Daily news - 3rd April 2020 |
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Coronavirus frequently updated resources
Treatment and recovery services – and COVID-19 |Collective Voice
Society for the Study of Addiction useful coronavirus links | SSA
DDN coronavirus advice links |DDN
COVID-19 and smoking: resources, research and news | BMJ
Coronavirus: information and advice hub - alcohol | Alcohol Change UK
UK news
Letter from the Home Secretary to the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs
Letter to Professor Bowden-Jones from Rt Hon Priti Patel MP on COVID-19, regarding emergency legislation to enable supply of controlled drugs | ACMD, UK
Public Health Wales Urges Smokers To Quit Now
Smokers are more at risk from Covid-19 because they have weakened lung defences | Wales247, UK
Image-and-text health warning labels on alcohol and food: potential effectiveness and acceptability
Health warning labels using images and text to depict the negative health consequences of tobacco consumption are effective and acceptable for changing smoking-related outcomes. There is currently limited evidence concerning their potential use for reducing consumption of alcoholic drinks and energy-dense foods | BMC Public Health, UK
Cocaine resource
With cocaine purity at an all time high and cocaine related hospital admissions in Scotland having doubled in the past year, we thought it was important to release an in-depth harm reduction resource on cocaine | CREW, UK
Ease rules on research into psychedelic drugs, urges David Nutt
Ex-government adviser says substances such as psilocybin could have medical value | Guardian, UK
Potential of using psychedelic drugs in psychiatry
Before they were banned about a half century ago, psychedelic drugs like LSD and psilocybin showed promise for treating conditions including alcoholism and some psychiatric disorders. Researchers say it's time for regulators, scientists, and the public to 'revisit drugs that were once used but fell out of use because of political machinations, especially the war on drugs.' | Science Daily, UK
From Aldous Huxley to the Beatles: how LSD has inspired art
As scientist David Nutt campaigns for drug rules to change, we look at artists who said yes to psychedelic culture | Guardian, UK
Chemsex and the Corona virus lockdown
The Corona Virus pandemic has created an unprecedented situation in our social lives. The Government has issued guidance that we should stay at home to protect ourselves, the NHS, and others. It is important this this is adhered to in relation to chemsex and other sexual activities | London friend, UK
Coronavirus Kent: Charity Change, Grow, Live speaks about adapting to lockdown and the impact on people in recovery
An addiction charity is buying mobile phones for some of its most deprived clients and considering delivering essential medication for self-isolaters in response to restrictions imposed because of coronavirus | Kent Online, UK
Free heroin scheme for addicts backed by probation inspectors to combat reoffending
[Free registration may be required] A scheme where addicts are able to inject medicine grade heroin has been endorsed by the probation inspectorate to combat reoffending | Telegraph, UK
Number of potential modern slavery victims in UK rises by 52%
In 2019, 10,627 potential victims were identified meaning they were provided with specialist support | Guardian, UK
Police pin vape shop owner to floor for ignoring coronavirus lockdown rules
Dramatic footage shows Ian Grave, 45, being arrested by four Merseyside Police officers | Liverpool Echo, UK
Suspected cannabis farm found in Middlesbrough
A suspected cannabis farm with a street value of £200,000 has been discovered | BBC, UK
Coronavirus: Woman flouts isolation rules to stockpile cannabis
A woman disobeyed coronavirus measures in order to stockpile enough cannabis to last her a week, police said | BBC, UK
International news
Guidelines for an overlooked cohort with an overlooked problem
What constitutes best practice for an ‘ageing cohort’ of drinkers or people who start to develop drinking problems later in life? And, why might older people’s needs get lost without this specific clinical direction? Written for the Canadian context but informed by international evidence, new guidelines detail how to prevent, assess, and treat alcohol use disorders in older populations | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
British American Tobacco working on plant-based coronavirus vaccine
Cigarette maker says tobacco plants offer potential for faster and safer drug development | Guardian, UK
US sends warships to Caribbean to stop illegal drugs
"We must not let the drug cartels exploit the [coronavirus] pandemic to threaten American lives," President Donald Trump said | BBC, UK
NEW POSTER: HSE and Department of health share harm reduction for people who use drugs
The HSE and Department of Health have released a new harm reduction poster for people who use drugs during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic | Drugs.ie, Ireland
FDA review of e-cigarettes is as critical as ever—any delay must be brief
After years of harmful delays by the FDA, a federal judge last July set a May 12, 2020, deadline for e-cigarette manufacturers to apply to the FDA and demonstrate a public health benefit in order to keep their products on the market | Medical Xpress, USA
A.A. Saved My Life. Can It Work Online?
Holding hands and bearing witness in a musty basement got me through | NYTimes, USA
SUD Patients’ Confidentiality a Quiet Victim of the CARES Act
It took COVID-19 to do what the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the insurance industry, and the electronic health record industry have been trying to accomplish for years | Filter Magazine, USA
Court Reins In Social Workers’ Power in Drug-War Child Removals
Social workers are overlooked actors in the drug war, separating parents who use drugs from their children, often regardless of whether the child has actually experienced abuse | Filter Magazine, USA
Let People Take Home Their Methadone
The covid-19 pandemic is turning daily pick-ups into an acute public health crisis. There’s a better way | Gizmodo, USA
B.C. is facing a pandemic on top of a health crisis: How COVID-19 puts people who use drugs at greater risk
In the midst of one health crisis — the opioid overdose epidemic — B.C. is now facing another: the COVID-19 virus outbreak. On March 17, the B.C. Government declared the novel coronavirus a provincial public health emergency | Vancouver Sun, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
Charity warns social distancing could lead to a surge in harmful drinking
Increased isolation could lead to a surge in people drinking harmful levels of alcohol, warns drug, alcohol and mental health charity We Are With You | We Are With You, UK
GDS Corona Conversations - with Zara Snapp from Instituto RIA in Mexico - video
In this episode of GDS Corona Conversations Prof. Adam Winstock has a conversation with Zara Snapp, co-founder of the Instituto RIA based in Mexico | Global Drug Survey, UK
How to Fix a Drug Scandal: behind a staggering Netflix crime docuseries
In a four-part series, Erin Lee Carr follows the ripple effects of two state chemists whose faulty drug tests left more than 20,000 defendants in legal limbo | Guardian, UK
Being a Smoker or Vaper in the Time of COVID-19
During a recent walk outside of the confines of my COVID-19 quarantine in Baltimore, I passed by someone resting on their marble front steps. As our eyes met, I could sense our shared heaviness, confirmed through our silent nods. An all-too-common exchange these days. The woman lit her cigarette, took a deep drag and exhaled. And I exhaled too | Filter Magazine, USA