Kinship carers in Scotland are being invited to help set up a new organisation to give them a stronger voice and help influence national politicians and policymakers on issues affecting thousands of people looking after the children of relatives.

Source article on Scottish Drugs Forum

Grandparents are to be given financial support and legal backing to make it easier for them to take over the care of children with parents who are problem drug users, under UK government plans revealed yesterday.

Source article on The Guardian, The Independent

UK ministers have proposed tougher measures under a new drugs strategy which could see drug dealers' assets seized on arrest, rather than charge. In addition, thousands of problem drug users will face losing welfare benefit payments for up to six months if they repeatedly fail to participate in drug treatment programmes under the new proposals due to be announced today.

Source article on BBC News, The Guardian, The Independent

Police have called for public help in stopping remote rural properties being used to cultivate herbal cannabis.

Source article on BBC News

Scans carried out on the brain have revealed a possible biological basis for cocaine addiction which may explain why some people get hooked , while others can use the drug socially.

Source article on BBC News

A study carried out for the Angus region has shown that 700 children are suffering because their parents or carers have drink or drug problems. This has led to a pilot project being launched in Montrose to give more help and support to those affected.

Source article on this is north scotland

Addaction, the UK's largest and specialist drug and alcohol treatment charity has published a briefing updating previous estimates for drug-related crime and health costs.

Source article on Addaction, also see media comment on the Metro

Suspected drug barons face having almost all of their property seized by police before they are charged with any offence, under a dramatic anti-drugs strategy to be unveiled by UK ministers this week - The Independent

Drug seizures on the only major stretch of motorway in south west Scotland, the A74(M) in Dumfries and Galloway, have totalled more than £1m in less than three years.

Source article on BBC News

A small preliminary study carried out by Canadian scientists has suggested that people with multiple sclerosis who smoke marijuana may process thoughts more slowly than people with MS who do not. Typically, MS patients can have slower reaction times and poorer working memory.

Source article on New Scientist

Six people died through drugs in Aberdeen between the months of December and January, newly-released figures have revealed.

Source article on BBC News

A report from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) warns that there may be a "gradual rise" in the use of the class A drug crystal meth in the UK and vigilance is needed to stop the use of the drug escalating, as it has in other countries.

Source article on BBC News, see also related news story from Drugscope

Health experts are warning that men should not smoke, drink or take unnecessary drugs if planning to become fathers to avoid causing health problems for their children.

Source article on The Guardian

The extent of the cocaine crisis among the country's teenagers is revealed by surveys compiled by police and by drugs, health and education experts for the Scottish Government.

Source article on Scotland on Sunday

Funding to assist in tackling Scotland's gang culture is due to be announced this week by the Scottish Government.

Source article on BBC News

MSP and former GP, Ian Mckee, is calling for a rethink of government policy linking drug and alcohol abuse, and believes that Scotland's network of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams has led to a concentration on drugs at the expense of dealing with alcohol.

Source article on Evening News

Police in London and the Home Counties have targeted addresses in an operation aimed at "dismantling" a £100m drug trafficking operation.

Source article on BBC News

Recovering drug users who attend a pharmacy in Edinburgh for their methadone prescription will face a photo and fingerprint ID test in the first move of its kind in the city to prevent the drug falling into the wrong hands.

Source article on Evening News

Professor David Clark reflects on a variety of aspects related to the treatment of substance misuse problems.

Source article on Drink and Drug News

A new Scottish anti-drugs strategy this year will see a sharp move away from dependence on methadone to treat substance misusers, with more emphasis towards rehabilitation.

Source article on The Herald, see also related article, The Herald

Scotland's top spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, has been asked to review how effective the millions of pounds of taxpayers' money invested in drugs services are.

Source article on The Scottish Government

The more potent form of 'skunk' cannabis accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the British market for the drug but an initial study from the Home Office has found that many users are smoking less.

Source article on The Scotsman, The Guardian, The Independent, see also related article on BBC News

The Scottish Drugs Forum has called for a share of Scotland’s billion-pound regeneration budget to be invested into directly tackling the underlying health, income and social inequalities, which they believe lie at the root of the country’s drugs problem.

Source articles on Scottish Drugs Forum, Sunday Herald

Mental Health campaigners are urging the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to restore cannabis to class B, prompted by the health dangers of the new high-strength strains of "skunk" cannabis.

Source articles on The Telegraph, The Independent, The Telegraph

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders(DTTOs) will be trialled on petty offenders in the Lothian and Borders area in a new pilot project to force them to go clean or face a jail sentence.

Source article on The Herald

Scottish MSPs have called for the reintroduction of mandatory drug-testing for prisoners in Scottish jails.

Source article on The Courier

Pilot schemes in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire involving giving anti-overdose kits containing the drug naloxone to heroin users, have saved eight lives leading to calls for them to be provided elsewhere in Scotland. However, a leading drugs expert has voiced fears that the drug will encourage more reckless drug abuse.

Source article on The Scotsman