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Daily news - 30th August 2023 |
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UK news
Press release: £5 million fund to tackle fatal drug deaths across the UK
People at risk of drug deaths could be saved by overdose detecting artificial intelligence or antidote dispensing drones after the government awarded a share of £5 million to projects aimed at tackling fatal overdoses. As part of the Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge which aims to reduce drug related deaths across the UK, Office for Life Sciences is investing in 12 promising projects to develop technologies aimed at improving detection, response, or intervention in potential drug related deaths | Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, George Freeman MP, and Will Quince MP, UK
Alcohol-specific deaths
There were 1,276 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2022, an increase of 2% (31 deaths) on 2021. Female deaths increased by 31 to 440 deaths in 2022, with the number of alcohol-specific male deaths unchanged from 2021. Male deaths continue to account for around two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths. The rate of mortality for alcohol-specific deaths was 22.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, similar to the rate of 22.3 per 100,000 people in 2021 (the increase is not statistically significant). This measure takes into account the size and age-structure of the population | National Records of Scotland, UK
Alcohol deaths rise to highest level in 14 years
The number of people in Scotland whose death was caused by alcohol has risen again to the highest level in 14 years | BBC, UK
Minister says ban on alcohol advertising is not entirely ruled out
Elena Whitham was speaking as figures showed 1,276 people died from alcohol in 2022 – the highest figure since 2008 | Independent, UK
Response from Sir Robert Chote to Sandesh Gulhane MSP – minimum unit pricing
Dear Dr Gulhane, Thank you for your letter of 3 July regarding publications about the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in Scotland. You raised concerns about the communication of Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) evaluation of the MUP policy, which concluded in a final report published in June (that synthesized evidence from a number of studies)... | UK Statistics Authority, UK
Campaign aims to remove stigma around alcohol-related deaths
The public are being encouraged to show empathy to families affected | Planet Radio, UK
Hundreds of children thrown out of school in English county lines hotspots
Gangs target minors who are out of school and BBC report shows rise in exclusions and suspensions in biggest drug-exporting areas | Guardian, UK
Crystal Bar vape giant deletes TikTok after giveaway with no age verification
The UK's second-largest vape company took down social media accounts after sending vapes to reporters in an online giveaway without age verification | BBC, UK
Adfam Forum: What support young people whose parents use substances want?
Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:30 - 12:00 BST. Adfam's latest forum for practitioners and professionals will answer the question 'what support do children and young people actually want?' | Adfam, UK
New mobile health hub to help Peterborough's homeless
The Light Project Peterborough (LPP) charity has worked with the NHS to create the service for the city's most vulnerable at its central headquarters | BBC, UK
Gloucester pop-up vape shop will not face action from council
A pop-up e-cigarette shop which has been built over disabled parking spaces will not have action taken against it | BBC, UK
Creswell: 'Problem' house linked to drug activity boarded up
A house in a Derbyshire village linked to drug-related activity and anti-social behaviour has been boarded up | BBC, UK
Two Sandwell Council officers part of drug smuggling plot
Two council housing officers were part of a plot to smuggle cocaine and amphetamine into the UK from Mexico inside a laser-cutting machine | BBC, UK
International news
‘Beer goggles’ study finds alcohol does not make people seem better looking
US research casts doubt on anecdotal evidence, but suggests drinking may give you ‘courage’ to approach attractive people | Guardian, UK
Ecuador's spiralling drug violence - video
Ecuador has until recently been a relatively peaceful country. But in the course of a few years it has become a place dominated by violence and drug trafficking | BBC, UK
HSE recalls e-cigarettes with illegal amounts of nicotine
A total of five flavours of the McKesse brand of e-cigarettes have now been reported to the European Safety Gate, the EU’s rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, for containing more than the permitted amount of nicotine, which is set at 20mg/ml | IMT, Ireland
Drug bins back at Electric Picnic – HSE to test highs surrendered by gig-goers
Electric Picnic festival-goers have been asked to surrender drugs in bins that will be placed around the site this weekend. Seven new drugs never before seen in Ireland have already been identified as a result of the programme, including psychoactive synthetic drugs like 3-CMC. The contents of the bins will be tested as part of the Safer Nightlife Programme, allowing the HSE to issue warnings about any high-strength drugs where necessary | Independent, Ireland
New Nitazene Analogue N-Pyrrolidino Protonitazene Impacting Drug Markets In North America and Europe
N-Pyrrolidino protonitazene is a new synthetic opioid and the latest to emerge among the nitazene analogue (or 2-benzyl benzimidazole) subclass. To date in August 2023, N-pyrrolidino protonitazene has been confirmed in 20 forensic toxicology cases, all of which were medicolegal death investigations | CFSRE, USA
Naloxone Use in Novel Potent Opioid and Fentanyl Overdoses in Emergency Department Patients
In this cohort study of 537 patients, all patients with NPO overdose presented with opioid overdose symptoms and received multiple doses of naloxone. Compared with fentanyl overdose, patients with NPO overdose had a higher number of naloxone doses administered in-hospital; metonitazene overdose was associated with cardiac arrest and more naloxone doses overall. These findings suggest that NPOs may have a higher potency than fentanyl due to the observed naloxone administration in the clinical setting of overdose | JAMA Network Open, USA
Substance Use Disorder Program Availability in Safety-Net and Non–Safety-Net Hospitals in the US
This cross-sectional analysis of 2846 hospitals from the 2021 American Hospital Association annual survey data found that safety-net hospitals have significantly lower odds of offering 5 hospital-based SUD services compared with non–safety-net hospitals | JAMA Network Open, USA
Cannabis Use Disorder and Reasons for Use in a US State Where Recreational Cannabis Use Is Legal - podcast
Interview with Gwen T. Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW, and Katharine A. Bradley, MD, MPH, authors of Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder and Reasons for Use Among Adults in a US State Where Recreational Cannabis Use Is Legal | JAMA Network Open, USA
Study finds e-cigarette manufacturers use targeted marketing to lure in young adults
Research led by Minji Kim, assistant professor of health promotion, education, and behavior, has found that marketing strategies used by e-cigarette manufacturers increase the likelihood of uptake among otherwise low-risk young adults. These widespread but under-researched strategies use psychographic targeting to appeal to new users based on lifestyles, attitudes and values | Medical Xpress, USA
Researchers prep fentanyl, heroin vaccines for human trials
The vaccines would protect people struggling with drug addiction or those at risk of accidental overdose. According to the National Institutes of Health, more than 106,000 U.S. drug overdose deaths were reported in 2021. Of those, 71,000 can be attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl | Medical Xpress, USA
Increasing cannabis use worsens depression for most young adults
Cannabis use among young adults is linked to depressive symptoms, but the direction of the relationship is unclear; that is, whether increased use leads to increased depression or if increased depression leads to increased use of cannabis. This longitudinal study of youth in the community explored this relationship between cannabis use and depression from teen through young adult years | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Belief in disease model associated with support for harm reduction
Public opinion towards harm reduction services has been mixed, which can prevent their adoption or limit the funding needed to continue providing these services over time. Understanding factors that can be influenced to increase support for harm reduction services may ultimately lead to greater implementation of these public health resources. This study aimed to identify the demographic factors and the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that are associated with support for harm reduction services | Recovery Research Institute, USA
STASH, Vol. 19(9) – A housing remediation intervention on gun violence and substance use
This week, STASH reviews a study by Eugenia South and colleagues that assessed the effectiveness of a housing remediation1 on outcomes related to (1) gun violence, (2) substance use, and (3) perceived neighborhood safety | BASIS, USA
Oregon Psilocybin Centers Are Open. Here’s What We Know About Them
Almost three years after Oregon voters approved psilocybin legalization for healing purposes, centers offering mushrooms are now open to the public. With no cannabis-style dispensaries permitted, access is limited to these “service centers,” where you pay fees to use the drug under trained supervision. Oregon’s highly regulated system is making psilocybin expensive—prohibitively so, for many people who might benefit | Filter Magazine, USA
Opioid pharmacotherapy at the crossroads: enduring barriers and new opportunities
[Please submit your details to receive a full copy of the report] This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the state of the Australian opioid pharmacotherapy system and offers valuable recommendations to stabilise and build a more effective system | Penington Institute, Australia
Prevalence, patterns of use, and socio-demographic features of e-cigarette use by Australian adolescents: a survey
[Open access] Adolescent e-cigarette use (vaping) and its harms are public health concerns. A national survey in 2019 found that 10% of 14–17-year-old Australians had used e-cigarettes. More recent studies, smaller or non-representative, have suggested that the rate is rapidly increasing. Little is known about how e-cigarette use varies by socio-demographic factors, such as gender, socio-economic status, and residential remoteness | MJA, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
With You responds to the National Records of Scotland report on alcohol-specific deaths
Belinda Phipps, Chief Executive at With You, says: “My thoughts are with everyone who has lost a parent, child, sibling, partner or friend to alcohol. “While drug-related deaths in Scotland are finally starting to reduce, the number of deaths from conditions wholly caused by alcohol has grown every year since 2012. I hope the Scottish Government will reflect on this and commit to approaching alcohol-related harms with the same urgency and determination as the National Drugs Mission... | With You, UK
AHA responds to rise in alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland
The latest figures from National Records of Scotland (NRS) show 1,276 people died from conditions caused by alcohol in 2022. This was 31 (2%) more than in 2021, which was the highest number since 2008 | AHA, UK
Understanding mothers’ alcohol use: Is it problematic to drink like a “wine-mom”?
The “wine-mom” trope has become pervasive in modern society—the image of the mother who pours herself a glass of wine (or maybe two… or three) after she is finished with her childcare and domestic duties for the day. It is, seemingly, the main way she copes with motherhood and the stress of daily life. In the scientific literature, however, research on this topic has only just begun to emerge | IAS blog, UK
Guest blog: The Good Drinker
In an excerpt from his latest book, The Good Drinker, author, and broadcaster Adrian Chiles talks about drinking and the benefits of alcohol moderation | Drinkaware blog, UK
Benzos are like a box of chocolates: how tough drug laws lead to counterfeit drugs
The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 is an Act of UK Parliament introduced under Theresa May’s government in an attempt to restrict the production, sale, and supply of novel psychoactive substances (NPS). NPS – also known as designer drugs, research chemicals or legal highs –, emerged in the mid-2000s. These new drugs, often compounds that were never marketed for medical use, were popularised for recreational use as they avoided criminalisation as outlined in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which placed sanctions on individual substances such as MDMA | Volteface, UK
Portugal Has Succeeded Where We’ve Failed With Addiction
[Article appears to be open access] After Cody Bohanan, 24, was locked up on a charge related to possession of drug paraphernalia in 2021, he told the staff at Butler County Jail in Ohio that he was withdrawing from opioids. His cellmates saw him vomiting blood. They implored guards to intervene. But outside of having his vital signs purportedly checked a few times by paramedics, Mr. Bohanan received no medication or treatment for his withdrawal. He died five days into his jail sentence | NYTimes opinion, USA