutions have risen for possession of illegal and harmful drugs in Scotland since last year, and there are particularly worrying hikes in offence numbers in certain parts of the country.
“In Dumfries and Galloway alone, heroin prosecutions have more than doubled and in Lothian and Borders they are up more than 50 per cent.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The prosecution of individual cases is a matter for the Crown Office.
“But Scotland is making significant progress in getting drugs off our streets. Since 2008-9, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency has seized over 1100kg of Class A drugs with an estimated street value of over £64 million.”
Earlier this year, a United Nations report showed 3.9 per cent of Scots now frequently use cocaine – the highest level of abuse in the world.
