Two men have been sentenced to another 18 years in prison after police in Tayside and the north of England seized almost £2m of drugs.

Source article on BBC News

Dumfries and Galloway police have issued a warning to drug users about 'poor quality' red heroin circulating in southern Scotland. The batch of heroin in question has a distinctive "off red" colour and tends to crystallise in a syringe before being injected with the knock-on effect that users tend to inject themselves as quickly as possible with serious health consequences.

Source article on BBC News

A new report produced by the UK Drugs Policy Commission suggests that the illegal drugs trade in the UK is bouncing back against tough action by police and customs with seizures failing to curb demand or supply at street level.

Source article on The Independent, UKDPC, BBC News, BBC News,

Letter from Roger Howard, Chief Executive of the UK Drug Policy Commission.

Source article on The Herald

A number of UK hospitals have seen a rise in admissions due to cocaine overdoses highlighted in statistics published earlier this year.

Source article on The Times

Five years ago, Abbas Amir-Mafi was one of Iran's hundreds of thousands of drug users - thanks to treatment, he is now a member of the national archery team, trains 6-7 hours per day and is drug free.

Source article on UNODC

International rapid evidence Police have asked health services in southern Scotland to aid investigations how legally-prescribed valium is making its way onto the criminal drug market.

Source article on BBC News

More than 4,000 cannabis plants have been seized from a disused industrial unit in Inverclyde and is believed to be worth £1.2million. The haul was recovered from a site in Muirsheil Road, Port Glasgow, three weeks ago following a tip off.

Source article on BBC News

Prof Neil McKeganey of Glasgow University has warned Scotland could find itself facing a drugs doomsday with children following their parents into drug use. He said a massive refocusing of priorities was needed to stop the problem spiralling out of control and called for drug users to be properly rehabilitated instead of giving them methadone.

Source article on BBC News

Analysis of figures by researchers in Glasgow University has led to a new estimate that around one-third of Scotland's unexplained mortality rate is due to a greater prevalence of drug abuse in the country compared with England and Wales.

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

Two Chinese immigrants, who claimed to have been carrying out gardening duties, have been jailed for operating a cannabis factory worth over £200,000 in the California area of Falkirk.

Source article on BBC News

Sniffer dogs are to be used as part of a government crackdown on drug dealing inside Northern Ireland's prisons.

Source article on BBC News

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders(DTTOs) handed out to offenders to address their drug problems are meeting high levels of breaches and nearly nine out of 10 of those involved are reconvicted according to figures released in a parliamentary question posed by MSP Margaret Smith.

Source article on The Herald

A new study is to be targeted at older drug users in Edinburgh and is aimed at improving care for a group of users whose numbers are expected to double in Europe by 2020. The research will also encompass users aged over 35 in Glasgow and in other european cities.

Source article on Evening News

Grampian Police's drug squad have arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with the recovery of 360 cannabis plants with a potential street value of £145,000.

Source article on BBC News

The UK Government is proposing that those who are on benefits and who have a drug problem will be required to declare this and take treatment - in return for their money.

Source article on The Guardian, The Independent , BBC News

Aberdeen has become the only mainland UK city to join a leading organisation, "European Cities Against Drugs" that promotes a drug-free Europe.

Source article on Press and Journal

New research from St. George's University of London suggests that cannabis could be used to treat many forms of cancer.

Source article on the Metro

The Scottish Drugs Forum has linked up with Alcohol Focus Scotland and the Scottish Poverty Information Unit to submit a response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on tackling poverty, inequality and deprivation.

Source article on Scottish Drugs Forum

An extra number of police are being used on the streets of Dundee to protect communities affected by class A drug dealing, violent crime and prostitution.

Source article on BBC News

Police and health officials have reported 24 drug-related deaths in the Grampian area this year, with most in Aberdeen. NHS Grampian have said it was disappointed the numbers had not significantly dropped but was tackling the problem.

Source article on BBC News

The number of needles issued by an exchange scheme in south west Scotland has increased by more than 10 per cent. The Dumfries and Galloway Project aims to lower the risk of blood-borne infections being transmitted between intravenous drug users.

Source article on BBC News

Police believe the slowdown in the housing market has led to upmarket flats in Edinburgh and Glasgow being increasingly used for cannabis factories.

Source article on The Scotsman

Police Chiefs have pledged to continue their fight against the trade in crack cocaine as it has emerged that the use of the drug is on the rise.

Source article on Evening News

The closure of a unique drug rehabilitation clinic, based at Links Place in Leith, could cost lives according to users.

Source article on Evening News

Teachers should be able to search pupils to stop them bringing alcohol and drugs into school, says a review on tackling bad behaviour among pupils in England.

Source article on BBC News

The UK Government has announced that Prison Officers are to undergo body scans as part of an £80 million crackdown on the use of illegal drugs in prisons in England and Wales.

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

There are fears that the stimulant khat is contributing to mental health problems within the UK's east African communities.

Source article on BBC News

Professor Wim van den Brink, from the Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and a leading expert in the field of drug misuse told the Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists last week that drug misusers have fewer dopamine or pleasure receptors in the brain and consequently seek out more and more stimulation.

Source article on Medical News Today

There has been a significant rise in prescriptions of drugs such as Valium (diazepam, up by a fifth) and Xanax (alprazolam, up by 42 per cent) in Ireland in the five years since the publication of the landmark Benzodazapine Report called for a ‘considerable reduction’ in use of such drugs.

Source article on Irish Medical Times

A report is to be published into ways of preventing drugs being smuggled into prisons in England and Wales.

Source article on BBC News

People who smoke skunk, the extra strong cannabis grown in hothouse conditions, are 18 times more likely to develop psychosis that those who take the milder forms such as hash (cannabis resin) according to a study carried out at the Institute of Psychiatry.

Source article on The Royal College of Psychiatrists, BBC News, Metro

The UK's largest hospital for treatment of substance misuse problems celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday. The Castle Craig Hospital, situated in West Linton, near Edinburgh, has treated more than 7000 patients since 1988.

Source article on Evening News

Researchers in the United States have carried out studies which show that thinking happy thoughts could help dampen drug cravings.

Source article on New Scientist