Daily news - 23rd May 2019


Weekly subscribe button

UK news

End of life care for people with problematic substance use

This website offers resources developed from a two year research programme on end of life care for people with alcohol and other drug problems | MMU et al, UK

E-cigs can double success rates of quitting smoking, UK study finds

The research, funded by the charity Cancer Research UK and published in the journal Addiction on Thursday, analysed success rates of several common stop-smoking methods - including e-cigarettes, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) patches and gum, and Pfizer’s varenicline, sold as Champix in the UK | Reuters, UK

Call for rehab cash to help users get off methadone

A group of recovering drug addicts has urged MPs to put more cash into rehabilitation services to get users clean and move away from giving out methadone for extended periods | National, UK

Walk a Mile in Our Shoes

20th – 25th June. A week long fundraising walk along the Thames Path all the way to Parliament. The Anyone’s Child families will be leading this walk to raise awareness of the harms caused by prohibition - come and join us! | Anyone's Child, UK

Bedfordshire cocaine users spend £1m a week, say police

More than £2m a week is being spent on cocaine and cannabis in a single county, a police force said | BBC, UK

Mike Phenix: Four-year drugs ban for ex-Southport and Salford player

Former Southport player Mike Phenix has been banned from all football and football-related activity for four years after a failed drugs test | BBC, UK

Ahsanullah Nawazai stab death: Man 'murdered for drugs'

A drug dealer was brutally murdered for his stash of cocaine and cash, a court has heard | BBC, UK

 

International news

How Big US Companies Are Selling Weed Vapes in the UK

We met JJ O'Brien from vape giant PAX Labs to talk about bringing the PAX 3 to the UK, and marketing a legal product to an illegal market | VICE, UK

E-cigarettes 'make it harder for your body to fight flu' study claims

Researchers at the University of North Carolina gave smokers, vapers and non-smokers the flu and studied how they fought the infection | Mirror, UK

Cannabis firm buys British beauty brand This Works

The world’s largest cannabis company has bought British beauty brand This Works for £43m in a deal that will see it launch a range of products infused with the cannabis ingredient CBD to help users sleep and improve their skin | Guardian, UK

Cannabis-derived compound CBD could be used to treat HEROIN addiction by reducing addicts’ cravings for the illegal drug

A study has found CBD – a chemical called cannabidiol which is found in cannabis but doesn't make people high – can reduce drug cravings | Mail Online, UK

Philippine mid-terms: Duterte consolidates grip on power

Mr Duterte wants to reintroduce the death penalty as part of his tough stance on crime and drugs. He also wants to lower the age of criminal liability to 12 years. The opposition and rights groups vocally oppose any such changes, arguing that they will take the president's brutal war on drugs to yet another level | BBC, UK

Drug driving tests are called into question after it's revealed a driver who took a PLACEBO tested positive for marijuana - and some heavy users test negative

University of Sydney researchers found roadside mobile saliva tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) were inaccurate more than 20 per cent of the time | Mail Online, UK

Former FDA chief Gottlieb: ‘We struck the wrong balance’ on e-cigarettes

The FDA struck the wrong balance on its oversight of the e-cigarette industry, former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Tuesday at CNBC’s Healthy Returns conference | CNBC, USA

As more veterans die of opioid overdoses, study shows need to focus beyond prescriptions

Most of those overdosing haven't received prescription opioids recently, suggesting a need for more opioid use disorder screening and treatment amid continued focus on appropriate prescribing | EurekAlert, USA

Pain management protocol sends 92 percent of cancer surgery patients home without opioids

Penn study of robotic urologic surgery patients points to key step in overcoming opioid crisis | EurekAlert, USA

Childhood Development Issues and Adult Addiction Fit the Same Pattern

Behavioral-developmental challenges in childhood and addiction problems in adulthood are two sides of the same coin. Both constitute self-defeating patterns of reward-seeking behaviors—patterns that are often unintentionally encouraged by professionals who are meant to help | Filter Magazine, USA

What Happens When a Syringe Exchange Is Shut Down

HIV infections are surging in Cabell County, West Virginia. On April 4, 2019, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (WVBPH) issued a health advisory regarding a spike in new diagnoses of people who inject drugs (PWID) such that the county is likely to exceed twice the number of new diagnoses that had been previously predicted | Filter Magazine, USA

Government of Canada invests in new cannabis research and public awareness programs

Researchers to produce evidence on the potential harms and therapeutic uses of cannabis | Government of Canada, Canada

'Passive smoking' defence clears woman of drug driving as research casts doubt on roadside testing

The accuracy of drug driving tests has been called into question after a landmark court ruling and new research by a leading academic | abc news, Australia

 

Blogs, comment and opinion

Where next for public health and alcohol?

Alcohol Change UK trustee Will Haydock considers the current issues for public health approaches to reducing alcohol harm | Alcohol Change UK blog, UK

Antidepressant withdrawal: slower and lower tapering of SSRIs

Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are frontline treatment for depression. Prescriptions of antidepressants have more than doubled in the last decade according to figures from NHS Digital | Mental Elf, UK

China's Ban on Fentanyl Drugs Won't Likely Stem America's Opioid Crisis

The invention of the hypodermic needle and synthesis of heroin in the 19th century forever changed the opiate landscape. The arrival of cheap, accessible and mass-produced synthetic opioids might do the same | The RAND blog, USA