Daily news - 9th March 2021 |
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UK news
Funding new ways to reduce drugs deaths
More than half a million pounds has been awarded to eight projects working to deliver more support to people living with drug addiction. Each of the eight projects will use their share of the £514,000 of investment to increase staffing levels in their work with people with multiple complex needs | Scottish Government, UK
Smoking prevalence in adults: current smokers aged over 18 years by wellbeing group and region
Detailed ad-hoc analysis of smoking prevalence, calculated from the Annual Population Survey and Opinions and Lifestyle Survey | PHE, UK
Housing First: tackling homelessness for those with complex needs
Research commissioned by the Housing First Europe Hub (2019) suggested “strong evidence” of HF offering “an effective solution to homelessness among people with high and complex needs”. This prompted a growing interest in HF | House of Commons Library, UK
Identification of Behavior Change Techniques From Successful Web-Based Interventions Targeting Alcohol Consumption, Binge Eating, and Gambling: Systematic Review
This systematic review aims to identify effective behavior change techniques (BCTs) present in web-based interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption, binge eating, or gambling | JMIR, UK
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees backs 'city conversation' on drug consumption rooms
The suggestion forms part of a new five-year drug and alcohol strategy | Bristol Live, UK
Women’s health - Let's talk about it - survey
This survey is open to individuals aged 16 and over in England only. This is an opportunity for women to report on their experiences of healthcare | DHSC, UK
International Women’s Day 2021
This is the first in a series of posts marking International Women’s Day 2021. We have selected interviews and lectures from the SSA archives that focus on women’s experiences in addiction, covering themes of advertising, domestic abuse and stigma | SSA, UK
The Forward Trust and Action on Addiction join forces
Today, The Forward Trust and Action on Addiction announced they are uniting their efforts by merging to create a powerful force for recovery from addiction, at a time when there couldn’t be a greater need for these services | Action on Addiction, UK
Introducing the SMART Recovery Global Research Network
SMART Recovery is committed to evidence-based practice by ensuring that all SMART programs are based in science. The organization recognizes that to continue to reflect the best evidence in the field, SMART Recovery needs to be adaptable and innovative | SSA, UK
Stephanie Sillifant: Student died of natural causes, inquest finds
A student who was among four young people to die over a weekend, prompting police to issue a drugs warning, died of natural causes, an inquest found | BBC, UK
March Webinar: Women and Alcohol
Wed, 24 March 2021, 16:00 – 17:00 GMT. This months webinar will be honouring international women's day by exploring the relationship between women and alcohol | Insightful Families With Support From HAGA, UK
International news
Dr Nora Volkow: the SSA society lecture 2020
In November 2020, Dr Nora Volkow delivered the SSA Society Lecture. The full lecture is now available to all non-SSA members and covers the latest research on changes in the brain that are associated with drug use and with addiction. It is a must-see lecture for everyone with an interest in addiction | SSA, UK
International Women’s Day: 30 women leading the way in cannabis
From the best female-focused CBD brands to trailblazing campaigners, researchers, prescribers and patients, these are some of the women who are going above and beyond to pave the way for the future of the cannabis industry | Cannabis Health News, UK
Electronic cigarettes in standard smoking cessation treatment by tobacco counselors in Flanders: E-cigarette users show similar if not higher quit rates as those using commonly recommended smoking cessation aids
This interventional-cohort study tried to answer if people who smoke and choose an e-cigarette in the context of smoking cessation treatment by tobacco counselors in Flanders are achieving smoking abstinence and how they compare to clients who opt for commonly recommended (or no) aids (nicotine replacement therapy, smoking cessation medication) | Harm Reduction Journal, Belgium
Cardiac arrest from opioid overdose has unique features affecting prevention and treatment
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests triggered by opioid overdose are a significant cause of death among adults 25 to 64, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association, the nation's largest voluntary health organization focused on heart and brain health for all | Medical Xpress, USA
Does drug court participation reduce mortality risk?
Criminal-justice involved individuals report high rates of substance use and are at an elevated risk of substance use-related mortality though research on the long-term effects of criminal justice interventions, such as drug courts, is limited | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Automated contingency management using smartphones may reduce barriers and improve opioid use disorder treatment
Contingency management is among these most effective interventions for many types of substance use disorders. Barriers to its implementation, however, reduce the likelihood that treatment programs will adopt this empirically supported intervention | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Greater tobacco use linked to higher levels of inflammation in HIV-positive people
Inflammation in the body has been linked to the intensity of tobacco smoking among people with HIV, according to a team of University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers | Medical Xpress, USA
Aging-US: High-CBD Cannabis sativa extracts modulate ACE2 expression in COVID-19
'The Aging-US authors developed over 800 new C. sativa cultivars and hypothesized that high-CBD C. sativa extracts may be used to down-regulate ACE2 expression in target COVID-19 tissues' | EurekAlert, USA
Medical Marijuana Is Not Regulated as Most Medicines Are
The industry lacks randomized controlled clinical trials that can clearly establish benefits and risks | NYTimes, USA
Buying legal marijuana is more convenient than ever. Good luck finding somewhere to legally use it
State Legislature to debate bill authorizing “social consumption” venues | Boston Globe, USA
Advocates worry health policy change [is] another government dismissal of harm reduction
Alberta Health Services reworded an addictions policy at the behest of government | CBC News, Canada
Pill testing won't give people a 'green light' to use drugs
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found pill-testing services at Western Australian music festivals would not change people's intention to take ecstasy if they had not used the drug before, a common argument used by opponents of pill testing | Medical Xpress, Australia
Mexican president studies legalisation of opium poppy farming
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his government is studying what to do about growers of opium poppies who have been hit by competition from synthetic opioids, suggesting that some sort of legalisation scheme might be possible | The Age, Australia
Rise in Victorian drug overdose deaths as treatment options narrow
The number of Victorians dying of drug overdoses has risen consistently over the past decade, with 4365 drug users dying between 2010 and 2019, the vast majority having overdosed on more than one substance | The Age, Australia
New rules around opioid prescriptions leave few options for Australians in pain
During the two years Don Firth spent building his underground home, he took delivery of 14 truckloads of rock, made the mud bricks for the interior by hand and personally carried two semi-trailers worth of concrete blocks to the site | abc.net.au, Australia
Cannabis decriminalisation favoured by majority of National, ACT, Labour and Greens supporters, poll finds
Cannabis legalisation or decriminalisation is favoured by the majority of all Labour, National, Green, and ACT supporters, according to a new poll released by the Helen Clark Foundation | TVNZ, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Alcohol deaths rise sharply in England and Wales
A spike is concerning but we mustn’t lose sight of longer term trends across the UK | BMJ editorial, UK
How drug dealers won lockdown
For the past year, while the majority of Britain has been working from home, an often overlooked but, in his own way, “essential” worker has continued to go about his business: the neighbourhood drug dealer | UnHerd, UK
Growing cannabis indoors produces a lot of greenhouse gases – just how much depends on where it’s grown
Indoor cannabis production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the environmental effects vary significantly depending on where it is being grown, according to our new study | Conversation, USA
Women used to dominate the beer industry – until the witch accusations started pouring in
When I pose this question to students in my American literature and culture classes, I receive stunned silence or nervous laughs. The Sanderson sisters didn’t chug down bottles of Sam Adams in “Hocus Pocus.” But the history of beer points to a not-so-magical legacy of transatlantic slander and gender roles | Conversation, USA
Recovery Advocacy circa 1989
A friend recently shared a copy of the May/June 1989 issue of Professional Counselor Magazine. I thought you might find this portion interesting | Recovery Review blog, USA