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Daily news - 12th September 2022 |
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UK news
Safer injecting facilities: why are they so controversial?
Lynn works at a heroin-assisted treatment facility and says ‘problematic’ drug use should be considered a health issue and treated like any other illness | RCN Magazine, UK
National Mission on Drugs
The next item of business is a statement by Angela Constance, who will give an update on the national mission on drugs. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions | They work for you, UK
Problem drinking surges in lockdown and keeps surging
Soaring numbers of Scots needed help for alcohol abuse during the pandemic and the spike in problem drinking has remained since restrictions were eased, we can reveal today | Sunday Post, UK
Nitrous oxide: Supersize ‘laughing gas’ canisters spark rise in young people suffering severe symptoms
‘With large canisters, you can do doubles or trebles without realising. I’ve actually seen people pass out from that’ | i news, UK
Dealers Are Giving Discounts on Cocaine and Ketamine in Honour of the Queen
One dealer said they were reducing the price of their top of the range Bolivian flake to £96 a gram to match the age at which she died | VICE, UK
Celebrating Age Concert
Mon, October 3, 2022, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM BST. Bristol. Join us for performances from Rising Voices Recovery Choir and Bristol Recovery Orchestra | BDP, UK
From her “legalise it” uni days to now blocking progressive policy, our new PM’s views on drug reform seem to be a little, well, hazy
During her tenure as leader of Oxford University’s Liberal Democrat society in the 1990s, Liz Truss peppered the freshers stall she was manning with posters that read “Free the Weed” | The Face, UK
‘We took the acid at 6pm – the awards started at 6.30’: the inside story of the wild early days of Loaded
In an extract from former editor James Brown’s memoir, he remembers the chaotic, drug-fuelled chaos of working on the original 90s lads’ mag | Guardian, UK
International news
Rates and correlates of cannabis-associated psychotic symptoms in over 230,000 people who use cannabis
[Open access] Cannabis, a widely used psychoactive substance, can trigger acute cannabis-associated psychotic symptoms (CAPS) in people who use cannabis (PWUC). To assess rates and correlates of CAPS requiring emergency medical treatment, we analyzed data from an international sample of PWUC. We found that 0.47% PWUC reported lifetime occurrence of CAPS, defined as the occurrence of hallucinations and/or paranoia requiring emergency medical treatment following the use of cannabis | Nature, UK
Associations between psychosocial risk factors, and changes in substance dependence and psychosocial functioning, during engagement with digital cognitive behavioral therapy for methamphetamine use: use of 'Breaking Free from Substance Abuse' by incarcerated people during the COVID-19 pandemic
[Open access] Methamphetamine use can be associated with involvement with correctional services and incarceration. Traditionally, treatments for methamphetamine use have been delivered in-person – however, lockdowns initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced access to such in-person support in prisons. Therefore, in May 2020 a digital cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program for substance use disorders - 'Breaking Free from Substance Abuse' - was made available across prisons in Ohio in order to meet this treatment gap | BMC Health and Justice, UK
Family awarded $77m from drug treatment centre for discharging son early
The family of a Georgia man who died shortly after being released from a drug treatment centre have won almost $77m following a legal battle with the health care provider, a report says | Independent, UK
NYC block hires armed guards to combat drug dealing in posh neighbourhood
‘I went through the ’80s crack epidemic. I feel like this is a different level,’ said Greenwich Village resident association member Brian Maloney | Independent, UK
Smoking on the rise again – more teenage boys lighting up cigarettes as experts call for under-21s ban
The report from the Royal College of Physicians policy group on tobacco calls for the minimum age of sale of cigarettes be raised from 18 to 21 in a bid to win back lost momentum in a country which was the first to introduce the smoking ban in workplaces | Independent, Ireland
New Paper Calls for “Middle-Ground” Approach to Vaping Regulation
Four highly regarded tobacco control scholars are calling for a policy agenda on e-cigarettes that balances curbing youth use with promoting vaping products as tools that can help adult smokers switch to safer nicotine alternatives. Their agenda—which consists of making e-cigarettes more easily and cheaply available than cigarettes, but also of reducing cigarettes’ nicotine content and banning a range of flavored vaping and tobacco products—is certain to draw criticism both from anti-nicotine zealots and tobacco harm reduction proponents | Filter Magazine, USA
#TurntTrending: a systematic review of substance use portrayals on social media platforms
[Open access] There is a growing body of literature exploring the types of substance-related content and their portrayals on various social media platforms. We aimed to summarize how content related to substances is portrayed on various social media platforms | Addiction, Australia
Gen Z: Drinking less, but what about alcohol-related harm?
This webinar explored recent changes in young peoples’ experience of alcohol-related harm and how these harms develop in adolescence | NDARC, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
‘I’m not a shaman – I just want to help people’: shoe designer Patrick Cox on his psychedelic toad awakening
The celebrity shoemaker was a fixture of the 90s London scene, then after the collapse of his business – and his mental health – he found salvation from a very unlikely source ... | Guardian, UK