Daily news - 14th February 2020 |
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UK news
Cannabis oil products ‘could be off the shelves in a year’
Oils, snacks and drinks containing the cannabis extract cannabidiol (CBD) will be "taken off the shelves" next year if they do not gain regulatory approval | BBC, UK
Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Rehabilitation
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of inequality of access to drug and alcohol services for offenders across the UK; and what steps they are taking to address any such inequalities | They work for you, UK
London mayoral race: Legalise cannabis, says Lib Dem candidate
A former civil servant who hopes to become mayor of London says she wants cannabis to be legalised, in a bid to tackle rising levels of knife crime | BBC, UK
Chief Medical Officer urges ministers to take health concerns over vaping seriously as he fears a repeat of 1950s scandal when worries about dangers of tobacco were widely ignored
Ministers must not let history 'repeat itself' by allowing children to get hooked on e-cigarettes, the Chief Medical Officer warned | Mail Online, UK
UK drug barons ditch banks for money service businesses
Met’s head of specialist crime says MSBs are now thought to be main way to launder cash | Guardian, UK
International news
Amsterdam looks to bar foreign visitors from buying cannabis
Mayor cites survey of tourists in Singel area as she looks to clean up overcrowded red-light district | Guardian, UK
A victory in the war on drugs may now be exported from Europe to America
Between 1995 and 2019, the estimated number of addicts fell from 100,000 to 50,000, of whom 30,000 are receiving treatment | i news, UK
Drug-related hospital emergency presentations in Europe: update from the Euro-DEN Plus expert network
This report presents the latest findings on drug-related hospital emergencies from a network of sentinel hospitals across Europe. Almost 24 000 emergency presentations were recorded at 32 sentinel hospitals over the first 4 years of the project. The data reveal that the substances most commonly involved in acute drug toxicity presentations include heroin, cocaine and cannabis. Prescription medicines are frequently reported. The report also sheds light on other aspects of drug-related emergencies such as clinical features, geographical variation, outcomes, demographics and time patterns | EMCDDA, Portugal
BU Study: State alcohol laws focus on drunk driving; they could do much more
First-of-its-kind study scores states on alcohol policy, finding even Utah, the state with the strongest alcohol laws, has a lot of room for improvement | EurekAlert, USA
Fewer liquor stores may lead to less homicide
Reducing the number of businesses in Baltimore that sell alcohol in urban residential areas may lower the homicide rate, according to new research | Medical Xpress, USA
'Quit vaping' internet searches increased during EVALI outbreak
E-cigarettes have been sold for more than a decade, seemingly without incident, but in the summer of 2019 serious lung injuries began appearing among some e-cigarette users -- especially adolescents and young adults | News Medical, USA
E-cigarette use among teens may be higher than previously thought, study finds
Rutgers researchers find some high school students who use juul don't consider themselves e-cigarette users | EurekAlert, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
The influence of drugs on murder rates is being overstated
The latest data on UK homicide rates shows that 31% of victims and suspects were “under the influence” of alcohol and other drugs at the time of death. Drugs and alcohol continue to be a convenient scapegoat when it comes to finding blame | Conversation, UK
Unsafe cannabis products are being pulled - but they've already flooded the market
It could take months until consumers know if their preferred CBD product will be formally green lit for sale. This is bound to create anxiety about the risks | Independent voices, UK
'Enough heroin to kill the whole street': does Anna Kavan's life overshadow her fiction?
The details of Anna Kavan’s life loom large over her work, says Chris Power, but the brilliant light of her short fiction illuminates psychological trauma and mortality | Guardian, UK