Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 20th April 2023 |
 |
UK news
Briefing - Emergency response required to prevent deaths from alcohol (PDF)
The Scottish Government has rightly recognised alcohol harm as a public emergency, alongside drugs deaths. As yet, unlike drugs deaths, there has been no emergency response. Over 30 organisations are calling on the Scottish Government to urgently take action to prevent further deaths and reduce harm from alcohol. We need strong leadership and priority setting. It is crucial that people who are experiencing alcohol problems and their families have quick, easy access to appropriate treatment and support. This must be coupled with effective prevention policies to reduce harm and protect future generations | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK
'Generational shift' as figures show more Gen Z and millennials quitting alcohol
The number of young people choosing not to drink alcohol is on the rise, with the latest figures showing there are now more non-drinkers in their late teens and 20s than at any point in the last decade | ITV, UK
Rishi Sunak on vape 'enforcement squads' as govt tries to crack down on illegal e-cigarette sales - video
NHS data shows one in 10 secondary school pupils are regular vapers - despite the products' intended use of helping adults to give up smoking | Sky News, UK
MP calls on UK Government to ease up on medicinal cannabis red tape
Former Scottish Secretary David Mundell is urging the government to ease up on the red tape around medicinal cannabis | Herald, UK
Nitrous Oxide: Misuse
Crispin Blunt MP: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on which date she wrote to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs setting out her reasons for rejecting the Council’s recommendations on nitrous oxide | They work for you, UK
Nitrous oxide: Motorist faces driving charge after ‘inhaling laughing gas while at the wheel’
Tawfiqul Alom was allegedly spotted with a balloon to his mouth while driving at a ‘suspicious’ 10mph in east London | Evening Standard, UK
Turning point: reiterating our social enterprise identity and services
Turning Point, one of the country’s leading social enterprises, would like to reiterate that they have no affiliation to any political movements or other organisations with the same or similar-sounding name, which includes the student group Turning Point UK (TPUK). Recent media reports may increase the possibility that the public could be left confused about the work that we do at Turning Point | Turning Point, UK
Edinburgh: Take Drugs Seriously
Thu, 11 May 2023 18:30 - 21:30 BST. As drug deaths hit record levels in Scotland, come along to learn, and talk about the impact of drugs, and how we can better protect our communities. Join the discussion about what a new approach to drugs could mean for Scotland, Edinburgh, your family and your community with a powerful panel of affected families, ex-police, treatment groups and politicians | J Slater, UK
Michael Gove has taxpayer-funded smoking hut on roof of his office
Den was built for levelling up secretary after he was heckled in street and targeted by terrorist | Guardian, UK
Cannabis find shows exploitation of people - police
The discovery of cannabis plants at a property has highlighted the exploitation of people being used as so-called cannabis gardeners, police have said | BBC, UK
Operation Venetic: Drugs gang jailed for running industrial scale amphetamine factory in Scotland
Four members of an organised crime group that ran an industrial scale amphetamine lab in Scotland, and trafficked heroin and cocaine, have been sentenced | NCA, UK
International news
Rise of Coke Labs in Europe Signals ‘Death’ of the Smuggled Cocaine Brick
Drug experts tell VICE World News that traffickers are increasingly dissolving pure cocaine into materials and extracting it in large scale European labs | VICE, UK
‘Champagne of beers’ falls foul of French protections
Belgian customs have destroyed almost 2,400 cans of US-brewed beer bearing the slogan “The Champagne of Beers”, France’s Champagne Committee said Tuesday (18 April), in the latest episode around the bubbly’s fiercely-protected designation | Euractiv, Belgium
Partnerships in focus — stakeholders discuss international cooperation ahead of new agency mandate
Strategic partnerships and international cooperation perspectives will be the focus of an EMCDDA stakeholder event taking place in Brussels today, ahead of the agency’s new mandate in 2024. The agency’s cooperation with the Western Balkans and European Neighbourhood Policy area (ENP) will be the topic of two consultative meetings, while a special session will be dedicated to ‘Strategic partnerships today and in the future’. The by-invitation event will take place in the Solvay Library | EMCDDA, Portugal
EMCDDA Webinar: Teens and substance use — what can parents do?
8th May 2023. Online. In this webinar, we will explore evidence-based practices (i.e., what-to-do and what-not-to-do) to help address the hot topic of ‘drugs’ (whether legal or illegal) with teens from a parental perspective | EMCDDA, Portugal
How opioid drugs get into our cells
The human body naturally produces opioid-like substances, such as endorphins, that block the perception of pain and increase the feeling of well-being. Similarly, opioid drugs, including morphine or fentanyl, are widely used for alleviating severe pain. However, their use is associated with a high risk of dependence and addiction, and their excessive misuse causes more than 350,000 annual deaths worldwide | Medical Xpress, USA
Call to reconsider nicotine vaping regulations in Australia
Selling nicotine vaping products in licensed shops with a strict age verification process will restrict youth access and help adult smokers quit, a University of Queensland drug expert has recommended | Medical Xpress, USA
How Drug Courts Keep You in Prison, Even Without Drug-Related Charges
In 2016, Larry Vessey Jr. was sentenced to 58 months in the custody of Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC). His second-degree burglary conviction had not involved any drug charges, but because Vessey, 49, had been using methamphetamine for a long time, he was eligible for a drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA) | Filter Magazine, USA
Washington Set to Be the Next State to Legalize Psilocybin Therapy
Washington State lawmakers have approved a bill to legalize psilocybin therapy. It would be limited to a pilot program for military veterans and first responders, however. It now heads to Governor Jay Inslee (D), who previously said he would “consider” legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic use. If he signs the bill, Washington will become the third state to allow at least some legal psychedelic therapy | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Meagre spending on tobacco control is costing the economy billions
On the publication of Javed Khan’s Independent Review into smoking last year we wrote an open letter urging the UK government to heed Khan’s call for immediate investment of £125 million per year in tobacco control to deliver its Smokefree 2030 ambition. While £125 million a year may sound a large amount, it is only 0.6% of the direct cost of smoking to public finances in 2022 | BMJ Opinion, UK
What is 4/20 and where does it come from?
Once a year, on the 20th April, thousands of cannabis users and supporters worldwide gather to celebrate the plant or challenge its illegal status. But what is 4/20? Where did it come from, and why is it so important? | Volteface, UK
LSD, Bicycle Day and psychedelic history: A conversation with Alan Piper
To mark ‘Bicycle Day’, April 19th, a special episode on LSD and psychedelic history. The focus is on a new book of essays by Alan Piper which deconstructs some of the myths around the discovery of LSD, as well as taking a new look at some other aspects of the history of psychedelics | Toby Seddon, UK
Introducing ‘The Drug Page’: A New Online Resource and Digital Humanities Project
In this latest ‘Points’ blog, Isaac Campos introduces thedrugpage.org which features his new digital humanities project on early twentieth century cannabis discourses in the United States. Below, Campos describes the origins of the research featured on The Drug Page and his intended mission in sharing it | Points blog, USA