October 2015
5–8 October 2015
Centre for Addiction Research and Education Scotland – 14th CARES Conference
Venue: Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland
Further information: www.isamdundee2015.com
The topic for this year’s CARES conference will be ‘Novel interventions in the substance misuse field’. The speakers are coming from China, USA, Abu Dhabi, Germany, UK and Netherlands. They will present topical and clinically applicable material on new evidence showing the efficacy of neurosurgery, vaccines, heroin, cannabinoids and other novel psychoactive substances as potential future therapeutic agents and interventions in the treatment of substance misuse.
16 October 2015
Cannabis - why not? A quality standards based conference for those who work with young people and families at risk of substance misuse
Venue: Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin 8
Further information: http://www.eventbrite.ie/e/cannabis-why-not-regist...
The day will include the following guest speakers:
Kevin A. Sabet PhD, consultant, advisor to three US presidential administrations, and assistant professor, has studied, researched, written about, and implemented drug policy for almost 20 years. He worked in the Clinton (2000) and Bush (2002–2003) administrations, and in 2011 stepped down after serving more than two years as the senior advisor to President Obama’s drug control director. He is the author of Reefer sanity: seven great myths about marijuana (New York: Beaufort Books, 2013).
Deirdre Boyd, based in the UK, owns DB Recovery Resources (http://www.dbrecoveryresources.com/), which supplies a daily news service to the international alcohol/drug-treatment field on addiction recovery. Prior to that, she was for over 20 years CEO of the Addiction Recovery Foundation, editor of Addiction Today, cofounder/organiser of the UK/European Symposia on Addictive Disorders, and author of Addiction & Recovery: self-help for friends, families and addicts (2010). Deirdre will discuss the findings of an evaluation of the declassification of cannabis in the UK and also what DB Recovery Resources is and how it can assist those working with people in substance misuse.
Philip James trained as a psychiatric nurse in Dublin 1999, was appointed as the first Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adolescent Substance Misuse in 2006 with YoDA, and is a qualified cognitive behavioural therapist. In addition to his clinical work, he has been involved in a number of research projects and publications. He lectures on addiction and mental health topics at a number of colleges including University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick and the Irish College of Humanities and Applies Sciences. Philip will present YoDA's findings on a study co-authored with Dr Bobby Smyth about ‘cannabis – the perspectives of young smokers’.
Parentline will present information on non-violent resistance training – a brief, practical and research-based programme aimed at providing parents with strategies for coping with child-to-parent violence.
8–9 October 2015
Alcohol use conference
Venue: Portmarnock Hotel
Further information: http://www.ndublinrdtf.ie/event/alcohol-use-confer...
The North Dublin Regional Drugs And Alcohol Task Force is planning a conference addressing alcohol use in October 2015. The event will be open to all professionals working with people & families in North County Dublin and North Fingal affected by drugs and alcohol.
November
12 November 2015
CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign conference
Venue: The Hogan Suite, Croke Park, Dublin 3
Further information: http://www.citywide.ie/news/
2015 marks the 20th anniversary of CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign. It is also a year when drug policy reform issues such as decriminalisation are being put on the policy agenda in Ireland in advance of the development of the next National Drugs Strategy. As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, CityWide is holding a major conference on the overall theme of Drug Policy Reform to look at the following questions:
- What have we learnt from 20 years’ experience of trying to tackle the drugs issue here in Ireland?
- How can we link our experience in Ireland to the international debate on moving from the ‘war on drugs’ to a public health and human rights approach?
- How can we bring together the learning and evidence from the Irish and the international experience to feed into the new Irish National Drugs Strategy?
The conference will be addressed by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.
January/February 2016
28 January 2016
Reporting for work under the influence of drugs and alcohol – employers’ legal obligations
Venue: Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork
Organised by: EAP Institute
Further information: www.eapinstitute.com
Email: anita@eapinstitute.com
25 February 2016
Reporting for work under the influence of drugs and alcohol – employers’ legal obligations
Venue: Hotel Kilkenny, Kilkenny
Organised by: EAP Institute
Further information: www.eapinstitute.com
Email: anita@eapinstitute.com
Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 all employees must ensure that they are not under the influence of an intoxicant (defined as including drugs and alcohol and any combination of drugs or of drugs and alcohol) to the extent that he or she is in such a state as to endanger his or her own safety, health or welfare at work or that of any other person. Employers are legally entitled to prevent an employee from working if he or she would be a danger to themselves or others due to being under the influence of an intoxicant to the extent that he or she is in such a state as to endanger his or her own safety, health or welfare at work, or that of any other person.
New measures to test all drivers, including those who drive company vehicles in Ireland, came into force on 27 November 2014. The Road Traffic Act 2014 allows Gardaí to conduct five random cognitive impairment tests and those who fail may be arrested and subject to additional medical examination to determine the presence of intoxicants, and failure will result in prosecution. In 2015 the roadside impairment testing will be followed by the introduction of a testing device which will be used by the Gardaí conduct roadside drug tests.
Speakers
Maurice Quinlan, Director of the EAP Institute
Mike Doyle, Country Manager Ireland, Alere Toxicology
