Daily news - 15th December 2021 |
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UK news
Medical cannabis for severe treatment resistant epilepsy in children: a case-series of 10 patients
To report the findings of a case-series of 10 children suffering with intractable epilepsies in the UK to determine the feasibility for using whole-plant cannabis medicines to treat seizures in children | BMJ Paediatrics Open, UK
Lockdown and licensed premises: COVID-19 lessons for alcohol policy
[Open access] The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated unprecedented changes in alcohol availability, including closures, curfews and restrictions. We draw on new data from three UK studies exploring these issues to identify implications for premises licensing and wider policy | Drug and Alcohol Review, UK
The Views and Experiences of Drug and Alcohol Treatment Professionals and People Seeking Recovery from Substance Dependency, that Influence Referral To, and Attendance at Twelve Step Groups in the UK: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies
There is a high level of drug related mortality and morbidity in the UK. Although treatment is effective in reducing harm, funding cuts combined with unmet demand present significant public health challenges. Twelve-step groups (TSGs) are an approach to treatment that can improve recovery outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. This review examined the factors that influence referral to and attendance at TSGs in the UK, through the views and experiences of drug and alcohol treatment professionals (DATPs) and people seeking recovery from substance dependency | PHI, UK
Drugs: Rehabilitation
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to provide high quality rehabilitative care for people addicted to harmful substances and help ensure that deaths from substance abuse are reduced | They work for you, UK
The Right to Recovery consultation response
The Right to Recovery consultation relates to a draft proposal which has been lodged by Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross MSP MP, as the first stage in the process of introducing a Member’s Bill in the Scottish Parliament | FAVOR, UK
New Drug Strategy: The good, the bad, the ugly
Publishing a new drugs strategy is always a tricky business for the government. The moralistic nature of the issue invokes strong responses from the general public, which in turn makes any drug strategy announcement a juicy story for a mainstream media, intent on harvesting rage clicks | Volteface, UK
Sharing the lived experience of people who have accessed our residential services
In light of the release of the new drug strategy and as part of our Making Rehab Work report – we are sharing the lived experiences of people who have accessed our residential services to reinforce the need for equality of access to residential treatment across the country. Here is Andrew's story... | Phoenix Futures, UK
Project Twenty21 - December Update
To mark the end of the year that is our namesake, we're proud to announce that we've reached 2000 patients contributing their data to Project Twenty21 | Drug Science, UK
New drug tests for entry to nightclubs after an increase in reported spiking incidents
People going to clubs in Gloucestershire are being tested for drugs related to drink spiking after dozens of incidents were reported to police in the county | ITV, UK
Pair appear in court after £1.4m drugs raid in Ayrshire
Officers raided a house at Nithsdale Place in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, on 9 December and recovered substances including heroin and amphetamine | BBC, UK
International news
Malta becomes first EU nation to legalise cannabis
Adults will be allowed to carry up to seven grams of cannabis, and grow no more than four plants at home| BBC, UK
Norway bans alcohol as threat of omicron ‘contagion bomb’ looms
Norway has banned the sale of alcohol in all hospitality venues in response to the threat of a potential “contagion bomb” caused by the omicron coronavirus variant, health chiefs have said | Independent, UK
Harm reduction must be recognised an essential public health intervention during crises
Harm reduction services for people who use drugs are front-line public health interventions. They serve a population that, due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation, faces barriers to accessing health and social services and are particularly vulnerable to public health crises. Despite this, across the world states have failed to protect harm reduction services from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic | Harm Reduction Journal, UK
INPUD Summary Report: WHO Key Populations' Values & Preferences for HIV, Hepatitis and STIs services (PDF)
These Guidelines will be used to inform countries on the design and implementation of health packages for key populations, making it extremely important that they take into account the specific values and preferences of each key population included in the study (people who inject drugs, gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, female, male and trans sex workers and trans people) | INPUD, UK
EMCDDA webinar: Drug-related deaths in Europe, current challenges and implications for responses - video
This webinar aims to provide an insight into the current situation regarding drug-related deaths in Europe and responses to them. Speakers briefly present the situations they face and discuss policies and responses| EMCDDA, Portugal
U.S. fentanyl deaths soaring, especially in the West
The latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that between May 2020 and April 2021, nearly two-thirds (64%) of the more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the country were tied to illicitly manufactured fentanyl or its chemical cousins | Medical Xpress, USA
The risk of being culpable for or involved in a road crash after using cannabis: A systematic review and meta-analyses
[Open access] The development of drug driving policies should rest on sound epidemiological evidence as to the crash risks of driving after using psychoactive drugs. The findings from individual studies of the increased risk of crashing from the acute use of cannabis range in size from no increase (and perhaps even a protective effect) to a 10-fold increase | Drug Science, Policy and Law, USA
Etodesnitazene — New Synthetic Opioid Identified During Forensic Death Investigations in the United States and Canada
The objective of this announcement is to notify public health and safety, law enforcement, first responders, clinicians, medical examiners and coroners, forensic and clinical laboratory personnel, and all other related communities about new information surrounding the emergent synthetic opioid etodesnitazene | CFSRE and NPS Discovery, USA
To save lives, overdose antidote should be sold over-the-counter, advocates argue
Louise Vincent figures her group, the North Carolina Survivors Union, saves at least 1,690 lives a year | npr, USA
Path2Quit, a culturally-specific tobacco cessation text-messaging intervention
This week, ASHES reviews a study by Monica Webb Hooper and colleagues that examined the effectiveness of a culturally-specific tobacco cessation text-messaging intervention for African American adult smokers facing economic disadvantages | BASIS, USA
Psilocybin study enrolls clinicians with COVID-linked blues
Enrollment has begun in a small study of whether psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy can help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety that front-line clinicians developed during the COVID-19 pandemic | Medical Xpress, USA
What I Wish Someone Had Said to Me When I Started Using Drugs
When I began using drugs, I didn’t have anyone I could safely go to for advice or help. Nobody in my life had told me anything about harm reduction or safer use. My parents saw my heroin use as a disciplinary issue that ought to be punished—an attitude that caused a fair amount of harm | Filter Magazine, USA
Desperate to Win the Smokefree Race, New Zealand Resorts to Prohibition
Bhutan was the first country to ban the import and sale of tobacco, in 2004. But New Zealand is held up as the country to watch | Filter Magazine, USA
An Addictive War: How Cartel Bosses are Playing the U.S. Justice System
Bringing drug kingpins to face justice in the U.S. has long been seen as a key part of Washington’s anti-cartel arsenal. Behind the showy press conferences for bosses like El Chapo, experts say, lies a cottage industry of expensive lawyers and opportunistic traffickers looking for a way out | OCCRP, USA
Childhood trauma linked to psychotic symptoms in young cannabis users
Childhood trauma may increase the chance of young people experiencing psychotic symptoms when using cannabis, University of Queensland research has found | University of Queensland, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Expert reaction to case series of 10 children with severe treatment resistant epilepsy treated with medical cannabis
A case series published in BMJ Paediatrics Open looks at the use of medical cannabis for severe treatment resistant epilepsy in children | Science Media Centre, UK [See first article in UK news for study]
Comment from SHAAP on new University of Stirling research into Scottish Ambulance Service alcohol-related callouts
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Chair of SHAAP, comments on new findings suggesting that alcohol policy measures could reduce drink-related ambulance callouts | SHAAP, UK
'1 in 10 mums-to-be smokes in pregnancy but new text service can help them quit for good'
The Mirror's resident medical columnist Dr Miriam Stoppard on the tailor-made messages that are supporting women in their battle to give up cigarettes and protect their unborn baby | Mirror, UK
From the NS archive: Drugs: the synthetic crisis. 1 July 1967: More people are going to use drugs anyway, whatever we do
More than any society before, our Western society is a drug-oriented society,” Bruce Page writes in this article from 1967. The growing public concern around the rising number of recreational drug users, particularly heroin and cannabis, led the UK government to pass several acts in the 1960s | New Statesman, UK
The War on Drugs: From Book to Website
Over the last 36-and-a-half years I have done what research-oriented history professors of my generation were supposed to do: I wrote books and published articles. What I did not do—until now—was produce a website. Defying the ageist canard about old dogs and new tricks—albeit admittedly in collaboration with my much younger colleagues Clark Terrill and Marjorie Galelli—I’m happy to report that the War on Drugs Project website is now live | Points blog, USA