Daily news - 3rd September 2018

UK news

Police should carry 'overdose kits' to treat addicts, crime commissioner suggests

All frontline officers should be equipped with overdose kits to help tackle the soaring numbers of drug addicts who are dying on Britain's streets, a police leader has suggested | Telegraph, UK

International Overdose Awareness Day

Marked on the 31st August, International Overdose Awareness Day presents a prime opportunity to raise awareness of overdoses, share information about harm reduction, and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. With a focus on the ‘state of the nation’ in the UK, this bonus bulletin highlights just a handful of relevant resources in the Effectiveness Bank | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

Roll out naloxone to tackle drug related deaths, says Addaction

Last year 1,164 people died after using opioids like heroin and morphine. Naloxone reverses the effects of opioids like heroin for a short period and gives a person the chance to get medical attention | Addaction, UK

Naloxone Training

Free training events throughout September | Bristol Drugs Project, UK

Scientists decode opium poppy genome

Scientists have determined the DNA code of the opium poppy genome, uncovering key steps in how the plant evolved to produce the pharmaceutical compounds used to make vital medicines | University of York, UK

The Clubs Drugs Wheel

The Club Drugs Wheel is collaborative project with the Loop for their Time To Test campaign. Designed as a large display poster for festivals. Two display sizes are available here, along with a simplified A4 version and a Powerpoint introduction. Please feel free to print these files for your purposes, in line with our licencing | Mark Adley, UK

Thousands of people use drug-testing facilities at UK music festivals

More than 8,000 people came forward to have their drugs tested at music festivals in the UK this summer | BBC, UK

Lessons We Learned About Drugs This Festival Season

We spoke to three drug experts and welfare providers about what they noticed at the UK's festivals this summer | VICE, UK

Boomtown Fair drugs death victim 'absolutely irreplaceable'

Video. Friends and family of a teenager who died at a music festival after taking ketamine are warning others of the dangers | BBC, UK

Rise in sex while on drugs prompts health warning

There has seen a rise in visits to sexual health clinics from people having unprotected sex while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, according to a doctor in north Wales | BBC, UK

Recovery Street Film Festival dates

All our festival dates are held in September so scroll across to September and click one of our dates in the calendar below to find out more about the plans for the day | Phoenix Futures, UK

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons his Department charges the rate that it does for processing licence applications for medical cannabis | They work for you, UK

Sainsbury’s Now Stocking Legal Cannabis Products As UK Policy Looks Increasingly Shambolic

This is a remarkable achievement by the team at Love Hemp who are remaining tight lipped about the terms of the deal. A store manager told me that the product is on test in about 100 stores. Meanwhile policy on accessing cannabis as medicine, on licensing of industrial hemp cultivation and on CBD products which are classified as 'exempt' looks more and more confused | CLEAR, UK

Prisoners 'have no reason to say no to drugs'

Video. Unstable, understaffed prisons are removing incentives for prisoners to reject drugs, says Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust | BBC, UK

Steep rise in prison officers smuggling drugs into jails

Hundreds of staff have been sacked or disciplined for passing contraband, including weapons and mobile phones, to inmates, according to Ministry of Justice figures | Guardian, UK

Traditional phoneboxes have been taken over by drug dealers, police warn after discovery of BT 'drug' phone

Traditional phone boxes have been taken over by drug dealers, police forces have warned after the discovery of a BT “drug” phone in Nottingham | Telegraph, UK

BT figures show 3,000 calls a year from 'drug phone'

Many of the 3,000 calls a year from the most heavily-used payphone in a county are thought to involve drug deals | BBC, UK

Drug sniffer dogs may be used at planned Cardiff club

Sniffer dogs may have to be used at a planned new Cardiff super-club after police concerns over potential drug use | BBC, UK

Alcoholism in the South Asian Community - audio

Discussion on how alcohol is viewed and used in the Asian community | BBC radio iPlayer, UK

Residents worried by Fenham Library rehabilitation centre plan

Plans to open a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in a library have sparked anger among residents | BBC, UK

What's more important: The beer we drink or where we drink it?

The cry of dismay that pubs are disappearing has become a firm fixture in the beer and business press over the past decade or so | Independent, UK

'Good' Beatle Paul McCartney reveals he once took a hallucinogenic drug so potent he saw a 'huge vision of GOD'

The 76-year-old star admitted for the first time today he took psychedelic drugs and said he was 'humbled' by the experience | Mail Online, UK

10,000 years of cheers: why social drinking is an ancient ritual

Research usually focuses on health risks but evidence now suggests that alcohol had a crucial part to play in our evolution | Guardian, UK

University of Manchester student caught selling thousands of pounds of drugs from his campus flat

Toby Walkland, 22, avoided jail after being hauled before the courts | Manchester Evening News, UK

International news

Additions to the Effectiveness Bank 31 August 2018

Highly probable that introducing minimum pricing will result in reduced alcohol consumption and related harms. Insufficient attention on effective drinking interventions for older people. Short-term duration of opioid substitution treatments in the UK curtailing impact at a population level. Controversy continues over prescribing baclofen for alcohol dependence | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

'It lifted me out of depression': is microdosing good for your mind?

Little research exists on the effects of tiny doses of hallucinogens, but devotees of the practice report remarkable benefits | Guardian, UK

First ever trials on the effects of microdosing LSD set to begin

In Silicon Valley they say taking tiny amounts of the hallucinogenic drug increases creativity and productivity, but is it all in the mind? | Guardian, UK

Colombia’s ayahuasca ceremonies in spotlight after tourist's drug death

Western backpackers travelling in increasing numbers into the jungle to take traditional drug administered by shamans | Guardian, UK

Disneyland to serve alcohol to general public for first time in park's history at its new Star Wars land

The new cantina promises to have the 'best drinks in the galaxy' | Independent, UK

Rise in people being treated a second time for alcohol addiction

The number of people in Ireland who are having to undergo a second attempt to beat the booze is on the rise, new figures reveal | Independent, Ireland

Dissociable psychosocial profiles of adolescent substance users

Alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use in adolescence is associated with adverse outcomes. Characterizing adolescent substance misusers, however, is difficult due to the wide range of risk and protective factors linked to substance use | PLOS One, Ireland

'I have seen the increase in cocaine and alcohol addiction with the return of money. It's frightening'

The Rutland Centre is seeing shifts in the people it treats, and is emphasising how anyone can recover from addiction on its 40th anniversary | Journal, Ireland

Fentanyl Safety Recommendations for First Responders

The increased prevalence of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in the illicit drug market means that first responders need to understand how to protect themselves from exposure in the field | ONDCP, USA

Why more Americans are kicking the smoking habit

The overall cigarette smoking rate among U.S. adults has hit an all-time low, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preliminary data from the National Health Interview Survey showed that smoking rates declined from 15.5 percent in 2016 to 13.9 percent in 2017 | Medical Xpress, USA

The Trump Administration Wants to Block Cities' Plans to Cut Drug Overdoses

An expert explains why deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein's ideas are so misinformed | TONIC, USA

Investigators find that bile acids reduce cocaine reward

Bile acids—gut compounds that aid in the digestion of dietary fats—reduce the desire for cocaine, according to a new study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham | Medical Xpress, USA

Why Some Meth and DMT Users Are Using Vapes

There’s little research on the safety of vaping drugs beyond nicotine and cannabis, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying | VICE, USA

How Photography Exploits the Vulnerable

There are too many gratuitous photos of people jamming needles into their bodies and bloated corpses carried out of filthy homes | NYTimes, UK

DEA agents at public health forum: We need to fight demand, not the supply, of drugs

The business structure of drug cartels is no different than that of some of the largest corporations and businesses in the country | ROI, USA

E-cigarette campaigners have headed to the big smoke to convince federal politicians to lift bans on nicotine vaping products | abc news, Australia

Drug expert supports current Australian medicinal cannabis policies

Cannabis-based medicines should only be used under medical supervision until clinical studies have assessed their safety and efficacy, a University of Queensland drug expert has cautioned | University of Queensland, Australia

John puts The Passion of the Christ soundtrack on the stereo and lies on the single bed in this Melbourne house | abc news, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

How family testimonies led to Melbourne’s first safe injecting room

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event held on 31 August each year aiming to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths | Anyone's Child blog, UK

The legal status of poppers

In R v Rochester [2018] EWCA Crim 1936, decided on 17th August 2018, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) concluded that the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 does not require a “psychoactive substance” to be capable of producing its “psychoactive effect” by directly stimulating or depressing the central nervous system | Rudi Fortson blog, UK

Preventing (preventable) opioid overdose deaths: How legal reforms in North America can promote life-saving interventions

For anyone who has ever witnessed a drug overdose, the experience can be jarring. Although symptoms vary widely depending on the type (or types) of drug ingested, the affected person may begin to experience chest pain, difficulty breathing, vomiting, severe headaches and an inability to respond to stimuli | IDPC blog, UK

Ayahuasca tourists beware – it is no risk-free shortcut to enlightenment

The death in Colombia of the 19-year-old Briton Henry Miller is a warning to the plant medicine’s growing number of users | Guardian opinion, UK

Reducing the Minimum Price of Beer in Ontario – Risks of the ‘Buck a Beer’ Policy

Doug Ford’s latest election promise is one best forgotten, says Norman Giesbrecht | IAS blog, UK

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