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Daily news - 22nd December 2023 |
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Jackie and Harry would like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for all your support. See you again on Tuesday 2nd January
UK news
Nitazenes: Teesside addict speaks as street drugs spiked
Linked to dozens of recent deaths, super-strength synthetic opiates are many times more potent than the hardest street drugs. Authorities are warning drug users to "be prepared" for the potentially fatal impact of nitazenes as addicts - and those who help them - say this drug scare is the most frightening they've experienced | BBC, UK
Street Benzos: Clinical Management That’s Fit for Purpose
For its latest column, Release teams up with national charity WithYou to discuss how to better support people in treatment for so-called ‘street benzos’ | DDN, UK
ON ALERT: New opioids and benzos in Scotland’s drugs supply (SDF Webinar)
ON ALERT: New opioids and benzos in Scotland’s drugs supply – Why we are concerned and what we need to do | SDF, UK
Taking Benzo's?
Nitazenes warning and harm reduction information | CREW, UK
National statistics: Substance misuse treatment for adults: statistics 2022 to 2023
Updated: Uploaded the corrected version of figure 22 in the 'Adult substance misuse treatment statistics 2022 to 2023: report' - 2 lines (opiate only and both opiate and crack cocaine) were mislabelled. The text for the chart is correct and needed no changes | OHID, UK
Pregabalin: Woman devastated by partner's prescription drug overdose
Haley Selby said Brian Rees took pregabalin in capsules he had bought from a "mate" | BBC, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a commission on addressing alcohol harm | They work for you, UK
Schools: Electronic Cigarettes
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to help teachers reduce vaping in classrooms | They work for you, UK
All the buzz and no hangover? The next generation of alcohol-free drinks – podcast
What with Christmas parties and work drinks, this time of year can feel like one long hangover. But a new generation of alcohol-free alternatives is emerging which claim to offer the fun of alcohol without the painful morning-after. Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample are joined by science correspondent Hannah Devlin to sample some of these drinks and interrogate the science behind them | Guardian, UK
Alcohol Alert 2023: The Year in Review
As we make our way to the end of 2023, we can be confident in having made real progress in the world of alcohol policy this year. The reform of alcohol duty came into force – which will tax all alcoholic products by their strength – and the Treasury has made it clear that public health is an important focus of the policy, as it aims to support "wider UK tax and public health objectives". | IAS, UK
Police officers ingested cocaine thrown by Aberdeen drug dealer
Four police officers accidentally ingested cocaine after a drug dealer hurled it at them during a raid | BBC, UK
Bristol: Three jailed for 'home delivery' cocaine business
Three men have been jailed for their roles in a "home delivery" cocaine network that offered a "buy two get one half price" discount | BBC, UK
South Wales Police officer caught with cocaine banned from force
A police officer caught with cocaine has quit his job to avoid being kicked off the force | BBC, UK
International news
Swiss cocaine so cheap and widely used they’re considering legalising it
[Possible paywall] As prices halve on ‘highest quality we’ve ever seen’, Bern says ‘war on drugs has failed’ and looks at it being sold for recreational use | Telegraph, UK
Ban on selling vapes to under-18s comes in today
From today, it is an offence to sell any nicotine-inhaling product to a child. The offence carries a fine of up to €4,000 and up to six months in prison | Irish Examiner, Ireland
The European Drug Report: A new approach to data sharing
The European Drug Report is an annual report on the drug situation in Europe published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. It provides an overview of the current drug landscape in Europe, focusing on aspects such as illicit drug consumption, associated risks and drug distribution. For the first time, the report was designed as a digital-first publication. We met with David Penny, part of the core digital team for the project at the EMCDDA, to discuss the behind-the-scenes making of the report into a digital publication while including data publishing in the process | Europa, Belgium
Season’s greetings and warm wishes for a peaceful 2024
As the curtain falls on 2023, we look back on a year steeped in significance for the EMCDDA. While we commemorated 30 years since the agency's creation, we also prepared for a future milestone and a fundamental shift in focus. New legislation entering into force on 30 June set us on a one-year transition course to becoming the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) on 2 July 2024. We look forward to writing this exciting new chapter and addressing the drugs problem with a stronger and extended mandate | EMCDDA, Portugal
Ukraine Legalizes Medical Cannabis Amid War With Russia
Ukraine's Parliament has approved the draft law that legalizes the use of cannabis for medicinal, industrial, and research purposes | Forbes, USA
FDA approves first test to spot folks at high risk of opioid use disorder
The AvertD test, the first of its kind, uses a DNA sample swabbed from a patient's cheek to determine if they have a combination of genetic variants associated with an elevated risk of opioid addiction | Medical Xpress, USA
Prescriptions for Buprenorphine in Michigan Following an Education Intervention
Can buprenorphine prescribing be increased by the implementation of a statewide, flexible outreach and educational program that addresses the wide range of barriers faced by different communities? | JAMA Network Open, USA
Matthew Perry’s Death a ‘Wakeup Call’ For Ketamine Industry
Some doctors believe ketamine should not be prescribed for at-home use | VICE, Canada
Bligs, comment and opinion
Drug-Related Deaths At Highest Level Ever
Earlier this week(19 December 2023) the Office for National Statistics published the annual drug-deaths statistics. These are officially called Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2022 registrations and are published four months later than last year’s edition. As you will have seen from coverage in the mainstream media, the number and rate of drug-related deaths continue to rise and it is tragic to report that 4,907 people lost their lives to drugs in 2022, the highest number on record | Russell Webster, UK
The Politicization of Harm Reduction
A friend shared this interview with Susan Stellin and Graham MacIndoe with me yesterday. Susan and Graham do a lot of public education about addiction and drug problems, including their traveling exhibition Reframing Recovery. It’s rare to hear a lengthy discussion that communicates such sincere respect for both recovery and harm reduction | Recovery Review blog, USA
California banned sales of flavored e-cigarettes in 2022 − but a new study finds online stores are still selling them, even to kids
Californians – including minors – are still able to buy flavored electronic cigarettes online, even after the state’s much-publicized ban went into effect. That’s the key finding of my team’s new study, published in JAMA Network Open | Conversation, USA