Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 3rd January 2023 |
 |
UK news
Dry January 2023: Are you in?
Doing Dry January® with Alcohol Change UK helps you to break old habits and be happier and healthier year-round! Signing up for Dry January® with Alcohol Change UK gives you access to a host of free tools including the Try Dry app, daily coaching emails, a private Facebook community, dedicated web content and inspirational social media throughout January and beyond | Alcohol Change UK, UK
'I can't afford the medical cannabis keeping my epileptic son alive'
Families of children with severe epilepsy say they feel helpless because they can't afford the medical cannabis keeping their children alive | BBC, UK
Misuse of party drug laughing gas 'is no joke', neurologist warns
The inappropriate use of nitrous oxide has led to it being the most common cause for emergency admissions to neurology wards - and it can kill | Sky News, UK
Waitrose stops selling single-use vaping products
Company cites their harmful effect on the environment and the health of young people for the move | Guardian, UK
Police in England and Wales to screen suspects for signs gambling addiction is driving crime
Forces are increasingly aware that high-stakes betting is a form of addiction and a driver of crime similar to alcohol or drugs | Guardian, UK
The 20 minute rule and other easy ways to drink less alcohol
[Possible paywall] Experts share how to cut down on the booze without it impacting on your social life | Telegraph, UK
Hangover-free booze conjured up by controversial Labour drugs tsar
[Possible paywall] Alcohol-free drink aims to mimic intoxication while keeping drinkers in the “two pint” zone | Telegraph, UK
Cost of living sees demand for Doncaster addiction support centre more than double
Addiction support centres are seeing an alarming rise in those coming to them for help as the cost of living crisis has left many abusing substances | ITV, UK
Oxfordshire charity helping NHS eliminate Hepatitis C
St Mungo's has partnered with the NHS in a pioneering drug deal and campaign to find and help those at risk | BBC, UK
York residents to receive alcohol intake advice via text
City of York council has partnered with local GP practices to encourage York residents over the age of 18 to receive advice about their relationship with alcohol to improve their health and wellbeing. Over 120,000 text messages will be sent in January to those registered to receive text message alerts | York Press, UK
Stop smoking service launched in Cornwall for 2023
The text message service will help people to prepare to quit and then keep in contact over a four-week period | BBC, UK
Dawat-e-Islami UK events warn of laughing gas dangers
An Islamic charity has begun a campaign to tackle misuse of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas | BBC, UK
The Alcohol 'Problem' Podcast: Dry January & temporary abstinence: is it worth it? With Prof. Matt Field
In this episode we talk to Prof. Matt Field about the evidence behind Dry January and temporary abstinence. We discuss what is known about the possible health and other benefits for drinkers from temporarily abstaining from alcohol. This includes who temporary abstinence may or may not be suitable for and implications for understanding drinking and alcohol addiction or dependence | Alcohol Problem Podcast, UK
Blair’s exasperation with Mowlam over drugs policy revealed
Files released to the National Archives show the former Northern Ireland secretary pressed to liberalise the laws on cannabis | Independent, UK
Gladiators stars ‘to undergo drug testing’ for BBC reboot after 90s cocaine scandal
Gladiators stars will reportedly undergo regular routine drug tests after the original show was caught up in cocaine scandals | Metro, UK
Drugs, the Media & Law
Tue, 7 February 2023, 18:30 – 21:30 GMT. Hear from UK drug experts how the media and the law are very much intertwined when it comes to our attitudes around drugs in modern society | Drug Science, UK
2022-2023 MCA Legacy Essay Competition
It has been widely reported that youth alcohol consumption has decreased over recent years. What is the evidence to support this view? What are the implications for alcohol related health harm, promotion of safe drinking and health policy? Write a 3,000 word essay referenced in the Vancouver style to address this topic. The word count does not include references, diagrams and tables | MCA, UK
Slough driving instructor in drug arrest mid-lesson
A driving instructor was arrested in the middle of a driving lesson on suspicion of using cannabis | BBC, UK
Scarborough: Cannabis farm discovered after hotel fire
A "sophisticated" cannabis factory has been discovered at a disused hotel in Scarborough after a large-scale fire broke out | BBC, UK
Cannabis factory discovery after Kingswood warehouse fire
Police seized approximately £1m in cannabis plants and paraphernalia from a warehouse near Bristol | BBC, UK
International news
The town giving sober teens free beer - video
People in the Belgian town of Balen noticed more young people getting drunk, so they invented the "sobercoin" | BBC, UK
Somalia's opioid overdose: Young, female and addicted
It was the discovery of the body of a 22-year-old woman on the streets of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last year that brought into the open the problem of female drug addiction in the city. Health workers said she died from an opioid overdose | BBC, UK
Dubai scraps 30% alcohol tax and licence fee in apparent bid to boost tourism
It will also stop charging for personal alcohol licences - something anyone who intends to drink needs to carry | BBC, UK
HSE issues fresh alert over dangers of ecstasy use
The HSE has issued fresh alerts about twin dangers posed by ecstasy — from both “super-strength” MDMA tablets and from unknown chemicals being sold as the drug | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Supervised drug injection centre gets green light despite objection from school
A primary school located 150 metres away from the proposed centre argued it will lead to a toxic environment for children and staff | Dublin Live, Ireland
Leo Varadkar says he has not formed a view on decriminalising drug use
It comes after an Oireachtas justice committee recommended that “a policy of decriminalisation is pursued, in line with emerging international best-practice” on the possession of drugs for personal use | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Nitrous oxide abuse in France: The laughing gas epidemic takes a serious toll on health - video
In the last three years, nitrous oxide, often used in whipped cream canisters or as a medical anaesthetic, has become an increasingly popular recreational drug in France. In 2019, Lille University Hospital recorded just 19 cases of nitrous oxide poisoning for the whole year. Now, they are seeing around five cases a week, including some that are severe | France 24, France
New study highlights role of drug and alcohol use in serious crashes
Each year, many people look forward to ringing in the new year with family and friends. However, some celebrations include the combination of alcohol and late-night driving—which can lead to fatal accidents | Medical Xpress, USA
Mortality Risk Following Nonfatal Injuries With Alcohol Use Disorder Involvement: A One-Year Follow-Up of Emergency Department Patients Using Linked Administrative Data
[Open access] Patient presentations to the emergency department (ED) for alcohol-involved injury represent a growing public health burden, but their characteristics and sequelae remain understudied. This study examined mortality rates among ED patients presenting with alcohol-involved injuries and assessed how mortality varied by injury intent and other characteristics | JSAD, USA
The Pandemic Drinking Binge Just Keeps Going
The arrival of Covid-19 and the societal disruptions that accompanied it understandably drove a lot of Americans to drink. But even as life has returned to more or less normal this year, the drinking binge has continued — which isn’t great news for anybody other than the makers and sellers of alcoholic beverages | Washington Post, USA
Alcohol abuse spiked during the pandemic. Treatment hasn’t kept up
Now some states are making pandemic rules permitting booze-to-go and delivery permanent | Politico, USA
N-Desethyl Isotonitazene
N-Desethyl Isotonitazene is classified as a novel opioid of the 2-benzyl benzimidazole sub-class and is structurally dissimilar from fentanyl. Novel opioids have been reported to cause psychoactive effects similar to heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids | CFSRE, USA
Number of young children who accidentally ate cannabis edibles jumped 1,375% in five years, study finds
In just five years, the number of small children in the US exposed to cannabis after accidentally eating an edible rose 1,375%, a new study says | CNN, USA
New York Opens First Retail Cannabis Dispensary at 4:20 PM
The first adult-use marijuana sales in New York will take place December 29—at the symbolic time of 4:20 pm, officials said | Filter Magazine, USA
Is legal weed doomed to be run by big business?
Pro-marijuana advocates have become surprising foes of some efforts to legalize. Here’s why | Vox, USA
Psychedelics are officially decriminalized in Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday issued a declaration about Proposition 122, which voters approved last month. Here’s what you’re now allowed to do and what’s still outlawed | Yahoo News, USA
The Cannabis and Psychedelics Reforms to Watch For in 2023
The year 2022 saw cannabis and psychedelics legislation advance in multiple states. Maryland, Missouri and Rhode Island legalized cannabis, New Jersey and New Mexico opened their first dispensaries and San Francisco decriminalized naturally occurring psychedelics. Colorado and Oregon took steps to open the nation’s first psilocybin healing centers | Filter Magazine, USA
The Biggest Tobacco Harm Reduction Battles to Come in 2023
United States tobacco control did not have an easy 2022. So much turmoil has come and gone this past year that even the most dedicated harm reductionists and critics struggled to keep up at one point or another, as separate events blurred into one big pile of dysfunction | Filter Magazine, USA
Music and ayahuasca's role in treating substance use disorders in men
Traditional songs, known as icaros, are part of a treatment process for men rehabilitating from drug and alcohol addictions. Combined with traditional Amazonian medicine and psychotherapy, these icaros are used during ayahuasca healing ceremonies at the Takiwasi Center for Drug Addiction Rehabilitation and Research on Traditional Medicines in Tarapoto, Perú | Medical Xpress, USA
CCENDU Bulletin: An Update on Stimulant Use and Related Harms in Canada and the United States
This bulletin summarizes the most recent updates on stimulant use and related harms in Canada and the United States. Revisiting indicators from the 2019 CCENDU Bulletin Changes in Stimulant Use and Related Harms: Focus on Methamphetamine and Cocaine, this update explores whether previously reported trends have continued or changed. Highlights include changes in methamphetamine manufacturing and that polysubstance use has increased significantly, with a high proportion of substance-related deaths involving some combination of opioids, stimulants and benzodiazepines | CCSA, Canada
B.C. advocates say more action needed as province set to embark on drug decriminalization pilot
By the end of January, B.C. will become the first province in Canada to begin a three-year pilot allowing people to possess small amount of illicit drugs for personal use | CTV, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
How to know if your cannabis use is problematic?
All good cannabis advocates know that to deny potential for abuse is futile, and unhelpful. Cannabis misuse does exist. But how does one establish when cannabis use becomes a problem? | Volteface, UK
2022’s #7 post: Addiction: the whole family gets to play
One of the things that still haunts me, years into recovery, is the memory of the impact of my addictive behaviour on others – particularly those I love but also my colleagues. There was plenty of suffering to go round, the debris spread far and wide. In some ways the cleaning up operation has never quite concluded | Recovery Review blog, UK
So you decided to stop drinking? I did - and these are my year’s lessons
Abstaining from alcohol is increasingly being destigmatized as more of us consider a booze-free holiday | Guardian, UK
No, soft-on-crime liberalism isn’t fueling San Francisco’s drug crisis. Libertarianism is
By year’s end, 2022 will be the third year in a row that drug overdoses claim the lives of more San Franciscans than COVID. The problem has longer and deeper roots than many realize, extending into the past and present culture of the city by the bay | SF Chronicle opinion, USA
The experience of addiction relapse
I recently listened to this interview with Maike Klein discussing her qualitative research on the experience of relapse in people with addiction who have experienced repeated relapses | Recovery Review blog, USA
My Neighbors’ Pot Smoke Bothers Me. What Can I Do?
[Possible paywall] Your co-op might be willing to help, even if it has to amend its rules. But it will likely be up to you to prove exactly where the smoke is coming from | NY Ti,mes, USA
Potential Pitfalls of Drug Decriminalisation
On the 5th of November 2022, the ABC demonstrated exemplar reporting of the ACT’s decision to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs in an ABC News In-Depth television piece. In doing so, the ABC provided an analysis of the benefits, and potential risks of decriminalisation, allowing the viewer to develop an informed opinion | AOD MediaWatch, Australia