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Daily news - 16th February 2023 |
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UK news
Press release: £421 million to boost drug and alcohol treatment across England
Local authorities across England to receive funding to combat drug and alcohol misuse, with areas of highest need prioritised | Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, and Neil O'Brien MP, UK
Guidance: Extra funding for drug and alcohol treatment: 2023 to 2025
New funding to local authorities to help them improve their drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems, from 2023 to 2025. Funding allocations by local authority are listed here | OHID, UK
Oxford study to trial cannabis-based medicine as treatment for psychosis
CBD is currently only prescribed for a small number of conditions such as rare, severe epilepsy | Guardian, UK
Realising our Rights How the Scottish Government can protect us from alcohol marketing - infographic (PDF)
The Alcohol Marketing Expert Network recommends that countries introduce comprehensive statutory restrictions on alcohol marketing to protect and fulfil people's human rights, including their right to health | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK
Prescription Drugs: Addictions
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 August 2022 to Question 39893 on Prescription Drugs: Addictions, when NHS England plans to publish its framework to support integrated care boards with prescribing medicines that can cause dependence and withdrawal | They work for you, UK
Is it finally time to change the law around magic mushrooms?
A new billboard campaign is prompting Londoners to ask the big questions about psychedelics and mental health, says Alexandra Jones. Could legalisation really be on the horizon? | Evening Standard, UK
Adverts for food delivery service banned over ‘irresponsible’ drug, sex and alcohol content
Adverts for food delivery service Gorillas have been banned for featuring “irresponsible” references to drug use and excessive alcohol consumption | Independent, UK
Nicola Bulley: Missing mother had alcohol issues, police say
Missing mother Nicola Bulley had "significant issues" with alcohol brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause, police have said | BBC, UK
With You IAPT Careers Open Event
Tue, 7 March 2023, 17:30 – 19:00 GMT. If you want to progress your career within NHS Talking Therapies (IAPT), come along to our online open event to find out more about opportunities in our Surrey and Kent With You IAPT services | We are With You, UK
Do you know a researcher who has made a ‘significant and specific contribution’ to the addictions field?
The SSA is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Fred Yates prize. Learn more about the prize, including its aims, previous winners, and most importantly, how to nominate someone | SSA, UK
Three charged after Newcastle £100,000 drugs seizure
Drugs with an estimated value of £100,000 have been seized by police in Newcastle | BBC, UK
Drugs gang jailed over £5m Husthwaite amphetamine lab
Members of a gang who ran a drugs lab capable of making more than half a tonne of amphetamines have been jailed | BBC, UK
International news
Eight arrests after €2.8m Dublin cocaine find
Eight people have been arrested after gardaí (Irish police) seized cocaine with an estimated street value of €2.8m (£2.5m) in Dublin | BBC, UK
South American cartels 'putting European boats into storage' to use later for drug trafficking
South American gangs are buying boats in Europe and putting them into storage for years only to later use them for transporting cocaine across the Atlantic, minister of state at the Department of Justice James Browne has said | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Europe and Central Asia cooperate to train experts in collecting and analysing drug use data
A working arrangement was signed yesterday in Madrid between FIIAPP/Spanish Cooperation and the EMCDDA in order to train and update the knowledge and experience of experts responsible for recording and analysing data on addictions. FIIAPP and the EMCDDA already work together on drug policy monitoring in Latin America and the Caribbean | EMCDDA, Portugal
Youth risk behaviour survey (PDF)
Substance use among high school students decreased for some substances from 2011 to 2021. However, many students still used substances and the lack of progress in adolescents’ use of some substances is concerning. The percentage of students who used electronic vapor products did not change from 2015 to 2021 and the percentage of students who currently misused prescription opioids did not change from 2019 to 2021 | CDC, USA
Twitter becomes first social media platform to allow cannabis advertising
"We permit approved cannabis advertisers to target the United States," the company said before listing a number of restrictions that include "advertisers must be licensed by the appropriate authorities and pre-authorized by Twitter." | UPI, USA
FDA considers making Narcan opioid overdose antidote available without prescription
Advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration will meet Wednesday to discuss whether a nasal spray version of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan should be made available over-the-counter | CNN, USA
Researchers endorse widespread naloxone over the counter to prevent drug overdose deaths
In 2021, 100,306 Americans died from drug overdoses—a 28.5 percent increase from the prior year—with 75,673 attributed to opioids. Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl and natural and semi-synthetic opioids, are major contributors. In addition, illicitly manufactured fentanyl often is added to other recreational drugs because of its low cost and increased potency | Medical Xpress, USA
Smoking and vaping may put healthy young people at risk of severe COVID
The rapid outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) resulted in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has already claimed over 6.8 million lives worldwide | News Medical, USA
Research explores cause of differences in psychostimulant duration and intensity of effect
Psychostimulants interacting with the dopamine transporter are found in the therapy of neuro-psychiatric disorders, such as ADHD or depression, as well as on the illicit drug market. In order to better understand their exact mode of action and undesirable effects, a research team led by Harald Sitte from the Center for Physiology and Pharmacology at the MedUni Wien/Vienna has been working on the question of why different substances in this group of substances have different effects | Medical Xpress, USA
Inherent Problems With Post-Incarceration Services for Drug Users
Social service programs have a long way to go to build trust with people who use drugs who have been incarcerated. That’s the finding of a recent paperpublished in the International Journal of Drug Policy, which interviewed Australians about their experience of services provided to them during and after time in prison. Many of the research subjects cited inherent difficulties with parole officers as a barrier to successfully transitioning out of prisons | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Is recreational cannabis reform coming to Europe? - video
In this episode Paul North, Director of Volteface and guest Alfredo Pascual discuss where Europe is at with regards to recreational cannabis reform | Volteface, UK
Opinion: One big thing the FDA can do to save Americans from overdoses
As early as next month, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to make naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, available over the counter in nasal-spray form. This would be a crucial step toward making this lifesaving drug more accessible | Washington Post opinion, UK
Stop tossing your spent vapes and e-cigs: you’re breeding a new waste pandemic
Vaping, or using electronic cigarettes, not only pollutes the surrounding air, it also creates a new contaminated e-waste stream. Australian waste management authorities are just beginning to tackle this problem, as schools’ stockpiles of confiscated vapes continue to grow. As researchers of issues to do with the so-called circular economy, we take a keen interest in how products can be safely and successfully reused and recycled, rather than being thrown away | Conversation, Australia