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Daily news - 6th June 2023

UK news

Drink and Drugs News, June 2023 edition - out now

We’re in the final run-up to the annual DDN Conference on 13 July. We’ll hear from people with personal experience of all the issues reflected in our pages, including making a path from the criminal justice system – a key theme of this issue | DDN, UK

Children's doctors call for ban on disposable vapes

Children's doctors are calling for a complete ban on disposable vapes because they are likely to damage young lungs and are bad for the environment | BBC, UK

'I teach primary school pupils about the harms of drugs'

Drug harm reduction education needs to be given to primary school children, a charity has said. With You Redcar and Cleveland has provided drug and alcohol education to "more than a dozen" North East schools | BBC, UK

In May 2018, the Scottish Government introduced a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol of £0.50 (1 UK unit = 8 g ethanol) to reduce alcohol consumption, particularly among people drinking at harmful levels. This study aimed to evaluate MUP's impact on the prevalence of harmful drinking among adults in Scotland | Public Health, UK

MSPs share 'pain and loss' of their parents' alcohol use as part of new campaign

Miles Briggs MSP has opened up for the first time about his father’s alcohol use, as he backs a campaign aimed at reducing the stigma that surrounds deaths due to alcohol and drugs. In a candid and moving letter to his father Jim, as part of the See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland campaign, Miles shares his experiences as the son of a parent who drank | University of Stirling, UK

Health and wellbeing charity WDP changes its name to Via

We are proud and excited to announce we’ve rebranded and changed our name from WDP to Via. After 30 years of providing life-changing care, we’re moving away from a name we’ve outgrown. The name Westminster Drug Project (WDP) represented our origins – a drugs project in Westminster – but it no longer speaks to who we are now, what we do or our ambitions for the future | Via, UK

‘I knew the terror of lost time’: how my father’s dementia echoed my own alcoholism

When my father began to forget words, and then basic skills, I sensed his fear. After my own alcoholic blackouts, I understood what he was going through | Guardian, UK

UK medical cannabis group woos patients to buy into the business

[Appears to open access] Isle of Man’s GLO wants to sell 25 per cent to clients, letting them influence production | FT, UK

Medicinal cannabis industry brings up to £60m investment to Jersey

Jersey's Economic Development Minister has claimed the island's burgeoning medicinal cannabis industry has so far attracted up to £60m investment into Jersey since 2016 | Bailiwick Express, UK

Guernsey's legal heroin users under supervision to prevent black market trade

Health bosses in Guernsey are tightening up rules around prescribing heroin-like drugs, to prevent them being sold on the black market. The island's Community Drug and Alcohol Team are running clinics to supervise users who have been prescribed Opiate substitutes as part of their treatment | ITV, UK

Ankle tags to monitor court-imposed drinking bans in bid to cut crime

ITV has been given exclusive access to ankle tag technology that monitors drinking bans imposed on offenders by the courts. The tags detect alcohol in the wearer's sweat with the readings automatically sent back to a monitoring centre | ITV, UK

Rise in UK breweries going bust amid thirst for cheaper craft beers

45 breweries, mostly smaller makers, enter insolvency in last 12 months, up from 15 the previous year | Guardian, UK

Are loot boxes a form of online gambling?

Though they will be familiar to anyone who is a gamer (or has children who are) not everyone is aware of what a loot box is and so I will start with a quick description. When playing an online game you will often be offered the chance to buy loot boxes, which give you the potential to improve your performance | Addiction Professionals, UK

Large drugs haul disguised as sweets seized by North East police

Officers from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) are asking the public to remain vigilant after they intercepted parcels containing cannabis products and Psilocybin - more commonly known as mushrooms - disguised as sweets and chocolate bars | ITV, UK

Wolverhampton man jailed over £2m prescription-only drugs racket

A man found guilty of illegally possessing prescription-only medications, valued at more than £2m, has been jailed for five years | BBC, UK

'Euphoric' drug driver killed man in 103mph crash

A driver who got the behind the wheel while "euphoric" on nitrous oxide killed her passenger in a 103mph (165km/h) crash, a court has heard | BBC, UK

International news

Drugs and a US visa: Prince Harry's other court case explained

A US judge will hear an appeal from a conservative think tank which argues that the Duke of Sussex's visa application should be made public following revelations of past drug use | BBC, UK

‘Very last warning’ for 82-year-old German convicted of dealing marijuana

Retired seaman, who has 24 previous convictions, avoids jail despite prosecutors’ call for prison term | Guardian, UK

Inside the Taliban's war on drugs - opium poppy crops slashed

Balancing an AK-47 assault rifle slung around his left shoulder and with a large stick in his right hand, Abdul hits the heads of poppies as hard as he can. The stalks fly in the air, as does the sap from the poppy bulb, releasing the distinctive, pungent smell of opium in its most raw form | BBC, UK

Alcohol industry lobbyists misrepresented evidence in bid to influence Australian policy, study finds

Industry submissions on harm reduction plan at times misused evidence, academics say, but health minister says there’s ‘no suggestion’ the strategy was influenced | Guardian, UK

New Zealand to introduce new rules to crack down on youth vaping

Reforms include bans on most disposable devices, no new vape shops near schools and enforcing generic flavour descriptions | Guardian, UK

Cannabis laws in Europe: questions and answers for policymaking

This publication answers some of the more frequently asked questions raised in discussions about cannabis legislation. While the primary focus is on the use of cannabis for recreational purposes, relevant legislation for other uses, including medical and commercial cannabis-derived products such as cosmetics, wellness products and foods, is included in order to provide the necessary context for various policy initiatives | EMCDDA, Portugal

Ask the pediatrician: What do parents need to know about naloxone for opioid overdose?

If someone in your home takes opioids for any reason, you should carry naloxone and keep it in your home in case of emergencies (just like a fire extinguisher). Naloxone is a lifesaving medication that can reverse an opioid overdose in minutes. It's available as a nasal spray that is easy to administer | Medical Xpress, USA

Mental Health Awareness? Prioritize Safer Alternatives to Smoking

The United States has just observed its annual Mental Health Awareness Month. Another year and another awareness month have gone by with little attention paid to the many people who both live with a mental health condition and smoke | Filter Magazine, USA

Naltrexone for Alcohol Use Disorder: Weighing Up the Sinclair Method

Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that’s available most commonly as a 50 mg oral tablet, and also as Vivitrol, a long-acting injectable formulation. It is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for opioid use disorder. That use, which we won’t address here, is fraught with controversy. But naltrexone was also approved by the FDA as a treatment for alcohol use disorder in 1994 | Filter Magazine, USA

Perspectives and sentiments on contingency management from people who use methamphetamine

[Open access] Contingency management (CM) is currently the most efficacious treatment for methamphetamine use, yet it is rarely available in routine care. We examined the viewpoints of people who use methamphetamine on CM as a potential treatment for methamphetamine use disorder | DAR, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Supporting The Children Of Alcohol Dependent Parents

The Department of Health and Social Care has just (1 June 2023) published an independent evaluation of the Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents (CADeP) innovation fund (IF) programme in England. The programme was evaluated by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR), in partnership with IFF Research, between October 2018 and March 2022 | Russell Webster, UK

Tobacco Control fails to control tobacco then blames vaping

A Recent Report by Cancer Council Victoria has found that Australia’s adult smoking rate has not declined over the last 5 years and youth smoking is on the rise. The government's solution? Crack down on vaping! | Colin Mendelsohn blog, Australia

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