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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: New guidelines issued on custody care of drink and drug
The Yorkshire Post
Monday 22 Jan 2001 New guidelines on how to care for drug abusers in police custody are published today, including advice on handling drunks. Health experts have revised the advice first published six years ago dealing with a wide range of drugs including Ecstasy, LSD, heroin and cannabis. The booklet, published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, is to be distributed to police surgeons, casualty doctors, forensic psychologists, prison doctors and police custody officers. “The whole purpose is to save lives,” said Professor Hamid Ghodse, chairman of the committee which produced the guide. “Occasionally it happens that someone is not attended to adequately in police custody and there have been incidents of injuries, overdoses and even death." “The guide goes a long way to help the custody officers, police surgeons and ultimately the detainees themselves. The 30-page booklet warns: “Withdrawal from alcohol in police custody can result in serious consequences.” Alcoholics need treatment to counter dangerous convulsions, it says, while it can be difficult to establish the level of a person’s dependence on drink. Prof Ghodse, a professor of addictive behaviour at St George’s Medical School, University of London, said: “It’s a very significant risk and a very real one, especially if the detainees are mixing it with other drugs such as tranquillisers. “With hindsight alcohol abuse should have been included in the first edition as it’s as important as other drug issues and many times more prevalent." “People detained in police custody who have alcohol problems need to receive as much care as anyone else.” The section on Ecstasy warns adverse effects can include catatonic stupor, flashbacks, psychosis, high fever and “cardiovascular complications resulting in death”. Cannabis results in “mild withdrawal systems” which need no specific treatment, it adds. The publication was also produced by the Association of Police Surgeons, the Royal College of General Practitioners, Faculty of Accident and Emergency departments and the Department of Health.
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