Daily news - 23rd September 2016 |
 |
UK news
2 out of 5 ignoring NICE guidance on use of addictive opioid painkillers (PDF)
New survey data released today timed to coincide with Opioid Painkiller
Addiction Awareness Day (OPAAD), shows that 40% of British adults surveyed have taken opioid painkillers consecutively for three days or longer,i despite The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
recommending that weak over-the-counter (OTC) opioids should be taken for a maximum of three days due to the risk of addiction | Indivior, UK
Prevention of harm caused by alcohol exposure in pregnancy (PDF)
This report includes a review of studies published in the last decade on interventions to prevent alcohol exposure during pregnancy that target pregnant and non-pregnant women, in line with policy documents in the EU and the Region. In addition to this review, case studies from regional Member States are presented, to share experiences of prevention in the Region | WHO, University of Stirling, UK
Health matters - tobacco standard packs and tobacco control - slideshare
Health Matters is a resource for professionals containing information, resources and tools to help you tackle a range of key public health issues | PHE, UK
Say Why To Drugs - synthetic cathinones - podcast
Latest podacst by Suzi Cage | Suzi Cage, UK
Family Drug and Alcohol Court’s ‘humane’ approach keeps more families together
New research has found that mothers reunited with their children after care proceedings in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) are more likely to stay off drugs and alcohol for longer, and their family life less likely to be disrupted when compared with cases heard in ordinary care proceedings | Family Law, UK
Family Drug and Alcohol Court’s ‘humane’ approach keeps more families together
New research has found that mothers reunited with their children after care proceedings in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) are more likely to stay off drugs and alcohol for longer and their family life less likely to be disrupted when compared with cases heard in ordinary care proceedings | Tavistock and Portman NHS, UK
Home Secretary re-admits 13 forces to the best use of stop and search scheme
The forces were found to be failing to meet 3 or more of the scheme’s requirements during inspections in 2015 | Home Office and The Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP
Stop and search still targets black people, police watchdog says
Over half of worst offending police forces are still not obeying new rules to stop abuse of their powers, says Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary | Guardian, UK
Meet the woman who wants to revolutionise the UK's approach to club drugs
Fiona Measham's charity The Loop is spearheading drugs safety | MixMag, UK
Glasgow Oktoberfest has alcohol licence rejected because people got too drunk last year
Organisers seek different venue after police raise fears of disorder | Independent, UK
What one man learned from a decade of drink-free dating
Can ditching the booze make you a better date? | Independent, UK
International news
Estimating the burden of disease attributable to injecting drug use as a risk factor for HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
Previous estimates of the burden of HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs have not included estimates of the burden attributable to the consequences of past injecting. We aimed to provide these estimates as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2013 | Lancet, UK
A map of child smokers in Europe
According to a recent report by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), over 200,000 children in the UK start smoking every year | Indy 100, UK
Colombia: Drugs and the Peace Agreement (PDF)
Colombia is the world’s second largest cultivator of coca and its primary producer of cocaine. The peace agreement could significantly alter the government’s approach to illicit drugs, and the demobilisation of the FARC guerrilla will have implications for the dynamics of the local drug trade. The government is now, in principle, committed to a new national drug policy and to significant new initiatives in rural areas where illicit crops are cultivated | GDPO Swansea University, UK
Drug wars: Hash and burn
It is peak season and dozens of sweat-drenched men are labouring in the fields near the Albanian town of Tragjas, harvesting a bumper crop of cannabis. Overseeing them are policemen with submachine-guns and face masks | Economist, UK
Legalising Cannabis: Lessons from Abroad – VolteFace at the Conservative Party Conference
The tide of legalisation is rising across the world. From Montevideo, Uruguay to Boulder, Colorado and Kingston, Jamaica to Vancouver, BC, more and more countries are contending with the question of how to legalise and regulate cannabis, with each government finding its own answers | Volte Face, UK
Road Safety Authority. (2016) Drinking and driving - driver theory test questions
This new section of the driver theory test has been introduced in response to recent evidence about drinking and driving. anyone taking the test on or after the 10 October 2016 will have to answer questions on the module | Road Safety Authority, Ireland
Farming Poll 2016: Old habits die hard as 23% of farmers admit to drink driving
Almost one in four farmers said they had driven home after consuming as many as three pints in the past six months, while one in five said they would feel “safe enough” getting behind the wheel after drinking as many as four pints, reports Noel-Baker | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Safe Drug Sites Could Be a Tough Sell Outside Seattle
Will rural King County get behind real drug reform? | Seattle Weekly, USA
Curiosity about cigarettes, cigars falling among students
Fewer middle and high school students in the United States have ever used or are curious about using cigarettes or cigars, according to new research published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease | MNT, USA
E-Cig Flavoring, Battery Voltage Linked to Cellular Toxicity
Strawberry flavoring most toxic of five tested flavors | Med Page Today, USA
A Smoker’s Lasting Legacy
A new study led by researchers at San Diego State University finds that even six months after people within a home stop smoking, the home, as well as the nonsmokers living there, still show elevated levels of dangerous carcinogens linked to cigarettes | SSDU, USA
Phoenix officers accused of forcing man to eat marijuana
Three Phoenix Police Departmentofficers have resigned and are now involved in criminal and administrative investigations following allegations that they made a 19-year-old man eat marijuana to avoid going to jail during a traffic stop | USA Today, USA
Australian Bar Association calls for gambling and alcohol companies to pay legal services levy
Gambling and and alcohol companies should pay a levy to help fund legal services, according to a peak lawyers’ group | Courier Mail, Australia
New laws may force SA kids into drug rehab
Kids addicted to drugs in South Australia could be forced to spend up to a year at a treatment facility under new laws proposed by the state opposition | News.com.au, Australia
Canberra judge says prison needle exchange could help ease infection problem
An ACT Supreme Court judge has told a court a prison needle exchange "would do much to resolve" the spread of infection among inmates who used share | Age, Australia
The town that started national anti-ice drug campaign reports mixed results one year on (NSW)
A country community in New South Wales unites to fight the myths and stigma surrounding the drug ice, one year after it began a national campaign to dob in dealers | abc.net, Australia
Teenager's drug treatment cost $1.3m over three years
A study of Perth teenagers treated for drug and alcohol problems at hospital emergency departments has revealed one was readmitted 272 times in three years at a cost of $1.3 million | Yahoo News, Australia
Kings Cross drug injecting centre doctor defends call to allow pregnant woman and 16-year-olds access the service
Claims that overdose cases at the Kings Cross drug injecting centre are being handballed to hospitals to cover up overdose deaths are untrue, the centre’s head Marianne Jauncey has said | Daily Telegraph, Australia
Cop: Time to loosen laws around cannabis
People using cannabis are "jovial" and punishing them won't stop them using the drug, says a New Zealand police officer arguing for law reform | NZ Herald, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
My addiction to prescription medicines: a personal story
This powerful personal account describes the problems addiction to prescription medicines can cause and the great strength individuals have in overcoming dependency. It also highlights the important role of GPs in preventing and also supporting people to overcome addiction to medicines | SMMGP, UK
Amanda
We lost my nephew in January this year, when he accidentally overdosed on heroin. Losing him, and the circumstances of it, have devastated his family and friends. This is how it affects me, I’m not speaking for anyone else affected by his death because it’s different for each of us | Anyone's Child, UK
Alcohol Stories – Exploring accounts and practices of alcohol use, suicide and self-harm
How much of an influence does alcohol have on suicides? Dr Amy Chandler addresses the need for more research on the issue | IAS Blog, UK
The Morecambe Bay 5K Recovery Run
Wow what a day! The sun shone, the runners were all smiles whilst the samba band played at this year's Morecambe Bay 5K Recovery Run, held on the 17th of September | CGL Blog, UK
Cannabis And Cancer
With ever-increasing costs of conventional healthcare, and continuing issues with insurance coverage, alternative medicine is growing in popularity. Inasmuch as it is still officially denigrated, cannabis is about as “alternative” as it gets | Huffington Post Blog, USA
Another Shot: Is dAd5GNE the “End” of Cocaine Addiction?
Among Facebook friends familiar with my work, dozens of conversations have started by their linking me to relevant pieces on, for example, the racial disparities of marijuana legalization, the therapeutic application of psychedelics, and, perhaps less pressing but no less appreciated, the varieties of ways our ancestors got high | Points: Blog of the alcohol and drugs history society, USA