A woman who smoked cannabis for a month as part of a BBC documentary has described how the drug left her paranoid and frightened. Nicky Taylor, from Kidderminster, took part in the experiment in Amsterdam, where the drug is legal.

Source article on BBC News

Kathleen Marshall, the national children's commissioner has warned in a critcal report published today that more than half of all youngsters who left care were 16, many of them vulnerable to homelessness, drugs, drink and unemployment.

Source article on The Herald

All agencies dealing with drug addiction and its underlying causes need to refocus their talents and energies on helping addicts into recovery, Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said today.

Source article on the Scottish Government

Media comment on the release of National Drug Treatment Waiting Times statistics from ISD Scotland.

Source article on The Scotsman

Hard drug use and heavy drinking have been highlighted as key problems for Britain in a study by the UK Government’s Strategy Unit.

Source article on The Times

A Salvation Army Centre for the Homeless in Edinburgh has warned people who use the facility to stay clear of drugs.

Source article on Evening News

The number of cannabis dealers brought to justice has declined since the Government relaxed the law on possession of the drug according to figures reported by the Justice Ministry.

Source article on The Telegraph

A report by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse will argue for a major change in the philosophy of care for people with drug problems and calls for a new emphasis on recovery in treatment.

Source article on BBC News, Evening News

Former Lothian and Borders deputy chief constable Tom Wood, who is currently Chair of the Action on Alcohol and Drugs team in Edinburgh will stand down from his post in the summer and hand over to council health chief Peter Gabbitas.

Source article on The Scotsman

Concerns are increasing in the EU about the use of chemicals employed in the manufacture of the recreational drug GHB.

Source article on EMCDDA

In Birmingham, a two-year-old boy has died and his two brothers are being treated in hospital after consuming the drug methadone.

Source article on BBC News, The Herald

The UK government drug crime strategy has been criticised in a report by the UK Drug Policy Commission.

Source article on BBC News

A leading support group for the medical profession has revealed the extent of the problem of drug misuse amongst Scotland's doctors.

Source article on Scotland on Sunday

Feature on the abuse of benzodiazepines which uncovers a surge in demand from class A drug users. Those abusing the drug range from heroin addicts to middle-class cocaine misusers, while others have unwittingly become hooked for decades after being prescribed the medication by doctors.

Source article on Sunday Herald

A two-year, £600,000 trial will see Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) extended to around 70 continuing, lower-level offenders, such as shoplifters.

Source article on Evening News

The results of an official random drug testing programme in England and Wales has suggested that heroin is now more widespread than cannabis inside prisons.

Source article on The Guardian

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, has called for the international drug control regime to be made "fit for purpose for the 21 st century" and emphasised the need for member states to prevent and treat drug misuse.

Source article on United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Strathclyde Police's Operation Triplicate, which resulted in more than 100 dealers being arrested in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde over six months in 2006, has won an Excellence Award from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Source article on Evening Times

Cocaine production in Colombia, one of the world's most bio-diverse countries, is having a massive environmental impact on animals, fish and plant life as vast swathes of tropical rain forest are destroyed to make may for its production. The Scottish and Colombian Governments are to discuss ways in which they might use the environmental argument to dissuade young people from taking the drug as they believe this may be more effective than warnings about health effects or the fact that it is illegal.

Source article on The Scotsman

Neil McKeganey, Professor of Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University discusses whether the drug and alcohol workforce is fit for purpose and being trained sufficiently to a professional standard.

Source article on Drink and Drug News [PDF]

Media stories following the annual ACPOS( Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland) Drug Conference in which took place in Turnberry last week.

Source article on Scottish Government, The Scotsman, The Herald, see also The Herald

The United Nations drug control agency has warned that lenient treatment of drug-abusing celebrities is sending a damaging message to impressionable young people.

Source article on The Independent, BBC News

The Association of Chief Police Officers(ACPO) of England, Wales and Northern Ireland responds to the launch of the 2008 Drug Strategy “Drugs: Protecting Families and Communities”.

Source article on ACPO

Police have recovered 300 cannabis plants in a raid near Falkirk at the weekend, on an operation thought capable of producing nearly £100,000 worth of the drug a year.

Source article on BBC News

Europe has responded to concerns over the use of the stimulant drug BZP (1-benzylpiperazine) by subjecting it to ‘control measures and criminal provisions’ across the EU Member States.

Source article on EMCDDA