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Daily news - 19th April 2023 |
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UK news
Call to tackle rise in alcohol-related deaths in Scotland
Tougher measures are needed to tackle the highest level of alcohol-related deaths for more than a decade, medical experts have said | BBC, UK
Working alongside medicinal weed advocacy group Cancard, the Met are trialling a new scheme to reduce the smell of cannabis in social housing
Multiple police forces in the UK are trialling a scheme where they give out weed vapes to medicinal cannabis users to reduce the smell of weed in social housing. Cancard, an advocacy group who provide medicinal weed users with an ID card recognised by police, and a helpline for the police to validate cannabis prescriptions during a stop and search, are behind the scheme | The Face, UK
E-cigarette use among early adolescent tobacco cigarette smokers: testing the disruption and entrenchment hypotheses in two longitudinal cohorts
[Open access] Using longitudinal data from two large-scale cohorts in the UK and USA, we examine whether e-cigarette use steers adolescent early smokers away from tobacco cigarettes (disruption hypothesis) or deepens early patterns of tobacco smoking (entrenchment hypothesis) in comparison with early smokers who do not use e-cigarettes | BMJ, UK
Anti-social Behaviour: Nitrous Oxide
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral contribution of 27 March 2023, Official Report, column 674, on Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan, what emerging evidence on nitrous oxide she is referring to; and if she will make a statement | They work for you, UK
Achieving Smokefree 2030: cutting smoking and stopping kids vaping
In 2019, this Government set the bold ambition for England to be Smokefree by 2030 – reducing smoking rates to 5% or less. To support this, the Government commissioned Dr Javed Khan OBE to undertake an Independent Review which was published in June 2022 | They work for you, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Children
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential health risks of e-cigarettes for children | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Prisons
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to tackle illegal drug use within the prison system | They work for you, UK
Prisons: Smuggling
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rollout of new prison scanners in preventing contraband from entering those sites | They work for you, UK
Liverpool alcohol and drug rehab centre placed under special measures
A drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation service has been placed under special measures after failing to improve sufficiently after inspections | BBC, UK
Our Stories Have Power - Recovery Community Messaging Training
April 21st from 10am- 12pm. The recovery community is speaking out to educate friends, neighbours, policymakers, and the media about the reality of recovery so that others can get the help they need to recover. The Our Stories Have Power workshop gives participants the power to become recovery communicators by providing them with specific messaging and language that can promote change and reduce stigma | Recovery Coach Academy and FAVOR, UK
CRC Annual Public Lecture and Reception 2023 - Niamh Eastwood
Tuesday, April 25 · 6 - 7:30pm BST Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director of Release, will discuss human rights-based approaches to drug policy. Followed by drinks reception | Crime Research Centre, The University of Sussex, UK
Public Policy: Changing the system from within
Thu, 4 May 2023 10:30 - 12:00 BST. Join us for an open discussion exploring how systemic approaches can enable public policy to make real progress in complex environments | School of System Change, UK
International news
Italian police find cocaine packages floating in the sea off Sicily - video
Police have found and recovered packages of cocaine worth more than €400m (£353m) floating in the sea off the island of Sicily, Italy | BBC, UK
Trigger IX: $5bn of drugs seized in Latin American operation
Police in Latin America have seized cocaine and other drugs worth $5bn (£4bn) in an operation lasting three weeks and spanning 15 countries | BBC, UK
Aaron Carter accidentally drowned after taking drugs
The autopsy has now revealed that his death was caused by drowning due to the effects of sedatives he had taken and gas he had inhaled | BBC, UK
The rise of mid-strength wine (and four Australian low-cost, low-alcohol drops to try)
First it was beer; now wines with a lowered alcohol content are entering the Australian market as consumers seek more health-conscious choices | Guardian, UK
Supervised drug injecting sites in Cork city will be ‘about saving lives’
Cork City representatives are to travel to Portugal next month to visit supervised injection centres | Echo Live, Ireland
Online snus sales under threat in Norway
The Norwegian government wants to ban online snus sales as part of a new tobacco strategy. But experts warn the measure may be counterproductive for efforts to reduce smoking rates | Snus Forum Net, Sweden
Prescription Stimulant Medical and Nonmedical Use Among US Secondary School Students, 2005 to 2020
In this cross-sectional study of 231 141 students in 3284 secondary schools, school-level past-year prescription stimulant nonmedical use ranged from 0% to more than 25% across US schools. Students attending schools with the highest rates of stimulant therapy for ADHD had 36% increased odds of nonmedical prescription stimulant use compared with students attending schools with the lowest rates | JAMA Network Open, USA
The Rise of ‘Gas Station Heroin’
The supplement tianeptine, sold under brands like Zaza and Tianaa Red, is causing excruciating withdrawals, leaving people broke and even suicidal | VICE, USA
Uber Eats launches cannabis delivery service in Vancouver, Victoria
A partnership between Uber Eats and cannabis resource company Leafly means British Columbia residents are now able to order legal pot and have it delivered to their door | Vancouver Sun, Canada
Characteristics and circumstances of volatile solvent misuse-related death in Australia, 2000–2021
[Open access] Volatile solvent misuse-related death is associated with neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular, respiratory and renal pathology, as well as sudden death. The study aimed to determine: (1) the circumstances of death and case characteristics of volatile solvent misuse-related death in Australia, 2000–2021; (2) the toxicological profile of cases; and (3) the major autopsy findings | Clinical Toxicology, Australia
Research sheds new light on self-destructive behaviour
Misunderstanding the link between our actions and consequences could be what makes giving up harmful habits so difficult, study shows | UNSW, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on health is linked to, and exacerbated by harmful alcohol use
In our recent article in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, we explored the cost-of-living crisis in the UK and its potential impact on public health. This crisis, caused by factors such as high inflation, trade disruption, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic, has significant implications for the population’s health. We argued that it is crucial to consider the health implications of the crisis and the policy responses to it, as well as to build back better, fairer, and differently | IAS blog, UK
Jamie Gillies: Ending drug deaths in Scotland must be Humza Yousaf’s priority
Years of talking in the corridors of power has done little to end our drugs death shame | Press and Journal opinion, UK
Expert reaction to study suggesting a link between concurrent vaping in early teen smokers and persistent and heavier smoking in late teens
A study published in Tobacco Control looks at e-cigarette use among early adolescent cigarette smokers | Science Media Centre, UK
My vaping addiction came out of nowhere – and I’m finding it impossible to quit
The jury’s still out on whether vapes are better for us than smoking. So why is the UK government handing them out? | Guardian opinion, UK
I wasn't a smoker but in my 30s became addicted to vaping
While vaping may not be as harmful as smoking, it doesn’t mean it is harmless. We also don’t really know the dangers of vaping fully yet; the negative health consequences haven’t been fully documented. But what we do know is reports of vapes exploding (due to the lithium battery fires), youngsters getting addicted to them and the obvious environmental impact (two plastic vaping pens are tossed out every second in the UK) | i news opinion, UK
‘You’re so boring!’- It’s time to stop judging and start supporting our sober friends
It may just be night off, a month detox or a more permanent path of sobriety, but no matter the reason it deserves to be respected | Alcohol Change UK blog, UK