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Daily news - 9th December 2022 |
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UK news
Alcohol-specific deaths in the UK: registered in 2021
In 2021, there were 9,641 deaths (14.8 per 100,000 people) from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK, the highest number on record. The number recorded in 2021 was 7.4% higher than in 2020 (8,974 deaths; 14.0 per 100,000) and 27.4% higher than in 2019 (7,565 deaths; 11.8 per 100,000), the last pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic year | ONS, UK
Record alcohol deaths from pandemic drinking
A record number of people died from alcohol causes last year, which is likely to be the result of increased drinking during the pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics | BBC, UK
Naloxone arrives in more Police Scotland divisions
Around 3,000 kits have been issued throughout Edinburgh, Highland and Islands, Dundee and Forth Valley divisions in recent weeks, where operational officers are now being trained and equipped | Police Scotland, UK
Prisoners helping each other to prevent drug overdoses when released
Prisoners are helping one another prevent drug deaths when they are released by giving potentially life-saving Naloxone training and drug advice | Glasgow Times, UK
Clozapine: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust to help ensure Clozapine is not misused in patients who consume alcohol or smoke while being prescribed that drug | They work for you, UK
Five things about women and addiction
Two women who have recovered from addiction talk frankly about some of the challenges they faced - and how they managed to overcome them | BBC, UK
Annual Report and Accounts
Each year we publish our Annual Report and Accounts which reviews our performance against our strategic objectives and mission as set out in our strategic plans | Alcohol Change UK, UK
How jurors helped uncover plot to fix drugs trial
Four people have been found guilty of a "concerted attempt" to fix the trial of a drugs baron by tampering with a jury | BBC, UK
International news
Thousands of genetic variants may influence smoking and alcohol use
In a study of nearly 3.4 million people, almost 4000 genetic variants were linked to how much alcohol a person drinks a week, the age some start smoking and whether they quit the habit | New Scientist, UK
Tobacco shops will FINALLY be forced to put up health warnings about cigarettes - like 'smoking kills 1,200 Americans a day'
Major tobacco companies will be forced to put up warning signs in retail shops about the dangers of smoking, according to a new Justice Department order | Mail Online, UK
BAT expects full-year sales growth of 2-4% on e-cigarette, oral nicotine push
British American Tobacco (BATS.L) said on Thursday it expects full-year revenue growth of between 2% and 4% at constant currency rates, as more people are using its e-cigarettes and oral nicotine products | Reuters, UK
Brittney Griner: Russia frees US basketball star in swap with arms dealer Viktor Bout
The US and Russia have exchanged jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, held in an American prison for 12 years | BBC, UK
Decriminalising cannabis could save Australian taxpayers $850m a year, report finds
New public health research says Australia’s prohibition approach to marijuana is not keeping pace with global best practice cannabis policy | Guardian, UK
Alcohol industry lobbied EU to resist health warnings on drinks
Ireland’s proposal to introduce health warnings on alcoholic beverages have been met with an “extensive lobbying campaign from the alcohol industry” at an EU level to try and undermine it | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Uncorking big alcohol in the EU
A mapping of the European alcohol industry and its lobbying efforts against public health in the EU institutions | Movendi International, Sweden
Families and homelessness — two new EMCDDA miniguides on responding to drug problems, launched today
Responding to drug problems in families and among those experiencing homelessness is the focus of two new EMCDDA miniguides released today. The resources are the first of five volumes dedicated to people with vulnerability and form part of the agency’s Health and social responses to drug problems: a European guide | EMCDDA, Portugal
Homelessness and drugs: health and social responses
This miniguide provides an overview of the most important aspects to consider when planning or delivering health and social responses for people experiencing homelessness and using drugs, and reviews the availability and effectiveness of the responses. It also considers implications for policy and practice | EMCDDA, Portugal
Families of people who use drugs: health and social responses
This miniguide provides an overview of the most important aspects to consider when planning or delivering health and social responses for families of people who use drugs and reviews the availability and effectiveness of the responses. It also considers implications for policy and practice | EMCDDA, Portugal
Launch of the European Prevention Curriculum handbook in Georgian
The Georgian version of the European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC) handbook, adapted to the national context, will be launched at two events in Tbilisi on 8 and 9 December | EMCDDA, Portugal
Technical Brief: Harm Reduction for People Who Use Drugs: Priorities for Investment and Increased Impact in HIV Programming (PDF)
This brief is meant to help applicants to the Global Fund plan for and scale up effective HIV and hepatitis C programming for people who use drugs, particularly those who inject | Global Fund, Switzerland
“Tuci”, “happy water”, “k-powdered milk” – is the illicit market for ketamine expanding? (PDF)
This Global SMART Update explores how drug traffickers introduce new ketamine-related products, including to new user groups and geographic areas, while sophisticated large-scale clandestine manufacture has been detected and new trafficking routes have been discovered | UNODC, USA
Will Senate End Crack-Powder Sentence Disparity, as Time Runs Out?
Senators are scrambling to negotiate a last-minute deal on crack cocaine sentencing reform. Current federal law punishes convictions for crack far more harshly than for powder cocaine, and the consequences of this have long been established as racist. Democrats want to remove the disparity completely, while Republicans would just water it down | Filter Magazine, USA
Youth Voices on Treatment in the Shadow of the Overdose Crisis
This report emerged from a program of community-based participatory research focused on youth substance use and health. The program, based at the BCCSU, comprises three university researchers and a Youth Advisory Council of ten young people (ages 17 to 28) with lived and living experience of substance use and mental health concerns in the context of unstable housing and homelessness. Interviews with youth-focused care providers...also informed the report | BCCSU, Canada
Cannabis in Australia (PDF)
This report aims to promote understanding of cannabis in Australia. At the forefront of discussion should be the questions of how to improve medicinal access for those who need it and how we can better reduce the harm caused by our laws and the substance itself as we progress toward a more informed and compassionate community | Penington Institute, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Alcohol Health Alliance responds to ONS figures on alcohol-specific deaths in 2021
Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, said: “It is a national tragedy that the number of deaths caused by alcohol has increased once again across the UK, with every life lost leaving behind a devastating impact on families, friends, and communities... | AHA UK, UK
Points Interview: Individuation and drinking culture among young people with Henry Yeomans and Laura Fenton
Today’s post features an interview with Henry Yeomans, a Professor of Criminology at the University of Leeds and Laura Fenton, a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield. Their work focuses around contemporary alcohol culture and regulation in Europe | Points blog, USA
The Trip Report 08/12
Through the work of organisations such as WEDINOS, The Loop, and SaferParty, we know a little more about the drugs in circulation. The report provided below is a summary of their findings over the last fortnight | Cameron Scally, UK
IDPC analysis of the UNODC World Drug Report 2022
The 2022 World Drug Report was released at a moment marked by the aftermath of the COVID19 pandemic, global economic turmoil, multiple armed conflicts, a climate emergency, and increasing calls to end the so-called ‘war on drugs’. And yet, the Report’s conclusions and policy recommendations disappointingly keep to ‘business as usual’, by refusing to contemplate alternatives to criminalisation and interdiction | IDPC, UK
My boyfriend occasionally takes drugs. Is it unreasonable to end our relationship because of it?
This isn’t a problem of what is and isn’t reasonable, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, it’s a preference and you’re entitled to it | Guardian letters, UK