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Daily news - 4th August 2023 |
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UK news
Four in ten smokers wrongly believe that vaping is as or more harmful as smoking
The latest ASH annual survey data show that in 2023: Four in ten smokers (39%) in Great Britain now believe vaping is as or more risky compared with smoking up from a third last year; and 1.8 million smokers (27%) have never tried vaping even though it’s a very effective quitting aid. Finally, 2.9 million smokers have tried vaping but stopped | ASH, UK
Addressing common myths about vaping: Putting the evidence in context
This short brief is to aid responsible reporting of the evidence about vaping and reduce: Repetition of misconceptions as conventional wisdom; Overstating the evidence, with caveats downplayed or missed out; Presenting opinions as facts | ASH, UK
Urgent warning over 'killer' batch of drugs circulating in West Midlands
A batch of potentially deadly drugs are being sold in Birmingham and the Black Country, triggering an urgent warning | Birmingham Mail, UK
Risk of overdose higher when opioid agonists are prescribed with other medicines
Patients prescribed medicines to replace illicit drugs are at higher risk of overdose resulting in hospital admission when taking other medicines which treat mental health conditions or pain, University of Manchester researchers have found. The authors of the study, published in the journal Addiction on August 3, say doctors should avoid co-prescription of opioid agonists, with benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, antipsychotics or Z-drugs if harm is greater than the benefit to patients | Medical Xpress, UK
Second Scottish NHS board considers prescribing heroin as drug treatment
A second Scottish NHS health board is considering offering heroin on prescription to drug users following an evaluation of a “successfully implemented” Glasgow-based pilot | The Ferret, UK
Just one alcoholic drink a day could raise blood pressure, study finds
Researchers, who found a link between increases in systolic blood pressure and the number of daily alcoholic drinks, say while limiting alcohol intake is advised, avoiding it is "even better" | Sky News, UK
Cocaine Capital: record London seizures by police but number of arrests tumbles
Cocaine seizures in London have soared by 1,576 per cent in a decade with more than a ton of the drug taken off the streets last year. The latest figures show the Metropolitan Police seized 1,048kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of £105 million in the year to March 2022 — the highest total on record. Casual use has reached such a peak, the force now removes from the streets two-thirds of the drug found by all British police | Yahoo, UK
Fake Camden Council 'crack and heroin' posters to be removed
The council says that it is in the process of removing the fly posters which feature both Camden Council and Metropolitan Police logos, claiming that “the sale and use of crack and heroin is permitted in this area” | Ham&High, UK
Met Police: Cdr Julian Bennett feared he would fail drugs test - tribunal
A senior Met officer accused of smoking cannabis daily has said he refused to take a drugs test, fearing it would be positive due to the CBD (cannabidiol) oils he used medicinally | BBC, UK
Pontefract pub could lose licence after serving alcohol to children
A pub in Pontefract could lose its licence after police found "vulnerable under-age children" being served alcohol at the premises | BBC, UK
Cocaine gang who hid behind fake company jailed
A cocaine dealing gang who set up a fake computer company to cover up their operations has been jailed. The group, who leased premises in Widnes, Cheshire, even had fleece jackets made with the company name on - Clarke Computers and Software Limited | BBC, UK
Tomasz Waga: Cannabis factory pair linked to murder jailed
The operators of a cannabis factory targeted by a thief who was then murdered have been jailed | BBC, UK
International news
Warning to vodka Red Bull drinkers: Experts call for drink driving-esque campaign to tell boozers that mixing alcohol with energy drinks can make them violent
Boozers should be warned how drinking vodka Red Bulls could make them more violent, researchers said today | Mail Online, UK
Singapore executes third prisoner in just 8 days. What explains this fresh wave of death sentences?
Singapore’s authorities have defended their policies amid the execution of man for trafficking 54g of heroin | Independent, UK
Victorian student found unconscious after vaping and taken to hospital
The Bannockburn P12 College student was taken to Geelong hospital in a stable condition by paramedics | Guardian, UK
Inside the plan to legalise cannabis in Australia and how it could generate billions in taxes for the government
Thousands of Australians support legalising cannabis, backing in the Greens' plan that could generate an additional $28billion in revenue over nine years. Greens Justice spokesman David Shoebridge will hand down his Legalise Cannabis Report on Friday, after nearly 9000 survey responses, dozens of official submissions and many phone calls, social media conversations, and 'real life conversations' in response to a draft bill | Mail Online, UK
Hallucinogen use, young adults and monitoring the future with Katherine Keyes - podcast
In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Katherine Keyes about her study examining changes to hallucinogen use among young adults in the US. Katherine also talks about using the Monitoring The Future survey to identify patterns of substance use among young adults | SSA, UK
Regional alcohol-related harm - County level factsheet (PDF)
This report examines alcohol use and alcohol-related harms by county level, where available. Alcohol use is equally prevalent across Irish society. As the population of Ireland grows and as the components of the Act are commenced, it is important that the impact of the Act is monitored to ensure it is effective but of equal importance is that all components of the Act are implemented to ensure maximum impact | HRB, Ireland
France loses more money from tobacco and alcohol use than it gains in taxes, new report says
A new report has found that the cost to public finances related to alcohol and tobacco use exceeds any money the state gains from taxes on those products | Euronews, France
A Celebration of Scotland’s Indigenous Apothecary
Drug Reporter produced a new documentary, titled “Psychedelics in Scotland” on the struggle to liberate psychedelic medicine in Scotland". In the film, people with lived experience provide testimony on the healing powers of psychedelic drugs | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Doctors sound alarm about child nicotine poisoning as vapes flood the US market
Hospital toxicologist Ryan Marino has seen up close the violent reactions of children poisoned by liquid nicotine from electronic cigarettes. One young boy who came to his emergency room experienced intense nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, and needed intravenous fluids to treat his dehydration | News Medical, USA
New study shows drug manufacturers actually increased opioid marketing after Kentucky's Purdue pharma lawsuit
Kentucky's 2007 lawsuit against Purdue Pharma marked a major turn in the opioid crisis. It was the first time a member of the Sackler family, who owned Purdue, was deposed about the company's role in the opioid epidemic. Because the judge unsealed the court documents, public outrage soared, and other potential plaintiffs against Purdue across the country gained access to the case's evidence. But a new study in the Strategic Management Journal finds that the case dissuaded only Purdue's opioid marketing. Promotion of opioids by competing drug companies actually increased | Medical Xpress, USA
Taking kratom claimed her son's life. now she and others are warning of the dangers
J.D. Butler was planning a future with his girlfriend at his favorite New York City restaurant when that future came to a sudden, crushing halt | Medical Xpress, USA
The WHO’s COP10 Takedown of Tobacco Harm Reduction Takes Shape
Storm clouds continue to gather over the global future of tobacco harm reduction. New harbingers are constantly emerging as the World Health Organization prepares for the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This is a treaty signed and ratified by 182 countries, originally drafted to tackle the harms of tobacco smoke | Filter Magazine, USA
As Indigenous Youth, We Know Peer Overdose Education Is Vital
Across Canada, many teenagers are experimenting with drugs alone because they don’t feel safe telling others. But when people use alone, they overdose alone. To reduce youth overdose deaths we need to reduce the stigma that surrounds drug use. And to do that, we need peer educators youth can relate to because they share common experiences—like growing up in the overdose crisis | Filter Magazine, USA
Metonitazene sold as cocaine
A white powder containing the potent opioid ‘metonitazene’ has been mis-sold as cocaine in Melbourne | Victoria DoH, Australia
Drugs linked to one in three cardiac arrest deaths among younger people
One in three younger Victorians who died suddenly from cardiac arrest used illegal drugs before their deaths, according to the findings of a new Australian study, which experts say highlights the underrecognised effect some illicit drugs can have on the heart | Age, Australia
Victoria's first sobering up centre is set to open. Here's how it came about
The new centre has been announced ahead of Victoria's decriminalisation of public drunkenness coming into effect | SBS News, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Nitrous oxide abuse is no laughing matter
The use of laughing gas can result in subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord, which leads to paralysis, writes Dr Janet Grace | Guardian letters, UK
‘Cocaine is a dangerous drug that’s become a dinner party standing dish’
Cocaine doesn’t have a PR agent. But if it did, you would say they have done a good job of rebranding the drug | Evening Standard comment, UK
There Will Be No More Misinformation on Cannabis from Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners
For the past nine months I have been engaged in series of formal complaints against Conservative PCCs concerning their seriously misleading anti-cannabis campaign. I am pleased that they have now stopped their silly scaremongering. If they try to go down this road again, they will be back into a costly and time-consuming process which they can never win because nothing they have claimed can be supported by evidence | Peter Reynolds, UK
‘New evidence’ for Syringe Services Programs? A call for rigor and skepticism
Syringe services programs (SSPs) are our nation's backbone for providing a range of services to some of the most stigmatized and disadvantaged individuals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). Epidemiological studies showing the positive impact of SSPs on people's health date back to the early 1990s (Des Jarlais et al., 1996). Over the last 30 years, scientific investigations have consistently found that SSPs reduce the risk for infectious diseases, improve access to substance use treatment, facilitate access to naloxone for opioid overdose reversal, and do so without increasing substance use, crime, or other harms among participants or in communities where they operate | IJDP viewpoint, USA
The Hard-Drug Decriminalization Disaster
[Possible paywall] How soon is too soon to call a progressive and libertarian policy obsession a public policy fiasco? In the case of Oregon’s Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, better known as Measure 110, the moment can’t come soon enough | NYTimes opinion, USA
International drug policy: at a crossroads or a dead-end?
The international drug control regime was established more than a century ago, yet rarely has the issue received as much attention as it has since the 2010s. With the legalisation of cannabis in the Americas, the opioid-driven overdose crisis in the United States, the peace agreement in Colombia, the brutal “war on drugs” of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, and the adoption of a new political declaration at a UN special session, drug policy has often taken a front seat in national and international policy debates | Conversation, China