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Daily news - 17th February 2023 |
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UK news
Nicola Bulley: Home secretary concerned by health disclosures
In a statement released on Wednesday, Lancashire Police said Ms Bulley had suffered with "some significant issues with alcohol" and "ongoing struggles with the menopause". This prompted a backlash from campaigners, MPs and legal experts, with some accusing the police of breaching her privacy | BBC, UK
Doctors Have A Brand New Approach To Tackle England's Drinking Habit
GPs are now being urged to look a little more closely into patients’ relationship with alcohol, in an effort to relieve NHS pressure further down the line | Huffington Post, UK
Government ‘condemning children of alcoholic parents to misery’ by cutting support
[Possible paywall] A £6 million funding package to help Britain’s estimated 2.6 million children of alcoholics will not be renewed | telegraph, UK
Guernsey and Alderney students vaping more - survey
The 2022 Guernsey Young People's Survey asked more than 1,300 students in years six, eight and 10 about their lives. Some of the key findings include: 1) A significant increase in the percentage of students who vape regularly (from 2% in 2019 to 10% in 2022). 2) An increase in the percentage of students who drank more alcohol than they intended in the previous year (from 22% in 2019 to 27% in 2022) | BBC, UK
ITV News - 06 February - Alcohol deaths - video
On 06 February @ITVNews discussed the harm that cheap and strong alcoholic drinks can cause. The UK Government has frozen or cut alcohol duty every year over the last decade, apart from 2017, making alcohol much more affordable and leading to subsequent harm | IAS, UK
Prisoners: Rehabilitation
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support prisoners reintegrate into society | They work for you, UK
In conversation with Professor Dame Carol Black
Wed, 22 February 2023, 13:00 – 14:00 GMT. Wolfson Lecture Theatre IoPPN Main Building 16 De Crespigny Park London SE5 8AF Join us for a one-hour conversation with Professor Dame Carol Black and her career as a pioneering woman in medicine | Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, UK
Hartlepool cannabis farm 'so hot' police had to leave room
A commercial-sized cannabis farm spread across a property with a room "so hot" police had to leave has been uncovered on Teesside | BBC, UK
International news
Stop Blaming Cocaine Users for the Harms of Bad Drug Policies
The EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson accused cocaine users of being responsible for the death of an 11 year old girl who was caught in a shooting by drug traffickers. But the real culprit is the current drug control system that maximises harm by sweeping cocaine under the rug | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Four Months After Biden Promised Marijuana Pardons, He Has Not Issued Any
The president reaped political benefits with his pre-election proclamation but has yet to follow through | Reason, UK
Receptor location matters for psychedelic drug effects
Location, location, location is the key for psychedelic drugs that could treat mental illness by rapidly rebuilding connections between nerve cells. In a paper published in Science, researchers at the University of California, Davis show that engaging serotonin 2A receptors inside neurons promotes growth of new connections but engaging the same receptor on the surface of nerve cells does not | Medical Xpress, USA
Machine learning model helps doctors predict opioid prescription risk for patients
Researchers at the University of Alberta are using a form of artificial intelligence to help doctors better predict which patients are at risk of adverse outcomes from opioid prescriptions | Medical Xpress, USA
Red states join push to legalize magic mushrooms for therapy
Shawn Blymiller spent 10 years of feeling mostly numbed while prescribed traditional anti-depressants, trudging through his day-to-day life as a suburban Salt Lake City father of two kids balancing the obligations of family and work selling technology software | Medical Xpress, USA
CBD shows promise for reducing cigarette smoking
Cannabidiol or CBD, a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, inhibits the metabolism of nicotine, new research has found, meaning it could help tobacco users curb the urge for that next cigarette | Medical Xpress, USA
San Francisco’s Proposal to Deport People for Fentanyl-Sales Charges
ASan Francisco lawmaker wants to make it easier to detain and deport undocumented immigrants for fentanyl sales charges. Like other forms of criminalization, the plan would do nothing to reduce drug use or overdose. If implemented, it would become yet another example of how drug laws target immigrants more harshly | Filter Magazine, USA
Has cannabis stigma changed? - audio
Has the way you think about pot changed since legalization? Is it a normal part of life in Canada? Or do you think there's still a stigma attached to using it? | CBC Listen, Canada
Inside Australia's First MDMA-Assisted Therapy Trial
In early 2022, the Morrison government funnelled $15 million from the Government’s Medical Research Fund (MRFF) into 7 clinical trials around Australia that would test potential breakthrough therapies for debilitating mental illnesses. These trials included the use of MDMA and various other psychoactive substances – drugs that for decades have been highly stigmatised and classed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as a schedule 9 prohibited substance in Australia | VICE, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Drug strategy funding confirmed
Collective Voice Chair Lea Milligan said: “In 2021 the 10-year drug strategy “From Harm to Hope” heralded a significant step change for the treatment and recovery system. We are now over a year on and, despite the challenges of the last 12 months, the strategy is beginning to make a difference... | Collective Voice, UK
Shlyapa I Bayan: 10 Years of Publishing Underground Drug News in Russia
Almost 10 years ago, the first issue of the newspaper "Hat and Bayan" was published. This newspaper, which literally became the successor to the magazine "The Brain", was published by people who use drugs, for people who use drugs - nothing like this had existed before | Talking Drugs, UK