News
Crackdown
on drug dealing
Jo Grimshaw,
Woking Police: We’re in Mayberry Estate today
in Princess Gardens, which was subject to quite high-level drug
dealing a year ago, and we used operation guardian as a tool to
deal with the antisocial behaviour and the drug dealing.
John
Bradshaw, local resident: Well, the problem was
that the guy who was dealing drugs attracted a constant flow,
day and night, of people coming to buy drugs. You’d find
syringes, ampoules, the occasional drunk. You know, general
threatening loud behaviour, knock on your door: ‘Can I borrow
your phone?’, ‘Have you got any spare change?’. I mean,
all that sort of stuff.
Jo Grimshaw:
The residents and the community had come forward with
intelligence and therefore we were able to actually – as well
as doing the warrant – was to close down the property under
section 1 of the Antisocial Behaviour Act and therefore cut the
supply straight away from this property.
James
Brokenshire, crime reduction minister: What’s
it like now?
Resident:
Oh, great!
James
Brokenshire: Good, good, well, I’m really
pleased to hear that.
James
Brokenshire: Residents were really in fear and
intimidation, because of drugs, drug dealing and some abusive
behaviour that was happening. That’s why I’m really pleased
to hear about how local communities, coming together, in
partnership, being focused on problem-solving can make a real
difference, can really change people’s lives.
Kevin Deanus,
detective chief superintendent, Surry Police: Well,
the Tilley awards is a – sort of – an award that everybody
is aware of. We’re very proud to have been put forward and
actually to be short-listed, so we’re very proud as an
organisation. You know, ‘Guardian’ is about the community,
it’s not about the proactive police work, it’s actually
about what their life is. So for me, for them to be – you know
– short-listed is an absolute honour for them, because
actually it’s made their lives better, so I’m really really
delighted for them.
James
Brokenshire: The Tilley awards is really
important to recognise problem-solving and good community
action, bringing together residents with those partners – the
police, local authorities, other agencies – who can really
make a difference on these sorts of things. So it’s nice to be
able to come out and celebrate success, to really learn from
positive experience and recognise where good work has made an
impact, just simply on statistics. It’s about people’s lives
that we’re talking about here and how today here in Woking
I’ve heard that people’s lives have been changed and
that’s what we need to be focused on.
Date: Fri 02 Jul
2010
From
the Telegraph.co.uk
By
Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent Published: 6:15AM GMT 17 Dec
2009
Parents
'should not give small amounts of alcohol
to
breed responsible drinking'
Parents
should not give children alcohol in the hope that it will breed
a responsible attitude to drinking, Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief
Medical Officer, has warned.
.
Exposure to alcohol at a
young age is actually more likely to make them heavy or binge
drinkers, he said.
Parents with a
"laissez-faire" attitude to their teenager’s
drinking are also putting their offspring at risk, he warned, as
he called for a culture shift from the image of the drinker as a
hero.
Sir Liam made his comments
as he launched new guidelines on children’s drinking for
parents, in which he called for youngsters to have an
alcohol-free childhood.
Children under the age of
15 should not drink any alcohol at all, the report advises.
Older teenagers between 15
and 17 should be supervised by their parents if they are
drinking, and should limit alcohol intake to one day a week.
Parents can set an good
example by drink any alcohol at home only in a “positive"
setting, such as a family meal, according to the guidelines.
Sir Liam said that the
notion that introducing children to small amounts of alcohol at
a young age would teach them to drink responsibly had become a
“middle class obsession” in recent years.
“(That) if you somehow
wean children on to alcohol at an early age they won't have any
problems in later life, (that) they will be sensible – is not
supported by evidence," he said.
"It's a bit of a
middle-class obsession – the idea of taking out the wine
bottle and diluting it.
"There's not a great
problem to that as such but to extrapolate from that sort of
situation that alcohol in general is a good thing just does not
work.”
He added: "Alcohol
has a ruinous effect on the foundations of adult life.
“We see the tyranny of
alcohol on our towns and city centres.
“Too often childhood is
robbed of its clear-eyed innocence and replaced with the
befuddled futility that comes with the consumption of dirt cheap
alcohol."
Evidence shows that
children who are introduced to alcohol at a young age are more
likely to binge drink as teenagers and to develop
alcohol-related problems in later life.
Official figures show that
half a million 11 to 15 year olds in England admit they have
been drunk in the last month.
And every year around
7,600 11 to 17-year-olds are admitted to hospital because of
alcohol.
Sir Liam warned that there
was evidence that alcohol harmed children's’ developing
brains.
Drinking can lead to
depression, subtle brain damage, long-term memory problems,
difficulty remembering words and mental health problems, he
said.
Physical problems include
damage to the liver, reduced levels of growth hormones and a
lower bone density in boys.
In recent years doctors
have warned that a binge-drinking culture is leading to young
women in their twenties being diagnosed with alcohol-related
conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver, unheard of a decade
ago.
Sir Liam insisted that his
report was merely advice and that there were no plans to change
the law.
At the moment parents are
legally allowed to give children alcohol in their own home from
the age of five.
Sir Liam also reiterated
his calls for a minimum price for a unit of alcohol as he said
that to there was no doubt that Britain had a “drink
problem”.
However, he admitted that
there was not one single measure alone that could turn the tide
on Britain's growing alcohol problem.
In January, the Department
for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) will launch a campaign
warning of the dangers of drinking among children and young
people.
Don Shenker, the chief
executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "Drinking among young
people is a major concern for parents, many of whom have
previously had no clear guidance on how to approach what can be
a sensitive issue.
"The guidelines will
especially help parents who want to establish clear boundaries
with their children and clarify that drinking above these
guidelines carries increased health risks.
"However, there are
many more factors that influence young people's drinking than
just what their parents say.
"The easy
availability of alcohol at pocket money prices is far more
important, and the government should consider getting tough on
cheap sales to help tackle underage drinking".
From
the Telegraph.co.uk
By
Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor Published: 1:27PM GMT 27 Jan 2010
Children
drinking more than adult safe levels, official figures show
Children
as young as 11 are drinking two bottles of wine a week -
more
than the recommended limit for an adult women - official figures
reveal.
.
The
data, based on surveys of over 23,000 children in England,
showed
boys drank more than girls in almost all regions Photo:
GETTY IMAGES
Children
in the north of the country drink and smoke more than those in
the south, data from the NHS Information Centre has found.
In particular, girls aged between 11 and 15
in the Midlands and the North are drinking more than the
recommended limits for adult women.
They are
consuming around a bottle and a half of wine a week.
Adult women
are advised not to drink more than two to three units a day (or
up to 14 units a week) and men not more than three to four (or
up to 21 units a week) with two alcohol free days a week.
Sir Liam
Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, said last year that parents
should not let their children drink alcohol at all.
More than one
in four girls in the North East had a drink in the past week and
on average consumed 15.5 units. Girls in the East Midlands,
North West and Yorkshire and Humber drank similar amounts.
The pattern
was less clear for boys but in general those in the Midlands and
the North were more likely to have drunk in the last week than
those in the south and to have consumed more.
More than one
in four boys in the North East had a drink in the last week and
on average drank 20.2 units, the equivalent of eight and a half
pints of strong lager or more than two bottles of wine.
Boys and
girls in London were the least likely to drink and average
consumption of those who did was also lower.
The data,
based on surveys of over 23,000 children in England, showed boys
drank more than girls in almost all regions.
It is the
first time that alcohol consumption for children aged 11 to 15
has been calculated by region.
Previous
studies have shown that fewer children are drinking alcohol but
those who do consume large amounts.
On smoking
children in the north of the country were more likely to have
smoked a cigarette in the last year than those in the south and
were more likely to smoke regularly.
Children in
all of the regions were less likely to have tried drugs than
cigarettes or alcohol.
A fifth of 11
to 15 year olds in the North West had taken drugs in the last
year compared with around one in seven in the South West.
One in eight
children in the North West said they had taken cannabis in the
last year compared with one in 12 in the North East.
Tim Straughan,
Chief executive of The NHS Information Centre, said: “The
report shows there are significant regional differences in the
percentages of young people who smoke, drink or use drugs.
“It is
interesting to note that London has such comparatively low
levels of drink, drug and alcohol use among its 11 to
15-year-olds.
“In
contrast, youngsters in the North East are more likely than
their peers anywhere else in the country to smoke and drink
alcohol. However, they are the least likely to take cannabis.”
Don Shenker,
Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “Today’s figures
are very worrying. We’ve seeing a slight decline in the number
of children who drink, but those who do drink are drinking much
more.
“Too many
young people are now drinking at or above safe adult levels, yet
their bodies are less able to cope with the harm alcohol can
cause.
“We’ve
already seen an almost one thousand per cent increase in liver
cirrhosis deaths in the 25-44 age group. This is impacting our
health services and the lives of families across the UK."
He said the
government must heed advice and opt for minimum pricing of
alcohol which would mean it could not be bought at pocket money
prices.
Professor Ian
Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and
Chairman of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance said:“These figures
indicate that for many young teenagers drinking has moved beyond
experimentation and into far more dangerous territory.
"Regular
consumption at these levels, especially when compressed into
heavy sessions at the weekend puts boys and girls at
considerable risk.
"At this
age the adolescent mind is still developing, and for an unlucky
minority heavy drinking so early will have profound and long
lasting implications for their learning and problem solving
skills. Tougher penalties for those found to be selling alcohol
to youngsters are welcome, but parents and families also have a
responsibility to help their offspring make healthy choices.”
Children’s
Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "I am pleased that these
statistics show a decline in the number of young people smoking,
drinking alcohol and taking drugs.
"The
Government has been committed to providing young people with the
right advice and support they need to make safe and sensible
decisions. Importantly we have given parents, carers and schools
additional guidance and expert advice so that young people can
turn to a trusted adult to discuss their concerns about smoking,
drinking and drugs."
From
the Telegraph.co.uk
By
Kate
Devlin, Medical Correspondent Published: 8:30AM GMT 19 Dec
2009
Professional
women 'more likely to be heavy drinker than those in other jobs'
Professional
women are more likely to be heavy drinkers than those in other
jobs, experts have warned.
Women in
managerial and professional occupations were more likely to
drink too much and too often, indulging at least once a week,
they found.
Researchers
warn that as ‘ladette’ culture is on the wane there should
be a new focus on career women, in particular those who drink
large amounts at home.
Doctors are
increasingly concerned about professional women who drink too
much alcohol, especially wine.
Higher
strength wines and larger glasses in recent years mean that many
underestimate their alcohol intake, they warn.
Drink related
deaths among women have doubled in the last 16 years, official
figures show, while cases of cirrhosis of the liver are starting
to seen in women in their twenties, unheard of just a few
decades ago.
The new
warning comes on the busiest night of the year for Christmas
parties, when millions are predicted to overindulge across the
country.
The research
analysed evidence of women’s drinking patterns in Britain and
Denmark.
While there
has been a fall in binge drinking in pubs and clubs, other forms
of drinking are on the increase, they warn.
These include
professional women drinking large amounts at home, from a young
age until well into their middle years,
The review of
research also found that women who work full-time were also more
likely to drink heavily and binge on alcohol than those with
part-time jobs.
The more they
earned the more likely women were to drink frequently.
Single women
were also more likely to drink heavily than those in
relationships.
Dr Fiona
Measham, from Lancaster University, one of the co-authors of the
report, said: “Young women’s drinking has been a focus of
concern during the last decade.
“Yet whilst
national figures suggest that young women's binge drinking may
be falling, these changes have not been generally acknowledged
in recent years.
“Previously
the debate on problem drinking has very much focussed on the
public spectacle of the young woman binge drinking – the
work-hard play-hard ‘ladette’ stumbling round city centres
with clothes askew, the doubly deviant figure of drunkenness in
a dress.
“Current
alcohol trends challenge some of these enduring stereotypes of
problem drinking and lead us to question why we are so eager to
demonise young people yet so reluctant to recognise that
drinking trends can go down as well as up.
“This
research, for example, highlights the ‘hidden harms’ of
increasingly frequent drinking in the home by professional women
from early adulthood into middle age.”
The findings
were published in the journal Probation Journal.
Earlier this
year a study warned that female office juniors, who did typical
jobs such as photocopying, delivering mail and data entry, were
almost twice as likely to die from drinking too much than the
rest of the population.
From
the Telegraph.co.uk
By
Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent Published: 8:00AM GMT 01 Jan
2010
One
in five admissions to hospital casualty departments because of
alcohol.
More than one
in five admissions to hospital casualty departments are because
of alcohol, a new report suggests.
Excessive drinking is
putting the health service under “immense strain” and the
cost of treating alcohol-related ilnesses is
“unsustainable”, experts have warned.
In a joint report the
Royal College of Physicians and the NHS Confederation, which
represents hospital trusts, called for a rethink in public
opinion on alcohol and warned that doctors alone could not solve
the problem.
“The nation’s growing
addiction to alcohol is putting an immense strain on health
services, especially in hospitals,” said Prof Ian Gilmore,
president of the Royal College of Physicians.
“This burden is no
longer sustainable.
“We know that the NHS is
facing very lean financial times in the coming years.
“It is time to start
looking more closely at prevention and at factors like price and
availability.”
The number of people
admitted to hospital because of alcohol is approaching a million
a year, a rise of 47 per cent in just five years, official
figures show.
The new report highlights
the strain that treating alcohol-related illnesses injuries
places on hospitals, especially accident and emergency units.
An audit carried out for
the report by St James’s University Hospital, in Leeds, found
that 21.8 per cent of all casualty admissions were because of
alcohol.
Earlier this year a
similar study by St Mary's Hospital in London estimated that on
a Saturday night that figure could rise to as much as 70 per
cent of admissions.
Even if drinkers
dramatically reduce their intake the costs of treating the
ill-health created will still affect the NHS for the next 10
years, according to the report.
It calls for better
identification and treatment of people with alcohol problems,
estimating such moves could save the NHS as many as 1,000 bed
days a year per hospital.
Currently only 1 in 18
people addicted to alcohol receive treatment.
Steve Barnett, the chief
executive of the NHS Confederation, said that the NHS could do
its bit but warned that “a reappraisal of social attitudes to
drinking is also well overdue.” He added: “We hope this
report helps to outline the scale of the problems facing the NHS
and acts as a warning that if we carry on drinking in the way
that we are currently, the bar bill will be paid in worse health
and a health system struggling to cope.”
Andrew Lansley, the Shadow
Health Secretary, said: "The human and financial cost of
alcohol abuse in Britain is greater than most other European
countries.
“We cannot afford to go
on like this.”
A spokesman for the
Department of Health said that the Government was “working
harder than ever” to reduce the number of alcohol related
hospital admissions.
More than 10 million
people in England alone are thought to be drinking at
“hazardous” levels, which experts warn could be affecting
their health.
From
the Telegraph.co.uk
By
Kate
Devlin, Medical Correspondent Published: 8:00AM GMT 26 Dec
2009
NSH
iPhone app to alert drinkers when they go over their limits
'encouraging
bingeing'
An official
NMS iPhone application designed to alert revellers when they go
over their limits is actually encouraging binge drinking, users
claimed.
The
"app", which measures drinks in alcoholic units, has
sparked something of a craze among drinkers to get the highest
score.
The NHS
drinks tracker was launched at the start of December and is
designed to help people avoid overindulging.
It works
by converting drinks into units to show drinkers when they have
gone over the recommended daily limit.
But within
days of the tracker being released it was being described on the
internet as an “awesome game” and users were boasting about
trying to beat their “top score”.
The
converter is not the first time that iPhone applications have
caused controversy.
One app
had to be taken off sale when it emerged that it encouraged
users to quieten a screaming baby by shaking it.
The free
tracker allows users to enter how many drinks they have had and
what kind.
The amount
they have consumed in units is then shown by blue bars on a bar
chart.
A
horizontal line shows drinkers when they have gone over their
daily recommended limit of two to three units for women and
three to four units for men.
Ministers
insist that the application is useful because many people
struggle to realise how many units they have drunk.
By tapping
a button users can also get feedback on how much they are
drinking, including health warnings.
The app is
part of the Government’s £9m Know Your Limits marketing
campaign to encourage responsible drinking.
But one
review on the iTunes website, from where the tracker can be
downloaded and reviewed, gave the app five stars and claimed it
was an “awesome game”.
“This is
the best game ever,” it continued. “Gonna try and outdo last
night’s score on Friday night.”
Another
user wrote: “I love this app. Been using it a week now and my
blue bars are half way up the scale most days.
“This
week I intend to fill all the bars every day.
“I
filled in last night’s booze intake and my iPhone
automatically dialled Alcoholics Anonymous. Lol (laugh out
loud).”
One user,
who called himself Sheepstarr, even suggested an online
scoreboard, where strangers could compete to drink the most.
He wrote:
“Great app, just wondering what people’s top scores are?
“Also
could there be an online league table or something so you can
submit them.”
Don
Shenker, from Alcohol Concern, said: “There will always be
some people who use these things irresponsibly and they need to
be made aware of the very serious health and other consequences
of their binge drinking.
“At the
moment users of the tracker fill in how much they drink before
they are given the health information – perhaps that needs to
be the other way around.”
A
Department of Health spokesman said that they preferred to
“focus on the positives” of the application.
He said:
“The tracker helps people to keep tabs on their Christmas
drinking, wherever they are.
"By
monitoring alcohol intake and drinking less, you stay in control
and avoid risky situations.”
A study
released last week, and based on sales data, estimated that the
average drinker in Britain was underestimating their alcohol
consumption by the equivalent of around a bottle of wine a week.
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