Daily news - 21st February 2020


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UK news

PHE - Corporate - Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Resource Review

Open opportunity - This means that the contract is currently unfulfilled but active, and the buying department is looking for potential suppliers to contact them with bid applications | PHE, UK

PCCs making a difference: Alcohol and drugs in focus (PDF)

‘Alcohol and Drugs In Focus’ demonstrates how Police and Crime Commissioners are working with partner organisations to prevent crime and to break the cycle of reoffending by addressing underlying problems such as alcohol and drug dependency | APCCS, UK

Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Health Services:Written question

Data on spending on drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment (including alcohol related hospital admissions) by National Health Service bodies and providers is not collected centrally. Local authorities report their spending on drug and alcohol treatment and prevention to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | Parliament.uk, UK

Smoking Ban (Play Parks and Outdoor Sports Facilities)

The first item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S5M-20554, in the name of Rachael Hamilton, on a smoking ban for play parks and outdoor sports facilities. The debate will be concluded without any question being put | They work for you, UK

The Jamaica Deportations Reveal the Racial Injustice of the UK's Drug Laws

The Government’s recent deportations of “serious foreign national offenders” are the most recent and poignant example of the so-called ‘colour line’, argues Lola Brittain | Byline Times, UK

Psychoactive Substances - audio

So- called 'designer drugs' like spice are having a major impact on the streets of Wales. Adam Walton investigates how science is helping us understand new psychoactive substances | BBC, UK

Negotiating tensions and conflicts in drug user activism and scholarship

We invite submissions from people with lived experience of illicit drug use to reflect on how drug use has both featured as part of their personal lives and has informed their public engagement. We are particularly interested in work that explores the tensions intrinsic to negotiating the personal, professional and political in regard to drug user activism and scholarship | IJDP, UK

Double murder probe after men stabbed at Dudley cannabis farm

A double murder investigation has been launched after two men were stabbed during a robbery at a cannabis factory | BBC, UK

Coronavirus prisoner Mark Rumble admits drugs charges

A prisoner at the centre of a coronavirus scare following his extradition from Thailand has admitted drugs charges | BBC, UK

 

International news

Jagermeister logo does not offend Christians, Swiss court rules

The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property had blocked efforts by the German spirit brand to expand its trademark to cosmetics and entertainment services | BBC, UK

Cocaine, no sleep and deep soul: the story of David Bowie’s Young Americans

‘His eyes didn’t look healthy but his voice might be better than on any other album’ – pianist Mike Garson and guitarist Carlos Alomar recall the sessions that featured soul greats like Luther Vandross and visitors John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen | Independent, UK

Drug agents say NFL player Greg Robinson had 157lb of marijuana when arrested

NFL offensive tackle Greg Robinson remained in a Texas jail without bond on Wednesday after federal agents said they found 157lb (71kg) of marijuana in a rented vehicle in which he and two other people were riding | Guardian, UK

Patients most at risk of overdose at the beginning and after end of methadone treatment

A new study, led by RCSI researchers, has found that patients receiving methadone treatment are most at risk of overdosing in the month following the end of methadone treatment and during the first four weeks of treatment | EurekAlert, Ireland

Why Sweden's alcohol monopoly is suing a Danish wine app

Sweden's state-run alcohol monopoly Systembolaget has accused a Danish app for rating and reviewing wines of breaking the country's strict laws around sale and advertisement of alcohol | The Local, Sweden

New study supports the safety of varenicline

A real-world study of over 600,000 adult participants without a history of depression has found that the stop-smoking medication varenicline (marketed as Chantix in the US and Champix elsewhere in the world) does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular or neuropsychiatric hospitalization compared with nicotine replacement therapy | Medical Xpress, USA

Harmful levels of metal linked to DNA damage found in the urine of e-cigarette users

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have completed a cross-sectional human study that compares biomarkers and metal concentrations in the urine of e-cigarette users, nonsmokers, and cigarette smokers | News Medical, USA

Does a “Dialectical Abstinence” Program Qualify as Harm Reduction?

I first heard the term “dialectical abstinence” in the summer of 2019, several weeks into an intensive outpatient program (IoP) for opioid use disorder offered in South Florida by Memorial Outpatient Behavioral Health | Filter Magazine, USA

Smoking rates in Japan blamed on lack of images on cigarette pack warnings and partial smoke-free laws

The tobacco control policies of Japan, the world's ninth largest cigarette market and host of the 2020 Olympics, are not working, according to new studies from researchers at the University of Waterloo | Medical Xpress, USA

Addiction in paradise: Seychelles battles heroin crisis

On a plain suburban street in Seychelles, far from the idyllic coastline and luxury resorts pampering honeymooners and paradise-seekers, heroin addicts queue anxiously for their daily dose of methadone | Medical Xpress, USA

Treatment Outcomes for Disorders Related to Substance Use or Addictive Behaviours - survey

Do you work with substance use or addictive behaviour disorders (alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling, gaming)? Share your thoughts (10-20 min) on a core outcome set | ICHOM, USA

Online now: 2019 Illicit Drug Reporting System and Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System state reports

The IDRS and EDRS are annual surveys conducted via interview with sentinel samples of people who regularly inject drugs and people who regularly use ecstasy, respectively | NDARC, Australia

New report shows deaths related to GHB could have been prevented

GHB has gained popularity as an illicit recreational drug. A total of 74 GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate)-related deaths identified between 2000-2019 have been examined in a new report by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney. The report calls for better awareness of GHB overdose as simple measures can avoid loss of life | NDARC, Australia

Legalising cannabis: Supporters, opponents take swipes at each other as polls show 'yes' vote falling

Recent polls on legalising recreational cannabis show support falling for the 'yes' vote, but also a significant number of undecideds who could ultimately swing the September 19 vote | NZ Herald, New Zealand

Cannabis legislation: More education leads to more support

Support for cannabis legalisation grows when people know more about the proposed legislation, new survey results suggest | RNZ, New Zealand

 

Blogs, comment and opinion

Letter: Terry Jones’ love affair with beer

Terry Jones had a love affair with beer – and he helped make it as well as drink it. He was a passionate supporter of Camra, the Campaign for Real Ale, and in 1977 he founded with Peter Austin and the Guardian journalist Richard Boston the Penrhos Brewery in Herefordshire | Guardian letter, UK

Teen use of cannabis has dropped in New Zealand, but legalisation could make access easier

As New Zealand prepares for a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis, the latest surveys show opposite trends for cannabis use by adults and adolescents. Adult use of cannabis has risen sharply over the last few years, reflecting softening attitudes towards the drug. But our study, published today, shows cannabis use in adolescents has been decreasing since 2001 | Conversation, New Zealand

 

 

And finally...

How a beer can helped reunite a woman with her dog after three years

A brewery over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away in Florida had gained prominence on the internet for putting adoptable dogs on its cans to help a local shelter | BBC, UK