Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports

Daily news - 13th May 2022

UK news

[Open access] Drug Policy Voices is a UK-based project designed to integrate the voices and experiences of people who use drugs (PWUD) into debates about drug policy reform. An online survey was conducted in 2020 to understand opinions connected to drug use and drug policy... This paper asks, what values do people who use drugs hold surrounding drug use and drug policy, and what factors predict these values? | IJDP, UK

Characteristics of alcohol recovery narratives: Systematic review and narrative synthesis

[Open access] Narratives of recovery from alcohol misuse have been analysed in a range of research studies. This paper aims to produce a conceptual framework describing the characteristics of alcohol misuse recovery narratives that are in the research literature, to inform the development of research, policy, and practice | PLOS One, UK

Priti Patel rebukes Khan over plans to consider legalising cannabis

Home Secretary Priti Patel said London mayor Sadiq Khan’s time would ‘be better spent’ focusing on tackling crime in the capital | Independent, UK

Members' Business — S6M-03631 Emma Roddick: LGBTQ+ People's Experiences of Alcohol Services in Scotland - video

Parliament welcomes the publication of the report, What are LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of alcohol services in Scotland? A qualitative study of service users and service providers, which was carried out by Prof Carol Emslie and colleagues at Glasgow Caledonian University, and funded by Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP); understands that the report highlights significant alcohol-related health inequalities experienced by LGBTQ+ people in Scotland... | Scottish Parliament, UK

Recovery Rising 2022- Alan McCrone - video

Alan McCrone shares the finding's from Scotland's FIRST singularly devoted Addiction Advocacy Service from the past 6 months | Faces and Voices of Recovery, UK

Introducing Forward’s new Kent Young Persons Project

The Forward Trust has set up a new mental health service for young people due to leave a secure setting in the Kent and Medway area. This Mental Health Awareness Week, project Team Leader Simon King tells us why support like this is so important in helping reduce reoffending | The Forward Trust, UK

Pioneering Project Adder announces seizures of more than £2 million during event to mark one-year anniversary in Newcastle

A pioneering project which aims to tackle drug addiction and clampdown on the supply chain has recovered criminal assets worth more than £2,300,000 in its first year of action and helped more than 700 people begin treatment for their substance misuse | Northumbria Police, UK

New Manx alcohol licensing act aims to simplify processes

The new Liquor Licensing and Public Entertainments Act 2021 is due to be fully implemented by November, following a consultation | BBC, UK

Portsmouth dock worker charged with attempted drug importation

Michael Jordan, of London Road, Portsmouth, was detained by the National Crime Agency (NCA) at his home on Tuesday | BBC, UK

International news

‘Completely devastating’: US passes 1m overdose deaths since records began

2021 was a record year for overdose deaths with an estimated 107,622, CDC says, an increase of 15% from the previous year | Guardian, UK

Farmability and pharmability: Transforming the drug market to a health-and human rights-centred approach from self-cultivation to safe supply of controlled substances

The supply chains addressing the global demand for major recreational drugs are hardly addressed due to international contracts, particularly the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Currently applied regulatory changes have several disadvantages ranging from political tensions to the neglect of ecological aspects. The aim of this study is to show some implications associated with a transformation of the recreational drug market that is focused on self-supply of different categories of drugs | Drug Science, UK

EMCDDA webinar: Workplaces and drugs – issues and challenges for the future - video

In the context of the EMCDDA Health and Social Responses miniguide on 'Workplaces and drugs', this webinar brings together experts in the field to provide an overview of the topic, share their experiences and discuss future challenges. The speakers will present case studies describing substance use in the workplace and prevention measures adopted | EMCDDA, Portugal

Monitoring Data Report 2021

More than one hundred organisations and individuals from 34 European countries have contributed to this Monitoring Report. Thanks go to our Focal Points and associated experts at the national and local levels who have filled in the online questionnaire and provided all information | Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network, The Netherlands

Survey of Barriers and Facilitators to Prescribing Buprenorphine and Clinician Perceptions on the Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 Waiver

This survey study of 126 clinicians attending a GetWaiveredTX waiver training found that 61 clinicians received an X-waiver; among them, 36% were prescribing buprenorphine and 64% were not. Clinicians noted complexity of X-waiver process, perceived lack of professional support, and referral network as barriers to prescribing buprenorphine; supportive professional networks were a key facilitator | JAMA Network Open, USA

Smokers who switch to e-cigarettes may adopt other healthy routines

Adult smokers who shift to using to e-cigarettes may have more chances to improve health and well-being, according to new research from the University of Washington | Medical Xpress, USA

Study: Treatment minimizes infants' opioid-related brain abnormalities

Led by scientists at Cedars-Sinai, this is the first study to report evidence validating the benefits of using medication for opioid use disorder during pregnancy | Medical Xpress, USA

To love or to judge: How family stigma can increase substance use in the LGBTQ+ community

Social stigma and discrimination are common experiences for many communities. Stigma and discrimination are risk factors for substance use and might contribute to elevated rates of substance use in many minoritized communities | BASIS, USA

Recommended Scope for NPS Testing in the United States

The objective of this report is to provide updated guidance in developing an appropriate analytical scope of testing for novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the United States based on current trends and intelligence. This report is based on information available in Q1 2022 and is subject to change along with the drug market | NPS Discovery, USA

State Laws Are Treating Fentanyl Like the New Crack—And Making the Same Mistakes of the 80s and 90s

Since the U.S. drug war was declared in 1971, various drugs have been identified as public enemy number one—from crack cocaine, in the 1980s, to prescription opioids in the early 2000s. Today, the primary villain is fentanyl, a synthetic opioid about 50 times more potent than heroin | TIME, USA

Record High Overdose Deaths—Yet Again—in 2021, CDC Reveals

New provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that almost 108,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2021. That’s equivalent to the population of Green Bay, Wisconsin, dead. It is—once again—the largest number ever recorded in a single year, as overdose remains the leading cause of accidental death in the United States | Filter Magazine, USA

Marcos Jr.’s Election Gives Little Hope of End to Philippines Drug War

By May 10, the Philippines almost certainly knew who its next president would be: Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the 64-year-old former senator and only son of the former dictator. As the votes were counted, “Bongbong,” as he is colloquially known, appeared to have won by a landslide | Filter Magazine, USA

$6.1 million boost to Preventing FASD Project to change lives for the better

The McGowan Labor Government is expanding Western Australia's successful Preventing FASD Project with a $6.1 million funding boost to be included in the upcoming State Budget | Government of Western Australia, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

London's Cannabis Commission: What can it actually achieve?

It was welcome news that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has finally launched the long trailed commission to examine the effectiveness of the UK’s drug legislation and policing in the city, with a particular focus on cannabis. The ‘London drugs commission’, will be chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer QC, a former Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary | Transform blog, UK

Decriminalizing Cannabis Without Regulation Is Irresponsible

Legalizing recreational cannabis can work, but only if carefully regulated | Psychology Today blog, USA

Rescorla is to Pavlov as Semiotics is to Freud

A few weeks ago, while I was reading in the psychoanalytic literature, I saw that Freud (1915) abbreviates the Conscious mind with the initials “CS” and the Unconscious mind with the initials “UCS”. To me this seemed like much too much of a coincidence | Recovery Review blog, USA

Extend Studio