Peers Tell Government To Outlaw The Caste System In The UK

In a vote in the House of Lords peers defeated the government and said that discrimination on the grounds of caste should be outlawed in the UK. Peers backed an Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill amendment to add caste to race discrimination laws.

The government opposed the move, saying it had set up an education programme to tackle caste discrimination. Peers said this was not enough, and the law needed to be changed. The government was defeated by 256 to 153.

The defeat was the second of the day for the government, with peers also challenging the government over the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in promoting a more equal society.

You can read more on this story on the BBC News website here.

The Many Drug Abuse Effects

With today's level of education on the issue, it is fair to say that everyone in the Western hemisphere knows drugs are bad for you. However, do you know what 'bad for you' constitutes? Drug abuse effects range from the mental to the physical to the social.

Marijuana

Most people see this as a 'harmless' drug, mostly because it has some medicinal properties, and is a naturally occurring substance. Unfortunately this doesn't mean that there are no negative effects on long term users. While this may not be the kind of drug which can kill you with one dose, it can still have devastating consequences for your life over a long period.

Marijuana can cause you to develop mental problems through long term and short term use. Excess use can lead to paranoia, in both the long term and short term. Studies have also shown that prolonged use has a negative impact on mental abilities and IQ. The drug can also lead to apathy and stereotypical 'stoner' behavior, where the user is interested in nothing but the next joint.

Marijuana can also harm a fetus during pregnancy, and lead to psychosis and mental dependence on the drug.

Heroin

Heroin is commonly seen as one of the most unpleasant drugs available to buy. It invokes strong chemical and mental dependency. The problems caused by heroin are threefold; the actual drug itself which is incredibly harmful to the body; the culture of violence and crime surrounding its sale and production; and associated diseases such as AIDS which are associated with sharing needles.

The effects on the body are extreme - as the drug depresses respiratory function, prolonged use can lead to lung or heart failure! It also has associations with liver disease and pneumonia due the suppression of the immune system.

Secondary illnesses which are associated with heroin abuse include the AIDS epidemic and hepatitis. This is largely due to the sharing of needles, which leads to cross contamination. Both these diseases can be managed, but not cured and greatly affect the lives of those who contract them.

The social aspect, including the dependence upon the drug makes the user incredibly venerable to dealers. Many people are coerced into trades such as prostitution in order to fund their drug abuse.

Cocaine / Crack Cocaine

Cocaine and crack cocaine are similar drugs; crack cocaine is a processed form of cocaine which is mixed with baking soda or ammonia. Drug abuse effects caused by cocaine are severe; often users will continue to take the drug only to avoid the savage withdrawal which the drug causes.

Due to the rise in blood pressure, and resultant rush, there is a high incidence of strokes among cocaine users, as well as a variety of other cardiac problems. The drug is also associated with acts of violence due to the savage rush it entails.

These are just some of the drugs and the effects of drug abuse which are affecting society today. Hopefully you are now a little more aware of the consequences of drug abuse, and can make an informed choice as to whether or not you use.

Social Workers Need Compulsory Substance Misuse Training Say Experts

Photograph by grant_loy

A report by the charity Adfam, revealed widespread fears that social workers are not given adequate training or effective managerial supervision on substance misuse and its impact on children and parenting.

Social work degrees should include compulsory training on substance misuse, drug charities have warned.

You can read the full article in Community Care here and also vote in their poll.

New Reports On Poverty From The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Photograph by Ed Yourdon

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has recently published a series of reports looking at poverty in the UK. They are:

• The Links Between Housing & Poverty. A study looking at housing experience and its relationship to poverty and the role of housing in enabling people to take up employment.
• Measuring Child Poverty: A Consultation On Better MeasuresOf Child Poverty. JRF's response to the Department for Education on 'Measuring Child Poverty: a consultation on better measures of child poverty'.
• Poverty And Low Educational Achievement In Wales. Looks at the evidence and considers the best measures to improve educational achievement for children living in poverty in Wales.
• Poverty And Ethnicity In Northern Ireland. This study examines the evidence on how people across different ethnic groups in Northern Ireland experience poverty and how this affects their access to work and support, including key services.
• Monitoring Poverty And Social Exclusion in Scotland 2013. JRF's sixth study of poverty and social exclusion in Scotland highlights a huge rise in unemployment for under-25s, and stark and growing health inequalities.Using the latest Government data, it assesses a wide range of indicators including unemployment, education, and health.
• Monitoring Poverty And Sociual Exclusion 2012. Is tackling in-work poverty the key for anti-poverty initiatives?
  
  
  You can find even more reports on poverty by the JRF on their website here: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications

Effective Treatment For Drug Abuse

There are many types of treatment for drug abuse, but all are not equally effective, so how do you know with which drug rehabilitation centre to go if you or a loved one needs help with an addiction? Well, one thing is for certain and that is that traditional, short-term and outpatient methods do not work and this was proven once again by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2008. Their research has indicated that an alarming 93 percent of these conventionally treated cases relapse.

Programme Content

Effective and appropriate treatment for drug abuse relies heavily on well-researched and proven programme content and to this end; the outdated view of applying a standardised programme to all addictions is simply not acceptable. The well-known Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous 12-step programmes have proven extremely effective and thus forms part of many drug rehabilitation centres' treatment programmes. Experience has shown that a recovering addict should complete this programme at least up to Step 7 before they can be considered recovered.

Different Drugs; Different Types of Treatment for Drug Abuse

A single rehabilitation programme or treatment plan could not hope to address the idiosyncrasies and unique characteristics of every type of drug or recovering addict. Tailored programme content is required to cater for many factors and these include:

• The physical state of the addict upon arrival at the rehabilitation centre. Most of them are undernourished and have a low BMI, which conspires against their recovery and their concentration levels. A healthy eating plan should form part of the treatment programme.
• The psychological state of the addict upon arrival. The addict may exhibit various maladaptive behaviours that require treatment, like depression or obsessive-compulsive disorders

Crack and Cocaine

Of course, the treatment for drug abuse would very much depend on the drug of choice and a great deal of research is necessary to find the correct methodologies to treat certain addictions. For example, a programme from the USA has proven very effective for treating cocaine and crack addiction and assisting these people in coming to terms with their addiction, the unique allure of these drugs and the undercurrent of addiction.

Heroin Fighters

In similar vein, the South African-developed Heroin Fighters programme is now world-renowned for assisting in the treatment for heroin drug abuse. Heroin is often regarded as a drug that is impossible to overcome, so the first aim of the programme is to give the addict hope that they can overcome their addiction. A part of this process is education about this drug of choice in order to give the addict an understanding of their dependence and finally, equipping them with necessary skills to overcome heroin.

Alcohol Annihilators

Alcohol Annihilators is another locally developed programme and a very effective treatment for alcohol drug abuse. The programme has been developed with the cooperation of recovering alcoholics and their inputs have rendered a programme that has worked superbly well in assisting alcoholics in coming to terms with alcoholism's effects, craving cycles, the cycle of addiction and the addiction culture, while providing invaluable spiritual perspectives.

Treatment for Drug Abuse: Other Drugs and Programmes

Eating disorders can also be very debilitating and destroy lives on a daily basis, so excellent treatment for this type of ailment is extremely important and may include element of the following:

• Special menus and food preparation
• Supervised meals
• Education about the effects on the body
• Individual therapy
• Group therapy

This type of therapy also has to be constantly supervised by trained professionals.

Holistic Treatment for Drug Abuse

Few drug rehabilitation centres are likely to achieve a decent measure of success with a fragmented and uncoordinated approach and a holistic approach has proven the most effective. This implies the bringing together of all the treatment options available in one place and finds most of its impact in three critical areas:

1. A standardised treatment plan is unrealistic and ineffective; each individual and each drug requires a tailored treatment plan.
2. Short-term, conventional and outpatient treatment techniques do not work. UNODC research proved again in 2008 that 93 percent of these relapse. Treatment should last for at least six months.
3. Treatment should take place in a residential treatment facility in order to exercise complete control over the addict's environment and improve their chances of a full recovery.