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Daily news - 10th February 2023 |
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UK news
Supermarkets stop selling Elf Bar vape flavour after illegal nicotine levels found
Watermelon flavoured ELFBAR 600s were found to have at least 50% more than the legal limit for nicotine e-liquid. Across the country, the vape product has been removed from Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury's stores. Morrisons has gone a step further and has stopped the sale of the whole ELFBAR 600 range | ITV, UK
Scotland alcohol advertising ban: Nicola Sturgeon says plans to ban distillery signs 'not in our thinking'
Nicola Sturgeon has said proposals to ban alcohol signs on distilleries or visitor centres “are not in our current thinking”, as critics raised concerns regarding Scottish Government plans to restrict alcohol marketing | Scotsman, UK
Dominic Raab pledges to end state-sanctioned ‘drug dealing’ in prisons with abstinence wings
[Possible paywall] Justice Secretary plans 100 ‘incentivised substance-free living units’ which are being pioneered at Pentonville prison on its ‘jubilee’ wing | Telegraph, UK
Drug and alcohol addicts to get a roof over their heads after £1.2 million cash boost
This is part of a £53 million project from the Government to provide more support to drug and alcohol services | Manchester Evening News, UK
Jersey health report shows rise in alcohol use among Year 12 girls
The survey of pupils was included in a report that would inform public policy, the director of public health said. It indicates that 20% of Year 12 girls, aged 15 and 16, "drank alcohol regularly" in 2021, compared to 13% in 2019 | BBC, UK
Drugs: Crime
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is tacking to tackle gangs offering free e-cigarettes to groom vulnerable children into drug dealing | They work for you, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that alcohol harm rates do not increase following the increase in relative affordability of alcohol compared to fruit juice and other non-alcoholic drinks, given the link between alcohol affordability and harm | They work for you, UK
Disposable Electronic Cigarettes (Prohibition of Sale)
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to prohibit the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes;and for connected purposes... | They work for you, UK
Jared O'Mara: Former MP jailed over £52,000 fraud to pay drug debt
A former MP who tried to claim £52,000 of taxpayers' money to help fund his cocaine habit has been jailed | BBC, UK
Bradford man who alerted police to drugs stash spared jail
A drug addict who alerted police to a stash of heroin worth up to £3m being stored at his home has been spared jail | BBC, UK
Illegal cigarettes found hidden in Newcastle-under-Lyme shop ceiling
Jamal Mohammed pleaded guilty to 28 charges relating to the sale and supply of a stash with a street value of more than £21,000 | BBC, UK
International news
Amsterdam bans cannabis in its red light district
It will soon be illegal to smoke cannabis on the street in Amsterdam's red light district under new regulations unveiled by the city | BBC, UK
Should the UK follow New Zealand's smoking ban? - audio
In 2021, New Zealand announced it would become the first country in the world to outlaw cigarettes for the younger generation, by raising the age of sale year-on-year. How has the country adapted to these radical changes - and could the UK follow suit? | BBC, UK
Youth cannabis vaping highest in medical marijuana states
More U.S. high school seniors reported vaping cannabis in states where it is legal only for medical purposes than states where all adult use is permitted—a study finding that surprised the researchers | Medical Xpress, USA
Tobacco and e-cigs may put healthy young people at risk of severe COVID illness, new research suggests
New UCLA research suggests that smoking tobacco and vaping electronic cigarettes may increase healthy young people's risk for developing severe COVID illness | Medical Xpress, USA
Association of Recent SARS-CoV-2 Infection With New-Onset Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), January 2020 Through January 2022
A cohort study using electronic health records of 2 821 182 US patients compared the risk of developing AUD after COVID-19 with that among patients after non–COVID-19 respiratory infections. An excess risk of a new diagnosis of AUD with COVID-19 was observed in the beginning of the pandemic, which then subsided, increased again for infections contracted from January to July 2021, and then became nonsignificant again after August 2021 | JAMA Network Open, USA
Scientists create fentanyl vaccine to combat opioid epidemic
To combat the fentanyl epidemic in the United States, researchers at the University of Houston have created a fentanyl vaccine that could help prevent overdoses. They aim to test the vaccine in a human trial within the next year | Medical Xpress, USA
Multi-level influences on increased overdose risk behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic among people who use drugs in Rhode Island: a qualitative investigation
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected structurally vulnerable populations including people who use drugs (PWUD). Increased overdose risk behaviors among PWUD during the pandemic have been documented, with research underscoring the role of influencing factors such as isolation and job loss in these behaviors. Here, we use qualitative methods to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related response measures on drug use behaviors in a sample of PWUD in Rhode Island | Harm Reduction Journal, USA
Study first to show statewide cannabis-related deaths in Florida
In the United States, 49.6 million Americans ages 12 and older used cannabis or marijuana in 2020. More than 5.4 million Americans are medical cannabis patients. In Florida alone, where medical cannabis has been legal since 2014, there has been a 1,107.01 percent increase in the number of people with medical cannabis cards, from about 65,310 cardholders in 2018 to 788,297 as of Jan. 27 | Medical Xpress, USA
Psychedelics May Be Part of U.S. Medicine Sooner Than You Think
It came as a surprise to many when, on Feb. 3, Australian regulators announced that medicines containing the psychedelic substances MDMA and psilocybin can soon be used there to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment-resistant depression, respectively. That decision makes Australia the first country in the world to formally recognize the therapeutic use of psychedelics | TIME, USA
How the Global Drug War Threatens Environmental Defenders
The global drug war provides a golden opportunity for land-grabs that trample on human rights and sensitive ecosystems. Corporations, formally or less formally given title to land—sometimes under the pretext of “cleaning” it of illicit activities—move in. They extract natural resources such as gold, oil or lumber for maximum profit; or replace existing, diverse vegetation with monocrops foreign to the area—sugarcane, say—or cattle | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Distilling the message: Irish plans for alcohol warning labels
Ireland's laws on alcohol could be about to change—if the Oireachtas have the stomach for it. In June of last year, Ireland informed the European Commission of its intention to introduce health warning labels on alcoholic products sold in the country, a provision allowed under Ireland's draft Public Health Regulations 2022. These labels would contain three key messages: “drinking alcohol causes liver disease”; “there is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers”; and a symbol representing the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant | Lancet editorial, UK
Alcohol and the Scottish economy
On the face of it, the dilemma facing the Scottish Government as it weighs restrictions on alcohol marketing seems clear enough. Saving lives versus supporting the economy. Health versus wealth. Yet that is not, in fact, the trade off the Scottish Government must make. The mooted policies are unlikely to have much of an effect on the Scottish economy, and might even be good for it | SHAAP blog, UK
Kratom's Regulation in Czechia Promises More Market Safety for the Drug
Kratom, the psychoactive plant originally from southeast Asia, is on the cusp of legal regulation in Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic. While it is primarily banned as a novel psychoactive substances, regulation advocates believe that its legal control will help prevent sales to minors as well as assist in the production of more research into its potential therapeutic applications. Exclusive conversations between TalkingDrugs and kratom advocates gave us an insight into the process for legal regulation, as well as the reasons behind this policy shift | Talking Drugs, UK
How Czechia is charging ahead with drug reforms
We’re all talking about the latest cannabis developments in Germany, but there is one small country right at the corner, which may be even more exciting in terms of cannabis reforms and ending cannabis prohibition. Let’s see what’s new in the world of Czech cannabis… | Volteface, UK
Pregnant people with substance use disorders need treatment, not criminalization
Though it may be hard for many to fathom, even pregnant people and new parents can have active substance use disorders. They need support, not criminalization | STAT News opinion, USA
CBD is not a cure-all – here’s what science says about its real health benefits
Over the last five years, an often forgotten piece of U.S. federal legislation – the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the 2018 Farm Bill – has ushered in an explosion of interest in the medical potential of cannabis-derived cannabidiol, or CBD | Conversation, USA