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Daily news - 3rd April 2023

UK news

Rapid evidence review on interventions to reduce drug-related harm during transitions of care

This review describes the types of interventions used to reduce risk of drug harms, including death, among adults during transition of care and between services | Public Health Scotland, UK

Impact on alcohol selection and online purchasing of changing the proportion of available non-alcoholic versus alcoholic drinks: A randomised controlled trial

Increasing the availability of non-alcoholic options is a promising population-level intervention to reduce alcohol consumption, currently unassessed in naturalistic settings. This study in an online retail context aimed to estimate the impact of increasing the proportion of non-alcoholic (relative to alcoholic) drinks, on selection and purchasing of alcohol | PLOS Medicine, UK

What are nicotine pouches, and how are they made?

Nicotine pouches are thumbnail-sized sachets containing vegetable fibres infused with nicotine and a range of flavours. Placed in the mouth between the lip and gum, nicotine is absorbed through the oral mucous membrane. This Briefing Paper provides an introduction to the nicotine pouch category and assesses the potential for these products to contribute to tobacco harm reduction | NSP, UK

Snus: Several players seeking help for addiction, says Professional Footballers Association

A growing number of players are using snus, with "several" receiving help for addiction, says the Professional Footballers Association | BBC, UK

Pioneering pledge by University of Chester celebrates people in recovery

The University is at the vanguard of work to support people in recovery from addictions as it signs an official, public and internationally-recognised commitment | UNiversity of Chester, UK

Anti-social Behaviour: Alcoholic Drinks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how her proposals for tackling anti-social behaviour will address alcohol-related (a) domestic and (b) community violence | They work for you, UK

Nitrous Oxide: Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of criminalising the use of nitrous oxide on the levels of use of that substance | They work for you, UK

HSJ Award Winners: Hep C U Later!

The Hep C U Later team, alongside the Drug Treatment Providers Forum, NHS England and Gilead Sciences are proud to have won the HSJ Partnership Award for the Best Health Care Analytics Project for the NHS at the HSJ Awards on 23rd March 2023 | NHS APA, UK

Everything you need to know about the 2023 Impact Prize and Engagement Grants

A Q&A with Head of Communications Rob Calder about the SSA’s Impact Prize and Engagement Grants, which encourage and recognise efforts to improve the scientific understanding of addiction | SSA, UK

Darlington office block used as cannabis farm

A cannabis farm with more than 2,000 plants has been discovered in a disused office block | BBC, UK

Thornaby Costcutter shut down for selling cigarettes to children

Cleveland Police said the Costcutter store in Havelock Street, Thornaby, had also been caught selling fake tobacco products to customers | BBC, UK

International news

‘It damages our free spirit’: war on British tourists won’t work, say Amsterdammers

Young Britons are the target for a crackdown on antisocial behaviour in the city – but are they the real problem? | Guardian, UK

Fentanyl - a killer drug’s trail of destruction

Fentanyl is a deadly, synthetic opioid, 50 times more powerful than heroin. Americans are dying from it at such an alarming rate, that the US has approved the sale of naloxone - an overdose-reversing drug - without a prescription. But fentanyl's trail of destruction begins further south | BBC, UK

Afghanistan: Rounded up from the streets into Taliban drug rehab

"I was under the bridge trying to get some drugs when I felt a hand grab me from behind. It was the Taliban. They had come to take us away." | BBC, UK

How drug debts are used to control Irish communities: ‘Men are forced to go to jail on someone’s behalf’

A distressing new criminal trend is spreading misery throughout the State, and anyone could be targeted | Irish Times, Ireland

The future of drug monitoring in Europe until 2030: A report summarising the findings and lessons learnt from the EMCDDA’s ‘futures study’

Patterns of drug use and developments in the drug market in Europe are becoming more complex and dynamic, with major implications for drug monitoring and research. This observation prompted the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drg Addiction (EMCDDA) to conduct a futures exercise 2030 to inform the agency’s strategic reflection on how to improve its activities in the context of both ongoing rapid changes in the information environment and the new information needs likely to emerge over the next decade. A summary of this work is provided here | EMCDDA, Portugal

JHAAN Joint Paper on the JHA Agencies’ Contribution to EU Solidarity with Ukraine

The aim of the report is to present to the European Institutions and the general public a concise, comprehensive document, to be used as a source of reference, on how the nine JHA Agencies support the EU, Member States and several EU partners (third countries and international organisations) in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As long as the current circumstances remain unchanged, it is considered as a living document to be updated regularly| EMCDDA, Portugal

Making the UN More NGO-friendly: An Interview with Jamie Bridge | CND 2023 - video

Jamie Bridge is a Bedford-based harm reduction professional and the Chief Operating Officer at the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC). We interviewed him on the occasion of the end of his term as the chair of the Vienna NGO Committee - an organisation that links NGOs and the Vienna-based agencies involved in setting drug policy | Drug Reporter, Hungary

Police make largest-ever cocaine seizure in Norway, finding 1,760 pounds of the drug in boxes of fruit

Police made the largest-ever cocaine seizure in Norway when they discovered 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) of the drug in boxes of fruit in Oslo, officials said | CBS News, USA

Association Between Daily Alcohol Intake and Risk of All-Cause Mortality

This systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies involving more than 4.8 million participants found no significant reductions in risk of all-cause mortality for drinkers who drank less than 25 g of ethanol per day (about 2 Canadian standard drinks compared with lifetime nondrinkers) after adjustment for key study characteristics such as median age and sex of study cohorts. There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams per day and among male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams per day | JAMA Network Open, USA