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Pike, Brigid (2008) In brief. Drugnet Ireland, Issue 26, Summer 2008, p. 28.

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In 2008 the Democracy, Cities and Drugs (DC&D) II project 2008-2010 was launched. Based on the lessons learned from the first DC&D project, DC&D II aims to help EU cities develop local, partnership-based drug policies and practices involving all relevant stakeholders.  

 During 2008 the Children Acts Advisory Board (CAAB), whose mission is to seek significantly better outcomes for vulnerable children through the co-ordinated delivery of services, has been upgrading its website. www.caab.ie  
 
On 24–29 January 2008 as part of Beyond 2008 – A global forum on the 1998–2008 review of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs, the regional consultation for the European Union and EFTA countries was held in Budapest. The report from this consultation is available on the website of the Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs. 
 
On 5 February 2008 Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, launched its website. Set up in June 2007, Cosc (which means to stop or prevent) works with other organisations in the sector to ensure the delivery of co-ordinated services for victims, raises awareness about the level and impact of these crimes and about local services for victims, and develops strategies for preventing and dealing with these crimes in line with best international practice and standards for service delivery and for training programmes. www.cosc.ie
On 5–7 March 2008 the World Red Cross/Red Crescent (RC/RC) Congress on Humanitarian Drug Policy was held in Barcelona.After the conference, the attending youth staff and volunteers held an additional youth meeting with representatives of 11 national societies, the International Federation and the Senlis Council, the think-tank that had sponsored the event. At this meeting, participants discussed current programmes and new ideas related to working with drug users. 
 
On 12 March 2008 Stereotyping of young people, a resource pack developed by the Equality Authority and the National Youth Council of Ireland, was launched. It is intended to support young people and youth organisations to recognise and challenge stereotyping of young people. www.equality.ie / www.nyci.ie
 
On 12 March 2008 What research tells us about the reasonableness of the current priorities of national drug control was presented by Rosalie Pacula of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Domestic Policy. In her testimony Pacula argued:
1.       although the US drugs strategy appears ‘balanced’, being based on three primary objectives – to stop use before it starts, to heal America’s drug users, and to disrupt illicit drug markets – the budget reflects a strong emphasis on supply reduction efforts (65.2% of the requested budget for 2009);
2.       the problem with this unbalanced approach becomes clear if you understand the epidemic nature of drug problems and the current stage of the expected epidemic for each major drug of abuse in the US today. The current mix of enforcement, prevention and treatment strategies is not the optimal for managing the drug situation the US faces; and
3.       the problem is not just one of balance in the budget, but also one of waste. In several areas, the 2008 National Drug Control Strategy advocates continuing or new support for programmes that have either (a) never been scientifically proven to be effective and which on analytic grounds seem unlikely to be successful or (b) have already been shown to be completely ineffective. www.rand.org/multi/dprc/
 
On 27 March 2008 the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008–2010 was launched. The Strategy focuses on children who have already had some contact with the criminal justice system. Under the objective ‘To make the youth justice system more effective through providing clear, unified and strategic leadership’, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is called on to: ‘Work with the Irish Youth Justice Service (IYJS)  to ensure that appropriate synergies are achieved between the National Youth Justice Strategy and policies and the aims of the National Drugs Strategy 2001–2008 and its successor, RAPID and CLÁR programmes, and community and local development programmes, and that there is a coordinated approach to the delivery of services to disadvantaged areas’.
 
In March 2008 the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme published its 13th report Recalibrating the regime: the need for UN system-wide coherence in drug control and human rights. The report looks at the tensions between some aspects of the global drug control system, and UN human rights standards.
On 21 April 2008 Barnardos launched a new family support initiative. Barnardos’ project in Buckingham Street, in Dublin’s north inner city, will work with children from birth to about the age of 12 who face severe or chronic threats to their well-being – for example, children who come from families where there is addiction, financial pressure, parents in prison, or a parent with mental illness. www.barnardos.ie
 
On 23 April 2008 the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released Garda recorded crime statistics 2003–2006, the first set of crime statistics using the newly completed Irish Crime Classification System (ICCS), which replaces the headline/non-headline offence classification introduced in 2000. Drug-related offences form a distinct class of offences in the new system. www.cso.ie
Item Type
Article
Publication Type
Irish-related, International, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
All substances
Issue Title
Issue 26, Summer 2008
Date
2008
Page Range
p. 28
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 26, Summer 2008
EndNote
Accession Number
HRB (Available)

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