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Daily news - 14th August 2023 |
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UK news
Research and analysis. Advice on scheduling and lawful access to nitrous oxide
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has provided advice on the scheduling of nitrous oxide | ACMD, UK
Open consultation: Mandating quit information messages inside tobacco packs
We are holding a consultation about mandating quit themed information messages and advice (also called pack inserts) inside tobacco packets to help more smokers quit. We know from the existing international evidence and practice that introducing these messages can help people quit smoking. So, this consultation is seeking the views of interested people, businesses and organisations on this policy initiative | OHID, UK [See also, Government Press release | DHSC ]
Cigarette packs could carry anti-smoking message inserts
Messages encouraging UK smokers to quit could be placed inside packets of cigarettes under draft proposals being considered by the government. The inserts would list the health and financial benefits of trying to stop and highlight support available, the Department of Health said | BBC, UK
Medical experts defend minimum alcohol pricing report after 'misleading' claim
Group defended report into 'positive' impact of policy after Tory MSP Dr Sandesh Gulhane said it was 'misleading.' [see also Lancet Correspondence in comment section below] | STV News, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Unit Prices
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the evaluation published on 7 June 2022 by Public Health Scotland of Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland on people who are drinking at harmful levels, which found that alcohol specific deaths fell by 13.4 per cent and hospitalisations by 4.1 per cent | They work for you, UK
The Festival Drug Test Debate - audio
Politicians from both sides are challenging the government's position on drug checking - where confiscated pills are tested, and the crowd are alerted to especially dangerous batches. Music journalist Will Chalk heads to Westminster, to find out why. Is it a way to save lives? Or does it encourage the use of illegal drugs? | BBC, UK
Camden: Heroin warning after man dies and two taken to hospital
The man, in his 70s, was discovered at a house in Arlington Road, Camden, on Saturday, with officers finding drugs paraphernalia at the address | BBC, UK
Family members of those killed by Belfast drug crisis make emotional plea to politicians
The People's Kitchen organised a meeting with politicians so that family members impacted by the drug crisis and outreach workers could highlight the urgent need for reform of substance abuse treatment and homelessness support in order to save lives | Belfast Live, UK
Glasgow man turned his life around after drink and drugs addiction
A reformed drug user who ended up behind bars before sleeping on the streets has told how he turned his life around - driven by a desire to save others from the same cycle of despair | Glasgow Times, UK
Montrose Retreats awarded Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration
It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Montrose Health Group has been awarded registration by the CQC (Care Quality Commission). The registration positions Montrose as the first and only medical retreat provider in the UK that can offer residential treatment and detoxification for alcohol, stimulants, and co-occurring mental health conditions such as burnout and anxiety | Montrose Retreats, UK
North Lincolnshire crackdown on underage vape sales
Undercover operations have been launched in a bid to prevent the sale of vapes to underage youngsters in North Lincolnshire. Teenagers are being sent into shops to attempt to buy electronic cigarettes, North Lincolnshire Council said | BBC, UK
Pub takeaway drinks rules to be continued
Pubs in England and Wales will be able to continue selling takeaway drinks after the government decided to keep Covid licensing rules | BBC, UK
Leicester man jailed over decade-long cannabis operation
A man who ran an operation selling cannabis-based products across the UK for 12 years has been jailed | BBC, UK
International news
QMJC July 2023: The social forces that shape consumption of methamphetamine in Thailand
In July 2023, colleagues from Deakin University (Australia) held a meeting of the Qualitative Methods Journal Club to discuss an article about the growing demand for methamphetamine in northern Thailand. In this blog, they summarise the context for use of ‘ya ba’ among young people, and highlight the value of ethnographic drug research | SSA, UK
Is Painkiller a true story? How the OxyContin opioid crisis and Sackler family inspired the Netflix series
It is a fictionalised account of Purdue Pharma’s development of OxyContin, an addictive opioid drug that was sold in huge amounts | i news, UK
Singapore’s policy of executing drug dealers challenged by victims’ families with dozens on death row
Sceptics say the authorities have failed to present reliable data that they are winning the war against drugs | i news, UK
New Zealand's youth vaping crisis clouds smoke-free future
"It got more accessible for me, so I got addicted. Everyone around me was vaping at the time." Coco, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was 12 when she vaped for the first time. She's now 15 and trying to quit | BBC, UK
Invest in drug treatment to reduce crime - McVerry
Homelessness campaigner Peter McVerry has called for increased investment in drug treatment to help reduce crime in Dublin city centre. Fr McVerry was responding to a recent announcement of €10 million extra funding for garda overtime in the capital | RTe, Ireland
Manifesto for a better Dublin: Charge motorists, reimagine Stephen’s Green and move RTÉ
Drug users continue to face stigma. As Dr Austin O’Carroll, who works with the marginalised in Dublin, has said, “Irish people have a lot of sympathy for the homeless. They’ve no sympathy for drug users.” | Irish Times, Ireland
The Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $88 Million in Grants that Safeguard Youth Mental Health and Expand Access to Treatment for Substance Use Disorders
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has recently awarded more than $88 million in its continuing effort to safeguard the nation’s behavioral health. The grant programs serve a wide array of needs – ranging from efforts to develop and support school-based mental health programs and services, to multiple grant programs that expand access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatments | SAMHSA, USA
Perceptions of Safety of Daily Cannabis vs Tobacco Smoking and Secondhand Smoke Exposure, 2017-2021
In this survey study of 5035 US adults, daily cannabis smoking or smoke exposure was perceived to be safer than tobacco. Over time, views increasingly favored the safety of cannabis vs tobacco smoke | JAMA Network Open, USA
Teens with addiction are often left to detox without medication
Teens who land in emergency rooms with an opioid overdose generally receive naloxone to reverse the effects of dangerous drugs in their system and are sent home with a list of places they can go for follow-up care. But too often, those teens never seek additional help. They are left to suffer through the agony of withdrawal with no medications to ease their cravings. As a result, many, seeking relief, go back to opioids, often with tragic consequences | Medical Xpress, USA
Cannabis “Significantly” Associated With Lower Unregulated Opioid Use
A new federally funded study has found that marijuana is “significantly” associated with reduced opioid cravings for people using them without a prescription, suggesting that expanding access to legal cannabis could provide more people with a safer substitute | Filter Magazine, USA
US high court accepts challenge to $6bn Purdue opioid settlement
The US Supreme Court threw Purdue Pharma's $6 billion opioids settlement into question Thursday, accepting a challenge to the deal's immunizing the Sackler family, which controlled the drugmaker, from future litigation | Medical Xpress, USA
A History of Synthetic Cannabis: How The Once-Legal Drug Gripped NZ and Still Hasn’t Let Go
How did synthetic cannabinoids become commonplace in Aotearoa? | VICE, USA
Teals say Japanese brewing giant’s Hard Solo doesn’t pass the pub test
Teal crossbenchers will confront industry figures about the growing number of alcoholic drinks marketed to underage drinkers after a “hard” version of the popular soft drink Solo was approved for sale in Australia | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Commending Public Health Scotland's evaluation of minimum unit pricing
We are concerned that the complaint from a member of the Scottish Parliament to the UK Statistics Authority regarding the findings of Public Health Scotland's evaluation of a minimum unit price for alcohol, whether intentionally or not, gives the impression of seeking to undermine the policy | Lancet Correspondence, UK
How Can Digital Technologies Help Harm Reduction?
Drug addiction and problematic use are complicated concerns that affect millions of individuals all over the world. In the midst of the campaign for drug decriminalisation and harm reduction, there’s an evident interest in utilising social media, and its widespread accessibility, to ensure that HR information is able to reach as many folks as possible. Alongside other digital tools, social media based HR has the potential to do a whole lot of good, but it’s still important for us to recognise what works online, what doesn’t, and what could be improved | Talking Drugs, UK
The New War On Drugs: NPR gets the story all wrong
I dislike nitpicking journalists, because lord knows my own journalism can be nit-picked. And it’s likely that NPR correspondent Joel Rose didn’t write the headline on his recently-published long-form piece about drug smuggling, “Who is sneaking fentanyl across the southern border? Hint: it's not the migrants.” | Ben Westhoff, USA
Legalising cocaine would give ganglords what they fear most: Centrelink
Another day, another brazen shooting in Cocaine City. Sounds like the start of a juicy crime noir novel. But this is not fiction, this is Sydney right now – last week and the previous few months. Eleven dead that we know of. In response, a decades-old government approach – the war on drugs – continues to fail | Sydney Morning Herald opinion, Australia