Life Skills Education

Posts Tagged ‘Campaigns’

DARE has found an innovative way to combine the challenges for environment with the impact of the recession. Recycling!!

 The charity has taken steps to reduce the amount of paper used in its operation by using as far as possible IT and sees recycling as an additional way of contributing to the environment. CEO David Gilbert said “We see this new measure as an ecologically friendly way for people to support DARE.”

 DARE can now arrange for the recycling of old printer cartridges through a national recycling centre, and by doing so is helping to make a few pennies in what are challenging times for those in the charities sector.

 The main benefits are:

 • Recycle cartridges to reduce landfill

• Manufacture in the UK, reducing CO2 emissions

To recycle your old cartridges through DARE you can find their website at www.dare-uk.org and order your freepost return recycle bag or box. Just enter a few details and your items will be shipped out straight away and free of charge.

There’s a fascinating article by Caspar Walsh over on the Guardian website.

Caspar speaks frankly of his ‘Write to Freedom’ project. The Write to Freedom project’s focus is on supporting socially excluded individuals and groups, offering them a safe place for reflection, connection to nature and a positive model of creative community.

Hit the banner to check it out!

Fewer children are abusing booze but deaths are rising as north-south drinks divide opens in England

Fewer schoolchildren are consuming alcohol but deaths from excessive drinking are rising steadily, according to the latest government statistics.

The figures, revealing a surge in prescriptions for medicines to treat alcoholism and a slight decrease in overall consumption, suggest that awareness of the health dangers and, possibly, the recession may be having some impact.

A cultural divide in drinking habits appears to be opening up between southern and northern England, with far less being drunk in London than elsewhere in the country.

Deaths from alcohol in England climbed to 6,769 in 2008; liver disease was the most common cause. Fatalities have risen by 24% since 2001.

If overall consumption is falling, death rates – which chiefly reflect long term physical damage – will take some time to reflect any change.

Prescriptions for medicines to treat alcoholism rose by 12% in 2009; more than 150,000 were written for the two main drugs used to treat withdrawal symptoms or induce sickness when alcohol is drunk.

Among the young, the news was encouraging. “The proportion of pupils [aged 11-15] who have never had an alcoholic drink has increased gradually in recent years,” the study by the Office of National Statistics and the NHS Information Centre said. “In 2008, 48% of pupils reported having never tried alcohol, compared with 39% in 2003.”

The number of school-age children who admitted to having drunk alcohol in the past week also fell from 26% in 2001 to 18% in 2008. Beer, followed by alcopops and wine were young teenagers’ favoured drinks. Pubs and off-licences are being used less often by underage drinkers, reflecting more vigorous enforcement of age laws by landlords and police. Youngs people increasingly say they are drinking at parties or friends’ homes. The proportion resorting to outdoor drinking in parks and streets has climbed from 21% in 1999 to 27% in 2008.

“Young people in London are much less likely to have drunk alcohol in the last week than those living in other regions,” the report notes. “In London 12% of 11- to 15-year-olds have drunk alcohol in the last week; elsewhere the proportion varies from 19% in the east Midlands and the South-east to 26% in the North-east.”

Among adults a similar geographical split emerges. In terms of exceeding daily drinking limits, the highest proportions were among men and women in Yorkshire and the North-west while the lowest were in London.

Binge drinking – defined as consuming more than double your daily unit guideline – was most frequent in northern England.

The article continues here…

Article taken from

More risky alternatives have sprung up in wake of the ban, showing that education is a better way to deal with drug use

In the pre-election ferment, one of the last actions of the outgoing government was to ban the “legal high” drug, mephedrone. This occurred in a climate of rabid press calls for regulation partly fuelled by the deaths of two young men supposed to have taken the drug. It now turns out that this evidence was incorrect and they had not taken mephedrone. Nevertheless, given the febrile atmosphere, the ban may have given some people the comfortable feeling that a situation was under control. At the time there was speculation that other “legal highs” were waiting in the wings to replace mephedrone. It is perhaps too soon to know what effect the mephedrone ban has had, but there are signs.

For example, in the window of a prominent alternative cafe in the town where I live there is a neat handwritten notice entitled “2-DPMP (desoxypipradrol)”. The notice warns strongly against taking this drug as it causes profound hallucinations and has led to the hospitalisation of several local users. It seems that the drug has come in from Holland and is being used as a “mephedrone substitute”. Desoxypipradrol is a highly potent stimulant drug with actions related to those of methylphenidate (Ritalin), but unlike other stimulant drugs it stays in the body for a long time. This makes it very difficult to judge the dose to take and overdosing may lead to hallucinations and prolonged insomnia. There are alarming reports on the internet of the experiences people have had with this drug.

This is only a snapshot of what may be occurring with stimulant drug use following the mephedrone ban. It does, however, highlight some issues about drug policy in the UK that are not being addressed by these simple bans.

Banning drugs such as mephedrone may give the illusion of control, but the cheapness of synthesis in the Far East coupled with internet supply has changed drug availability forever. New drugs will become available as others are banned. The banned drugs may still be available. Because of a lack of regulation, we cannot be certain of the purity of the drugs supplied in this way, so that users may be consuming unknown mixtures of chemicals.

These new substances have often not been tested for toxic effects, such as neurotoxicity, carcinogenicity or birth defects. We also have only a rudimentary idea of how the new drugs work and no idea how they affect the brains of young people after prolonged use. These substances are not going to disappear, so we need to obtain this information. A good solution here would be for the government to set up research programmes to study these new drugs. The research programmes should aim to understand how the drugs work as well as establishing their possible long-term effects.

Despite the potential dangers, people clearly want to take drugs to change their mood and perception. We must try to understand this need and manage the situation – by putting in place public education programmes to make people aware of the risks they run when they take these drugs.

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Three arrested over suspected mephedrone deaths

Drug has become increasingly popular among young club goers despite fears about side-effects

Police have arrested three people following the deaths of two teenagers who are believed to have taken mephedrone, a legal drug which gives users a similar experience to ecstasy or cocaine.

Humberside police said last night that men aged 26 and 20 and a 17-year-old boy were in custody in connection with an investigation into the case of Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19.

The teenagers are believed to have been drinking together in Scunthorpe until the early hours of Tuesday morning. Wainwright was found dead at his home in Winteringham, North Yorkshire, later that day. Several hours later, police found Smith dead at his home in Scunthorpe.

One of the arrested men was treated in hospital after also apparently taking the drug, known as “meow meow” or “M-cat”, which has become increasingly popular among young club goers despite fears about side-effects that can include nose bleeds, joint pains, paranoia, heart palpitations, insomnia and memory problems.

Detective chief inspector Mark Oliver said: “We have information to suggest these deaths are linked to M-cat. We would encourage anyone who may have taken the drug or knows somebody who has taken the drug to attend a local hospital as a matter of urgency.

“Anyone who knows somebody who has possession of the drug, we would encourage them to either hand it in to a local police station or dispose of the substance and contact Humberside police.”

Police investigating the deaths found empty mephedrone packets and packages marked “herbal highs” when they searched a property, the force said.

The drug, which comes in the form of a powder, tablets, crystals or liquid, is often sold via the internet, where it can be marketed as plant food, another name for the substance. Health and drug workers and police have become increasingly concerned at its use but are unable to do anything as it remains legal.

In December, Jersey banned the substance, making it a class C drug. Authorities on Guernsey said they were considering classifying mephedrone as class A.

The Home Office has asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to look into whether a nationwide ban is needed.

Article taken from

According to the BBC, The National Association of Head Teachers has called for urgent action to be taken over the drug.

You can also read about it on the local ITV news here…

For more information on what exactly mephedrone is, the effect is has on the human body and the current laws surrounding it, check out Drugscope (below)

Mephedrone: classifying ‘legal highs’

Until we know the real harm of legal recreational drugs such as mephedrone, they should be put into a holding ‘class D’

By David Nutt

A couple of weeks ago, seven students from Lancaster University were arrested for possession of a drug, even though the policeman leading the arrest team made it clear that the drug was not illegal. This was not the first time the police had exhibited such behaviour in relation to this drug, so what is leading to this apparently irrational police behaviour? The drug in question is mephedrone [not to be confused with the opioid substitute treatment methadone], a synthetic stimulant drug that is relatively new on the UK drug scene although it has been popular in Israel for a number of years.

Mephedrone is one of a number of so-called “legal highs” – these are drugs that users find pleasurable but which are not yet illegal, and indeed may never be. Mephedrone goes under various trade names such as “meow meow”, “plant food” and “bubbles”, terms derived from its chemical structure, commercial uses and subjective effects respectively. It is readily available from “head shops” and is popular with university students and other groups of clubbers. Its pharmacology is hardly studied but it is chemically related to the amphetamines. Users describe effects that suggest its actions are between those of amphetamine (speed) and MDMA (ecstasy); it activates, energises and makes them feel good but is relatively short-lasting.

There are several reasons for its current popularity. Mephedrone is sold as the pure substance, so users know what they are getting. This contrasts with current street supplies of ecstasy and speed, which are often very low quality after being cut with inactive agents and may even contain some other, more dangerous, drugs such as methylamphetamine. Another reason for its popularity is that it is legal, so can be purchased without having to make contact with drug dealers who may pressure buyers towards other drugs, and currently there is no risk of a criminal record from being caught with it. In contrast, being caught in possession of MDMA and other class A drugs means one risks up to seven years in prison, and for amphetamines [class B], five years. Users see benefits in avoiding the limitations to their careers that a prosecution for drug possession would bring. Prior to the rise of mephedrone, another stimulant known as BZP was popular, but the government has recently made this a class C drug, which may have displaced users to mephedrone…

The article continues here

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For more information, check out this informative article on the Metro website.

The Press have recently started the Mephedrone Menace campaign to raise awareness of the effects it can have. To check it out or sign the petition to make it illegal, hit the banner below.

Got five minutes? Check out the BBC’s ‘Unwind your Mind’ Headroom.

They’ve got advice on a whole range of issues from drugs and alcohol to mental health and general wellbeing.

Check out the new government campaign to make us all more drink aware. There’s something for everyone from facts and figures to games and guidance.

Hit the logo to check it out!