Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 9th June 2023 |
 |
UK news
Families are the invisible victims of addiction forgotten by our healthcare system
The government has promised to boost funding for drug and alcohol treatment, but it also needs to offer support for families of the addicted | Big Issue, UK
The Quiet Crisis: Alcohol Deaths in England and Wales
Alcohol is a major part of British culture. From a pint at the pub after work to a night out on the town with friends, alcohol is deeply ingrained in the social fabric of the UK. However, behind closed doors, a quiet crisis is unfolding | Forward Trust, UK
The True Horror Behind Britain’s ‘Monkey Dust’ Drug Scare Story
A synthetic white powder called monkey dust is a big problem in one UK city. But lurid headlines about glass-eating zombies hide a much more shocking story of government neglect | VICE, UK
Pharmacies 'in danger' as six are set to close in Norfolk
Mansour Dadkha, who runs the independent Town Pharmacy in Great Yarmouth, said his business was "busier" - but profit margins were decreasing | BBC, UK
Turning Point launches dual diagnosis training
Leading social enterprise, Turning Point, have launched a new training resource to increase the awareness and understanding of substance use and mental health. The initiative started with a donation from a mother whose daughter, an NHS nurse, lost her life after a long history of mental health illness and alcohol addiction | Turning Point, UK
Volunteers wanted for study into effects of passive vaping
Researchers are searching for volunteers to take part in a new study being launched into the potential health effects of passive vaping. Experts from the universities of Dundee, Abertay, and St Andrews will collaborate on the Vascular Effects of Passive Exposure (Vape) study | BBC, UK
Reading University to study health benefits of magic mushrooms
Dr Maria Maiarù, University of Reading, has secured nearly £100K to fund her chronic pain research over two years | Reading Chronicle, UK
Scotland delays deposit return scheme by at least two years, blaming Westminster
Scottish government says UK ministers’ decision to exclude glass from the scheme effectively sabotaged it | Guardian, UK
Drugs and Ethical Storytelling workshop
Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:30 - 16:00 BST. Join us for a workshop to explore the ethical opportunities and challenges for gathering and sharing real-life stories about drugs | J Slater, UK
Cocaine worth £19.2m seized from lorry on M1 in Bedfordshire
Two men have been arrested after cocaine worth almost £20m was seized from a lorry at an M1 service station | BBC, UK
Cannabis discovered at Peterborough postal sorting office
Police in Peterborough have released a photograph of many packets and containers of cannabis that were discovered at a Royal Mail sorting office | BBC, UK
International news
E-Cigarettes and the Comparative Politics of Harm Reduction
Open access book. This book offers the first in-depth study of the history underlying the current debate over electronic cigarettes. It explores how the US, UK and Australia frame the long-term use of nicotine differently and it offers new insights into the relationship between history, evidence and policy in public health | History, Evidence, and Policy, UK
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken at the Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to lead that Conference's efforts to encourage smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives | They work for you, UK
Opioid crisis: how the UK will be affected by the Taliban’s poppy ban
The Taliban is clamping down on heroin production. UK experts warn this could lead to an explosion of dangerous synthetic opioids | The Face, UK
Study finds non-LSD hallucinogen use on the rise among young adults
Young adults ages 19 to 30 nearly doubled their past 12-month use of non-LSD hallucinogens in the United States from 2018 to 2021, according to a study by the University of Michigan and Columbia University | Medical Xpress, USA
Drug to treat cannabis use disorder shows promise in clinical trial
A first-in-class drug engineered to selectively inhibit the signaling pathway of the cannabinoid receptor shows promise as a safe and effective treatment for cannabis use disorder (CUD), a condition where a person is unable to control their cannabis use, even though it's causing problems in their lives | Medical Xpress, USA
Fatal overdoses increase after police seize drugs, study finds
For decades, efforts by police to seize illicit drugs have been a cornerstone strategy for disrupting drug markets and removing drugs from communities. But there's an unintended outcome when opioids are seized, a new study finds—increases in overdoses, including those that are fatal. The study found that police drug seizures were associated with increases in fatal overdose in the surrounding geographic area in the three weeks following enforcement, possibly by leading people with substance use disorder to take greater risks when they tried to restore their supply | Medical Xpress, USA
'Keep them alive': More states legalize fentanyl test strips to combat surging opioid deaths
At Cleveland's Urban Kutz Barbershop, customers can flip through magazines as they wait, or help themselves to drug screening tests left out in a box on a table with a somber message: "Your drugs could contain fentanyl. Please take free test strips." | Medical Xpress, USA
First-ever vending machine offering free Narcan, safer drug use kits, and menstrual kits installed in New York City
A new vending machine that offers free health and wellness supplies — such as naloxone (Narcan) to prevent opioid overdoses, smoker’s quitting kits, and safer drug use kits — has arrived in New York City | AMNY, USA
Colombia Is Now Very Close to Legalizing Cannabis
Lawmakers in Colombia have advanced a bill that would legalize cannabis for all adults. It has one more hurdle to pass before it can be sent to the president for approval. If the effort succeeds, Colombia would become the fourth country in the Americas—after Uruguay, Canada and Mexico—to legalize. And it would represent a remarkable shift for a country that for several decades has been a major focus of the global drug war | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Could cannabis help to treat long Covid?
The list of conditions that benefit from medical cannabis treatment is continually getting longer. From IBS to anxiety, and fibromyalgia to glaucoma. With around 2 million people in the UK suffering from long COVID symptoms, and research findings supporting its use, could long COVID be the latest condition to add to that list? | Volteface, UK
Guest blog: Why I sleep better
In the run-up to Men's Health Week (12 -18 June), Garry Johnson shares what he discovered when he decided to cut back on alcohol and hit the reset button | Drinkaware blog, UK
Australia should follow Ireland’s lead and add stronger health warning labels to alcohol
From August 2023, Australian beer, wine, spirits and pre-mixed drinks have to warn of the harms of drinking alcohol while pregnant. But they don’t have to mention the other harms of alcohol for the wider population | Conversation, Australia