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Daily news - 10th July 2023 |
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UK news
Drug Law Reform proposals - news story
Decriminalisation of all drugs for personal supply is one of a number of polices which the Scottish Government is calling on the UK Government to implement in a new paper on drug law reform. The move would allow people found in possession of drugs to be treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded. Decriminalisation would also mean that without a criminal record, people in recovery would have a better chance of employment | Scottish Government, UK
A Caring, Compassionate and Human Rights Informed Drug Policy for Scotland
This paper outlines what a progressive, evidence-based drugs policy would look like with public health and the reduction of harm as its underlying principles | Scottish Government, UK
Scotland proposes drug decriminalisation in Westminster challenge
Elena Whitham, the Scottish minister for drugs policy, calls for legislation devolution in reform plan | Guardian, UK
Scottish government’s drugs proposal is new wrangle over devolved powers
SNP’s latest challenge – as usual flatly turned down by Westminster – is part of a wider strategy | Guardian, UK
Everyday ethics: drug decriminalisation - audio
Should drug users by treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded? | BBC Sounds, UK
More enforcement needed to stop drink-driving, say UK experts
BMA’s move to cut limit is welcomed but Scotland data suggests better enforcement needed to reduce accidents | Guardian, UK
UK’s soaring liver cancer death rate blamed on alcohol and obesity
One of the country’s leading health charities is calling for urgent action to reduce the “carcinogenic effects” of cheap alcohol and unhealthy food after a 40% increase in deaths from liver cancer in a decade | Guardian, UK
As few as one in seven caught with class A drugs are prosecuted for possession
[Possible paywall] Figures reveal wide variations between police forces, with Surrey charging just 14.3 per cent for carrying drugs other than cannabis | Telegraph, UK
NHS Wales: Drakeford says drunks not staff to blame for A&E waits
Hospital staff treating "shockingly high" numbers of people who have drunk too much get unfairly blamed for long A&E waits, the first minister has said | BBC, UK
Children: Electronic Cigarettes
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of underage vaping on children’s (a) concentration and (b) attainment at school | They work for you, UK
Ideas conference: harm reduction, recovery and human rights - podcast [Spotify link]
Listen to an abridged version of a panel discussion that took place at this the Project 6 Ideas Conference 2023, “Harm Reduction, Recovery and Human Rights”. With 10 years of disinvestment and budgets slashed, the panel made up of harm reductionists, treatment providers and recovery advocates consider how we overcome that polarity between the two approaches, to create solidarity in adopting a human rights-led approach to alcohol and other drug treatment | Project 6, UK
Muscle-building drugs - audio
An undercover BBC investigation finds illegal muscle-building drugs are being sold in UK shops and online | BBC, UK
Vape containing cannabis among 50 confiscated at Lincolnshire school
The county's trading standards team said some of the products had a 9,000 puff capacity - which is 15 times the legal limit | ITV, UK
Thirteen arrests in county lines rail operation
Officers seized heroin, cocaine and weapons as well as safeguarding four children during the operation targeting rail services and stations across Merseyside and Cheshire | BBC, UK
Warning after lethal drugs stolen from vet's car in Dorset
Police have issued a warning after potentially fatal euthanasia drugs were stolen from a vet's car | BBC, UK
International news
The Wire creator seeks leniency for drug dealer in Michael K Williams' death
The Wire co-creator David Simon has asked a judge for leniency when sentencing a man charged in the drug death of actor Michael K Williams | BBC, UK
Anti-cannabis sentiment grows in Thailand a year on from legalisation
[Possible paywall] The country’s nascent marijuana market is on shaky ground, with some politicians arguing it's had a corrupting influence during the election | Telegraph, UK
Limerick council wants homes linked to criminal gangs marked as derelict
“It’s important we get a grip on this and be able to go after more vacant houses being used in this way,” said one TD | Journal, Ireland
Swedish alcohol retail monopoly challenged by court ruling
Sweden's Supreme Court on Friday said a Danish online wine retailer has the right to sell directly to Swedish households and businesses, in a ruling that could challenge the Nordic state's alcohol retail monopoly | Reuters, USA
Illicitly Manufactured Fentanyl–Involved Overdose Deaths with Detected Xylazine — United States, January 2019–June 2022
Xylazine, a nonopioid sedative, has been increasingly detected in illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) drug products and overdose deaths | CDC, USA
Trends in Opioid Toxicity–Related Deaths in the US Before and After the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2011-2021
In this cross-sectional study of 422 605 unintentional deaths due to opioid toxicity, the years of life lost increased more than 3-fold, from 777 597 to 2 922 497, between 2011 and 2021. By 2021, 1 of every 22 deaths in the US was attributable to unintentional opioid toxicity | JAMA Network Open, USA
NPS Benzodiazepines in the United States
This report provides up-to-date information regarding the status of NPS benzodiazepine prevalence and positivity in the United States. Novel psychoactive substances, including NPS benzodiazepines, continue to pose great challenges for forensic scientists, clinicians, and public health and safety personne | CFSRE, USA
NPS Opioids in the United States
This report provides up-to-date information regarding the status of NPS opioid prevalence and positivity in the United States. Novel psychoactive substances, including NPS opioids, continue to pose great challenges for forensic scientists, clinicians, and public health and safety personne | CFSRE, USA
NPS Stimulants and Hallucinogens in the United States
This report provides up-to-date information regarding NPS stimulant & NPS hallucinogen prevalence and positivity in the United States. Both NPS stimulants and NPS hallucinogens have been implicated in emergency room admissions, death investigations, and/or intoxication events associated with night clubs and music festivals | CFSRE, USA
Synthetic Cannabinoids in the United States
This report provides up-to-date information regarding the status of synthetic cannabinoid prevalence and positivity in the United States | CFSRE, USA
Addictive reading: Stanford psychologist on drug use and personal responsibility
In a late June email conversation with the Washington Examiner, Humphreys discussed the fentanyl epidemic, “harm reduction,” and many issues surrounding drug addiction and treatment. This is a lightly edited transcript of that conversation | Washington Examiner, USA
Habits have changed, but more Australians drinking than before pandemic
Feel like your drinking habits changed during the pandemic? You would be right. There are hundreds of thousands more Australians drinking than there were before the COVID-19 lockdowns, even though alcohol consumption has fallen from the heights of the pandemic | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
NGO coalition responds to Scottish Government Report
As organisations that work in drug policy and harm reduction, we welcome the evidence-based proposals in the new report published by the Scottish Government proposing a road map for the future of drug policy and law in Scotland. We share the view of the report that drug policy based on health and human rights achieves better outcomes for individuals, their families, communities and wider society | SDF et al, UK
How ‘drinkflation’ affects the price of your pint
The cost of living crisis has seen the prices of many goods and services rise sharply in the past 18 months, but food and drink prices have been particularly hard hit | Conversation, UK
The Facts And Figures About Global Drug Use
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has just (26 June 2023) launched the 2023 edition of its World Drug Report. This is a comprehensive piece of work which includes a separate Special Points of Interest publication which includes key takeaways and policy implications. In addition to providing an in-depth analysis of key developments and emerging trends in selected drug markets, including in countries currently experiencing conflict, another publication (known as booklet 2) focuses on a number of other contemporary issues related to drugs. In this short blog post, I simply share some of the headline facts and figures | Russell Webster, UK
Australia becomes the first country to legalise psychedelic therapy
On the 1st July 2023 Australia became the first country to legalise psychedelics for certain mental health conditions. However, the move has been met with careful scepticism from the wider psychedelics industry | Volteface, UK