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Daily news - 19th June 2023 |
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UK news
Nitrous oxide: updated harms assessment
Updated. The latest letters from the government to the ACMD have been added. Covering the scheduling and lawful access to nitrous oxide under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, and a response to recommendations 2 to 7 of the updated harms assessment | ACMD, UK
Policing Minister backs calls to give drug addicts free daily heroin injections
The Policing Minister has backed controversial calls to give drug addicts free daily heroin injections, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Chris Philp claimed setting up taxpayer-funded, medic-supervised 'shooting galleries' would be 'cost-effective' and help cut drug-related crime | Mail Online, UK
Has Brexit changed detection and prevention of illicit trade in drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in Wales? ( PDF)
This briefing by Public Health Wales summarises the international systems the UK and Wales participated in to tackle illicit alcohol, tobacco, and drugs before Brexit. It will then explore how these have changed post-Brexit and what potential impact that may have on health and well-being in Wales | Public Health Wales, UK
Antidepressants: Two million taking them for five years or more
More than a quarter of patients on antidepressants in England - about two million people - have been taking them for five years, the BBC has found. This is despite there being limited evidence of the benefits of taking the drugs for that length of time | BBC, UK
Lobbyists with links to Big Tobacco fund pro-vaping Facebook campaigns
Secretive lobby groups are spreading pro-e-cigarette messages purporting to be grassroots campaigns | Guardian, UK
NI drug deaths: Families march to demand better services
Families of people who have died after drug overdoses in Northern Ireland have taken part in a demonstration to demand better services for those struggling with addiction | BBC, UK
In Brief: Psilocybin and magic mushrooms
In an occasional series, staff from Parliament’s libraries give The House choice nuggets of research. This week, Professor Grant Hill-Cawthorne, librarian of the House of Commons and managing director of research and information, looks at Psilocybin and magic mushrooms | Politics Home, UK
After shrinkflation, now it's drinkflation! Brewers pocket millions by sneakily cutting alcohol in beers – without reducing prices
Brewers have been cutting the alcohol levels in popular beers and lagers – pocketing millions of pounds saved on tax – without reducing the cost to customers | Mail Online, UK
Exploring DEMAND for Residential Rehabilitation amongst those who use drugs in Scotland - survey
We would like to invite you to take part in a Public Health Scotland funded research study that is being carried out by a team of researchers from Figure 8 Consultancy (Dundee), Glyndwr University (Wrexham), and Kings College London. The majority of the research team have their own lived experience of drug use. We are trying to understand the demand for residential rehabilitation amongst people using drugs in Scotland. This is part of a wider national programme aiming to improve drug and alcohol support, involving a range of organisations, people with lived and living experience, and their family members/carers | Figure 8 Consultancy etal, UK
Suella Braverman tells police to ramp up use of stop and search
UK home secretary says police have her full support in using tactic to prevent violence and save lives | Guardian, UK
Ketamine dealer jailed as island sees rise in use of drug
A man caught with thousands of pounds worth of ketamine in his hotel room while visiting the island has been jailed for three years and two months | BBC, UK
David Warburton quits as MP, triggering another by-election
He announced his resignation in an interview with the Mail On Sunday in which the paper reports him as admitting to taking cocaine after drinking "incredibly potent" Japanese whisky | BBC, UK
County lines crackdown leads to 43 arrests
Forty-three people have been arrested in a crackdown on county lines gangs operating in North East Lincolnshire. Police said seven phone lines used to supply drugs were shut down in a two-day operation this week | BBC, UK
Arrests after cocaine disguised as charcoal worth £120m uncovered
Two men have been arrested after 1.6 tonnes of cocaine disguised as charcoal with a street value of more than £120m was discovered | BBC, UK
International news
Cool, sexy and stinking of smoke: why are TV dramas giving cigarettes a comeback?
From The Idol to Russian Doll, a wave of series is filling screens with characters that just love chainsmoking. But how has a habit whose days seemed numbered returned to television? | Guardian, UK
Friendship, freedom and fragility: the photographer who returns to her teenage years
In 2014 I started taking pictures in an effort to reconcile the complexities of my past. Having witnessed up close the devastating ramifications of addiction, poverty and discrimination, I recognised that I had been carrying the weight of these burdens through my life. | Guardian, UK
Citizens' Assembly must seize opportunity to 'fix drugs crisis before it gets worse'
Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use chairman Paul Reid tells Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe that the assembly needs to be ‘brave and informed’ | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Vape firms may pay thousands for licences under new laws
It is understood Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is examining setting a new annual licence fee of €500 per shop that sells e-cigarettes | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Serious drug problem at Maghaberry prison highlighted by inspectors
More than a quarter of inmates surveyed in an inspection report said they had developed issues with drugs while inside Maghaberry Prison | RTe, Ireland
European Drug Report 2023: Trends and Developments
The European Drug Report 2023: Trends and Developments presents the EMCDDA’s latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report contains a comprehensive set of national data across these themes and key harm-reduction interventions | EMCDDA, Portugal
Greater diversity in drug supply and use creates new challenges for Europe
Drug availability remains high across all substance types and the scale and complexity of illicit drug production within Europe continue to grow. People who use drugs are now exposed to a wider range of psychoactive substances, often of high potency and purity. As these may be sold in similar-looking powders or pills, consumers may be unaware of what they are taking. The report underlines the need for effective risk communication strategies to alert consumers to the health harms associated with new substances, drug interactions and high-potency products | EMCDDA, Portugal
European Drug Report 2023: Presentation by EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel - video
Greater diversity in drug supply and use is creating new challenges for drug policy and healthcare in Europe. This is among the issues highlighted today by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) as it launches its European Drug Report 2023: Trends and Developments in Brussels | EMCDDA, Portugal
EMCDDA Webinar: Young people and drug use — how can we keep them safe?
19 JUN 2023. This webinar will explore how to address young people and what to do if there are signs of substance use: which type of help to seek and how to to keep them safe | EMCDDA, Portugal
People with alcohol use disorder impaired after heavy drinking, despite claims of higher tolerance
While heavy drinkers can tolerate a certain amount of alcohol better than light or moderate drinkers, the concept of "holding your liquor" is more nuanced than commonly believed, according to new research from the University of Chicago | Medical Xpress, USA
A deadly new street drug caught the U.S. off guard. Experts say it'll happen again
Public health and law enforcement agencies around the U.S. are scrambling to blunt the impact of xylazine, a deadly new threat to Americans who use street drugs | NPR, USA
From promise to practice: A dose of reality for psychedelic therapies
Psychedelics stand at a pivotal crossroad in mental health, offering the prospect of novel therapeutic avenues to address multiple mental conditions, from treatment-resistant depression to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, their mind-altering properties present unique ethical and clinical challenges | Medical Xpress, USA
Feds Say They Aim to Finish Cannabis Scheduling Review “This Year”
The head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is aiming to present President Joe Biden with a federal cannabis scheduling decision “this year.” Agencies are working “as quickly as we can” to complete an administrative review, Secretary Xavier Becerra told Marijuana Moment during a June 15 press briefing in Sacramento, California | Filter Magazine, USA
Researchers want to help drug addicts get off meth, new study seeks recruits
It’s one of New Zealand’s most damaging illicit drugs: and also among the toughest to quit. Now, in a major new study, researchers aim to recruit hundreds of methamphetamine users to pin-point the best ways of breaking the chain of addiction | NZ Herald, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Education and tax are the best ways to tackle child vaping
We need to teach children about the harmful effects of vaping, says Mary Deller. And Nicholas Hopkinson writes that we should deal with youth vaping while making sure e-cigarettes are available for adult smokers who want to quit | Guardian letters, UK
Taliban opium ban - what the future holds
New analysis from David Mansfield, the leading expert in the field, suggests that the ban on opium threatened last year by the Taliban has come to pass, and there is an estimated 80%+ reduction in Afghan opium production - which supplies some 95% of the European heroin market | Transform, UK
Naloxone Is a Game Changer. Naltrexone Can Save Even More Lives
In the battle against the opioid epidemic, one medication stands out — naloxone, best known as Narcan | Percy Menzies, USA
Portraying Abstinence Recovery as Puritanical Is in the Interest of Those Who Sell Addictive Drugs
People do not trust people who moderate or abstain from substances, particularly alcohol. There is a sense that those of us who do so are looking at everyone else and judging them. I suppose some do, but I don’t think most of us do | Recovery Review blog, USA