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Daily news - 8th August 2023 |
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UK news
NHS would save more than £500m a year if half of England's adult smokers vaped instead
Prof Francesco Moscone, a business economics expert from Brunel University London, has conducted a new study to assess the potential savings for the NHS if some of England’s smokers converted to RRPs (reduced risk products) | Brunel University London, UK
Awareness of vaping risks key to reducing e-cigarette use among young people
15-30-year-olds in the UK who perceived e-cigarettes as harmful were 40% less likely to use them compared to those who do not consider them harmful. Yet only 53% of those using e-cigarettes at least monthly said they had seen warning labels on packaging, finds research from The George Institute for Global Health | George Institute for Global Health, UK
Psychedelic drugs to treat depression - rapid response
Researchers are exploring the science of psychedelic drugs as a potential treatment for depression. How effective could they be, and what are the regulatory and legal challenges in their use? | UK Parliament, UK
Ticking timebomb: Campaigners are calling for greater awareness of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder as shocking numbers of people with the condition are ending up in prison with little or no support
Carol Hunter only discovered she had foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) 10 years ago after reading it in her adoption papers | 1919 Magazine, UK
“I don't want to introduce it into new places in my life”: The marketing and consumption of no and low alcohol drinks
[Open access] Recent years have seen an expanding ‘no and low alcohol’ (NoLo) drinks market in the United Kingdom and other high-income countries. With the UK government pledging to increase the availability of NoLos and encourage their consumption, further research is required to underpin policy and explore the potential for NoLos to ease – or exacerbate – alcohol-related harm | IJDP, UK
City Pilots: An Evaluation of a Drinkaware IBA in a Community Setting
This report summarises the independent evaluation of a series of IBA events held during November and December 2022 in Salford and Bolton | Drinkaware, UK
Recycle vapes to cut fire risk, Hampshire residents told
Users of single-use vapes are being urged to dispose of them at recycling centres to avoid starting fires. Hampshire County Council said more than 700 fires in bin lorries and recycling centres nationally were caused by batteries dumped into general waste | BBC, UK
Ministers criticised as UK pubs prepare to call last orders on takeaway pints
Industry body says decision not to extend rules allowing pubs to sell takeaway alcohol ‘disappointing’ | Guardian, UK
Humankind marks the sad loss of trustee Jim Foyle
It is with deep sadness that all of us at Humankind note the passing of trustee Jim Foyle. Jim was a valued member of the Humankind board since 2019. His commitment to our organisation, however, dates back to 2010 when Jim joined the HAGA Alcohol Service board, and later that of Blenheim CDP. This governance work was alongside an esteemed career in psychology of over 35 years at a number of NHS Trusts, including our partner Barnet Enfield & Haringey NHS Trust | Humankind, UK
Feargal Sharkey: ‘The war on drugs has failed so it’s time to look at legalisation’
Feargal Sharkey has said he “would go quite a long way” in favour of the legalisation of some drugs. The former Undertones signer also hit out a government move that hampered the testing of substances at music festivals | Belfast Telegraph, UK
World first as magic mushroom drug used to treat gambling addicts in UK study
The mind-altering chemical in magic mushrooms – psilocybin – is being tested on five patients. The government-funded trial starts at London's Imperial College in October | Mirror, UK
Drugs worth £400k seized in Jersey over two weeks
About £400,000 worth of drugs has been seized by the Jersey Customs and Immigration Service (JCIS) in a two-week period. Drugs seized included cocaine, heroin, MDMA (ecstasy) and cannabis | BBC, UK
Operation Seal Bay: How village nosiness uncovered drug ring
Forty years ago "the man with the rubber face" was caught in rural west Wales after misjudging the power of local curiosity | BBC, UK
International news
Joint submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
This submission was put together by the International Drug Policy Consortium, Amnesty International, the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, the Drug Policy Alliance, Harm Reduction International, and Release. Our submission gathers evidence on contact with the criminal legal system as a social determinant of the right to health, and argues that the General Recommendation should recommend that States repeal or amend criminal laws, policies or practices that drive racial discrimination in the enjoyment of physical and mental health, particularly drug-related ones | Release, UK
Men charged after €5.8m of drugs seized
Five men have been charged after after a series of drug seizures in the Republic of Ireland. Three men were charged after cocaine with an estimated street value of €4.2m (£3.6m) was seized in Cork | BBC, UK
Italy trials free taxi rides for drunks to curb accidents
[Possible paywall] Critics say pilot scheme, which will run until mid-September, unjustly rewards people who drink too much | Telegraph, UK
Marco Pantani: Italian cycling hero's mysterious death and maverick life
It's Valentine's Day - Saturday, 14 February 2004 - but Marco Pantani is alone. He's holed up in Room 5D of the Residence Le Rose hotel in the Italian seaside resort of Rimini having arrived, out of season, on the previous Monday. Other guests say he's been behaving erratically | BBC, UK
Republicans accused of cynical ploy in blaming fentanyl crisis on Biden
Critics say GOP leaders misrepresent asylum seekers as being behind smuggling of opioid that kills 70,000 Americans a year | Guardian, UK
Debts, Threats, Distress and Hope: Towards Understanding Drug-Related Intimidation in Dublin’s North East Inner City (PDF)
From an academic perspective, Drug-Related Intimidation is a relatively new concept. Conceptually, our understanding of DRI has been analysed through the broader lens of drugs and crime more generally. Similarly, our understanding of interventions has also been informed largely by other distinct but related fields – such as gang membership or witness intimidation | Ana Liffey, Ireland
Only four nations doing enough to stub out smoking: WHO
Only four countries—Brazil, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Turkey—have adopted all the anti-tobacco measures recommended in the fight against the "deadly scourge" of smoking, the World Health Organization said Monday | Medical Xpress, USA
Use of Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Among Adults With Past-Year Opioid Use Disorder in the US, 2021
In 2021, an estimated 2.5 million people aged 18 years or older in the U.S. had opioid use disorder in the past year, yet only one in five of them (22%) received medications to treat it, according to a new study. Some groups were substantially less likely to receive medication for opioid use disorder, including Black adults, women, those who were unemployed, and those in nonmetropolitan areas | JAMA Network Open, USA
New antibody shows promise in reversing carfentanil overdoses
An antibody in single-chain fragment variable (scFv) format that binds to the powerful opioid carfentanil was shown to reverse signs of carfentanil overdose in preclinical tests conducted by scientists at Scripps Research | News Medical, USA
Could psychedelic therapy be the next frontier for mental health care in California?
Psychedelics such as LSD, ketamine and psilocybin, used by therapists to assist in the treatment of certain mental illnesses, could receive billions for state-funded research under a newly proposed bond initiative | Medical Xpress, USA
Health care providers learn to guide dying patients through a psychedelic trip
A 5-day Hamilton workshop taught participants how to use psilocybin therapeutically | CBC News, Canada
The landscape of opioid prescribing has changed, but is it for the better?
Globally, opioid prescribing has increased significantly over the past three decades. In 2019, Australia had the eighth highest level of opioid use in the world. Although opioids play an important role in managing pain, increases in prescription opioid use has led to more opioid related deaths. In the 10 years from 2007 to 2016, opioid-related mortality doubled from 591 to 1119 in Australia, with most deaths attributed to prescription opioids | Medical Xpress, Australia
International Overdose Awareness Day: 31st August
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died from overdose, and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind. The IOAD 2023 theme “Recognizing those people who go unseen” is about acknowledging people in our communities who are affected by overdose but might go unseen in the crisis. Learn more about the 2023 campaign here | Pennington Institute, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The Trip Report 07/08
Through the work of organisations such as WEDINOS, The Loop, and SaferParty, we know a little more about the drugs in circulation. The report provided here is a summary of their findings over the last few weeks | The Trip Report, UK
Scotland's minimum unit pricing of alcohol has been so successful it should encourage other life-saving public health policies – Dr Tamasin Knight
The 13.4 per cent reduction in deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption shows minimum unit pricing is a policy worth building on | Scotsman opinion, UK
How canny marketing and strong supply links gave the world a taste for Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky exports grew from £4.51 billion in 2021 to more than £6 billion in 2022, while separate government figures showed a 25% sales increase last year – the biggest for any UK manufactured product except aircraft parts. Such impressive growth shows how the industry has cultivated its image, appeal and supply networks over 200 years, withstanding pandemics, trade wars and even world wars in the process | Conversation, UK
The Burden of Proof Is on the Language Police
In my work as a senior editor at a scientific journal, the most challenging arguments I mediate among reviewers, authors, other editors, and readers are not about research methods, empirical data, or subtle points of theory but about which terms describing vulnerable groups are acceptable and which are harmful. My field—addiction and drug policy—has a tradition of savage infighting over language | The Atlantic, USA