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Daily news - 28th February 2023 |
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UK news
Patterns in alcoholrelated violence: exploring recent declines in alcoholrelated violence in England and Wales (PDF)
This report examines possible explanations for the decline seen in alcohol-related violence – drawing on existing literature exploring: changing patterns in violence (e.g., Farrell et al. 2014), alcohol’s relationship with violence (e.g., Graham & Livingston 2011), and the measurement of violence (e.g., Reiner 2016) | IAS, UK
Street Drugs Discussions: Deep Dive into Environmental Impacts - video
Expert special guests discuss their research and wider knowledge relating to the following areas: Understanding environmental impact and green criminology - How drugs and their production impact the environment - The scale of the problem - Where the impacts occur: global inequalities - Current policy and scope for change | Drug Science, UK
WDP to provide specialist smoking cessation support in Redbridge
Leading drug and alcohol charity WDP is delighted to announce that it has been successful in its bid to deliver a new specialist smoking cessation service in the London Borough of Redbridge | WDP, UK
Share your experience of using nitrous oxide in the UK
We would like to speak to people in the UK who use the drug also known as nos and laughing gas, about their experience with it | Guardian, UK
Make mine a Babycham! Return of the drink that added sparkle to the 70s
The Showering brothers of Somerset want a new generation to love the famous perry invented by their grandfather | Guardian, UK
International news
Cocaine worth $330m found in Ecuador banana shipment
Police in Ecuador have found almost 8.8 tonnes of cocaine in a shipment of bananas bound for Belgium | BBC, UK
Three young children in hospital after eating cannabis sweets
Three young children are being treated in hospital after eating cannabis sweets. Gardaí are investigating the incident which happened in a residence in west Dublin yesterday | Independent, Ireland
DrugNet Europe - February
Monthly round-up of drug policy news published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction | EMCDDA, Portugal
Study: Vaping cannabidiol leads to more severe lung damage than vaping nicotine
Vaping cannabidiol (CBD), a compound found in marijuana, leads to more severe lung damage than vaping nicotine, according to a study out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Until now, research on the health effects of vaping, or using e-cigarettes, has focused almost exclusively on vaping nicotine as opposed to CBD. Previous research has documented the effects of smoking cannabis, but the effects of vaping cannabinoids such as CBD were not previously known | News Medical, USA
After criticism, FDA pledges to revamp its tobacco division
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's heavily criticized tobacco program promised changes on Friday, including a five-year strategic plan to better outline priorities | Medical Xpress, USA
Many achieve recovery from alcohol use disorder despite continued use, but how do they compare to those who abstain?
Increasingly, researchers have identified the benefits of supporting recovery goals that include substance use reductions in addition to goals of total abstinence. Questions remain however, about the respective risks and benefits of this approach in comparison with abstinence. This study examines if individuals receiving treatment for alcohol use disorder and co-occurring anxiety disorders have better outcomes depending on their alcohol use status following residential treatment | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Asian Americans less likely to be screened for alcohol use at doctor visits
Asian Americans with alcohol use disorder are over three times less likely than individuals of other racial/ethnic backgrounds to receive treatment. The present study examined one potential explanation for this disparity — whether their reduced service engagement is related to lower likelihood of being screened for alcohol use at healthcare appointments | Recovery Research Institute, USA
The Case for Prohibition—and Its Violence—as UN Rights Breach
It’s well documented that banning drugs leads to violence. But a new paper, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, argues that the predictable proliferation of this violence—and its effect on people around the globe—could be considered a violation of the fundamental right to life and safety, as defined by the United Nations | Filter Magazine, USA
They Call Me a Drug Seeker. Here’s What Their Opioid Policies Did to Me
My life changed in a matter of seconds, when in 2010 I sustained a serious spinal injury in a tree-cutting accident. The pain was almost unbearable. For the first three months, I had to sit upright in a chair, day and night, unable to lie down or move much, aside from getting to the bathroom. I was prescribed medications, including an opioid | Filter Magazine, USA
Australian 'Tina Trial' to test whether anti-depressant can help people quit crystal meth
There is currently no medication proven to help people addicted to crystal methamphetamine. A new trial is about to begin testing whether an anti-depressant drug can help | abc.net.au, Australia
How a native mushroom can help whanau addicted to meth - audio
Fungi botanists, local health professionals, rongoā practitioners and medical researchers are planning a clinical trial this year into the therapeutic benefits of psychadelics. The project out of Rangiwaho Marae South of Gisborne. involves the cultivation, testing and use of Weraroa, an indigenous fungi known to contain psilocybin, the compound found in 'magic mushrooms' and classified since the 1970s in New Zealand as a Class A drug | RNZ, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Patterns in alcohol-related violence: exploring recent declines in alcohol-related violence in England and Wales
Understanding and interpreting patterns in crime has been a long-standing focus for criminologists and policymakers. Where levels rise, identifying this could allow action to be taken to ameliorate this. But what about when levels fall? Interpreting fluctuations in different crime patterns might offer insight into the macro, meso, and micro levers that drive their incidence. These insights could, at least theoretically, be harnessed by policymakers to reduce levels further | IAS blog, UK
New UK Based Digital Study on Rare Childhood Epilepsies and Medical Cannabis
The potential of cannabis medicines to treat symptoms of epilepsy, especially for children who are resistant to other available drugs, has been one of the driving forces behind the liberalisation of medical cannabis laws in the UK. Yet since medical cannabis was made legal in the UK in 2018, very few NHS prescriptions have been issued for the medicine | Volteface, UK
Becoming a Woman Who Uses Crack: Breaking Silences in Brazil
TalkingDrugs has partnered with Luana Malheiro, anthropologist and drugs researcher from Brazil, to bring to life her insights from her extensive research with women who are homeless and use crack in Brazil. This work at the margins of society is incredibly important to highlight, particularly because it was built alongside this drug-using population. This is the first part of Malheiro’s reflections on her work, summarising the book's thesis and how she developed the research with her fellow partner researchers | Talking Drugs, UK
Can eating poppy seeds affect drug test results? An addiction and pain medicine specialist explains
The U.S. Defense Department issued a memo on Feb. 17, 2023, warning service members to avoid eating poppy seeds because doing so may result in a positive urine test for the opiate codeine. Addiction and pain medicine specialist Gary Reisfield explains what affects the opiate content of poppy seeds and how they could influence drug tests | Conversation, USA