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Daily news - 27th September 2022 |
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UK news
Challenges for drug checking services in Scotland: a qualitative exploration of police perceptions
The impact of policing practices on the engagement of people who use drugs (PWUD) with harm reduction services is well evidenced. Although the police have traditionally taken an enforcement role in responding to drug use, it is increasingly clear that they can play an important part in multiagency delivery of harm reduction interventions. Despite this, there have been no studies exploring police officer perceptions of drug checking services (DCS), which provide analytical testing of client drug samples alongside harm reduction support and advice | Harm Reduction Journal, UK
Thousands walk to change perceptions of drug and alcohol recovery
Around 4000 people have taken part in one of the biggest alcohol and drugs Recovery Walk events in recent years | STV, UK
‘Spice’ abuse in family cases
The toxicity of Spice compounds is not well understood, and their use has resulted in numerous fatalities. The potency of these chemicals outstrips that of most recreational drugs and Spice can be up to 800 times more potent than cannabis and significantly more potent than heroin and cocaine... | Leicestershire Law Society, UK
Finding the time to write
The publisher Wiley has lots of useful resources for researchers, educators and professionals, including a blog by Ania Gruszczynska on how to find the time to write (or, ‘how to publish without perishing’) | SSA, UK
Recovery Street Film Festival 2022 Award Ceremony & Screening
Fri, 30 September 2022, 11:00 – 13:30 BST, London. Join us for screenings of the 15 shortlisted films for Recovery Street Film Festival 2022 with an award ceremony and special guest speakers | Phoenix Futures, UK
Addiction Professionals are looking for Lived Experience Advisory Board Members: volunteering opportunity
We are looking for people with lived experience to help shape our strategic aims and objectives. This is a new and exciting role to support the work of our Board of Trustees | Addiction Professionals, UK
Free Webinar: Every Family Has A Story: How We Inherit Love and Loss
Monday 10th October, 13:00 - 13:30. Bestselling author and psychotherapist Julia Samuel will talk about latest book, drawing on her acclaimed work with individuals from a wide variety of families, across multiple generations | Addiction Professionals, UK
Swindon shop illegally sold alcohol and tobacco to kids
A convenience store and off-licence has had its licence suspended for three months for selling alcohol, cigarettes and vaping products to children | BBC, UK
International news
Child-centred harm reduction
[Open access] Harm reduction has become increasingly influential in drug policy and practice, but has developed primarily around adult drug use. Theoretical, practical, ethical and legal issues pertaining to children and adolescents under the age of majority – both relating to their own use and the effects of drug use among parents or within the family – are less clear. This commentary proposes a sub-field of drug policy at the intersection of harm reduction and childhood which we refer to as ‘child-centred harm reduction’. | IJSP, UK
Two beers a day ‘may lower risk of dementia’
[Free registration required] Abstaining from alcohol appears to provide no protective benefits against condition, study finds | Independent premium, UK
Herbal product Kamini may be causing opioid dependence in Australia, doctors warn
Use of Ayurvedic medicine Kamini Vidrawan Ras resulted in 24 reported presentations to addiction clinics in Queensland and Victoria | Guardian, UK
Spanish police raid outdoor cocaine lab capable of making 120kg of drug a week
Operation on farm near Madrid resembled clandestine outdoor labs found in jungles of South America, police said | Guardian, UK
Mexico: Drugs
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Mexican counterpart on the ongoing conflict in the south of Mexico between the Familia Michoacana and Jalisco New Generation drug cartels | They work for you, UK
Ecuador: Cocaine
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of reports that Ecuadorian police have seized 960kg of cocaine in the Pacific port of Guayaquil that was expected to be shipped to the UK | They work for you, UK
Using/Alone - Understanding the role of loved ones in the prevention of unwitnessed overdose in the Fraser East region of British Columbia
Wed, 19 October 2022, 16:00 – 17:00 BST. A safe space for parents, practitioners, policy-makers and researchers to discuss and reflect on drug use and family life | ESRC, UK
A heart med for alcohol use disorder
A new study shows that a medication called spironolactone could help to reduce drinking | Treatment Magazine, USA
People who combine alcohol and marijuana often drive afterward
A third of drivers who drink alcohol and use marijuana at the same time report getting behind the wheel within two hours of consumption, a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows. That’s a concern because evidence suggests the combination of alcohol and marijuana worsens driving performance more than either substance by itself | IIHS, USA
FDA Exempts Harm Reduction From Biggest Naloxone Access Restrictions
On September 22, the Food and Drug Administration issued guidance clarifying that, effective immediately, harm reduction naloxone suppliers are exempt from wholesale pharmaceutical distribution restrictions. The statement effectively removes naloxone’s prescription requirement at the federal level, allowing the broader harm reduction community to purchase and distribute naloxone in bulk for the first time | Filter Magazine, USA
Vape Taxes a Great Way to Encourage Smoking, Researchers Show
A new paper published in the Journal of Health Economics suggests that burdensome taxes on vaping products lead to an increase in cigarette sales | Filter Magazine, USA
Australian Drug Trends 2022: Key Findings from the National 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. In 2022, we have provided a suite of products with the most up-to-date findings from interviews conducted annually from 2003 to 2022 with a cross-sectional sentinel group of people who regularly use ecstasy and other stimulants recruited from all capital cities of Australia | NDARC, Australia
Parents influence perceptions of alcohol
While consumption of alcohol does not generally begin until early adolescence, children appear to internalise adult drinking behaviours from a very young age | La Trobe University, Australia
Becoming a nitrous oxide user on social media: Learning to maximise pleasures and minimise harms
In his classic work ‘Becoming a marihuana user’, Howard Becker (1953) showed how drug use learning occurred in social interactions and settings, which in turn shape drug use. Today, social media offers people opportunities to learn about drugs without physical proximity. In this paper, we identify nitrous oxide (N2O) users’ key concerns about how to maximise pleasures and minimise harms, as expressed on the social media platform Reddit. In doing so, we consider what learning about N2O online might mean for the provision of drug education in an era of internet technology | IJDP, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
How to Respond to the UK Home Office Consultation
Transform and Release have developed this guide to help you respond to the online consultation and have your voice heard in Westminster. The consultation closes on October 10th, 2022 | Transform blog, UK
Outline Policy Statement: Controlled Drugs
The Party is currently working on a draft policy concerning drugs, in particular those substances that can be misused and lead to social harms. The scope of this is those substances that fall within the definitions and rules contained in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and associated legislation | ADF Party, UK
What’s It Like Being Addicted To Gambling?
A guest post by “Bezzo” who talks about his experiences of being addicted to gambling and how hard it was to find help | Russell Webster, UK
Insider Q&A: FDA official on vaping's 'promise or peril'
There's been no honeymoon period for the Food and Drug Administration's new tobacco chief, Brian King, the public health scientist now responsible for regulating the nation's multibillion-dollar cigarette and vaping industry | Medical Xpress, USA
Should I give my teen alcohol? Just a sip, the whole can, or none at all?
You’re at a barbecue and the adults are enjoying a few drinks. Everyone is relaxed and having a great time. One of your friends has just given their teen a beer. Next thing you know, your 15-year-old is asking for one too | Conversation, Australia
We asked over 700 teens where they bought their vapes. Here’s what they said
Teen vaping has been in the news, with reports of rapidly increasing use and illegal sales of e-cigarettes. As a Four Corners documentary on ABC TV earlier this year showed, parents and schools are struggling to manage this swift rise in vaping, with fears children are addicted and harming their health | Conversation, Australia