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Daily news - 10th January 2023

UK news

Laying the foundations for hepatitis C elimination: evaluating the development and contribution of community care pathways to diagnostic efforts

[Open access] There is much debate about effective approaches to scaling up diagnosis of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) among risk groups. Tayside, a region in the East of Scotland, developed low-threshold community pathways for HCV to lay the foundations of an elimination strategy. In this retrospective study, we sought to: quantify the contribution of community pathways to increasing HCV diagnosis; understand if shifting diagnosis to community settings led to a higher proportion of individuals tested for HCV being actively infected; and describe functional characteristics of the care pathways | BMC Public Health, UK

Staff face pressure from bosses to drink with one in five saying they feel obliged to consume alcohol at work events

One in five say that they've felt obliged to consume alcohol at work events, according to a survey of 3,000 workers by UK Addiction Treatment Group. The poll suggests this could mean roughly seven million British employees are regularly drinking, despite not wanting to | Mail Online, UK

Life-saving medication given to Doncaster prisoners on their release

Medication that can quickly reverse the life-threatening effects of a drug overdose is being issued to at risk prisoners for safe keeping when they are released from Doncaster’s police custody suite | Doncaster Free Press, UK

Even alcohol brands are investing in Dry January campaigns

Last week, vodka brand Tito’s launched its tongue-in-cheek Dry January campaign. The ad is in line with Tito’s typical humorous campaigns, which most recently included selling empty hard seltzer cans. But it’s also indicative of the influence sober-curious initiatives and NA brands are having on big booze | Modern Retail, UK

Mental health organisations join forces to create new peer support guides

Five Scottish mental health and wellbeing organisations have joined forces to create a series of free guides to help anyone who wants to run a peer support group | Charity Today, UK

‘As a 55-year-old grandmother, I’m not your typical illegal-drug user’

[Possible paywall] Medical cannabis offers relief to people suffering from chronic pain and was legalised four years ago – but many still buy it on the streets | Telegraph, UK

‘How I escaped a County Lines drug gang’

[Possible paywall] Hundreds of children are recruited each year by brutal county lines gangs around Britain. Thanks to Action for Children, Jay found a way out | Telegraph, UK

The Truth about Drugs - David Badcock

Mon, January 16, 2023, 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM GMT. The Viktor Wynd Museum & The Last Tuesday Society. The attempt to control drug use and harms through punitive sanctions has been a global failure. In this vehement talk, Drug Science CEO David Badcock will explain the reasons such failure was predictable and illustrate how decriminalisation policies (as pursued in other countries such as Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands etc.) offer a rational and more humane way forward, that also have huge economic and research gains for society | Drug Science, UK

Drywave 2023 The Biggest Sober Party of the Year

Sat 25th Feb. Opens 4:00 PM (GMT). Vision Club Manchester. A secret headliner is to be announced amongst a host of super pro Drywave Resident Artists and DJs | DryWave events, UK

Courier killed in Deepcar laughing gas heist, court told

Outlining the case against the defendants - Arron Hartigan, 25, Jake Lakin, 22, and Callum Rutherford, 26 - the prosecution said Mr Qureshi had been working for a Bolton-based firm, delivering nitrous oxide canisters across the north of England | BBC, UK

International news

Safety and feasibility of intranasal heroin-assisted treatment: 4-week preliminary findings from a Swiss multicentre observational study

[Open access] Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) is effective for individuals with severe opioid use disorder (OUD) who do not respond sufficiently to other opioid agonist treatments. It is mostly offered with injectable diacetylmorphine (DAM) or DAM tablets creating a barrier for individuals who need the rapid onset of action but are either unable or unwilling to inject, or primarily snort opioids. To explore another route of administration, we evaluated the safety and feasibility of intranasal (IN) DAM | BMC Public Health, UK

Jail guards seize pigeon wearing backpack containing crystal meth in prison yard [Canada]

“A pigeon was located at Pacific Institution, inside the walls, and it appeared to have a small package, sort of like a backpack attached to it,” president of the Pacific Region for Union of Canadian Correctional Officers John Randle told the outlet | UNILAD, UK

France to ban hunting under the influence of alcohol

The measure is part of a new government plan creating stricter hunting rules | Politico, USA

Cannabis-Related Emergency Department Visits among Older Adults on the Rise

As a growing number of older adults are experimenting with cannabis to help alleviate chronic symptoms, a new University of California San Diego School of Medicine study has identified a sharp increase in cannabis-related emergency department visits among the elderly | University of California San Diego School of Medicine, USA

New York doctors are now required to prescribe naloxone to some patients on opioid painkillers

Without opioid painkillers to dull the ache in his knees and other joints, Arnold Wilson wouldn't be able to walk half a block. The 63-year-old former New York City nurse has crippling arthritis for which he takes OxyContin twice a day and oxycodone when he needs additional relief | Medical Xpress, USA

First-in-kind psychedelic trials to treat opioid and methamphetamine use disorders

Three million people in the United States have had opioid use disorder, and another 1.5 million people have dealt with methamphetamine misuse within the last year alone. But two new clinical trials out of the UW Transdisciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances (TCRPS), housed within the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy, aim to address these pressing issues with a promising psychoactive agent: psilocybin | Medical Xpress, USA

São Paulo’s New Governor Makes Ominous Moves to “End Cracolândia”

Cracolândias—areas with high levels of street-based homelessness and public drug use—have been spreading throughout Brazilian towns and cities since the 1990s. That’s when crack cocaine became widespread in our country, and in many cases—alongside alcohol—the drug of choice for unhoused people in our cities | Filter Magazine, USA

Lack of Person-Centered Research Impedes Rural Access to OUD Meds

Across the United States, people face many barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD). This is often particularly pronounced in rural parts of the country, given a slew of hurdles such as limited health care provider knowledge, a dearth of services in harm reduction “deserts,” and stigma surrounding substance use | Filter Magazine, USA