Daily news - 18th December 2020 |
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UK news
Nicola Sturgeon says Scottish drug deaths record 'indefensible'
Scotland's record on drug deaths is "indefensible" and the government must do more to save lives, the country's first minister has admitted | BBC, UK
Lockdown drives up lager sales but wipes £180m off makeup
Supermarket figures capture the way Covid has changed our habits – and Corona lager has been very popular | Guardian, UK
London comes together to treat hepatitis C during lockdown
Today the London Joint Working Group on Substance Use and Hepatitis C (LJWG) launched a report, supported by the Mayor of London, to spotlight the partnership that came together to offer hepatitis C testing and treatment interventions for the homeless population in London during the Covid-19 pandemic | LJWG, UK
Smokefree Skills: Training needs of mental health nurses and psychiatrists (PDF)
A new report published today by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found the current training of mental health nurses and psychiatrists to help their patients quit smoking is woefully inadequate and risks leaving people behind as the Government commits to delivering a smokefree nation by 2030. Press release here | ASH, UK
Could physical activity help minimize drug and alcohol use?
Figures and surveys have shown that high-risk alcohol consumption increased during lockdown periods, while exercise decreased. Now researchers are exploring whether increased physical activity could help reduce alcohol and drug misuse long after social restrictions have lifted | Medical Xpress, UK
The SURE Recovery app: Jo Neale talks to the SSA
The SURE Recovery SMART phone app was launched in 2019. It was developed with people who have lived experience of alcohol or other drug use and was designed for people who think they have a problem with drugs or alcohol or who are in treatment. In November 2020 we talked to Professor Jo Neale to find out more | SSA, UK
Burnley's Pastor Mick - from dangerous drug dealer to lifesaver
Two weeks ago, millions of people watched Pastor Mick Fleming and Father Alex Frost on BBC news feeding and clothing the poor in Burnley. Many people were moved by their work, and since then they have received more than £250,000 in donations | BBC, UK
Two men arrested after rural Ayrshire drug seizure
Two men have been charged after police seized about £220,000 worth of drugs at a rural property in East Ayrshire | BBC, UK
John Wright killing: Drug dealers guilty of 'fake cash' attack
Two drug dealers have been found guilty of killing a man as punishment for using fake banknotes to buy crack cocaine | BBC, UK
International news
The covid-19 pandemic has worsened the US opioid crisis, and policy changes have not done enough to help
As the United States began shuttering non-essential businesses and closing schools to slow the spread of covid-19 in mid-March, Richard Jorgensen braced himself for the possibility of mass deaths | BMJ, UK
'An evil family': Sacklers condemned as they refuse to apologize for role in opioid crisis
House committee is investigating Purdue Pharma and billionaire family’s role in epidemic that has killed almost 500,000 Americans | Guardian, UK
Coalition rebels' move to overturn prescription-only e-cigarettes policy hits a wall
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson joins Labor and Centre Alliance in supporting the health minister’s model on vaping | Guardian, UK
Argentine pensioner gang smuggle drugs into capital on zipline
[Limited number of free articles per week] A criminal gang led by a septuagenarian used an improvised zip line to ferry drugs across a river and supply their clientele in Buenos Aires | Telegraph, UK
Mexico: new security law strips diplomatic immunity from DEA agents
Law also requires foreign officials in the country to share any intelligence they have obtained with Mexican officials | Guardian, UK
US couple find 100-year-old whisky bottles hidden in walls of home
One hundred years ago this year, the United States government banned the production, transportation and sale of alcohol across the country | BBC, UK
New psychoactive substances: global markets, glocal threats and the COVID-19 pandemic — an update from the EU Early Warning System
In this update from the the EU Early Warning System aims to provide insights into what is happening with new psychoactive substances in Europe, based on data from the agency’s early warning and risk-assessment activities. The report covers the period until October 2020 and this year focuses on global markets, glocal threats and the COVID-19 pandemic | EMCDDA, Portugal
Tobacco Product Use Down Among Youths in 2020
A report out today (see item below) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), found that current tobacco product use declined among U.S. middle and high school students from 2019 to 2020—driven by decreases in e-cigarette, cigar, and smokeless tobacco use | CDC, USA
Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2020
In 2020, 23.6% (3.65 million) of high school and 6.7% (800,000) of middle school students reported current (past 30-day) use of any tobacco product. From 2019 to 2020, decreases among high school and middle school students occurred in current use of any tobacco product, combustible tobacco products, multiple tobacco products, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco | CDC, USA
Incidence and Characteristics of Nonfatal Opioid Overdose Among Youths Aged 11 to 24 Years by Sex
This study found differences between female and male youths in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and incidence of nonfatal opioid overdose, suggesting a need for tailored strategies to address overdose in this population | JAMA Network, USA
Childhood intervention can prevent 'deaths of despair'
Mortality rates among young adults are rising in the U.S. due in part to "deaths of despair"—preventable deaths from suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol-related liver disease | Medical Xpress, USA
The BASIS Year-In-Review: 2020
It’s that time of year again! Time to reflect on material we produced on The BASIS over the past twelve months and how readers reacted to it. This was an unprecedented year in many ways, and we at the Division on Addiction used The BASIS to share urgent information while, at the same time, continuing our decades-long effort to make high-quality addiction science widely accessible worldwide. Here, we share the most widely read posts | BASIS, USA
She Stalked Her Daughter’s Killers Across Mexico, One by One
Armed with a handgun, a fake ID card and disguises, Miriam Rodríguez was a one-woman detective squad, defying a system where criminal impunity often prevails | NYTimes, USA
Eureka, California, Drives Out Its Syringe Service Program
A political battle in Northern California has ended in the partial closure of a local syringe service program (SSP). Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction (HACHR), based in Eureka, must now stop distributing sterile syringes in the city—though it can continue providing other harm reduction services and supplies like naloxone | Filter Magazine, USA
How Artists Are Reimagining the Overdose Crisis
Last year, I volunteered at a harm reduction center where fights and cold sweats broke out, war stories and grudges circulated, drugs kicked in, mixed with overdoses, looming dopesickness, boredom induced by daytime TV | Filter Magazine, USA
‘No different to Juukan Gorge’: Controversial Darwin Dan Murphy’s store approved
Supermarket and drinks giant Woolworths has been given the green light to build the controversial Dan Murphy’s outlet in Darwin despite continued opposition from local Indigenous community groups | SMH, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The first psychedelic healthcare fund has launched in the UK – policy makers must now open their minds to the benefits
The timing couldn’t be better for this renaissance of interest in psychedelics and it’s no coincidence that venture capital is pouring into schemes, which aim to research their role in treating mental health problems | Independent voices, UK
Record View: 'The buck stops with Nicola Sturgeon on drug death crisis'
'Pointing the finger at Westminster was no more than an act of deflection' | Daily Record comment, UK
Nicola Sturgeon's drug death mea culpa will not save her public health minister
[Limited number of free articles per week] Scotland recorded the worst drug-related death toll in Europe for the second year in a row | Telegraph comment, UK
The 12 Dichotomies of Drug Policy
A critique of contemporary drug policy and the drug apartheid | BSC blog, UK
WHO Consultation
The Portman Group has responded to a recently closed World Health Organisation consultation on the development of an action plan to strengthen the implementation of the Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol, which was first adopted in 2010. As the UK’s alcohol industry regulator and social responsibility body, reducing the harmful use of alcohol is a primary focus and is an essential component of promoting responsible drinking | Portman Group blog, UK
Developing Peer to Peer Naloxone Training & Supply Programs
In this long read, George Charlton explains why “Drug Users” should know their place, and that place is firmly front and centre and at the heart of every treatment system and service across the UK | Talk Social Justice, UK
Biden’s Opioid Plan: Punishment Disguised as Treatment
Last summer, Joe Biden attended a ritzy fundraiser at the Carlyle Hotel for New York donors, where he promised the ultrarich “nothing would fundamentally change.” | Points blog, USA