Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 5th July 2023 |
 |
UK news
Drink and Drugs News: July issue out now
British South Asian women with addiction problems are often a community within a community within a community, hidden from view, says Shinasa Shahid (p6). Her article teaches us much about the ‘shame and blame’ that fuels stigma. When our families and communities give us a role we can’t fit into, we become the problem – which is why support services must be ready with the knowledge and sensitivity to respond | DDN, UK
MSP complains over ‘misleading’ claims on minimum unit price for alcohol
Dr Sandesh Gulhane has written to the head of the UK Statistics Authority over Scottish Government | Independent, UK
British Medical Association to campaign for drink-drive limit to be lowered
At the organisation’s annual representative meeting in Liverpool, a motion was brought by the BMA’s North West Regional Council with a call to campaign to bring down the limit to the average of European nations | Yahoo News, UK
Challenge and Change: Lived Experience Voices on Alcohol Marketing
Listening to and highlighting the voices of lived and living experience is an important part of our work at Alcohol Focus Scotland. Over the past 2 years, our Involvement team has been working with people and organisations to help guide the development of alcohol policy | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK
Prescribing of cannabis medicines by general medical practitioners - Early day motion
Motion text: That this House notes that the Government allowed specialist medical practitioners to be able to prescribe cannabis medicines in 2018, but excluded general medical practitioners, despite their core role in supporting patients in their communities; further notes that, annually, around 20,000 patients obtain private prescriptions for medical cannabis, but just 1,000 have NHS prescriptions and that there are many more who access the illicit market to obtain cannabis for medical reasons; and calls on the Government to take the necessary steps to allow general medical practitioners to have the same medical cannabis prescribing rights as specialist medical practitioners | UK Parliament, UK
Dry June outranks Dry January for sales of alcohol-free drinks
[Possibe paywall] Increased interest in drinking less for health reasons is driving a bigger and better range of ‘authentic-tasting products’ | Telegraph, UK
Susan's story: Alcohol Awareness Week - video
Watch Susan’s story on how alcohol nearly cost her everything and how by getting the support she needed she was finally able to find ways to be free of alcohol | Alcohol Change UK, UK
Grave Danger: We live in town plagued by thuggish drug lords who recruit kids as young as 12 to flog crack to ‘zombie’ addicts
Safeguarding expert Sonya Jones says it’s a "postcode lottery” for what help is available to parents of kids in County Lines gangs. She says: “I work with a lot of parents and they tell us some local authorities are very good but others don't offer the level of support they need.” Sonya works with We Are With You - a drug, alcohol and mental health charity that helps those groomed by gangs. She tells us the age of those targeted is “reducing quite considerably” with her hearing reports of kids as young as 10 being exploited | Sun, UK
Hepatitis C Trust - new website
As we approach World Hepatitis Day, the Hepatitis C Trust is delighted to announce the launch of their new website | Hepatitis C Trust, UK
Recovery Festival: Thursday 6th July – Bristol
6th July. Bristol. The Recovery Festival is a free, family friendly Bristol festival now celebrating its 10th year. We are the biggest recovery focused event in the South West and we looking forward to welcoming you to our second event at Trinity on 6th July | Recovery Festival, UK
Creative Communities Summer Showcase performance with musicians from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Facebook link
Monday 10th July: 3pm, Bristol Beacon BS1 5AR. Come join and support us at our annual summer show. The orchestra will perform 4 pieces, including their very own Western themed piece…coined…Dando Unchained in memory of one our members who we recently lost. The choir will also be singing 20 minutes of our favourites. All held together by moving and stigma busting stories from our members | BDP, UK
Lord Bob Kerslake: “a dedicated champion of the homelessness sector”
Following the death of Lord Bob Kerslake, Chair of the Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, St Mungo's Chief Executive, Emma Haddad, responds... | St Mungo's, UK
Volunteer For Us
Our volunteers bring a wide range of skills, experience and commitment to our work. Some have had personal experience of mental health or substance use issues and some bring professional or vocational expertise. If you would like to help us with our work with children and young people and be a part of Amy’s legacy then we would love to hear from you | Amy Winehouse Foundation, UK
Bodybuilder jailed for supplying toxic fat-burning pills
A 32-year-old gym owner has been jailed for 37 months for culpably and recklessly supplying a diet pill which can be lethal to humans | BBC, UK
Salford raid: Illegal vapes worth more than £400k seized
More than £400,000 worth of illegal vapes - some with up to 11 times the legal limit of e-liquid - have been seized after a raid | BBC, UK
International news
Cocaine found at White House sparked evacuation, US media report
A white substance that sparked an emergency evacuation at the White House on Sunday night has tested positive for cocaine, US media reported | BBC, UK
Drug task forces turning addicts away amid a 400% increase in crack cocaine use
Local agencies are also struggling to attract staff due to better pay and conditions available with the HSE | Irish Times, Ireland
New study finds that night owls' unhealthy habits may lead to early deaths
According to a May 2023 study published in Chronobiology International, night owls—people who go to bed later and wake up later—possibly die earlier than those who operate during the earlier portions of the day. That mainly because those who are up late are more at risk of developing unhealthy habits, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health researcher Christer Hublin told CNN | Medical Xpress, USA
Science Reveals How to Roll the Perfect Joint
Researchers used a smoking machine to test the intensity of marijuana rolled into joints | Scientific American, USA
Vaping ban likely to fuel black market: emails reveal drug advisory group’s fears
Australia’s world-first blanket ban on vaping without a prescription will make the problem worse, according to experts from the Australian National Advisory Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, who debated how to warn the health minister about their misgivings in emails published under freedom of information | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
New study shows majority support for pill-testing - audio
While pill testing may be a lightning rod issue in Australia, a new study from La Trobe University shows there is majority support for drug checking services in the country. And while currently the only established pill testing clinic is in Canberra, Queensland has just given a pill testing service the green light | abc.net.au, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The complex reality of minimum unit pricing in Wales
One of the first pieces of alcohol research I ever commissioned – back in 2010 – was a major review by Bangor and Glyndŵr Universities of the evidence from around the world on what influences drinking behaviours. Alcohol Concern – a predecessor charity of Alcohol Change UK – had opened its Wales office a year earlier and we were keen to have a solid evidence base for the work of our new team | IAS blog, UK