Daily news - 24th December 2020

UK news

Government pledges further £310 million to tackle homelessness

Councils will receive additional government support to prevent vulnerable people becoming homeless | Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Kelly Tolhurst MP, and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, UK

Blood alcohol levels much lower than the legal limit impair hand-eye coordination, study finds

New research finds that hand-eye coordination is dramatically more sensitive to alcohol with some measures of coordination impaired by more than 20 percent at BAC levels as low as 0.015 percent | Science Daily, UK

Darren Speaks #11 - Why Joe had to go - The Politics of Scotland's Drug crisis - podcast

Darren Speaks, a Podcast by Darren McGarvey Episode Number 11. Darren gives his passionate opinion on the latest drug death statistics coming out of Scotland, that has led to the resignation of Public Health Minister Joe Fitzpatrick | Darren Speaks, UK

SPFL slammed over Glen's vodka sponsorship as football bosses told to blow whistle on booze deals

Labour's health spokeswoman said sponsorship deals with booze firms sent the wrong message to young football fans | Daily Record, UK

Covid: Marston's take over Brains pubs to save 1,300 jobs

The pub operator will take over the running of about 150 of the pubs in Wales | BBC, UK

Message from our Chief Executive, James Nicholls

Covid-19 has created enormous challenges for everyone. Here at Transform it has impacted the way we work, the focus of our activities and our financial planning. Our team has responded brilliantly, adapting to the new circumstances with the energy, commitment and a spirit of innovation. This has been crucial, since the pandemic has done nothing to lessen the harms of drug policy and much to increase them | Transform, UK

BDP Recovery Orchestra at Christmas - audio

The BDP Recovery Orchestra group perform a selection of songs recorded at their Christmas Performance alongside members of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jon James | BDP, UK

International news

The common core of effective therapies

Take a research-illuminated journey to the core of psychosocial therapies, guided by the American Psychological Association’s investigations into the ‘common factors’ they share. A highlight from Alcohol Treatment Matrix row 4 | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

EMCDDA operating guidelines for the risk assessment of new psychoactive substances

The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure compliance with the scope and requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 (as amended) and Council Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA (as amended) in respect to the risk assessment procedure for and reporting on new psychoactive substances | EMCDDA, Portugal

To Protect 'Children' From E-Cigarettes, Congress Imposes New Restrictions on Everything Related to Vaping of Any Kind

The law bans mail delivery of vaping products and requires all vendors to comply with burdensome tax reporting rules | Reason, UK

Many lighter smokers can be addicted to cigarettes

Even people who consider themselves to be casual cigarette smokers may be addicted, according to current diagnostic criteria. Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and Duke University found that many light smokers -- those who smoke one to four cigarettes per day or fewer -- meet the criteria for nicotine addiction and should therefore be considered for treatment | News Medical, USA

E-cigarettes, as consumer products, do not help people quit smoking, study finds

E-cigarette use has risen steeply and mostly without regulation over the past decade. The devices have diversified into a dizzying array of vape pens, tank systems, 'mods,' and more, mass-marketed and sold to the public | Medical Xpress, USA

A first look at how the drug salvinorin A works in the brain

Recent interest in developing therapies from hallucinogenic drugs has scientists exploring how these chemicals work in the brain | Medical Xpress, USA

Two Roadmaps Show How New York Can Decriminalize Harm Reduction in 2021

Just a month following historic drug policy wins at the ballot box in November, leading public health and criminal justice experts have issued two plans for just New York State reform laws in 2021 | Filter Magazine, USA

How Legal Marijuana Will Be Decriminalized and Sold in New Jersey

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (D) is expected to sign a suite of bills codifying the marijuana legalization that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November | Filter Magazine, USA

Police, health officials warn of increased drug overdoses during pandemic

Kingston, Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health are warning that the increase in overdoses and deaths is linked to a toxic batch of fentanyl making the rounds in areas like Belleville, Kingston and Napanee | CTV News, Canada

Vancouver’s First Overdose Prevention Site Moves Across the Street

Vancouver’s first overdose prevention site started out as a tent in a Downtown Eastside alley. Just before Christmas in 2016, a construction company donated a trailer so that staff had somewhere to warm up. A year later, the Overdose Prevention Society moved inside to a storefront next door | The Tyee, Canada

Potent 'sweetheart candy' being sold in suburban Halifax as Xanax

It’s “frightening” that police in Lower Sackville recently seized a potentially dangerous designer drug in a candy shape that would appeal to young children, says the founder of a street-level outreach team | Saltwire, Canada

IWK's poison centre sees sudden spike in children eating cannabis edibles

Parents are being asked to use caution after five children had to be admitted to the IWK's poison centre in the last nine days after consuming cannabis edibles. That's the number of cases of unintentional ingestion the hospital typically sees in a year | CBC News, Canada