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Daily news - 14th December 2022

UK news

Alcohol-related deaths in Wales reached record high in 2021

The rate of deaths in Wales, at 15 per 100,000 of the population, are higher than the UK average | BBC, UK

Drug consumption rooms workaround update requested from Crown Office

Audrey Nicoll, the convenor of Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, has written to the Crown Agent John Logue, asking for an update on the Crown Office’s plans to draw up plans to circumvent UK drug laws and create a safe drug consumption room | National, UK

Hyperactivity: Alcoholic Drinks

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 6 December 2022 to Question 98842 on Hyperactivity: Alcoholic Drinks, if his Department will undertake such an assessment | They work for you, UK

Scottish Drugs Forum’s CEO David Liddell to retire

Dave Liddell, SDF’s founder and CEO has announced that he is to retire. Jim Stephen, Chair of the SDF Board, said, “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with Dave. I have admired his unwavering commitment to supporting some of the most vulnerable and stigmatised people in Scotland, and his determination that they should receive the treatment and help they desperately require and deserve | SDF, UK

Cynon Valley: Take Drugs Seriously

Thu, 26 January 2023, 18:30 – 21:00 GMT. St Elvan's Church, Aberdare Church Street Aberdare CF44 7AB. Drugs can be dangerous but does banning them cause more harm than good? | J Slater, UK

International news

Trajectories of ENDS and cigarette use among dual users: analysis of waves 1 to 5 of the PATH Study

[See expert reaction in blog section below] Most dual users maintained long-term cigarette smoking or dual use, highlighting the need to address cessation of both products. Continued monitoring of trajectories and their predictors is needed, given ongoing changes to the ENDS marketplace | BMJ Tobacco Control, UK

Deaths in prison: Examining causes, responses, and prevention of deaths in prison worldwide (PDF)

This briefing draws on information from survey responses from a variety of stakeholders (people working in prison administrations, prison inspectors and monitors, academics and non-governmental organisations) in 25 countries covering all regions, as well as 19 European prison administrations, following a call for information by PRI | Penal Reform International et al, UK

Association of COVID-19 with endocarditis in patients with cocaine or opioid use disorders in the US

The incidence of endocarditis in the US is increasing, driven in part by the rise in intravenous drug use, mostly opioids and stimulant drugs (cocaine and methamphetamine). Recent reports have documented that individuals with COVID-19 are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases | Nature, UK

Converging universes: 20 years of human rights and drug policy at the United Nations

In recent years, the historical isolation between the United Nations (UN) drug policy and human rights bodies has eroded significantly, and with accelerating speed. The human rights consequences of drug policies have become an unavoidable – if fractious – topic in global drug policy debates, and human rights bodies routinely monitor the impacts of drug responses | IDPC, UK

‘Road sleeping’ deaths soar in Tokyo as socialising returns to pre-Covid levels

Authorities concerned that death toll from people being hit by cars while sleeping on roads will increase further as end-of-year party season begins | Guardian, UK

Dáil committee calls for first medically supervised drug injecting centre

A Dáil committee will call for Ireland’s first medically supervised injecting centre, planned for Dublin, to be opened as soon as possible, in a report to be published on Wednesday morning | Irish Examiner, Ireland

Quantitative and qualitative assessments of data quality within the European Web Survey on Drugs

This paper assesses data quality in the first two rounds of the European Web Survey on Drugs (EWSD). Data quality has various dimensions, such as accuracy, consistency, validity and completeness, but can be defined as fitness of the data for the intended use. For the quantitative assessment, the paper considers issues such as respondent fatigue and impact of the item format on responses | EMCDDA, Portugal

Interactive timeline. 25 years of the EU Early Warning System (EWS) on new psychoactive substances (NPS)

In 2022, the EWS celebrated 25 years of existence. This interactive timeline highlights some of the key achievements and milestones over the last 25 years of monitoring new psychoactive substances in Europe | EMCDDA, Portugal

U.S. Supreme Court lets California ban flavored tobacco products

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for California to enforce a voter-approved ban in America's most-populous state on flavored tobacco products, rejecting R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's bid to block it on the grounds that the policy conflicted with federal law | Reuters, USA

NHTSA Reminds Holiday Revelers to Drive Sober

NHTSA released the findings of a new study on drug and alcohol use by road users involved in serious and fatal crashes. The data shed new light on the prevalence of drug and alcohol involvement in serious crashes, just as one of the deadliest seasons for impaired driving gets underway | NHTSA, USA

Factors associated with cigarette smoking among men in five South Asian countries

Despite having a similar smoking prevalence rate to some other regions, South Asia has a large population, and thus many smokers and many people dying from tobacco. Smoking in South Asian countries is also seven times more prevalent among men than women. This week, ASHES reviews a study by Md Shariful Islam and colleagues that examined factors associated with cigarette smoking among men in five South Asian countries | BASIS, USA

Australian Capital Territory Drug Trends 2022: Key Findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) Interviews

The Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) is an illicit drug monitoring system which has been conducted in all states and territories of Australia since 2003, and forms part of Drug Trends. This year, we have provided a suite of products with the most up-to-date findings from interviews conducted annually from 2003-2022 with a cross-sectional sentinel group of people who regularly use ecstasy and other illicit stimulants recruited from Canberra, ACT | NDARC, Australia

Victorian Drug Trends 2022: Key Findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) Interviews

Blogs, comment and opinion

Expert reaction to study of people who vape and smoke (dual users) and quitting smoking

Four experts give their reaction to the recently published study in the BMJ | SMC, UK

Adfam interview Cllr Jay Hayes

Councillor Jay Hayes is an elected representative for Bestwood Ward on Nottingham City Council, and the Council’s Executive Assistant for Health and Culture. In November 2022 Jay met with Rob Stebbings from Adfam to talk about his personal experience of being in a family affected by substance use, and his view on the role local government can play in supporting other families that are impacted by this issue | Adfam blog, UK

Editorial: Women and substance use: Specific needs and experiences of use, others' use and transitions towards recovery

Problematic substance use among women is increasing, with global prevalence data indicating that 46 million women have an alcohol use disorder, the highest prevalence of which is located in the European region. Reports from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) also show that women make up a quarter of people with illicit problematic drug use in Europe. Globally, approximately a third of all drug users are women, and a fifth of injecting drug users are women | Frontiers in Psychiatry editorial, UK