Daily news - 8th December 2020 |
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UK news
DDN 2020 December/Jan
Our news in this issue leads with the positive results of the heroin assisted treatment pilot in Middlesbrough – a scheme whose dramatic impact has resulted in funding to evaluate it, Armedand which will hopefully encourage further roll-out. These are the moments we must look for in a terribly difficult year. Our review of the last 12 months (p14) reminds us of the painful decisions and swift adaptations we all had to make – but it also tells the story of services rising to the challenge and gives much-needed glimpses of hope | DDN, UK
Residential Rehabilitation Working Group: drug and alcohol residential treatment services - preliminary recommendations
This report provides a set of recommendations to the Scottish Government and other partners involved in reducing the harms caused by problematic use of alcohol and drugs - recommendations which aim to improve access to residential rehabilitation treatment | Scottish Government, UK
Substance abuse and addiction - audio
In this episode of NICE Talks, we look at substance abuse and addiction. What can we do to prevent it, and how can we treat addiction? We speak to Professor Jim McCambridge, professor of addictive behaviours and public health at the University of York, and Dr Tim Leighton, director of professional education and research at Action on Addiction. | NICE, UK
Editorial – New Leaf Opportunity: Beyond Brexit, Countering Covid
Volteface is pleased to announce the launch of ‘New Leaf Opportunity’, a campaign focusing on the economic benefits, innovations and investment opportunities that medical cannabis and CBD can bring to the UK in 202 | Volteface, UK
Room for improvement
Dr Gillian Shorter asks whether it is time to trial and evaluate an official ‘drug consumption room’, following another year of the highest overdose deaths on record | The Psychologist, UK
Bed of Lies: What goes on inside the mind of an undercover police officer?
[Limited number of free articles per week] “Undercover work is the nuclear option of policing. People don’t realise how good at it we are,” says Neil Woods. “I can lie and manipulate. I can get a whole social group to do exactly what I want.” | Telegraph, UK
Fred Yates prize
The recipient of the prize will receive £2,000 and a certificate which includes the words ‘for a significant contribution to the work of the addictions field’. The recipient will be invited to present his or her research at that year’s Conference, for which his or her attendance expenses will be reimbursed, up to a maximum of £500 | SSA, UK
County Fermanagh: Five arrests after three million cigarettes seized
Five men have been arrested and three million suspected illicit cigarettes seized during an operation in County Fermanagh | BBC, UK
International news
Session on drug policy and Covid at the Paris Peace Forum 2020 - video
Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, joins a panel to discuss how Covid-19 impacts dug policy at the 2020 Paris Peace Forum | Global Commission on Drug Policy, UK
The cannabis plant's long road to the medicine cabinet
Billions have been invested, and the first Danish medicinal cannabis product is on the market. In the eye of the storm is researcher Rime Bahij, who dreams of mapping the ingredients of the cannabis plant. She hopes the evaluation of the two-year trial scheme of medicinal cannabis will open up to more research | SDU, Denmark
Recreational cannabis supply approved by voters in four US states but rejected in New Zealand
On 3 November 2020, in tandem with the US presidential election, the four states of Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota voted on and approved proposals to introduce systems of home and retail supply of cannabis for recreational use for over-21s. In New Jersey, the proposal was placed on the ballot by the State Legislature, as the state has no possibility for public ballot initiatives. In the other three states, the proposals were public initiatives | EMCDDA, Portugal
My Study of Providing Vapes to Unhoused Smokers in Ireland
While I was volunteering at an Irish homelessness service called Dublin Simon Community a couple of years ago, I helped work on their harm reduction policy. One day, a staff member said “What about tobacco smoking?” | Filter Magazine, USA
New study shows every week of lockdown increases binge drinking
Harmful drinking among adults increases the longer they spend at home in lockdown, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse | Medical Xpress, USA
Associations between vaping and COVID-19: cross-sectional findings from the HEBECO study
Even though tobacco smoking is harmful to the lungs, some research suggests that smokers may be at reduced risk of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. COVID-19 primarily attacks the human respiratory system, causing mild to severe illness and death | News Medical, USA
Research uncovers novel anti-craving mechanism to treat cocaine relapse
Cocaine continues to be one of the most commonly abused illicit drugs in the United States. Pre-clinical literature suggests that targeting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs) in the brain may represent a novel approach to treating cocaine use disorder | News Medical, USA
The Waiting Game: A Powerlessness That’s Long Harmed Drug Users
As our nation wakes up anxiety-ridden, collectively uncertain of whether we’ve been delivered from political catastrophe, many of us who are members or allies of the drug-user community are experiencing a particularly poignant feeling of powerlessness | Filter Magazine, USA
Judge Grants Class Action Status to Methadone-Taper Jail Lawsuit
Afederal judge has paved the way for a case against a methadone-taper policy at Cook County Jail, Illinois to proceed as a class action lawsuit | Filter Magazine, USA
How opioid addiction in the U.S. fuels a crisis for farmers in Mexico
As Americans turn to fentanyl, poppy growers in Mexico turn to migrant work and organized crime | The Intercept, USA
'Drug cave', sealed in Charlottetown, highlights need for safe sites, advocates say
A dreary, cement tunnel in Charlottetown that has been home to drug users and transients for decades has been plugged by the city’s public works department | Chronicle Herald, Canada
'Most smokers are low income': Dr Alex Wodak -audio
Should ways of taking nicotine be made more inexpensive, attractive and less harmful? Should Australia follow the example of other countries who are decriminalising drug use in order to help people seek treatment? | abc.net.au, Australia
NSW Involuntary Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program
Four free to access monographs on the programme, 30 -33 | UNSW, Australia
Can the active ingredient in magic mushrooms help treat anxiety? Researchers want to know
Australia is embarking on one of the world’s largest studies into the use of psychedelic drugs for mental health, with Melbourne researchers preparing to launch a world-first clinical trial investigating whether psilocybin – the active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" – can help treat people suffering severe persistent anxiety | SMH, Australia
Legal bid underway to dismiss cannabis referendum result
A group of more than 350 people is asking the High Court to void the vote on the Cannabis and Control Bill, claiming poor and inaccurate information generated confusion among voters | RNZ, New Zealand
Constant pressure
Already under pressure, the alcohol and other drugs (AOD) sector is bracing for an influx of demand related to Covid-19. While new initiatives are being introduced along with a funding injection, services have big aspirations for what will be achieved on the ground | NZDF, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Harry’s Blog 107: Tobacco ‘out of’ Control
COVID has accelerated the speed of fake news around the world much to the delight of the dangerous and delusional. In such times, the lay person could be forgiven for thinking that when the media cite ‘peer-reviewed’ papers, the publishing journals in which they appear would be an oasis of unbiased evidence and probity. The expectation is that the editors would have sufficient gravitas to weed out those papers which should never see the light of day. If only | NSP blog, UK
Coping through the pandemic: drinks, drugs and mental health
COVID-19 is increasing mental health issues and drug and alcohol use in the LGBTQ+ community. But support is available if you need it | We Are With You, UK
Brexit is an opportunity to stop Britons smoking
While the daily death toll of COVID-19 understandably dominates health news, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK. As the UK teeters on the edge of Brexit, newly found freedom from EU regulations could be an opportunity for the government to impose even tighter tobacco restrictions. But will it seize the moment? | Conversation, UK
The Trip Report 07/12
Through the work of organisations such as WEDINOS, The Loop, and SaferParty, we know a little more about the drugs in circulation. The report provided below is a summary of their findings over the last week | Cameron Scally, UK
Why some young Nigerians are using cannabis as a normal part of life
Cannabis is illegal in Nigeria. Its production, distribution and use are criminalised by local laws. Cultivated mostly in southern Nigeria, the drug is affordable and readily available through street drug-running. Cannabis users are also widely seen as social deviants, and are liable to arrest and imprisonment | Converastion, Nigeria