Daily news - 10th December 2020 |
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UK news
Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2020
There was no change in the overall level of any drug use1 in the last year across England and Wales for the year ending March 2020 compared with the previous year. Findings from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) showed that around 1 in 11 adults aged 16 to 59 years had taken a drug in the last year (9.4%; 3.2 million individuals). The proportion of adults aged 16 to 24 years who reported any drug use in the last year, however, was higher (21%; 1.3 million individuals) | ONS, UK
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2020
Contains figures for seizures of drugs made by local police forces and the UK Border Force | Home Office, UK
More and More Teenagers and Women Are Smoking Cannabis
Official figures from England and Wales also show ketamine use is up among young people, but cocaine and MDMA use fell, even before lockdown | VICE, UK
Supporting public health: children, young people and families
Updated by adding 6 new PDFs about maternity high impact areas. High Impact are 4 covers drinking in pregnancy | PHE, UK
Public health grant cuts 'worst in poorest areas'
In deprived communities like Bensham in Gateshead, poor housing and a lack of jobs are feeding ill health. Cuts to public health projects targeting smoking, obesity or addiction haven't helped - say the IPPR | BBC, UK
Scotland's funding for treatment needs overhaul to combat post-Covid drug deaths
Epidemiologist Dr Andrew McAuley says it is inevitable that annual drug death statistics will show a further rise in Scotland’s death rate | Daily Record, UK
Two in five senior leaders using drugs or alcohol to alleviate Covid-19 worries
Two in five (38%) business leaders in the UK have turned to alcohol or drugs to cope with mental ill health during the pandemic, with 36% admitting they self-medicate because they cannot talk to anybody about their wellbeing concerns | Personnel Today, UK
Pharmacosex: Reimagining sex, drugs and enhancement
The use of drugs in sexual contexts is receiving closer attention in the media, public health bodies and communities than ever before. However, research to date is most often concerned with the sex-related drug use of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) populations, and particularly men who have sex with men (MSM) engaging in ‘chemsex’ | IJDP, UK
Psychedelic drug DMT to be trialled in UK to treat depression
Exclusive: UK regulators give go-ahead for drug to be trialled ahead of possible treatment alongside psychotherapy | Guardian, UK
The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health
Therapeutic psychedelic administration and contact with nature have been associated with the same psychological mechanisms: decreased rumination and negative affect, enhanced psychological connectedness and mindfulness-related capacities, and heightened states of awe and transcendent experiences, all processes linked to improvements in mental health amongst clinical and healthy populations | Health Psychology Open, UK
ALLIANCE Live podcast – supporting women with histories of substance use and domestic abuse
Dr Sarah Fox from Manchester Metropolitan University talks to us about how the support landscape needs to change to better support women | The Alliance, UK
Community Sentence Treatment Requirements
What steps the Government are taking to increase the use of community sentence treatment requirements | They work for you, UK
UK government to review gambling legislation
The UK government has launched a review of gambling legislation intending to ensure that laws are effective for online, as well as face-to-face forms of gambling. Digital forms of gambling have changed substantially since the Gambling Act was introduced in 2005 with increasing numbers now betting online | SSA, UK
Scottish farmers 'should grow medical cannabis', SRUC says
Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) has suggested it amongst novel crops that could flourish in the south of the country. Otherse include mushrooms and cut flowers | The National, UK
Could UK's Covid crisis lead to cannabis legalisation?
As the economic cost of coronavirus deepens, questions of how the government plans to pay back the mounting debt continue to be asked | ITV, UK
Covid: Can I meet friends as Wales' pubs shut early?
This is usually party season but an office outing or drinks with friends could not be further from reality as Wales prepares for a Covid Christmas | BBC, UK
Police force criticised for ‘grotesque’ and ‘stigmatising’ social media poem mocking drugs arrest suspects
Constabulary apologises for ‘for any offence caused’ by post described as ‘one of the most shocking examples of a public service perpetuating stigma we’ve seen in some time’ | Independent, UK
Newbury PC tipped off boyfriends about drug stop
A police officer resigned after he was caught tipping off his boyfriends that their car could be stopped over drugs, a misconduct hearing heard | BBC, UK
International news
‘They’re culpable’: the countries supplying the guns that kill Mexico’s journalists
Many of the weapons used in the murders of 119 journalists were imported – and Mexico’s laws and culture make tracing them impossible | Guardian, UK
HepaGo – Supporting people living on the streets during the pandemic
This unique program supports people who use drugs and sex workers who live or work on the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic in Budapest. One of their main goals is to help people get into Hepatitis C treatment | Drug Reporter, Hungary
New data from WHO/Europe shows links between gender and noncommunicable diseases
Men and women have different biological and behavioural risk factors for contracting noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), as shown by a new series of WHO reports released today. The reports analyse gender-specific data on NCDs from 8 different countries providing interesting insights on the links between gender and certain NCDs | WHO, Denmark
Association Between Benzodiazepine Use With or Without Opioid Use and All-Cause Mortality in the United States, 1999-2015
In this cohort study of 5212 individuals from a large, nationally representative data set, it was found that benzodiazepine use, with or without opioid use, was associated with a doubling in all-cause mortality risk in comparison with the use of low-risk antidepressants. These findings persisted even after adjustment for sociodemographic variables and comorbidity burden | JAMA Network, USA
New compound related to psychedelic ibogaine could treat addiction, depression
A non-hallucinogenic version of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, with potential for treating addiction, depression and other psychiatric disorders, has been developed by researchers | Science Daily, USA
My Harrowing Year in the Drug Court System That Biden Wants to Expand
As we await the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, many of us are welcoming the possibility of a more compassionate approach towards people who use drugs | Filter Magazine, USA
Two In Three Americans Approve Of House Vote To Decriminalize Marijuana
While a bill passed by the House last week that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level is unlikely to make it through the Republican-controlled Senate, a poll out Wednesday found that 66% of Americans approve of the measure | Forbes, USA
Alcohol consumption in BC during COVID-19
We estimated per capita alcohol consumption using alcohol sales data from the British Columbia (BC) provided by the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) and the population data projected by BC Stats during the period from January to December 2012-2019 and January to July 2020 | University of Victoria, Canada
Officials suspect 'new deadly substance' is causing spike in overdoses in Hamilton
Public health and local shelter networks don't know if there is a new drug, but saw 18 overdoses last week | CBC News, Canada
Australian Alcohol Guidelines Revised
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) have released a revised version of the Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol | Australian Government, Australia
Calls for Victoria to start tracking ex-prisoner deaths after a review finds 25 parolees died in 31 months
For decades we've paid close attention to the number of deaths in custody in Australia, but there's much less scrutiny of how many people are dying soon after leaving prison, when death risk skyrockets | abc.net.au, Australia
Police charge 137 people as part of major drug bust operation across Sydney
Police have charged 137 people as part of a major investigation into the "Dial-a-Dealer" drug operation across Sydney in the lead up to Christmas | 9 News, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Laughing gas is now almost as popular as cannabis – but drug use isn’t the real problem
Drug use doesn’t cause too many problems for individuals beyond the usual embarrassing moment while under the influence – the main threat lies in our outdated policies | Independent voices, UK
Further implications of the harm to others framework for drug policy debates
Wilkinson and Ritter's excellent paper on the alcohol harm to others (AHTO) paradigm raises some critical questions. It should stimulate much‐needed debate on how approaches developed within alcohol research apply across other substances | Addiction commentary, UK
Staying sober this Christmas season
From mulled wine at a carol service to bucks fizz on Christmas morning, alcohol features heavily in many people’s holiday celebrations. But for those in recovery or anyone who is trying to create healthier drinking habits, Christmas doesn’t always feel like the most wonderful time of the year. In this blog, Susan Laurie, who has been sober for six years, shares her top tips for how to avoid drinking and truly embrace the holiday season | AHA UK blog, UK
No more than 10 standard drinks a week, or 4 on any day: new guidelines urge Aussies to go easy on the booze
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has today released new guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. Under the new recommendations, healthy adults should drink no more than ten standard drinks a week, and no more than four on any one day | Conversation, Australia
The Harms Of Criminalising Public Drunkenness
In AOD work, we often speak of the harms associated with alcohol or other drugs in themselves, but equally important is recognising how laws can cause harm, particularly to vulnerable members of the community | 360 edge blog, Australia