Friday, February 04, 2005

Guidelines Urge Wide Shift in Drug Treatment for the Mentally Ill Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Federal health officials on Monday called for a drastic shift in the treatment of mentally ill patients in the U.S., saying that too few are treated for dual diagnoses of mental illness and drug abuse. More than four million Americans who have a serious mental illness also have a severe drug abuse problem, according to figures released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Numbers are far higher for patients with less severe mental disorders."  
  

Heated debate over heroin report (UK) BBC story - "Research which said it is possible to live normally while regularly taking heroin has prompted a fierce debate. The Glasgow Caledonian University study of 126 users of the class A drug found many were holding down normal jobs and relationships and passing exams. The report said heroin could be taken in a controlled way for a period. But drugs worker Peter Anderson and Alistair Ramsay of Scotland Against Drugs said the research was sending out the wrong messages."