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Daily news - 14th November 2022 |
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UK news
Scottish Premiership own goal: new research reveals higher level of alcohol sponsorship in Scotland’s top flight football teams compared to other European countries
Ahead of the Scottish Government consulting on plans to restrict alcohol marketing, calls for a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sports are being made, as it is revealed [in a new report] that Scotland has a higher proportion of alcohol industry sponsors in comparison to football leagues in European countries with stricter alcohol marketing restrictions | SHAAP, UK
Ex-FM calls for end to alcohol adverts in sport
Former First Minister Henry McLeish has urged the Scottish government to end alcohol advertising in sports | BBC, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Sales
To ask His Majesty's Government when their report on the Age Verification Sandbox was completed; and when it will be published | They work for you, UK
The Loop Drug Testing Service Appoints CEO
The Loop, by its own admission the UK’s “first and only dedicated drug checking not-for-profit organisation,” appointed a new CEO, Katy Porter | Pollstar, UK
'I took magic mushrooms at 64 and the fog I've lived under my whole life lifted'
[Possible paywall] After successful clinical trials of psilocybin for treating depression, there are now calls for its wider use | Telegraph, UK
Principality Stadium alcohol issues down to individuals, says WRU
Anti-social behaviour at Wales rugby games is a "personal" issue rather than the fault of the Principality Stadium, the venue's manager has said | BBC, UK
AHA Seminar Sessions: Why and how to avoid collaborating with Big Alcohol
Thu, 1 December 2022, 14:00 – 15:00 GMT. In this AHA Seminar Session, we’ll hear from Mark Petticrew and Paula Leonard on how private sector activities impact efforts to reduce alcohol harm, and how this can be avoided | AHA UK, UK
Birmingham drug dealer becomes first woman to be convicted by West Midlands Police for county lines
The 25-year-old, from Croftdown Road, Harborne, was operating what she termed the ‘Mase Line’ from Birmingham all the way down to the Devon town | ITV, UK
International news
‘As for dignity and respect…. me bollix’: A human rights-based exploration of service user narratives in Irish methadone maintenance treatment
[Open access] This paper explores the narratives of service users of contemporary methadone maintenance treatment services (MMT) in the Republic of Ireland to obtain their perspectives in the context of them negotiating their right to health | IJDP, UK
US Takes Down European Websites Blamed for Selling Fentanyl
The reported owners of British and Dutch dark web markets accused of making millions of dollars by selling opioids have been sanctioned by US authorities | VICE, UK
‘HIV can kill faster than the drug abuse’: Nigeria opens first needle exchange to tackle infection
The programme, seen as a shift in attitudes in a zero-tolerance country, is aimed at curbing the spread of blood-borne disease | Guardian, UK
Bill to be introduced that would legalise personal use of cannabis
It’s set to be introduced by People Before Profit, but would have to get Dáil approval to progress | Journal, Ireland
New laws to ban sale of vaping products to under-18s
The sale of e-cigarettes and vaping products to under-18s is set to be banned, the Irish Independent can reveal | Independent, Ireland
Weed Is Now Legal in Thailand. How Long Will the High Times Last?
[Possible paywall] Cannabis shops have multiplied since the drug was decriminalized, with caveats, in June. But some lawmakers are pushing for tighter regulation | NY Times, USA
11.3 percent of school students report tobacco product use
About 11.3 percent of all middle and high school students reported currently using any tobacco product in 2022, with electronic cigarettes the most commonly used product, according to research published in the Nov. 11 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | Medical Xpress, USA
How to Read the CDC’s Confusingly Presented Youth Vaping Data
Idon’t think I’d ever heard of the annual National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But in 2018 it crashed into my life, as someone who had finally been able to quit smoking after 10 years, through the use of nicotine vapes | Filter Magazine, USA
Parental nicotine use and addiction risk for children
In the United States in 2021, about one in every 50 high school students reported smoking a cigarette in the past month, according to the National Youth Tobacco Survey. For the same time frame, that number jumped to one in nine for e-cigarettes | Medical Xpress, USA
Effect of Extending the Duration of Prequit Treatment With Varenicline on Smoking Abstinence
In this randomized clinical trial that included 320 adults, the percentage of bioverified continuous 4-week abstinence among participants at the end of treatment was not significantly greater among participants receiving extended (39%) compared with standard (36%) run-in varenicline | JAMA Network Open, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Temptation can be strong: how can we resist alcohol?
One of the legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the harmful levels of alcohol consumption by a significant proportion of drinkers (Finlay & Gilmore, 2020). There is no doubt that alcohol causes a range of physical and psychological health problems and, unfortunately, accounts for a significant number of premature deaths (NHS, 2022) | Mental Elf blog, UK
Drugs and deprivation: How drug policy reform can help support Levelling Up
Deprivation is strongly correlated with drug misuse and its consequences. Despite this, and despite the extent of problematic drug use in the UK, policy has thus far failed to alleviate either the symptoms or root causes of the issue. In this blog, SMF Senior Researcher Jake Shepherd, and Jay Jackson, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at drugs policy think tank Volteface, discuss drugs and deprivation in the UK, and how better drugs policies can help to boost regional equality | SMF, UK
Backing cannabis reform in Parliament
Cannabis has recently been back in the news, due to positive developments abroad, but unfortunately less so domestically | Liberal Democrat Voice, UK
CONFIRMED: German Cannabis Legalisation Plans
After speculative plans were leaked last month, we now have the first concrete details about the proposed German recreational cannabis legalisation model | Volteface, UK
I’m now sober, but feel guilty about a friend I’ve left behind
Your friendship may survive your sobriety, but you will need to set boundaries and stick to them | Guardian opinion, UK
To Move Forward, Our Institutions Must Take a Hard Look at Their Internalized Stigma Against Us
Recovery from addiction has two significant facets. For centuries, it is centered on a dynamic that is relatively unique in respect to medical conditions. The power of one person, as part of their own journey of healing helping another to also find their way into recovery. This dynamic has then been repeated over the eons as more people find recovery and then they help others. Recovery communities are thus formed | Recovery Review blog, USA
Points Interview: Cannabis and control in South Africa with Thembisa Waetjen
Today’s post features an interview with Thembisa Waetjen, a professor at the University of Johannesberg. She is a historian focusing on South Africa, who looks at twentieth century South African political and social history, with two main interests: medical humanities in South Africa and transnational Indian Ocean histories | Points blog, USA