Minimum unit pricing backed by courts in Scotland
by Lucy Dillon
On 21 October 2016, the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled against the challenge to the introduction of minimum unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland, brought by the Scotch Whisky Association and others.1 Essentially, the case was about a measure (MUP) that the Scottish government argued would help to reduce alcohol-related harm, while the producers and sellers of alcohol argued that it inhibited their right by law to trade freely across the EU.
read more »
|
 | |
Alcohol policy in Ireland and Scotland
by Lucy Dillon
On 2 March 2016, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), Alcohol Focus Scotland and Eurocare held a joint event in Edinburgh to discuss alcohol policy in Scotland and Ireland. They subsequently published the proceedings of the event in Alcohol policy in Scotland and Ireland: European trailblazers or Celtic fringes?1 The event came about as governments in both countries promoted policies that focused on increasing the price of alcohol, reducing its availability, and restricting its marketing. Similarly, both governments were seen to face sustained opposition from global alcohol producers in implementing these policies.
read more »
|
| |
Responses to UNGASS 2016
by Lucy Dillon
The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem was held in April 2016. It attracted formal responses from a variety of civil society bodies working in the area of drug policy. This article looks at responses from two of these bodies – the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP). UNGASS-related publications by these bodies were included in earlier issues of Drugnet Ireland, as part of the ‘Towards UNGASS 2016’ column.1
read more »
|
|
|
Results from fourth general population survey on drug use in Ireland
by Sean Millar
The first survey on drug use in the general population was carried out in Ireland in 2002/3. The results were jointly published by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD), now the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA), and the Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit. The survey was repeated in 2006/7 and in 2010/11.1 In 2014, the NACDA commissioned IPSOS MRBI to conduct the Ireland and Northern Ireland drug prevalence survey 2014/15.2
read more »
|
| |
Sixth ESPAD survey report published
by Sean Millar
The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) has conducted surveys of school-going children every four years since 1995 using a standardised method and a common questionnaire. The sixth survey was undertaken in 35 European countries during 2014/15 and collected information on alcohol, tobacco and other substance use among 15‒16-year-old students.
read more »
|
Trends in alcohol and drug admissions to psychiatric facilities
by Sean Millar
Data from Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2015, the annual report published by the Mental Health Information Systems Unit of the Health Research Board, have shown that the total number of first admissions to inpatient care for persons with an alcohol disorder has continued to fall.1
read more »
|
|
|
|
Club Health 2017 conference to be held in Dublin
by Siobhán O'Brien Green
|
The 2017 Club Health International Conference on Nightlife, Substance Use and Related Health Issues will be held in Dublin Castle from 24 to 26 May 20171. This will be the 10th Club Health conference and the first to be held in Dublin. Club Health conferences bring together experts from a wide range of fields to meet, present and exchange information on the latest research, policy and practice on protecting and promoting health in urban night-time settings, music festivals and holiday destinations with a clubbing or nightlife focus. Professor Mark Bellis and Dr Chris Luke, in collaboration with HIT, the groundbreaking harm-reduction organisation, established Club Health in Liverpool in 1997. This was in response to the harm-reduction and health-promotion challenges of that city’s night-time economy. The first conference was held in the city’s very popular nightclub, Cream, and was prompted initially by the health and crime consequences that came with this popularity.
read more »
|
|
|
|
