A study examined the perspectives of a range of industry and non-industry stakeholders on the policy of treating the drinks industry as a key partner in preventing alcohol problems and reducing levels of harm. Many of those outside the industry were sceptical about its social responsibility initiatives, and argued that it could do more to change marketing practices, improve product development, and shape the drinking environment.
Source: Rob Baggott, Alcohol Strategy and the Drinks Industry: A partnership for prevention?, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2006-Dec
The final evaluation was published of the 'Positive Futures' programme, which used sports and other activities to engage young people at risk of drug abuse. It stressed the importance of youth work methods, and the personal and social development that followed engagement in the programme, in promoting successful schemes.
Source: Tim Crabbe with others, Knowing the Score: Positive Futures case study research - Final report, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Crime Concern press release | Young People Now report
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the major theoretical questions, themes, and policy debates surrounding illicit drug use.
Source: Mark Simpson, Tracy Shildrick and Robert MacDonald, Drugs in Britain: Supply, consumption and control, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A report used data sources that were available at the local and national level to estimate the prevalence of problem drug misuse. Two methods were used to arrive at the estimates: the 'capture-recapture' method, and the 'multiple indicator' method.
Source: Nicola Singleton, Rosemary Murray and Louise Tinsley, Measuring Different Aspects of Problem Drug Use: Methodological developments, Online Report 16/06, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Nov
A survey examined the early effects of new licensing laws. Around 3,000 licensed premises held 24-hour licences - less than 2 per cent of the total. There was no evidence of a move to a new standard closing time - approximately one-fifth of pubs, bars and clubs closed by 11pm at the latest, and around four-fifths by 1am at the latest. There had been around 600 completed licensing reviews, and approximately 100 licences had been revoked as a result.
Source: Press release 23 November 2006, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: DCMS press release | Survey report | LGA press release | IAS press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Nov
A statistical bulletin examined the extent of illicit drug use among people aged 16-59 in England and Wales in 2005-06, and trends in drug use since 1998. Among young people aged 16-24 use of any illicit drug decreased, and 'class A' drug use remained stable.
Source: Stephen Roe and Louise Man, Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2005/06 British Crime Survey, Statistical Bulletin 15/06, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Bulletin
Date: 2006-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the classification of illegal drugs. It rejected suggestions that the system was 'not fit for purpose', saying that the classification system discharged its function fully and effectively, and had stood the test of time. An official advisory body welcomed many of the committee's recommendations, but said that the report contained 'significant inaccuracies'.
Source: Government Reply to the Fifth Report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee: 'Drug Classification: Making a hash of it?', Cm 6941, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 13 October 2006, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (020 7035 0454)
Links: Response | MPs report | Home Office press release | ACMD press release | ACMD response | Drugscope press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
A new book examined the effects of drug use on family dynamics and relationships, including possible social and emotional costs. Existing service provision, in treating the problem drug-user in isolation, failed to address the needs of drug-affected families, and missed the opportunity to develop family-oriented support and treatment.
Source: Marina Barnard, Drug Addiction and Families, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Oct
An advisory body report examined the hazardous use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs by young people. It said that good parenting and stable family life could reduce the risks to young people. Additional measures were needed to reduce the overall consumption of alcohol. There should be a careful reassessment of the role of schools in drug misuse prevention: the emphasis should be on providing all pupils with accurate, credible, and consistent information about the hazards of all drugs.
Source: Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, Pathways to Problems: Hazardous use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs by young people in the UK and its implications for policy, Home Office (020 7035 0459)
Links: Report | DEF press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Times report
Date: 2006-Sep
A survey found that (in England in 2005) 22 per cent of children aged 11-15 had drunk alcohol in the previous week, 11 per cent had taken drugs in the previous month, and 9 per cent were regular smokers (smoked at least one cigarette a week). The 2005 results were broadly similar to those in previous years.
Source: Elizabeth Fuller (ed.), Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among Young People in England in 2005, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (0845 300 6016)
Links: Report | DEF press release
Date: 2006-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that the designation of drugs in classes 'A', 'B' and 'C' should be replaced with one more closely reflecting the harm they caused. Including alcohol and tobacco in the classification would give the public a better sense of the relative harms involved.
Source: Drug Classification: Making a hash of it?, Fifth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1031, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Drugscope press release | TDPF press release | Rethink press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jul
A strategy document described the 'Positive Futures' programme (a national sport and activity-based social inclusion programme for young people at risk of drug abuse), and explored the political environment and policy context in which it worked.
Source: Positive Futures: Be part of something, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Strategy
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined the social context of drug-related crime.
Source: Toby Seddon, 'Drugs, crime and social exclusion: social context and social theory in British drugs crime research', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 46 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A think-tank report called for a radical overhaul of drugs policy, including a new approach to drugs classification, and compulsory drugs treatment for addicts involved in crime.
Source: John Mann MP, The Real Deal: Drugs policy that works, Fabian Society (020 7227 4900)
Links: Fabian Society press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A taskgroup of local councils monitoring the impact of the Licensing Act concluded that the laws were starting to have a beneficial impact on residents, police, and local councils.
Source: Scrutiny Council Initiative: Final Report, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Report | DCMS press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined how former drug misusers understood potential and actual links between their early life experience and subsequent problematic drug use. It said that young people should be educated about the potential dangers of drug use by local ex-drug misusers, rather than outsiders with little understanding of local residents lives. A related article used a life-story approach to examine how early childhood experiences could be understood as a precursor to drug misuse, and the forces that enabled people to transform their habits and lives.
Source: Kim Etherington and Emma Barnes, The Southmead Project (SP): Practices and processes, University of Bristol (0117 928 9000) | Kim Etherington, 'Understanding drug misuse and changing identities: a life story approach', Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, Volume 13 Number 3
Links: Report | Bristol University press release | GSE press release | Article
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the buying and selling of heroin within three areas in Scotland. It described the nature of the markets, the impact of heroin dealing on local communities, and the effectiveness of interventions aimed at tackling heroin dealing and associated harms.
Source: Richard Cyster and Simon Rowe, Low-Level Heroin Markets: A case study approach, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined the evidence base for the classification of illegal drugs, and the use of that evidence by the government in policy making.
Source: Ruth Levitt, Edward Nason, Michael Hallsworth, The Evidence Base for the Classification of Drugs, RAND Corporation (order@rand.org)
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined the prevalence and nature of under-age drinking and the relationship between alcohol consumption and offending among young people. Those who drank alcohol once per week or more committed a disproportionate volume of crime, accounting for 37 per cent of all offences reported by young people aged 10-17, but only 14 per cent of respondents.
Source: Sian Matthews, Laura Brasnett and Jonathan Smith, Underage Drinking: Findings from the 2004 Offending, Crime and Justice Survey, Research Findings 277, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined the working partnerships between criminal justice intervention teams and prolific and priority offender teams in the effective case management of drug-misusing offenders.
Source: Drug Intervention Programme and Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Programme: Emerging practice and lessons learned, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Link removed
Date: 2006-May
A report said that drug consumption rooms offered a "unique and promising way" to help lessen fatal overdoses, as well as to take drug use off the streets and reduce numbers of discarded needles in public places. (Drug consumption rooms are places where dependent drug users are allowed to inject drugs in supervised, hygienic conditions.)
Source: The Report of the Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | Background papers | JRF press release | Drugscope press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
A new book examined the links between drugs and social policy. It assessed policies and political responses, and the ways in which drugs policy was formulated and implemented in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Source: Paul Higate, Rhidian Hughes and Rachel Lart (eds.), Drugs: Policy and Politics, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Apr
An article reported the findings from a study that estimated the number of problematic and injecting drug users for all drug action teams in England for 2001.
Source: Martin Frisher, Heath Heatlie and Mathew Hickman, 'Prevalence of problematic and injecting drug use for Drug Action Team areas in England', Journal of Public Health, Volume 28 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
An evaluation report said that professionals were cautiously optimistic that drug court pilots in Scotland were proving effective in addressing drug use and associated offending behaviour.
Source: Gill McIvor et al., The Operation and Effectiveness of the Scottish Drug Court Pilots, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
The results were published of a survey of over 9,000 secondary schoolchildren aged 11-15 in England in the autumn term of 2005, focusing on prevalence of smoking, drinking, and drug use. Around 20 per cent had tried drugs in the previous year, similar to the percentage in previous surveys in 2003 and 2004.
Source: Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking Among Young People in England in 2005, NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre (0845 300 6016) and Home Office
Links: Report | HSCIC press release | Drugscope press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report said that criminal convictions by drug abusers decreased after admission to drug treatment, with further progressive reductions in criminal convictions across the five-year follow-up period.
Source: Michael Gossop, Katia Trakada, Duncan Stewart and John Witton, Levels of Conviction Following Drug Treatment: Linking data from the National Treatment Outcome Research Study and the Offenders Index, Research Findings 275, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government had mishandled the introduction of licensing (drinking hours) reform. Guidance on implementing the rules was issued too late, and was inconsistent and unclear.
Source: Re-licensing, Second Report (Session 2005-06), HC 606, House of Commons Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A review of tertiary-level evidence published between January 2002 and September 2004 focused on what works' to prevent and/or reduce illicit drug use among young people aged between 7 and 25 years old.
Source: Yuko McGrath, Harry Sumnall, Jim McVeigh and Mark Bellis, Drug Use Prevention Among Young People: A review of reviews, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (0870 121 4194)
Date: 2006-Feb
The Northern Ireland Executive began consultation on a five-year strategy aimed at reducing alcohol and drug-related harm.
Source: The New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (2006 2011), Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Consultation document | NIE press release
Date: 2006-Feb
The government announced, following a review, that it would not reverse the decision (made in 2004) to downgrade cannabis to a 'class C' drug. Psychiatrists expressed concern at the announcement.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 19 January 2006, columns 982-998, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Further Consideration of the Classification of Cannabis under The Misuse Of Drugs Act 1971, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs/Home Office | Press release 19 January 2006, Royal College of Psychiatrists (020 7235 2351)
Links: Hansard | Report | DrugScope press release | RCPsych press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2006-Jan
A study examined the National Probation Service's work with alcohol-misusing offenders.
Source: Tim McSweeney, Russell Webster, Paul Turnbull and Martin Duffy, Evidence-Based Practice? The National Probation Service's Work with Alcohol-Misusing Offenders, Research Report 13/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2006-Jan
The opposition Conservative Party announced a plan to tackle binge drinking and alcohol-related violence and disorder. It would introduce significant price increases on the problem drinks that were strongly associated with anti-social behaviour; give new powers to local councils to prevent the cheap sale of super-strength beers, ciders, and 'alcopops'; and empower local councils to clamp down on disorder 'hotspots'.
Source: Speech by Chris Grayling MP (Shadow Home Secretary), 7 October 2009
Links: Text of speech | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Jan
An annual report provided a comprehensive review of statistics on the prevalence of drug use, of developments in prevention and treatment, and of the evidence on wider social effects.
Source: Gail Eaton, Michela Morleo, Alan Lodwick, Mark Bellis and Jim McVeigh, United Kingdom Drug Situation: Annual report to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) 2005, Reitox National Focal Point (Department of Health and Centre for Public Health/Liverpool John Moores University) (0151 231 4510)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan