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Daily news - 13th December 2023 |
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UK news
Raise age of sale for tobacco to give every child a smokefree start in life say baby charities
A coalition of baby charities has backed the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to increase the age of sale for tobacco by one year, every year, from 2027. They estimate this could help reduce the number of women smoking during pregnancy by around 10,000 a year by 2033 and create a smokefree generation | ASH, UK
Nitrous oxide, addiction and substance use disorder with Sammie Back and Emese Kroon
In this episode Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Sammie Back and Emese Kroon about nitrous oxide. The discussion happened on 8 November 2023, on the day that possession of nitrous oxide became a Class C substance in the UK. The group discuss the existing evidence for harms, addiction and other disorders, exploring this relatively under-researched area | SSA, UK
Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Regulation
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the consultation on Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping, updated by her Department on 20 October 2023, for how long her Department plans to consider responses to that consultation before publishing a Tobacco and Vapes Bill | They work for you, UK
Jersey to raise alcohol tax by 4.5%
Alcohol duty will go up by 4.5% next year, following a decision in Jersey's States Assembly | BBC, UK
Three children collapse after using vapes ‘laced with drugs’
The children all fell ill after smoking the vapes in Gwent, south east Wales, sparking a warning to schools in the area | Metro, UK
On Alert: New opioids and benzos in Scotland’s drugs supply – Why we are concerned and what we need to do
Wednesday 20 December 2023. Speakers include: Nicki Killeen, Emerging Drug Trend Project Manager, Health Service Executive (Ireland) – Recent changes to the drug supply in Ireland including the supply of substances mixed with nitazenes; the coordination of the response, ongoing monitoring and the preparation of guidance. Tony Duffin, CEO Ana Liffey, Dublin – The experience of frontline services in planning for and reacting to changes in Irish drug supply and the increase in drug overdoses in Dublin... | SDF, UK
Hundreds of women and children trafficked to UK to shoplift
Hundreds of vulnerable women and children are being trafficked to the UK to shoplift for Eastern European crime groups, the BBC has learned | BBC, UK
Cannabis farm found 150 yards from police station
A cannabis farm has been found in an abandoned takeaway, minutes away and viewable from a police station | BBC, UK
Probe into £750k cannabis airport smuggling links
Nine people were arrested at Birmingham Airport in the last two weeks, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said | BBC, UK
International news
Will Europe Escape America’s Opioid Death Crisis?
A worrying spike in synthetic opioid deaths is hitting Europe. But so far the continent has escaped a US-style death epidemic. Why is this and can it last? | VICE, UK
The experience of drug-related client loss for healthcare professionals who support people in addiction
Addiction support and recovery is a multi-faceted support context in which practitioners work with clients who present with increased mortality risks. Drug-related deaths are understood to be a risk factor for complicated grief-reactions but, to date, research has neglected to explore the intricacies of drug-related client loss for practitioners who work with clients experiencing addiction. Due to wider expectations of professional endurance and the demanding nature of health care, grief-related reactions associated with the loss of a client may go unprocessed and, therefore, result in long-term health implications | JSAT, UK
More people presenting to drug treatment centre for cocaine addiction
In total, 57% of all men who presented to Coolmine Centre’s services were seeking treatment for cocaine addiction | Journal, Ireland
Alcohol Action Ireland Sale of Alcohol Bill polling Dec 2023 (PDF)
Report relating the results from a poll on late licensing | Alcohol Action Ireland, Ireland
Spanish police seize 7.5 tonnes of cocaine hidden in frozen tuna fish
It was the biggest drugs bust by volume in the history of Galicia, the Atlantic region whose rough coastline - Spain's longest - has been used to smuggle drugs for decades, police said | Reuters, USA
States strive to get opioid overdose drug to more people
Posing as shoppers, a team of researchers from the University of Mississippi called nearly 600 pharmacies across the state and asked a simple, yes-or-no question, "Do you have naloxone that I can pick up today?" | Medical Xpress, USA
Methadone clinics spar with addiction doctors on bill that would widen access
Lawmakers on Tuesday will debate an addiction medicine proposal that would have been considered unthinkable just years ago: giving a select group of doctors the power to prescribe methadone directly to patients | STAT News, USA
More Americans than Canadians use alcohol to dull their pain, according to study
From exercise and over-the-counter medications to alcohol use and prescription drugs, North Americans report using a number of different strategies to manage and prevent day-to-day pain. Some of these strategies are useful to mitigate pain, and others, like alcohol, are actually counterproductive and can make pain worse | Medical Xpress, USA
Study shows smoking likely leads to brain shrinkage
Smoking likely shrinks the brain, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The good news is that quitting smoking can prevent further loss of brain tissue—but still, stopping smoking doesn't restore the brain to its original size. Since people's brains naturally lose volume with age, smoking effectively causes the brain to age prematurely, the researchers said | Medical Xpress, USA
Comic Designed to Boost Health Care for Veterans Who Use Drugs
Agroup of researchers have developed a comic designed to encourage veterans and health care providers to work together to reduce drug-related harms. The development process, which took several months, involved a group of veterans giving feedback to improve the content. The resulting comic should ultimately reach a wide audience through Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals nationwide | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
What really are ‘alcohol problems’, and why does it matter?
In the introduction to the recent best seller ‘How the world thinks’, Julian Baggini states: “Most people do not consciously articulate the philosophical assumptions they have absorbed and are often not even aware they have any, but assumptions about the nature of the self, ethics, sources of knowledge, the goals of life, are deeply embedded in our cultures and frame our thinking without our being aware of them.” | IAS blog, UK
Smoking must become a habit of the past
After the government's consultation on creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping closed last week, RCP's special adviser on tobacco Professor Sanjay Agrawal outlines why legislation must be carried through so that smoking can be relegated to the history books as a bygone societal ill | Royal College Physicians blog, UK
Beyond the Trip: Key Challenges The Psychedelic Industry Must Face
In the context of the psychedelic renaissance, a significant body of medical research has developed, exploring how psychoactive plants could help alleviate mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Besides clinical applications, studies have investigated the power of psychedelic substances to bridge cultural and political divides or change peoples’ environmental behaviours. As such, there has been a Western surge in interest in harnessing the benefits of psychedelics, particularly by the pharmaceutical industry that seeks to standardise, scale and patent these substances | Talking Drugs, UK
Destigmatizing Drug Use Has Been a Profound Mistake
Blue America needs to send a stronger, more consistent message that hard drugs should be shunned | The Atlantic ideas, USA
Editorial: Oregon’s addiction crisis calls for recriminalizing drug possession
Oregonians who want to recriminalize possession of small amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other street drugs should start with this understanding: Undoing one of the key provisions of Ballot Measure 110 won’t cure Oregon’s addiction crisis. Nor will it reverse the state’s severe deficit of treatment options. Law enforcement, often asked to be the last resort for the community’s most intractable problems, cannot fix the chaos with arrests | The Oregonian opinon, USA
Australia has new tobacco control legislation. Here’s what it means…
As public health leaders in Aotearoa/New Zealand reel from their newly-elected government’s decision to repeal what were world-leading smoke free laws, the Australian public health community is celebrating the passing of important tobacco control legislation | Croakey Health Media, Australia
Planning to use drugs at a festival on a scorching summer day? Here’s why extreme heat might make MDMA riskier
Sydney and other parts of Australia have just experienced a significant heatwave, with temperatures reaching highs of well over 40°C. In Sydney in particular, the extreme heat has coincided with a bustling schedule of live music events, attracting large crowds despite the sweltering conditions | Conversation, Australia