The Road to Recovery: A New Approach to Tackling Scotland's Drug Problem

The Scottish National Drugs Strategy requires the 22 regional Drug Action Teams to prepare and submit to the Scottish Executive annual action plans for tackling drug misuse in their areas. These plans should address national and local priorities, including their contribution to the achievement of national targets. These comprise three parts: Part A provides an overview of the DAT structures and working; Part B provides detailed information on current local services and Part C reports plans for 2003/04.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs Phase 2 (2011-2016) - (December 2011) (PDF 886 KB)

New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs Phase 2 (2011-2016) - A framework for Reducing Alcohol and Drug Related Harm in Northern Ireland (December 2011)

New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (2006-2011) (Online Publication)

Executive Summary and Strategy Document (May 2006) The New Strategic Direction has a set of overarching long-term aims to: • Provide accessible and effective treatment and support for people who are consuming alcohol and/or using drugs in a potentially hazardous, harmful or dependent way. • Reduce the level, breadth and depth of alcohol and drug-related harm to users, their families and/or their carers and the wider community. • Increase awareness on all aspects of alcohol and drug-related harm in all settings and for all age groups. • Integrate those policies which contribute to the reduction of alcohol and drug-related harm into all Government Department strategies. • Develop a competent skilled workforce across all sectors that can respond to the complexities of alcohol and drug use and misuse. • Promote opportunities for those under the age of 18 years to develop appropriate skills, attitudes and behaviours to enable them to resist societal pressures to drink alcohol and/or use illicit drugs, with a particular emphasis on those identified as potentially vulnerable. • Reduce the availability of illicit drugs in Northern Ireland åÊ

New Strategic Direction for Alcohol and Drugs (2006-2011) Executive Summary

Executive Summary and Strategy Document (May 2006) The New Strategic Direction has a set of overarching long-term aims to: • Provide accessible and effective treatment and support for people who are consuming alcohol and/or using drugs in a potentially hazardous, harmful or dependent way. • Reduce the level, breadth and depth of alcohol and drug-related harm to users, their families and/or their carers and the wider community. • Increase awareness on all aspects of alcohol and drug-related harm in all settings and for all age groups. • Integrate those policies which contribute to the reduction of alcohol and drug-related harm into all Government Department strategies. • Develop a competent skilled workforce across all sectors that can respond to the complexities of alcohol and drug use and misuse. • Promote opportunities for those under the age of 18 years to develop appropriate skills, attitudes and behaviours to enable them to resist societal pressures to drink alcohol and/or use illicit drugs, with a particular emphasis on those identified as potentially vulnerable. • Reduce the availability of illicit drugs in Northern Ireland

Drug Strategy for Northern Ireland (PDF 669 KB)

This document sets out the new Strategy for addressing drug misuse problems in Northern Ireland. With a vision for all who work towards addressing this problem, four main aims are identified along with a set of outcomes. The Strategy has a minimum lifespan of five years with a first major review after three years. Since its publication the NIO is no longer responsible for the drug strategy - this work has been taken over by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

A Brief Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Alcohol Intervention Programme is an Effective Secondary Prevention Approach for New Employees entering an Irish Workforce: A Pilot

The prevalence of unhealthy drinking at all levels in Irish society poses serious issues in terms of the consequence to individuals concerned, as well as to society as a whole. The workplace offers a useful setting for early identification and intervention with new employees who may have pre-existing alcohol use disorder issues. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness within the workplace of a brief Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) intervention in reducing participants binge and risky drinking behaviours. Twenty-six Irish Naval recruits volunteered to participate in this randomised controlled trial. The intervention was conducted over four consecutive one and a half hour weekly sessions. Participants completed four principle outcome measures at intake, termination of the intervention and at the two-month follow-up assessment. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (Babor, Higginis-Biddle, Saunders & Monterio, 2001) was used to measures participants’ consumption levels and frequency of binge or risky drinking. A Readiness Ruler (Miller, Zweben, Diclemente, & Rychtarik, 1992) was used to measure participants’ readiness to change drinking, while the Drinking Expectancy Questionnaire (Young & Oei, 1996) was used to measure participants’ beliefs pertaining to alcohol, and their ability to refuse alcohol in high-risk social surroundings. There were preliminary data in support of the intervention. There were interaction effects that approached statistical significance for both a reduction in participants’ binge drinking (p =. 064) and an increase in participants’ ability to refuse alcohol in high-risk social settings (p = .059). There was also a significant interaction effect (pThis resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

2004 National report to the EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point: Norway: New developments, trends and in-depth information on selected issues.

This is the fourth annual report to the EMCDDA from the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS) on the drugs situation in Norway. The report has been drawn up in accordance with the new reporting guidelines introduced by the EMCDDA this year. We have endeavoured to follow these as consistently as possible, with the main focus on “new developments” and substantial changes in epidemiology, legislation and organisation. To allow readers to obtain more background information the report contains a number of references to the national report for 2003, and occasional references to the report for 2002.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

2006 National report (2005 data) to the EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point: Norway: New developments, trends and in-depth information on selected issues.

This is a 2006 national report to the EMCDDA, using 2005 data. It is compiled by the Reitox national focal point and covers epidemiology, policing, strategy, drugs markets, drug-related infectious diseases, drug-related death and problem drug use in Norway.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A guide to working in partnership: employability provision for drug users.

The aim of this guide is to identify the key principles of partnership working and to provide case study examples of how partnership works in practice in employability provision for drug users. Developing and sustaining new and valuable relationships with the world beyond drugs is a key factor in sustainable recovery for drug users. This includes the worlds of employment, training and education. Research suggests that employment can aid the process of recovery. A qualitative study of drug users in Scotland highlighted the importance of employment and other activities to fill the ‘void’ left by drug useThis resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A New Partnership in Education: From Consultation to Legislation in the Nineties

"In the nineties, dialogue in the Irish education system has been frenetic and painful at times. But it has gradually led to an extraordinary cohesion and partnership in the system. The book tracks the major consultations - and confrontations - of the nineties and it explores the personalities and policies of the protagonists - ministers, officials, leaders of Church bodies and third-level institutions, representatives of teachers' unions and parents' organisations." "All of the important consultation documents of the decade are here, the various drafts of the Green and White Papers - some benign, some infamous - the Bills, the Acts. The big issues are expertly set forth - intermediate structures and regionalisation, school governance and boards of management, the role of the Churches, higher education and the abolition of tuition fees."-This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Social inequalities in health. New evidence and policy implications

Health inequalities according to people's social standing are persisting, or even growing, in modern societies. Recent decades have revealed evidence of strong variations in life expectancy, both between countries and within them. This widening of social inequalities has developed despite considerable progress in medical science and an increase in health care spending. The reasons behind this are complex, and the implications considerable.   This book provides a summary of the major achievements of a five-year European Science Foundation (ESF) Programme on 'Social Variations in Health Expectancy in Europe'. The contributors are major figures in their subjects, and combine state of the art reviews with the latest results from interdisciplinary research in epidemiology, sociology, psychology and biomedicine.   Three conceptual frameworks of life course influences, health effects of stressful environments, and macro social determinants of health, are unified, while each chapter addresses the policy implications and recommendations derived from currently available evidence. The major topics covered include the role of family in early life, social integration and health, work stress and job security, successful ways of facing adversity, and the impact of the larger environment on health. Epidemiologists, public health research and policy makers, and students of related public health and sociology courses wlll find the results of this research fascinating.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Guiding Effective Drug Prevention

This document seeks to explore the nature of prevention work in the world of drugs and alcohol. Furthermore, it seeks to offer practical advice and support to those engaged in prevention work, and to give direction to those embarking on new prevention initiatives.It is a guide to what effective prevention means. The document is primarily for those working with young people; however, many of the principles also apply within an adult context.