Recent bulletins from the drug and alcohol bank:
Scotland’s alcohol strategy judged partly successful
Official assessment of Scotland’s national alcohol strategy says changes to licensing laws are unlikely to have affected alcohol-related harm, but that the brief interventions drive and the ban on quantity discounts may have contributed to recent declines in alcohol consumption and harms.
Ending cheap drink would save lives in Wales
After similar analyses for England and Scotland, this simulation of what a minimum unit price for alcohol would do for health, crime and workplace absence in Wales predicts it would substantially save lives and reduce social impact by making (especially poor and heavy) drinkers cut back.
Youth treatment in England improving but contracting
Judged by ‘successful’ completions, this official report documents improved specialist treatment of children with alcohol and drug problems in England. In line with general population trends, patient numbers have fallen, though cannabis bucked the downturns and now dominates the statistics. One concern: do falling numbers also reflect contracting services?
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