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Daily news - 23rd June 2023 |
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UK news
Response from the devolved administrations to the ACMD nitrous oxide review
Responses from the Northern Ireland Department of Health, the Welsh Government and the Scottish government | ACMD, UK
Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading will have drug safety testing
There were fears the service wouldn't be at UK festivals in 2023 after it was missing from Manchester's Parklife. But Glastonbury and Festival Republic, which runs events including Leeds and Reading, say they'll have "back-of-house" testing as usual | BBC, UK
Government set to miss smoking in pregnancy target by nearly a decade, charities warn
In 2017, the Government set a target to reduce rates of maternal smoking to 6% by 2022. However, new data for 2022/23 show that this target has been missed, with 8.8% of pregnant women smoking during this period | ASH, UK
Patients’ goals when initiating long-acting injectable buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder: findings from a longitudinal qualitative study
[Open access] Long-acting injectable buprenorphine (LAIB) is a new treatment for opioid use disorder that has been introduced against an international policy backdrop of recovery and person-centred care. This paper explores the goals that people want to achieve from LAIB to identify potential implications for policy and practice | Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, UK
Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP): The Story So Far - June 2023
Minimum unit pricing for alcohol (MUP) was implemented in May 2018 at a rate of 50p per unit. The policy is subject to a sunset clause, which means it will lapse unless renewed by the Scottish Parliament by end of April 2024 | SHAAP, UK
Alcohol consumption among UK football supporters: Investigating the contested field of the football carnivalesque
[Open access] This paper investigates alcohol consumption within cultures of football fandom through the innovative combination of theories of the carnivalesque and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital | DEPP, UK
Edinburgh drug consumption room: Campaigners stage protest over year of 'conscious inaction' on drug deaths
Campaigners stage demonstration in favour of drug consumption room | Edinburgh Evening News, UK
Vape store boss supports ban on disposables
A leading retailer and manufacturer of vaping products says he would support a ban on disposable vapes as long as it did not create a black market | BBC, UK
Tower Hamlets shop stays open despite selling alcohol to children
A shop in east London has been allowed to stay open despite selling alcohol to two children without asking for ID or challenging them for proof of age | BBC, UK
From Harm to Hope: Opportunities and Challenges
Wednesday, June 28 · 12 - 1pm BST. Exploring the impact on probation work and social work of Dame Carol Black’s review of drugs and the subsequent 10-year government strategy | MetroPolis, UK
Weston-super-Mare: Sass bar faces licence loss
A Somerset bar could lose its licence over "blatant drug use" on site | BBC, UK
International news
FDA warns stores to stop selling Elf Bar, the top disposable e-cigarette in the US
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it has sent warning letters to dozens of retailers selling fruit- and candy-flavored disposable e-cigarettes, including the current best-selling brand, Elf Bar | Mail Online, UK
We’re sticking by rule to put health labels on alcohol, reveals Stephen Donnelly
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he is 'not concerned' with opposition from 12 countries at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to Ireland's new rule to place public health warnings on alcohol products | Extra, Ireland
Richard Hogan: No one should have to grow up with addiction
"I thought alcoholics were destitute on the street, homeless and marginalised by society. I never dreamed they could be someone who passes you in the corridor or plays the guitar with you." | Irish Examiner, Ireland
A new outbreak of HIV infection among people who inject drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
[Open access] Multiple HIV outbreaks have been recorded among people who inject drugs (PWID) since 2010. During an intervention for PWID in 2019–2021 in Thessaloniki, Greece, an increasing number of HIV cases was documented. Here, we provide an analysis of this new outbreak | IJDP, Greece
The Global War on Drugs Breeds Monsters like Putin
On 26 June, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation joins the global advocacy campaign, Support Don’t Punish Day, to shed light on the devastating consequences of the War on Drugs in Russia and its expansion into Ukraine | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Presentation of the 2023 UNODC World Drug Report - live broadcast
26 Jun 2023. 6.15pm. UNODC is convening this event to inform Member States and other stakeholders about the key findings of UNODC's 2023 World Drug Report, on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking | UNODC, USA
NIH and FDA leaders call for more research, lower barriers to improve and implement drug- checking tools amid overdose epidemic
In a new Commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, leaders at the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration highlight the urgent need to address current gaps in the research, development, and implementation of fentanyl test strips and other rapid drug-detecting tools that could help prevent overdose deaths | NIDA, USA
US e-cigarette sales jumped from 2020 to 2022
E-cigarette sales in the United States spiked between 2020 and 2022, especially among flavors that appeal to youth users, according to a study from health authorities released Thursday | Medical Xpress, USA
Feeling high associated with improved symptom relief but increased negative side effects in medical cannabis patients
In a new study titled, "Understanding Feeling 'High' and Its Role in Medical Cannabis Patient Outcomes," published in the journal, Frontiers in Pharmacology, researchers at The University of New Mexico, in collaboration with Releaf App™ found that patients who reported feeling "High" experienced 7.7% greater symptom relief and an increase in reporting of positive side effects such as "Relaxed" and "Peaceful." However, these benefits must be weighed against a more than 20% increase in negative side effect reporting | News Medical, USA
Bosses’ New Task Is Figuring Out Who’s High at Work
More Americans are usingmarijuana. Their employers are trying to decide how much that matters | WSJ, USA
Cannabis Legalisation in North America
Many places overseas are legalising cannabis, including Canada, 21 states in the USA, Thailand, and Uruguay. But what does this mean, and what are the impacts so far? | adf, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
How much does health behaviour contribute to socioeconomic inequalities in alcohol harm?
We know from several research studies that lower socioeconomic groups – categorised by having a lower income, no qualifications and living in the most deprived areas – suffer greater rates of alcohol-related hospitalisation and deaths. This is despite the fact that socioeconomically disadvantaged groups drink less alcohol on average than the more advantaged | IAS blog, UK
“All Traffickers are Black or Arab”: The French Racism in Cannabis Policing
In France, the question of racism has never been a central tenet in the discourse of cannabis law reform advocates. The lack of connection and engagement between these two fields is increasingly at odds with the wider racial tensions within French society, but it may explain why there has been such a delay in the democratisation of drug policies | Talking Drugs, UK
Opinion: A dispute over marijuana smoke raises questions for D.C. — and beyond
In October 2019, Cleveland Park resident Josefa Ippolito-Shepherd sent an email appeal to her neighbor: Please stop polluting my home with marijuana smoke | Washington Post opinion, USA