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Daily news - 30th September 2022

UK news

Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence update

The final annual update in the current series of evidence reviews about the health harms of vaping, by leading independent tobacco experts | OHID, UK

Switch from smoking to vaping cuts health risks substantially, report finds

Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, according to a major review of nicotine products, but action is needed to tackle the sharp rise in e-cigarette use among children | Guardian, UK

Young non-smokers told not to take up vaping by experts

Researchers looked at the evidence and say while vaping is far safer than cigarettes, the long-term effects of vapes are still unknown | BBC, UK

Stoptober is back!

Whether you want to start breathing easier, feel the energy boost or even have a little more money to spend, there has never been a better time to stop smoking. Remember, it's never too late to join the thousands of people quitting smoking this October | NHS, UK

Recovery Talks podcast

Recovery Talks is a podcast from Changing Lives where people get together to share their thoughts, ideas and stories of recovery and what this means to them | Changing Lives, UK

Hartlepool cannabis farm with 'lethal' electrical supply found

A three-storey cannabis farm with a "potentially lethal" makeshift electricity supply has been discovered | BBC, UK

Jail for Carlisle dealer 'who tried to help mum with debts'

A drug dealer who bombarded potential customers with texts to try to ease his disabled mother's financial problems has been jailed | BBC, UK

 

International news

Australian teenagers are readily accessing illegal vaping products. Here’s how

Parents and schools are struggling to manage a rise in vaping but there has been very limited research published – until today | Guardian, UK

GAA clubs urged to act on 'rampant' recreational drug use

As part of a drugs programme launched for clubs in Waterford, a top referee said the lack of awareness campaigning was an "indictment" on members and leadership | Irish Examiner, Ireland

Association of e-Cigarette Advertising, Parental Influence, and Peer Influence With US Adolescent e-Cigarette Use

This cohort study of a total of 11 641 adolescents from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study waves 4, 4.5, and 5, found that adolescents who reported past 30-day e-cigarette advertising exposure and who reported having best friends using e-cigarettes were more likely to feel curious about using e-cigarettes and more likely to initiate e-cigarette use at follow-up | JAMA Network Open, USA

Prescribing Characteristics Associated With Opioid Overdose Following Buprenorphine Taper

Buprenorphine tapers undertaken after at least 1 year of therapy, those with a slower rate of taper, and a lower percentage of days during which the dose was decreasing were associated with a significantly lower risk of opioid overdose, regardless of taper duration | JAMA Network Open, USA

Lack of naloxone led to increased overdose deaths in rural Pennsylvania, study finds

Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates of opioid overdose in the nation, and, according to Penn State researchers, one's chances of surviving that overdose can depend on where the person lives | Medical Xpress, USA

The State of Research on Cannabis as an Opioid “Exit Drug”

It’s legal for adult use in 19 states, two territories and DC, and for medical use in 37 states, four territories and DC. It’s on the Nasdaq, and produced in a capitalist profusion of brands and formats. Despite not being legal everywhere yet, cannabis and its derivatives are increasingly considered part of “wellness” culture | Filter Magazine, USA

Understanding Substance Use: Educators Guide

Designed for education professionals (teachers, guidance counsellors, coaches, social workers and so on) working with youth from grades 6–12 to gain knowledge, tools and resources on substance use, stigma, cannabis vaping, alcohol and impaired driving. Using this guide with the supporting video modules can help educators start and navigate difficult conversations with youth on these subjects | CCSA, Canada

Measuring the Impact of Drug-Impaired Driving: Recommendations for National Indicators

Recommends 34 indicators for enhancing and standardizing the collection of drug-impaired driving data across Canada to help reduce injuries and fatalities. The report also explores considerations for implementing the recommendations, including the need for systematic and standardized methods, developing a joint approach, increasing knowledge and efficiencies through data sharing, filling the gaps, and increasing diversity, as well as the financial costs and benefits of investment to implement the recommendations | CCSA, Canada

Chloe Swarbrick confident alcohol harm reduction bill will find first-reading support

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick will need most of Labour's MPs to swing behind her alcohol harm reduction bill, if it is to pass its first hurdle in Parliament. Swarbrick's member's bill would ban alcohol sponsorship in sports and give local councils the power to control alcohol sales, trading hours and locations | RNZ, New Zealand

 

Blogs, comment and opinion

Expert reaction to Nicotine vaping in England: an evidence update, as published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) and authored by scientists at KCL

An evidence update on nicotine vaping in England by scientists at King’s College London has been published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) | Science Media Centre, UK

Commissioning Cracks: The Costs of Defunding Heroin Assisted Treatment

In Middlesbrough, citizens are statistically more likely to die from a Drug Related Death (DRD) than a car accident. As a case study area, you would struggle to find a more appropriate platform in which to test new models of treatment and care for people who use drugs (PWUD). If interventions to reduce the harms of drug use and structures which facilitate whole systems working can’t be implemented in areas such as Middlesbrough, it is likely the government’s vision of significantly cutting DRD in 10 years will be jeopardised, and underdelivered | Talking Drugs, UK

Building A Parliamentary Front For Cannabis In Brazil

Efforts to legalise medical and industrial cannabis have encountered strong reactionary opposition in Brazil, with past attempts to regulate medicinal cannabis in mid-2021 succeeding in the face of strong political opposition. However, more than sixteen months have passed since a special commission of the Brazilian Congress voted favourably for the legalisation of medicinal and industrial cannabis (hemp), but the approved bill is still stuck in Congress without any efforts to move the bill along to the Senate for final approval | Talking Drugs, UK

Opinion: We have a way to end the opioid epidemic, but not the will

I knew when I was giving a talk about the opioid epidemic to the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association in 2020 that it wasn’t going well. When I suggested that law enforcement officers divert arrestees with substance use disorders to treatment centers instead of jail, the sheriffs looked more disgusted than interested | Washington Post opinion, USA

Drinking Studies Showcase: Women and Online Alcohol Recovery Groups

This is the latest instalment to the Drinking Studies Showcase feature. Back in June, 2022, the ‘Women and Alcohol’ and ‘Sobriety, Abstinence and Moderation‘ DSN clusters hosted a joint lunchtime seminar. Dr Sally Sanger and Claire Davey provided short talks about their research on online alcohol recovery and sobriety groups. It’s a pleasure to be able to share the (edited) recording with you all | Points blog, USA