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Daily news - 18th July 2023 |
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UK news
UK cough syrup could be pharmacy-only over addiction fears
Cough syrup or codeine linctus could no longer be available over the counter because of concerns it is addictive and can lead to serious health problems. Rising numbers of reports of drug abuse and dependence to codeine medicines are being made to the UK medicines safety regulator | BBC, UK
Drugs: Fake opioid selling will get worse - ex-addict
Welsh Emerging Drugs and Identification of Novel Substances (Wedinos) analysed 4,979 samples last year and found two out of every five contained "unknown substances", up from 35% in 2021-22 | BBC, UK
National statistics - Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2022
Updated - The number and quantity of fentanyl analogue seizures made by Border Force has been updated. This revision affects the total number of seizures and total number of Class A seizures | Home Office, UK
Newcastle City Council calls for vaping restrictions
Children in the North East need to be protected from a "ticking time bomb" and stop using vapes, councillors have said. Newcastle City Council echoed calls on the government to impose new restrictions on vapes | BBC, UK
The Rise and Fall of Britpop: Ep 7: The Drugs Don’t Work - audio
As money flowed through the UK music industry, everyone was desperate to be part of Cool Britannia. However, with the arrival of money came the arrival of excess. In Episode 7 of The Rise and Fall of Britpop, legendary Evening Session hosts Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq re-unite to look back at what life was like for those in the eye of the storm | BBC Radio 6, UK
Parents use magic mushrooms as ‘healthy’ alternative to alcohol
[Possible paywall] Class A drug is being shunned by the younger generation despite the uptake among the middle aged | Telegraph, UK
Morrisons and Warburtons in 'Ask for Ellen' free crumpet offer
The Ask for Ellen scheme will be available all day, in any of Morrisons’ 398 cafes across the UK from Monday, July 17 to Sunday, August 13 | Telegraph and Argus, UK
Living with lung cancer: ‘I recorded a message saying goodbye to my four girls’
Cathy Hunt was diagnosed with lung cancer two days before her 50th birthday. Now 58, she tells Paul Gallagher the effects 40 years of smoking have had on her life | i news, UK
International news
Stare at smokers to stop them, Hong Kong health chief urges public
People in Hong Kong should discourage smoking by staring at anyone who lights up in areas where it is banned, the city's health secretary has suggested | BBC, UK
Characteristics of affected family members seeking treatment in their own right: a secondary analysis of existing Irish health data for 2010–2020
[Open access] Affected family members (AFMs) are impacted by a significant other’s drug, alcohol, or behavioural addictions, and deserve support in their own right. The aim of this study was to describe AFMs seeking treatment and the support received | DEPP, UK
Under the influence: The highs and lows of drugs and addiction
The Citizens’ Assembly on drugs is looking at what changes could be made to legislation to reduce the impact on individuals, families and communities – but not everyone agrees on the best way forward | Business Post, Ireland
Provision of Digital Health Technologies for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment by US Health Care Organizations
In this cross-sectional study using data from a national survey of 276 organizations with accountable care organization contracts, 34% used at least 1 category of technology, including remote mental health therapy and tracking (27%), virtual peer recovery support programs (15%), and digital recovery support for adjuvant cognitive behavior therapy (9%). Organizations with traditional substance use disorder resources were significantly more likely to use technologies. Meaning These results suggest that health care organizations use digital health technologies as complements to, rather than substitutes for, traditional resources | JAMA Network Open, USA
Current evidence identifies health risks of e-cigarette use, long-term research needed
Research increasingly reveals health risks of e-cigarette use, and more studies are needed about the long-term impact e-cigarettes may have on the heart and lungs, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in the journal Circulation | Medical Xpress, USA
Gene group influencing pain and brain communication can also influence alcohol use disorder risk
An estimated 16 million people in the United States have alcohol use disorders (AUDs), according to the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Now, Indiana University researchers have made a substantial discovery about the role genes play in the development of AUDs, finding that alteration of a group of genes known to influence neuronal plasticity and pain perceptions, rather than single gene defect, is linked to AUDs | Medical Xpress, USA
Understanding ketamine treatment for depression
Depression has been on the rise in recent years. According to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, nearly one in 10 adults and one in five adolescents reported having depression in 2020, up from 6.6% of Americans in 2005. As depression becomes more common, finding effective treatment options has become more important | Medical Xpress, USA
How the Taliban Suppressed Opium in Afghanistan—and Why There's Little to Celebrate
For years, the international community tried and failed to rein in Afghanistan’s drug economy, which in 2021 amounted to at least 14% of the country’s GDP. But the Taliban, which swept into power that August after the U.S. withdrawal, appears to have now suppressed opium poppy cultivation by almost 90% | TIME, USA
Curing loneliness with belonging
UOW researchers awarded NHMRC grant of $1.3 million to address loneliness and social isolation in people with alcohol and other substance use disorders | UOW, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Blue states are learning the wrong lessons from Portugal
When Americans talk about drug policy, someone invariably brings up Portugal. In 2001, the tiny European nation decriminalised possession of all controlled substances, replacing jail time with referral to health-oriented “dissuasion commissions.” Progressives routinely invoke Portugal as a more “humane” alternative to the American approach. Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalisation initiative, Measure 110, was even ostensibly based on Portugal’s model. But has Portugal’s drug experiment run aground? | UnHerd, UK
When Crack Was King: looking back on an epidemic that destroyed lives
An illuminating new book looks back at the communities affected not just by a drug but by a government less interested in saving Black lives and more focused on demonising them | Guardian, UK
Drugs and religion have been a potent combination for millennia, from cannabis at ancient funerary sites to psychedelic retreats today
Psychedelics are all the rage. Well-known figures like quarterback Aaron Rodgers, singer Miley Cyrus and boxer Mike Tyson testify to their transformative impact. Less visible consumers are “microdosing” or signing up for retreats with shamanic guides in this rapidly expanding subculture. In June 2023, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies held a conference in Denver promoting research around psychedelics – part of a larger wave of enthusiasm for the benefits of substances like ecstasy, “magic” mushrooms and LSD to treat PTSD, anxiety, depression, addiction and other afflictions | Conversation, USA
Chemical adventurers: the science of the mind has a long, colourful history of psychedelic exploration
There is a delirious moment in the 1988 documentary Cane Toads: An Unnatural History when a back-lit hippie explains that consuming mescaline allowed Native Americans to see the world through the eyes of the cactus. It is the same when people imbibe the skin secretions of the toad, he mumbles, although sadly he “didn’t like it that much” | Conversation, Australia