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Daily news - 25th August 2022 |
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UK news
Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce Final Report - Evidence Paper
Since the Taskforce was established in 2019 we have reviewed and discussed a huge amount of evidence in developing our recommendations and reports prior to our final report Changing Lives. Much of this has been covered in our previously published reports and except where necessary we have not gone over the same ground in preparing this paper which covers the evidence used to specifically support the recommendations and action points made in Changing Lives | Scottish Drug Deaths Tasforce, UK
Quantifying health inequalities in England
Inequalities in health start at an early age, with higher rates of diagnosed mental health conditions, chronic pain and alcohol problems starting to develop as early as the late teens and early twenties. These health inequalities then continue to grow and change across the life cycle, through working age and into old age | The Health Foundation, UK
Vaping and oral health – an update for the dental team
As headlines concerning e-cigarettes continue to dominate the news, Dr Richard Holliday and Professor Elaine McColl talk through the impact of vaping on the oral health of patients | Dentistry, UK
Kent mum's campaign for better drugs education
The mother and best friend of a Kent teenager who died after taking tramadol have called for better drugs education in schools | BBC, UK
‘It’s the freedom of being away from normal life’: Why people experiment with drugs at festivals
With festival season nearing its final big events, many people will have dabbled with drugs over the last few months | Metro, UK
Corporate Political Activity of the Alcohol and Gambling Industry
Wed, 21 September 2022, 14:00 – 15:00 BST. Join us for the launch of a new study on the strategies of gambling and alcohol companies responding to government consultations | IAS, UK
Leading homelessness organisations write open letter to Conservative leadership candidates
On Tuesday 23 August, 29 of the country's leading homelessness organisations signed an open letter to the two Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, warning of a potential rise in homelessness due to the cost-of-living crisis and asking them to re-commit to the 2019 Conservative manifesto pledges around ending rough sleeping and reforming the private rented sector | Homeless Link, UK
More than 70% of pubs do not expect to survive winter as energy costs soar
Independent brewers and pub operators warn of ‘doomsday scenario’ unless government takes urgent action | Guardian, UK
Cannabis Factories Keep Being Found in Abandoned Police Stations and Courts
Weed gangs using Britain’s disused crime fighting infrastructure as cover is a sure sign that something is not going to plan | VICE, UK
Bristol drug den house shut down
Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council applied for a three-month closure order for the property in Bishopsworth, Bristol, after Class A drugs were found on on the premises | BBC, UK
Leeds: Alcohol haul worth £3,500 found in car boot
Two people have been arrested after police found £3,500 worth of suspected stolen alcohol in the boot of a car | BBC, UK
Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Former drug dealer questioned after Liverpool shooting
Nee, who was also shot, was jailed in the past for drug offences, and in 2018 for three years and nine months for burglary | BBC, UK
International news
Young Americans using cannabis and hallucinogens at record rate
‘Understanding how substance use can impact the formative choices in young adulthood is critical to help position the new generations for success’ | Independent, UK
California Gov Gavin Newsom vetoes bill for safe injection sites in three cities
Progressive activists and elected officials criticised California Governor Gavin Newsom after his decision to veto legislation to create safe drug injection sites in three major cities — with some arguing that he had let his political ambitions take precedence over keeping his constituents safe | Independent, UK
Magic mushrooms’ psilocybin may help heavy drinkers cut back
Positive results in first ‘rigorous’ trial investigating compound’s effect on alcohol use [See JAMA article below] | Guardian, UK
First government-backed pill testing clinic finds 40% of ‘cocaine’ contained no coke
Canberra service examined 70 samples in August with 25% of potential users discarding drugs once made aware of what they actually contained | Guardian, UK
‘Under the counter’ vapes found to contain cannabis
Concerns have been expressed that young people are using vapes which contain cannabis extracts, and that these products are being purchased online or “under the counter”. | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Impacts of recreational cannabis legalization on cannabis use: a longitudinal discordant twin study
[Open access] In the United States, there appears to be a ~ 20% average increase in cannabis use frequency attributable to recreational legalization, consistent across increasingly rigorous designs. In addition, the heritability of cannabis use frequency appears to be moderated by legalization | Addiction, USA
Psychedelic drugs take on depression
Mind-altering drugs might provide relief for those who don’t respond to conventional therapies — but does the hype outweigh the hope? | Nature, USA
Comparison of psychedelic and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences in changing attitudes about death and dying
A new study compares how people's attitudes about death may change after a psychedelic drug experience versus a non-drug-related near-death experience or similar event, finding strong similarities and some differences between the two | PLOS One, USA
Percentage of Heavy Drinking Days Following Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy vs Placebo in the Treatment of Adult Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder
In this double-blind randomized clinical trial with 93 participants, the percentage of heavy drinking days during 32 weeks of follow-up was significantly lower in the psilocybin group than in the diphenhydramine group.The results in this trial showed that psilocybin administered in combination with psychotherapy produced robust decreases in the percentage of heavy drinking days compared with those produced by active placebo and psychotherapy | JAMA Network Psychiatry, USA
For opioid use disorder, greater mutual-help benefit offsets disadvantages in Black vs. White individuals
Research testing the effects of mutual-help participation in those with primary opioid use disorder – with data on specific gender and racial/ethnic groups – are needed to inform best practices from a person-centered perspective. This study examined the effect of mutual-help participation on opioid use treatment completion across men and women of differing races and ethnicities | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Relaxing restrictions on take-home methadone doses does not increase risk of treatment dropout or positive drug tests
Long-standing restrictions on methadone treatment limited the amount of take-home doses patients could receive at one time. COVID-19 public health guidelines (e.g., physical distancing), however, led federal agencies to relax these restrictions during the pandemic. This naturalistic study examined how relaxing methadone dose restrictions affected take-home doses, treatment retention, drug test positivity rates, and patient reactions | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Hospitalizations for unintentional cannabis poisonings among Canadian children surged after legalization, particularly in jurisdictions where the sale of cannabis edibles was allowed
Canada has seen a 6.3 fold increase in hospitalizations for unintentional cannabis poisoning among children under the age of 10 since the legalization of recreational cannabis, according to a research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine | EurekAlert, USA
Alberta's drop in opioid-related deaths shows recovery-oriented policy working, expert says
98 Albertans died in June, a 44% drop after opioid deaths peaked last November | CBC News, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
The Great British Benzo’s Boom
On 26th July 2021, police officers found the body of a 40-year old man, named Richard Beare, inside a flat in Penzance, Cornwall. He had fallen unconscious in bed, with heroin and a handful of pills nearby. There were fatal levels of benzodiazepines and heroin in his body, toxicology reports later confirmed | Volteface, UK
Drug and Alcohol Use Survey 2022
Many Brits find themselves in the pub more often when the summer months creep in. So, it leads us to wonder why people are more drawn to alcohol and substances during this time: is it because more people are doing it, so they feel less guilty? Is it due to increased promotion and advertisements around alcohol, from pubs and restaurants? | Delamere blog, UK
The FDA is at a crossroads for reducing tobacco-related disease and death
The U.S. is at a crossroads for tobacco use, the country’s leading cause of preventable death, at nearly half a million deaths a year. Since the onset of Covid-19, which has been universally labeled as a pandemic, more Americans have died from tobacco use than from Covid | STAT News opinion, USA
‘Oh well, wine o’clock’: what midlife women told us about drinking – and why it’s so hard to stop
Many of us enjoy a drink at the end of a stressful day. But for some, this is less of a discretionary treat and more of a nightly must-have | Conversation, Australia