Daily news - 15th June 2015 |
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UK news
How much do people binge drink in Great Britain?
Young adults are commonly associated with binge drinking in the media. However, the latest data about their relationship with alcohol might surprise you, as might the location of the teetotal capital of Great Britain. Here are 5 facts about drinking habits in Great Britain between 2005 and 2013 | ONS, UK
Young people ditch binge drinking and boozing over fears of being 'cyber shamed' on social media
Over a quarter 16-24 year olds are now teetotal according to a new report from The Office of National Statistics | Independent, UK
Psychoactive Substances Bill [HL]
Amendments from Baroness Meacher | Parliament, UK
Right here, right now: Mental health crisis care review
Attitudes to mental health are changing fast. In the last four years it is estimated that two million people have developed a more positive attitude towards mental illness. But there is still a long way to go until a person experiencing a mental health crisis receives the same response as someone with a physical health emergency | Care Quality Commission, UK
More than 400 people a month arrested for drug-driving in England and Wales, IAM reveals
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has revealed for the first time the true scale of drug-driving in England and Wales since new laws came into force – and showed that over 400 people a month have already been arrested for this offence | IAM, UK
Six heroin deaths prompt Nottinghamshire health emergency
A "public health emergency" has been declared in Nottinghamshire after six people died in the county within a week after taking unusually pure heroin | BBC, UK
Legal highs blamed for increasing levels of violence in prisons
Government report says their use is linked to an increase in “disturbed and disruptive behaviour” by inmates | Telegraph, UK
Scots feel they need more booze to get really drunk, finds survey
Scots paint themselves as some of the most hardened drinkers in the world, saying they need more booze to be really drunk | Herald, UK
Adfam and the Recovery Partnership
We are delighted to announce that through this year and into 2016 Adfam will deliver a number of pieces of work on behalf of the Recovery Partnership. Adfam will continue much of the excellent work carried out by DrugScope under the Recovery Partnership banner | Adfam, UK
Adfam Policy Briefing (PDF)
A monthly update containing comment, policy, data, reports, parliamentary news, and debates of relevance to anyone working to improve life for those affected by drugs and alcohol | Adfam, UK
Secret Shopper Project
According to Public Health England, every time somebody injects drugs they should be using sterile equipment – including needles and syringes, filters, cookers and swabs. But the reality is somewhat different. People who inject drugs are often put off asking for the injecting equipment that they are entitled to because of negative experiences. The NNEF are currently recruiting service users, service user groups and harm reduction advocates to become Secret Shoppers to try and find out what is happening in the real world | NNEF, UK
Directory of wellbeing services for young people
The Youth Wellbeing Initiative is offering to pay voluntary and community sector networks for signing their members up to the Youth Wellbeing Directory | GMVO, UK
Alcohol-detecting steering wheels could stop drink driving
Drunk drivers could be stopped from taking to the roads with a new touch test technology which disables car when the motorist is over the limit | Telegraph, UK
Facebook and Twitter could be used to help people quit smoking
"Using social media to kick the [smoking] habit means you're 'TWICE as likely to succeed'," the Mail Online reports. A study of a Canadian social media campaign aimed at helping young people quit smoking found it was twice as successful as telephone helplines | NHS Choices: Behind the Headlines, UK
Obesity Projections, Global Footprint, Street Value of Drugs - BBC radio 4 iPlayer
It's the last in the series so we're packing in the statistical goodies so that you can go into numerical hibernation until August. We're looking at the street value of drugs: when police claim that they've confiscated hundreds of millions of pounds worth of narcotics, where do those numbers come from? And how has the dark internet changed drug prices? We'll also be looking at claims that those of us who aren't binging on drugs are binging on biscuits instead | BBC Radio 4, UK
Paul Gascoigne interview: the ex-footballer talks drink, drugs, paranoia and the press
There is a heart-in-the-mouth moment within a minute of meeting Paul Gascoigne in a London hotel room. The former footballer’s alcohol problems have been well advertised. Who can forget him trying to “save” murderer Raoul Moat while in a drunken stupor, or his “dentist’s chair” drinking game stunt in a Hong Kong bar before Euro 96, and subsequent re-creation of it after his goal against Scotland | Independent, UK
Greater Manchester dealers jailed over £1m drugs seizure
Three drug dealers who were variously caught with heroin worth more than £1m, cocaine and a firearm have been jailed | BBC, UK
London gang jailed for Exeter heroin and cocaine supply
Members of a drugs gang that ran heroin and cocaine from London to Exeter have been jailed for between two and eight years each | BBC, UK
Heroin worth £2.5m seized in smuggling crackdown
A 1,000-strong team target the illegal passage of cash, weapons, drugs, goods and people through British ports and airports | Telegraph, UK
Oldham pharmacy raid: Thieves steal £10,000 of drugs
More than £10,000 worth of drugs have been stolen from a pharmacy in Greater Manchester | BBC, UK
International news
Legal highs: Irish ban 'wiped out' headshop industry
A ban on "legal highs" in the Republic of Ireland has been extraordinarily effective in wiping out the industry, police have said | BBC, UK
NSW $12m medicinal cannabis research centre to 'lead the world'
Premier Mike Baird says centre will employ ‘the best minds in the country’ to research and support the production of cannabis-based medicines | Guardian, UK
Elderly US doctor and wife accused of distributing $77m worth of prescription drugs to black market
Rogelio Lucas and his wife were charged by the Drug Enforcement Administration | Independent, UK
Mexican authorities confiscate 41 tonnes of marijuana
$44million worth of drugs have been seized outside the town of Tijuana, the confiscated drugs are set to be destroyed | Telegraph, UK
HSE-Health Protection Surveillance Centre. (2015) HIV in Ireland: 2014 report (PDF)
In 2014, 377 new HIV diagnoses were notified in Ireland, giving a crude notification rate of 8.2 per 100,000 population. This is an increase of 11% compared to 2013 and can be accounted for by an increasing number of HIV notifications among men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs (PWID). Between 2010 and 2013, the annual rate of new HIV diagnoses had been relatively stable in Ireland, ranging from 7.0 to 7.5 per 100,000 population | Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Ireland
New cases of HIV hit highest levels in five years
New HIV cases have reached their highest point in five years — with a record number of infections among gay men and a major increase among injecting drug users | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Doctors urge ban on alcohol sports funding
A doctors’ group has called for an immediate ban on alcohol sports sponsorship | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Ana Liffey drug project position paper on the provision of a medically supervised injecting centre in Dublin (PDF)
In December 2014, Ana Liffey Drug Project launched ‘Targeting Harm’1, its strategic plan for the period 2015 - 2017. One of the overarching strategic objectives is "We will innovate to ensure we meet the needs of our Service Users through progressive initiatives". One of the goals under this objective commits the organization to: "Secure stakeholder support, plan and pilot the provision of Medically Supervised Injecting Centres" This paper sets out the position of ALDP with regard to MSICs. Our hope is that it provides an accessible foundation for discussion and engagement with all stakeholders | Ana Liffey, Ireland
General Report of Activities 2014 — Key achievements and governance: a year in review
The General Report of Activities is an annual publication providing a detailed progress report of the EMCDDA’s activities over a 12-month period. It catalogues the Centre’s achievements in each area of its annual work programme. The report is a useful information source for all those seeking comprehensive information on the Centre and its work | EMCDDA, Portugal
Notes from the Field: Increase in Reported Adverse Health Effects Related to Synthetic Cannabinoid Use — United States, January–May 2015
On April 6, 2015, CDC received notification of an increase in telephone calls to U.S. poison centers related to synthetic cannabinoid use. Monthly calls to all poison centers are tracked by the National Poison Data System, which reported that adverse health effects or concerns about possible adverse health effects related to synthetic cannabinoid use increased 330% from 349 in January 2015 to 1,501 in April 2015 | CDC, USA
Pregnant women may be unaware of possible e-cigarette risks
In a small U.S. study, nearly half of all pregnant women surveyed did not think electronic cigarettes contain nicotine or know that the devices can be addictive | Reuters, USA
20 year report on Needle and Syringe Program attendees in Australia
The number of young Australians injecting drugs has declined over 20 years, heroin and methamphetamine remain the two most commonly reported drugs last injected, and transmission of HIV related to injecting drug use has been efficiently contained, according to a 20 year report released today - Australian NSP survey (PDF) by the Kirby Institute at UNSW Australia | Kirby Institute, UNSW, Australia
Steroid arrests to overtake cocaine within two years: Researcher
Arrests for steroid trafficking will outstrip cocaine in two years and heroin within four years, a Queensland criminologist predicts | Age, Australia
Alcopops tax cuts drinking and harm
The tax on alcopops has significantly reduced the number of highly intoxicated young people presenting to hospital emergency departments and helped curb levels of binge drinking across NSW, according to a new study | Adelaide Now, Australia
Drug rehab pioneer dies
Joseph Lamberti, founding CEO of Victoria's drug and alcohol rehabilitation community Odyssey House and one of Australia's most respected leaders in the field, has died in Melbourne | Age, Australia
Mildura ice scourge: addicts facing detox in police cells
Police cells in the state's north-west have become a "de facto drying-out facility" because there is no drug and alcohol detox centre in the region, lawyers say | Age, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Blanket ban on ‘legal highs’ is no ‘silver bullet’
The Psychoactive Substances Bill was debated in the House of Lords earlier this week; and if we take that debate as an indicator of what is to come then the remaining stages of the passage of the Bill are likely to be lively. I’m not sure I would have expected that, given there were broadly similar commitments in this area by the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats in their respective manifestos | Justice Gap, UK
10 things I learnt from the 2015 Global Drug Survey
The Global Drug Survey becomes more valuable every year; this year over 100,000 people completed the survey. The survey is very different from research such as the Crime Survey for England and Wales because it is typically completed by regular, mainly recreational, drug users | Russell Webster, UK
My drinking years: ‘Everyone has blackouts, don’t they?’
Sarah Hepola drank through her 20s, and didn’t slow down in her 30s – not even when she blacked out or woke up in strangers’ beds. Because the best nights are the ones you might regret, right? | Guardian, UK
What's in the pills? It matters
Earlier this year, I spoke at some length to someone who had done something interesting at a New Zealand summer festival, and it’s probably not what you’re thinking. This person had, with a small team, tested the recreational drugs people had brought with them to the festival. And the results were alarming | Public Address, New Zealand