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Preventing drug-related deaths
Services
Inaugural Irish conference for nurses in addiction services
by Peter Kelly
The Ireland Chapter of the International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA)1 held its inaugural conference in Dublin City University on 10 June 2016.
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LGBT service users and mental health risks
by Suzi Lyons
Irish research has shown that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, particularly younger people, are at greater risk of experiencing mental health problems than the general population.
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In this issue
Overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm and alcohol policy in Ireland
Social inclusion and drugs policy
Where next for social inclusion?
Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016
Developing inside: transforming prison for young adults
Mental health and well-being of LGBTI people
Global Drugs Survey 2016
Outcomes: drug harms, policy harms, poverty and inequality
New psychoactive substances: legislative changes in the UK
Homeless drug users – their health, perceived quality of life and use of health services
4th International Conference on Novel Psychoactive Substances, Budapest, 30‒31 May 2016
Inaugural Irish conference for nurses in addiction services
Suicide and untimely sudden deaths in the Donegal Mental Health Service
LGBT service users and mental health risks
Ethnic data collection and monitoring
Surveys reveal GPs have a positive attitude towards Methadone Treatment Programme
 
Dr Deidre Mongan and Dr Jean Long of the HRB, authors of Overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm and alcohol policy in Ireland.
Overview of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm and alcohol policy in Ireland

A recent report by the Health Research Board provides an overview of the current situation in Ireland regarding alcohol consumption and harm and trends over time as well as outlining the available policy responses to alcohol-related harm.1 The data in this report were based predominantly on published Irish literature and existing information systems.

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Policy
Social inclusion and drugs policy
by Brig Pike

this item outlines how the concept of social inclusion has been incorporated into the national drugs policy framework over the past 20 years as well as issues to consider going forward.

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Where next for social inclusion?
by Brigid Pike

In 2016, as a new Programme for Government is published, and as the suite of social inclusion policy documents conceived during the Celtic Tiger reach their endpoints, it is timely to review the current status of Ireland’s social inclusion policy framework.

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Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016
by Ciara Guiney
Following increased drug-related violence and the emergence of new psychoactive substances to the Irish drug market, it became necessary to expedite a shortened version of the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Act 2016 (2016, 6 July) 1, which was enacted on 27 July 2016.  The aim of the Act is to amend schedules from the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977‒2015.
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Prevalence
Global Drugs Survey 2016
by Lucy Dillon
The findings of the world’s biggest drug survey, the Global Drug Survey (GDS) 2016, were published on 14 June.1 GDS is an ‘independent global drug use data exchange hub that conducts university ethics approved, anonymous online surveys’.1 It is made up of experts from the fields of medicine, toxicology, public health, psychology, chemistry, public policy, criminology, sociology, harm reduction and addiction. They aim to ‘help people and communities reduce the harm associated with the use of drugs regardless of their legal status, by sharing information in a credible and meaningful way’
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New psychoactive substances: legislative changes in the UK
The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 came into force in the UK on 26 May 26 2016. In the Act, a ‘psychoactive substance’ is defined as one that ‘produces a psychoactive effect in a person if, by stimulating or depressing the person’s central nervous system, it affects the person’s mental functioning or emotional state; and references to a substance’s psychoactive effects are to be read accordingly’.1 The Act differs from the established approach to drug control under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in that it covers substances by virtue of their psychoactive properties, rather than the identity of the drug or its chemical structure.
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