The Practice: Simple Tools
for Managing Stress,
Finding Inner Peace, and
Uncovering Happiness
Barb Schmidt, published by Souvenir
Press Ltd, £9.99
FOUNDER
of the non-profit organisation
Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, Barb Schmidt,
is a spiritual coach with over 30 years’
experience under her belt. Her first book,
The Practice, is a guide to practical
spirituality in the modern world.
The book uses principles from a range
of religions and spiritual teachings to
offer simple tools that individuals can put
to use in their every day lives.
The three-part routine taught in the
book – waking up, living in the present,
letting go – is deliberately made simple to
implement so that it can fit easily into a
busy daily routine, and aims to give its
readers the tools they need to manage
stress and bring about peace of mind.
June 2015 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 15
Reviews
Angel Hair
Margot Griffiths,
published by Xlibris, £9.99
ANGEL HAIR
is the story of the eccentric
Morgan family, living in Victoria, British
Colombia in the 1950s and ’60s, and
follows their journey through love,
conflict and betrayal in a time of strict
traditional values. This is the first novel
fromMargot Griffiths, a psychology
professor who grew up in Victoria. In her
own life, Griffiths pursued psychology as
a means of understanding her own
family’s troubles.
Her mother struggled to
cope... while her father
also had problems with
alcohol.
Growing up, her mother struggled to
cope with depression, while her father
also had problems with alcohol.
Griffiths uses her background to
create complex characters and explore
the complicated relationships between
members of the family in an insular
and often stifled community.
Bookshelf
Recommended reading – from the drug and alcohol sector…
Barb Schmidt recently gave a TEDx
talk where she shares her insights
and strategies for greater
mindfulness, meaning, and purpose
in life. View at
READING THE GOVERNMENT’S
annual review of its
2010 drugs strategy, it would seem that, despite the
wealth of evidence that suggests its policies are
counter-productive, the Home Office doesn’t want to
listen to anyone’s advice.
The government says that drug use and
mandatory drug testing in prisons are down – but is
any of this really true?
The figures that the government uses are from
the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW).
Those who conduct the survey admit these figures
are not necessarily reliable – an unknown proportion
of respondents may not report their behaviour
honestly, and the estimates of prevalence in the
findings may be considered lower than the true level
of illicit drug use within the general population
because of the nature of the survey’s questions.
With regard to mandatory testing (MDT) in
prisons, the report claims that positive drug tests are
down, as if this is an indication that drug use in
prisons is decreasing. HM Inspectorate of Prisons
(HMIP) has said that MDT figures are not an
accurate reflection of drug use in the prison estate,
and that the decline in positive tests does not mean
a decline in drug use.
One thing that is true, and that the government
fails to even mention in its report, is that drug-
related deaths are increasing, as are post-release
drug-related deaths. This is a direct result of the
government’s drug policy, yet they are failing to do
anything about it.
Basing policies on skewed statistics will never
result in anything other than further harm.
Criminalising drugs and sticking to a purely
abstinence-based approach will not make drug use
disappear. It only puts people in danger, increases
stigmatisation, and places unrealistic conditions on
those would benefit from harm reduction practices.
‘Drug-related deaths are
increasing, as are post-
release drug-related deaths.
This is a direct result of the
government’s drug policy...’
The government’s drug policies are not grounded
in reality, says law student
Alice Gambell
Get real
Lots more views and reviews at:
