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Daily news - 14th July 2023

UK news

Is anyone still talking to FRANK?

Twenty years since the government's drug advice service was launched, UK narcotics laws have never been so backwards and FRANK so quiet. Is he still active? DrugWise Director, Harry Shapiro is interviewed | Huck Magazine, UK

MPs criticise Blackburn Rovers vaping sponsorship deal

Steve Brine, Conservative chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, said the Championship football team should "look themselves in the mirror". Meanwhile another MP said she was "outraged" in the opposition day debate in the Commons on children and vaping | BBC, UK

Under-age Vaping

I beg to move, That this House is concerned that children are being inappropriately exposed to e-cigarette promotions and that under-age vaping has increased by 50% in just the last three years... | They work for you, UK

Prescription Drugs: Misuse

To ask His Majesty's Government how they will measure the effectiveness of actions set out in 'Optimising personalised care for adults prescribed medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms: Framework for action for integrated care boards (ICBs) and primary care', published on 2 March | They work for you, UK

New recovery centre being built for people struggling with addiction

Local businesses rally to help Steps To Hope build the new accommodation for people who want to achieve sobriety | STV News, UK

Ex-England international Dele Alli reveals childhood drug dealing and sexual abuse

Everton midfielder Alli spoke candidly [Video] about his trauma and recently checking into a mental health rehab facility | Independent, UK

Weston-super-Mare: Cannabis worth £1m found at disused pub

Two people have been arrested after a large-scale cannabis factory worth £1m was found at a disused pub | BBC, UK

North Shields coronavirus lockdown cocaine dealers jailed

Two men who sold cocaine with a street value of half a million pounds during a Covid-19 lockdown have been jailed | BBC, UK

International news

White House cocaine: US Secret Service ends investigation

The US Secret Service has closed its investigation into the discovery of cocaine in the White House. It said it had attempted to determine a suspect through fingerprints, DNA traces, and video evidence, but had not been able to do so | BBC, UK

Germany publishes first draft bill to legalise cannabis

Those over 18 will be allowed to possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal use | MixMag, UK

Ukraine will legalise cannabis to help war wounded cope with trauma

[Possible paywall] The overwhelming support for marijuana for medical use marks a turnaround in attitudes towards the drug since the Russian invasion | Telegraph, UK

Australian psychiatrists push for Medicare to subsidise ketamine for treatment-resistant depression

Application for subsidy follows results of a groundbreaking study into severe depression | Guardian, UK

QMJC June 2023: Disrupting the ageing cohort theory

In June 2023, colleagues from Deakin University (Australia) held a meeting of the Qualitative Methods Journal Club to discuss an article about overdose deaths among older people. In this blog, they summarise the paper’s findings and talk about whether age is a key risk factor in overdose deaths, as the dominant ‘ageing cohort theory’ would suggest | SSA, UK

The future of youth work

Stakeholders spoke of young people being disconnected from their communities, and sometimes families, through drug use and ensuing engagement with the criminal justice system. They described how further marginalised these young people are due to a lack of services designed to engage with them in a way that meets their needs. Undiagnosed mental health issues and neurodivergence, such as ADHD, were named as something youth workers were seeing as a reason that some young people were engaging in drug use, with young people communicating to outreach workers that they take drugs “just to feel normal” or to self-medicate | Houses of the Oireachtas, Ireland

[Open access] Low public support impedes widespread adoption of harm reduction services in the U.S. There are growing efforts to implement integrated programs offering harm reduction services alongside other services for people who use drugs. We tested how messages depicting integrated programs influence audience attitudes about harm reduction | IJDP, UK

Alcohol consumption surged during the pandemic — and deaths followed

U.S. consumption of alcohol, which had already been increasing for years, accelerated during the pandemic as Americans grappled with stress and isolation | Washington Post, USA

STASH, Vol. 19(7) – Racial/ethnic differences in newborn drug testing rates and results

Most U.S. states require that their clinicians report any suspected prenatal drug use. Despite the fact that Black and White adults use drugs at similar rates, clinicians tend to report Black parents for prenatal substance use at higher rates than they do White parents. Although these reports can help parents get connected to substance use treatment programs and social services, they can also lead to termination of parental rights. This week, STASH reviews a study by Sebastian Schoneich and colleagues that examined racial/ethnic differences in newborn drug testing rates and results | BASIS, USA

Aromatherapy could help substance use disorder patients, study finds

Aromatherapy eases stress in people undergoing treatment for substance use disorder which, in turn, could enhance their chances of a successful recovery, according to West Virginia University research. The study, which is ongoing, incorporates the use of essential oils as an integrative therapy that is part of a bigger picture model focusing on the whole person | Medical Xpress, USA

Catalysts for change: Psychedelic-assisted therapies for PTSD

Psychedelic-based therapies are poised to change the treatments that psychiatrists can offer patients | Medical Xpress, USA

The False Claim That Addiction Is “All About the Dopamine”

It seems today that everyone and their brother knows about the dopamine hypothesis of drug addiction. The popular version, simply put, holds that drugs cause pleasure by releasing dopamine into the brain’s reward center, and that addiction occurs when these drugs “hijack” our normal pleasure-seeking activities by releasing huge amounts of dopamine, inevitably turning us into monsters who live only for dope | Filter Magazine, USA

Ketamine effective for treatment-resistant depression: clinical trial

In research published today in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers led by UNSW Sydney and the affiliated Black Dog Institute found that more than one in five participants achieved total remission from their symptoms after a month of bi-weekly injections, while a third had their symptoms improve by at least 50 per cent | UNSW, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Opioid crisis: addiction, overprescription, and insufficient primary prevention

There are many sources of opioids, including raw poppy seeds, products made from poppy seeds (eg, poppy seed tea or kits for smoking), semisynthetic drugs (eg, heroin, morphine, and oxycodone), and synthetic drugs (eg, methadone and fentanyl). Over the centuries, opioids have been used as surgical analgesics, to stop diarrhoea and prevent tooth decay, as an adjuvant treatment of insomnia, to treat cancer and chronic pain, and as a recreational drug | Lancet editorial, UK

Findings of the uk’s largest medicinal cannabis report finds that half of the uk may be eligible for a prescription

A new report has revealed that approximately 29.6 million people (50.2%) in the UK could be entitled to a medicinal cannabis prescription, yet just 0.48% of the population has been given a prescription for it | Volteface, UK

Profits Over Patients: Brazil Shows How Not to Regulate Medical Cannabis

There is a song by Brazilian band O Rappa that describes the illegal cannabis market, how profitable it is, and the diverse clientele that the business attracts, including actors, socialites and playboys. Some of the verses go like this: “I am selling herbs that heal and soothe (…) The clientele is vast, I know, because normal remedies do not always relieve the tension”. This anecdotal song translates a widespread acknowledgement of cannabis as a popular medicine in Brazil | Talking Drugs, UK

Iran’s relationship with alcohol is reaching a tipping point

[Appears to be open access] An artist’s death has raised questions about the dangers of the black market for liquor | FT Opinion, UK

Myths about will power and moral weakness keep people with opioid use disorder from receiving effective medications like methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone

The most effective science-based treatment for opioid use disorder is medication. Methadone and buprenorphine prevent intense cravings and other symptoms of withdrawal, while naltrexone works by blocking the effects of opioids. Despite abundant research showing these medications reduce the risk of relapse and overdose, many people, no matter their relationship with opioids or with people who use them, are still hesitant to support the use of these medications. And the majority of people who would benefit from such treatments do not have access to them | Conversation, USA

Ketamine injections for depression? A new study shows promise, but it’s one of many options

Ketamine might be better known as a recreational drug or anaesthetic. But there’s growing evidence for its use for people with hard-to-treat depression. An Australasian study out today showed some positive results for people with treatment-resistant depression when they had ketamine injections | Conversation, Australia

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