Firstly, a communication from NDARC:

“The NDARC Education Trust (NET) is a separate arm of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) that provides education, resources and training to a variety of audiences. NET is proud to announce a new brochure to add to their resource catalogue – ‘Fast Facts on Ice’.

Over the last few years Australia has seen the emergence of new forms of methamphetamine available on the illicit drug market. Traditionally methamphetamine available in Australia was of very low purity, which was sold in a powder form as ‘speed’. However, in the past few years Australia has seen importation of high purity crystalline methamphetamine, or ‘ice’. This fold-out booklet is an easy-to-read, informative and up-to-date resource which provides basic information on ice. It covers a range of topics, including psychosis and dependence. Extensively focus-tested, ‘Fast Facts on Ice’ is suitable for a wide range of people who may come into contact with the drug.

The fold-out brochures are available for 55c each, inclusive of GST (minimum order 20).

If you are interested in ordering this exciting new resource please download an order form from our website.

Alternatively you can contact NDARC Reception and one of our friendly staff will either mail or fax you an order form. “

Secondly, the ANCD have launched a free media monitoring service, which sits on the right hand side of the ANCD Home Page. It’s predominantly mainstream media so you’ll still need to rely on quality sites like this blog for wider coverage 😉

Finally, if you’re interested in Hepatitis C and would like to attend the National Hep C Health Promotion Conference:

“National Hepatitis C Health Promotion Conference Scholarships

Hepatitis Australia (formerly the Australian Hepatitis Council) is hosting a two day conference for health and community workers with an interest in hepatitis C prevention and support.

Attendance at the conference is free to those with an interest in hepatitis C health promotion.20 scholarships of $500 each are available to support attendant’s travel and accommodation costs.

For further information on abstract submission visit www.hepatitisaustralia.com or call 02 6232 4257.

Scholarship applications close 4 April, 2007″

The NSW Election seems to have been a fizzer from a health policy viewpoint, with the Greens’ drug policy attracting the most attention, particularly from the tabloids. I’d love to hear of any significant policy announcement from any party that would change the status quo in relation to prevention or treatment.

On a totallt different tack, the School of Population Health at the Uni of Melbourne has released a podcast that may interest AOD professionals:

“The Ice epidemic is of major concern to governments around Australia. This podcast episode analyses the so-called “Ice” methamphetamine epidemic. Through an analysis of the available survey health data we conclude that the recent hype around crystal methamphetamine is misplaced. Methamphetamine use, while of concern, is not increasing. Indicators of drug use in Australian drug-using populations suggest that the use of methamphetamine has been stable since 2001.

At a time when governments around Australia are preparing responses to the so-called epidemic this podcast reviews the evidence, the media coverage and some health promotion approaches to methamphetamine use. The podcast is an essential listen for drug and alcohol service providers, policy makers and news makers who are concerned about evidence-based approaches to social and drug policy.

The podcast may be accessed at:

http://www.nspresearch.unimelb.edu.au/dose.html

For further information please contact:

Dr John Fitzgerald (0417 391 982)

Mr Andrew Dare (8344 0664). “

Regular Drug Blog contributor, Paul Gallagher, posted an intersting new piece of research on the ADCA update list about genes and alcoholism. Worth a read.

DANA (Drug and Alcohol Nurses Australasia) have an annual conference and this time it’s in Whyhalla, South Australia and rural issues are the focus. Nursing-specific it’s not and there’s some interesting stuff on the agenda. DANA’s main website is here.

The University of Melbourne have put out the following request:

“We are writing to seek assistance in gathering literature (published or unpublished) for inclusion in an updated version of Petrol Sniffing in Aboriginal Communities: a Review of Interventions, published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health in 2000.

Reflecting the available literature at the time, our review focused on petrol sniffing in remote Australian Indigenous communities. We plan to expand the scope of the Review to include information on urban volatile substance misuse (VSM) and forms of non-petrol VSM in both Indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

Much of the important literature on VSM prevention and intervention consists of unpublished reports and evaluations which are difficult for people designing policies or programs to access. We would be most grateful to be advised of any document produced by your agency or any other agency since 1999 that describes or evaluates interventions addressing any form of VSM, in order that these findings may be incorporated in the updated Review.

If your document is available in electronic version or on the Internet please let Sarah know by email how it might be accessed (smaclean@unimelb.edu.au). If you have a hard copy document we would be grateful if you would forward it to:
Sarah MacLean
Youth Research Centre
University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010

Please contact us on the following numbers if you have any questions or suggestions about the project:
Peter d’Abbs: (07) 4042 1608; 0407 720 510
Sarah MacLean (03) 8344 9642”