Posts Tagged ‘Addiction News’
Why do some people become addicts?
Amy Winehouse’s struggle with drink and drug addiction was well known, reflected in her music and widely reported in the media.Drinks firm sponsors midwife training on dangers of alcohol in pregnancy
Motorists to be denied blood tests when stopped on suspicion of drink driving
Motorists who are marginally over the limit when stopped by the police are to lose the right to demand a blood test under the biggest changes to drink-drive law in over 40 years.
Phllip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, is to plug a loophole which enables motorists to sober up while police find a doctor or nurse to carry out the test.
It is among a series of far reaching changes unveiled as part of the Government’s response to recommendations on road safety made by Sir Peter North, former Principal of Jesus College, Oxford.
However the Government has angered road safety campaigners by rejecting Sir Peter’s call for the drink drive limit to be reduced from 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to only 50.
Alcohol is costing us dearly – we need action now
A ‘responsibility deal’ is not enough. The BMA believes we need tough legislation to tackle the damage caused by alcohol
The cost of alcohol to British society is currently estimated at over £25bn per annum. This is not just the health costs, but also costs relating to crime and disorder, including domestic violence and fights and accidents on the streets. Health workers see the personal costs; we see the fractured families, the individual tragedies of wholly preventable death and disability. And we want action, now, to start to address this complex problem.
Addiction: a life long illness not lifestyle choice
Addiction: a life long illness not lifestyle choice
Addiction is a major health problem that costs as much as all other mental illnesses combined (about £40 billion per year) and about as much as cancer and cardiovascular disorders also.
At its core addiction is a state of altered brain function that leads to fundamental changes in behavior that are manifest by repeated use of alcohol or other drugs or engaging in activities such as gambling. These are usually resisted, albeit unsuccessfully, by the addict. The key features of addiction is therefore a state of habitual behaviour such as drug taking or gambling that is initially enjoyable but which eventually becomes self-sustaining or habitual. The urge to engage in the behaviour becomes so powerful that it interferes with normal life often to the point of overtaking work, personal relationships and family activities. At this point the person can be said to be addicted: the addict’s every thought and action is directed to their addiction and everything else suffers.
