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Daily news - 9th January 2023

UK news

Drug driving on the rise as police reveal hundreds of festive arrests

More than 550 people have been arrested in West and North Yorkshire as part of a crackdown on drink and drug driving | BBC, UK

Labour Could Phase Out Sale Of Cigarettes, Says Wes Streeting

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, the shadow health secretary said the move could help “get the NHS back on track” | Huffington Post, UK

New online community launched to support health tech professionals

A new online tech community has been launched by NHS Digital, aimed at supporting those working to integrate systems with national healthcare services | NHS Digital, UK

Prince Harry discusses drug use ahead of book release: ‘Important to acknowledge’ - video

In the short clip, the Duke of Sussex discusses “marijuana, magic mushrooms and cocaine” with ITV’s Tom Bradby, saying it’s “important to acknowledge” | Independent, UK

‘I didn’t look like a typical drug addict. But prescription pills took over my life’

[Possible paywall] Like struggling Joanna in Happy Valley, I became dependent on the tranquilisers – and the road to recovery was long, slow and painful | Telegraph, UK

Dry January: 'Do I need alcohol every time I go out?' - video

Dr Joe McAvoy, a GP in Londonderry, said Dry January was an opportunity for people to reassess their relationship with alcohol following weeks of family gatherings and parties over Christmas | BBC, UK

Dry January: I stopped drinking and never really went back

Millions are believed to be taking part in Dry January this year, a public health campaign first introduced in 2013 by Alcohol Change UK | BBC, UK

I became the poster girl for sobriety, then returned to big nights on the lash

Sobriety was a lonely place when Jill Stark wrote High Sobriety 10 years ago. Teetotal again, life is much easier in the sober curious age | Guardian, UK

‘I’ve heard it all: she’s a fraud, a liar, a thief’: Jack Monroe on alcohol, addiction and answering her critics

She’s the anti-poverty campaigner and food writer who shot to fame by teaching us how to make the most of our pennies. But behind the scenes her world was unravelling | Guardian, UK

Graduate Student Association for Psychedelic Studies (GSAPS) x Drug Science Special Monthly Meetup

Mon, 16 January 2023, 18:00 – 19:30 GMT. To celebrate the launch of the European edition of the GSAPS Monthly Meetup, Drug Science is partnering with the GSAPS and three brilliant guest speakers: Professor Jo Neill, Dr Anne Schlag and Rayyan Zafar. Their expertise covers a wide range of topics; drug policy, legislation, clinical applications of psychedelics, risk perception and management, reciprocity and conduct in psychedelic research and much more. The GSAPS welcomes anyone with an interest in psychedelic research and medicine to join | Drug Science, UK

Douglas man caught with van full of cannabis jailed

A man caught driving a van filled with more than £22,000 worth of cannabis and about £14,000 of cash has been jailed | BBC, UK

International news

US and EU Free Trade Agreements and implementation of policies to control tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy food and drinks: A quasi-experimental analysis

Identifying and tackling the factors that undermine regulation of unhealthy commodities is an essential component of effective noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention. Unhealthy commodity producers may use rules in US and EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to challenge policies targeting their products. We aimed to test whether there was a statistical relationship between US and EU FTA participation and reduced implementation of WHO-recommended policies | PLOS Medicine, UK

QMJC September 2022: The relationship between vaping and smoking among adolescents

For their 5th contribution to the Qualitative Methods Journal Club, faculty and doctoral students from Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health met to discuss an academic article exploring the relationship between vaping and smoking among a cohort of young people. The group talked about how the study challenged the ‘gateway’ theory of substance use, and instead applied the sociological concept of substance use ‘careers’ to describe intentional decisions and pathways, rather than just passive or random patterns of use | SSA, UK

Where do we go now? ECigIntelligence’s guide to regulation expected in 2023

Disposables and youth vaping are likely to be the major themes shaping developments in the e-cigarette world over the coming year. Concerns about both are likely to affect debates on matters such as vaping taxes, flavour bans and environmental measures that are expected to take place throughout numerous important jurisdictions | ECigIntelligence, UK

Footage shows children armed with guns as El Chapo son's drug cartel looks for revenge

[Possible paywall] Arrest of Sinaloa gang leader prompts violence across Mexican city with 1,000 soldiers sent to boost security | Telegraph, UK

HSE warn of 'risky' cannabis jellies causing hospitalisations in Ireland

THC edibles currently being sold illegally in Ireland have been deemed "high risk" as on occasion they do not contain THC but instead contain a synthetic cannabinoid | Dublin Live, Ireland

Financial crash triggered spike in drug use in disadvantaged parts of Cork

New research said that the national-level prevalence studies “likely hid” increased drug use in some of Ireland’s economically deprived areas post the 2008 crash | Irish Examiner, Ireland

Methadone should be prescribed by nurses to cut long wait times, says addiction expert

Heroin users outside Dublin must wait up to three months to access opiate substitution therapy | Irish Times, Ireland

School considering legal options against 'inappropriate' drug injection centre

Drug-related anti social incidents are common in the area and parents are frustrated at the plans | Dublin Live, Ireland

No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health

The risks and harms associated with drinking alcohol have been systematically evaluated over the years and are well documented. The World Health Organization has now published a statement in The Lancet Public Health: when it comes to alcohol consumption, there is no safe amount that does not affect health | WHO, Denmark

€354 million in cocaine found at Rotterdam port; 34 arrested

In the period between the last days of 2022 and the first days of 2023, 34 people were arrested during checks in the port of Rotterdam and customs seized 4726 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs had a street value of 354 million euros, according to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), and have since been destroyed | NL Times, Netherlands

Tranq Dope: Animal Sedative Mixed With Fentanyl Brings Fresh Horror to U.S. Drug Zones

[Possible paywall] A veterinary tranquilizer called xylazine is infiltrating street drugs, deepening addiction, baffling law enforcement and causing wounds so severe that some result in amputation | NYTimes, USA

[Open access] Amidst an unprecedented overdose epidemic, the opioid partial agonist buprenorphine is a medication for opioid use disorder associated with reductions in overdose. Despite its efficacy, buprenorphine prescribing remains closely regulated, owing to concerns about misuse, and its possible role in overdoses | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

Study: Almost a third of patients with chronic pain use cannabis

As more U.S. states legalize cannabis for medical and recreational use, increasing numbers of people are experimenting with it for pain relief. According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, almost a third of patients with chronic pain reported using cannabis to manage it | News Medical, USA

Study suggests one solution to America's opioid epidemic: Tell doctors their patients fatally overdosed

There are no simple solutions to America's deadly overdose epidemic, which costs 100,000 lives each year and is erasing gains in life expectancy. But a team of USC researchers have found one low-cost intervention can make a difference: a letter notifying providers their patient has died from an overdose | Medical Xpress, USA

“I did not know vegetable cultivation could be so profitable”: role-model farmers in Helmand aim to make their communities poppy-free

According to the 2022 opium survey, Helmand remains the leading opium-producing province in Afghanistan, with one-fifth of arable land dedicated to the opium poppy | UNODC, USA

The Social, Material, and Temporal Effects of Monthly Extended-Release Buprenorphine Depot Treatment for Opioid Dependence: An Australian Qualitative Study

[Open access] This study examined the social, material and temporal effects of extended-release buprenorphine depot treatment (BUP-XR), among a group of participants commencing BUP-XR in Australia, and considered the situated potentials of these new opioid agonist treatment technologies | CDP, USA

‘It is shocking’: Nearly 100 magic mushroom possession charges laid in five years

The New Zealand Drug Foundation says it’s “shocking” that 90 charges have been laid for magic mushroom possession in five years given the drug’s relatively low harm profile | NZ Herald, New Zealand

Blogs, comment and opinion

Managing Benzodiazepine Risk: Time for a benzo specific Intervention?

In this blog we consider interventions for people with dependent benzodiazepine (benzos) use alongside opiate use. We consider this in the context of the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards which would still largely apply in principle in Scotland, with some differences in emphasis | DRNS blog, UK

New Psychoactive Substances And Prison Drug Deaths

New (5 January 2023) research published in the Journal of Community Psychology makes a detailed examination of Drug‐related deaths in prisons in England and Wales, 2015–2020. The researchers, Karen Duke, Helen Gleeson, Susanne MacGregor & Betsy Thom, undertook a content analysis of all Prison and Probation Ombudsman ‘other non‐natural’ fatal incident investigation reports | Russell Webster, UK

MISSING: the Liberal Democrats

The Lib Dems have traditionally been the most vociferous advocates for progressive drug reforms, but recently things have been suspiciously quiet… | Volteface, UK

Tobacco Harm Reduction Is a Universal Human Right

On December 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), declaring the month Universal Human Rights month. The theme for 2022 was “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All,” with a call to action to #StandUp4HumanRights. Unfortunately, for many suffering from tobacco addiction, their human right to harm reduction seems to have been lost amid that theme | DC Journal opinion, USA

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