The Scottish Government launches its first national drug strategy since the start of devolution with Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing hailing it as a "new era" in Scotland's approach to tackling drugs.

Source article on the Scottish Government

Comment from the media on the Scottish Government's release of its new drugs strategy.

Source article on BBC News, Evening News , Evening Times, The Herald, The Times, see also Scottish Drugs Forum , Addaction, BBC News

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction(EMCDDA) has launched its best practice portal, a resource for professionals, policy-makers and researchers in the areas of drug-related prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration.

Source article on EMCDDA

Heroin with a street value of £100,000 has been seized after a raid on a house in the Ballingry area of Fife.

Source article on BBC News

Health officials in Fife have issued a warning after four men died from drug overdoses in just one week.

Source articles on BBC News, The Courier

New data provided by the UK Government has shown a rise in the number of hospitals having to deal with cocaine-induced emergencies.

Source article on Sky News

The first new strategy in a decade for tackling Scotland's drugs problem is due to to be launched this week by the Scottish Government with a shift in focus from using methadone to help drugs misusers recover to rehabilitation programmes.

Source articles on The Guardian , Scotland on Sunday, The Scotsman, see also Sunday Herald

Aberdeen University is to launch a major survey across Scotland into drugs misuse which will help shape future policy and shed light on current levels of cocaine usage.

Source article on Press and Journal

Tom Wood, who is due to retire from his post as Chair of the Action on Alcohol and Drugs team in Edinburgh talks about his optimism for future progress on tackling drug problems in the capital city.

Source article on the Evening News

A new generation of medicines that may curb excessive eating along with alcohol and drug abuse could result from a fundamental new insight into addiction.

Source article on The Telegraph

A senior police officer in Dundee has said that the availability of heroin in the area is far greater now than it was a number of years ago and raised his concerns about the level of crime committed by drug misusers, in addition to the rising numbers of used needles being dumped in the streets.

Source article on BBC News

An investigation by the Daily Record into the true cost of Scotland's rising use of the drug cocaine.

Source article on the Daily Record

The Home Office may consider reviewing the status of the class 'A' drug ecstasy.

Source article on The Telegraph

Drugs Minister Vernon Coaker has announced the launch of a new crackdown on cocaine. The £1 million FRANK campaign which is targeted at 15-18 year olds, includes a commitment to the Colombian government’s Shared Responsibility campaign and a new leaflet illustrating the dangers of the drug.

Source article on the Home Office

More than £43 million pounds is to be dedicated over the next three years to tackle Hepatitis C. Part of the cash will be used to raise awareness through education and prevention work to reduce the transmission of the disease, particularly amongst injecting drug users.

Source article on Scottish Government

The former head of Scotland's drug enforcement agency, Graeme Pearson, has accused Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss of glamorising drug abuse by portraying rehab as an easy route out of addictions.

Source article on The Times

Police across Europe fear an international drugs war between Liverpool drug gangs and Colombian drug cartels following the death of Colin 'Smigger' Smith, Britain's so-called Cocaine King with an estimated personal fortune of £200m.

Source article on The Observer

A mobile phone campaign piloted by Action on Drugs and Alcohol in Edinburgh and Crew 2000 to warn clubbers and pub-goers about the dangers of cocaine has been hailed a success and could now be rolled out across the UK.

Source article on Evening News

A new film about teenagers living in the Cotswolds area of Gloucestershire was screened in the Cannes Film Festival at the weekend and has used real-life heroin users in its cast. Its director, Duane Hopkins, said he decided to make the drama after realising how many of his old friends had struggled with drug misuse.

Source article on The Independent

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) which is leading the UK's fight against organised crime is struggling to cope with the soaring scale of heroin trafficking, it has admitted.

Source articles on The Times

A drama production highlighting the success of a drugs support project in the Lothians, The Lothian and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP), has been taking to the stage in Glasgow.

Source article on Evening News

A major new European research project has been set up to improve the health of older drug users across Europe, whose numbers are expected to more than double by 2020.

Source article on Scottish Drugs Forum

Chief Superintendent Valerie McHoull, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has called for random drug testing to be used throughout the public sector.

Source articles on The Herald, The Scotsman

The use of cocaine will become a greater problem than heroin in the city of Edinburgh warns Tom Wood, Chair of the Action on Alcohol and Drugs team in Edinburgh.

Source article on Evening News

An innovative mobile unit was launched yesterday as part of the Scottish Government's wide-ranging drive to improve and strengthen community penalties.

Source article on Scottish Government

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will be holding its second open meeting on 19 May 2008 in London at 10.30 a.m. Members of the public are invited to observe how the ACMD's work is conducted. There will be an opportunity for attendees to provide feedback to the ACMD and participate in a question and answer session.

Source article on the Home Office

Research carried out by Liverpool John Moores University involving a survey of young people from nine european cities, has reported that 50 per cent of youngsters polled in Liverpool have used cocaine.

Source article on BBC News

The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced to the House of Commons yesterday that cannabis would be restored from a class C to a class B substance by the end of the year.

Source articles on BBC News, Home Office, The Herald, The Independent, The Guardian, Scottish Drugs Forum

Feature on a peer mentoring programme in Brighton which helps former drug users find their first steps back into paid employment.

Source article on Drink and Drug News [PDF 114KB]

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is expected to publish its report on the reclassification of cannabis following the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's announcement to the UK Parliament on the government's stance.

Source articles on BBC News , The Guardian, and The Independent

Two people have been arrested after the seizure of cocaine worth about £20,000 in Aberdeen.

Source article on BBC News

The number of people caught dealing drugs in the Lothians has soared by more than a third in the space of a year according to figures released by Lothian and Borders Police following a parliamentary question from Tory Lothians MSP Gavin Brown.

Source article on Evening News

Police yesterday seized cocaine with an estimated street value of £15m in one of the biggest drug seizures in UK history. Six men were arrested after the cocaine was discovered when two vehicles were searched at a UK port. The cars were targeted after a long-running inquiry by Cumbrian and Lancashire police working alongside HM Customs.

Source article on The Guardian

Voluntary sector services for drug users in many parts of Scotland are under pressure as major changes to funding arrangements take effect and threaten to undermine efforts to bring about the Scottish Government’s new focus on drugs “recovery.

Source article on the Scottish Drugs Forum

A report published by the Home Office, based on information from police forces, suggests that 81 per cent of cannabis seizures are of sinsemilla - the dried, herbal strain of the female cannabis plant - that contains high levels of psychotropic substances.

Source article on The Guardian

Police reports have shown that the number of cannabis factories discovered has doubled since the law on cannabis was relaxed in 2004, when the drug was downgraded to Class C.

Source article on The Telegraph

The Scottish Prison Service has reported a rise in the numbers of wives and girlfriends being caught smuggling drugs into Saughton Prison. More than eighty women were charged by police in the past four years, compared with just four arrests in the two preceding years.

Source article on the Evening News

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) confirmed last night that the current policy of "confiscate and warn" would continue, despite the Prime Minister's determination to reclassify the drug in an attempt to "send a tough message" to young people about its use.

Source article on The Guardian