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Daily news - 27th June 2023

UK news

Minimum unit pricing reduces alcohol-related harm to health

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has today published the final report on the independent evaluation of the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in Scotland. Evidence shows that MUP has had a positive impact on health outcomes, including addressing alcohol-related health inequalities. It has reduced deaths directly caused by alcohol consumption by an estimated 13.4% and hospital admissions by 4.1%, with the largest reductions seen in men and those living in the 40% most deprived areas | Public Health Scotland, UK

Evaluating the impact of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland: A synthesis of the evidence

This report is the final report from the PHS evaluation of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland. It brings together the evidence produced by the studies in the PHS evaluation portfolio, plus other published studies, to describe the impact of MUP in Scotland | Public Health Scotland, UK

Minimum unit pricing (MUP) evaluation - Stakeholder engagement report

This report captures the views expressed by participants at an online workshop that took place on 29 March 2023. The workshop aimed to draw on the knowledge and experience of a range of stakeholders who were asked for their feedback on the draft overarching findings and what other factors could explain the findings. The PHS evaluation team used these responses to inform the final report | Public Health Scotland, UK

Call to raise 'life-saving' minimum alcohol price in Scotland

Scotland should increase its minimum unit price for alcohol from 50p to 65p, campaigners have said | BBC, UK

Further response to the ACMD's report on barriers to research on synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists

Updated with another response sent concerning definition of a research organisation | Home Office, Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, UK

Festival drug tests: Artists and MPs write open letter to government

A group of musicians and MPs has urged the government to allow on-site drug testing at UK festivals to go ahead. The open letter calls on ministers to "reconsider" the Home Office requirement for a special licence | BBC, UK

East Midlands gambling addiction support service launched

A mental health treatment and support service has been set up for people struggling with gambling addiction | BBC, UK

Bidding Process open to host the UK Recovery Walk

We are now open to notes of interest and applications for the hosting of The UK Recovery Walk in 2024. Please note the deadline for notes of interest is set at July 30th 2023 | FAVOR UK, UK

Michael Gove: ‘I used cannabis in the 80s but I didn’t get very high’

[Possible paywall] The Cabinet minister says he is more worried about street drugs available today because they can be much stronger and more harmful | Telegraph, UK

Belfast: Eleven million cigarettes seized at Belfast Port

Almost eleven million smuggled cigarettes with an unpaid tax value of more than £5m have been seized at Belfast Port | BBC, UK

Police shut down three Newcastle shops after selling counterfeit cigarettes and vapes to children

Carrefoor, Eastern Europe and Stop and Shop, which are all on Shields Road in Byker, were investigated following concerns from the public about items on sale at the stores | ITV, UK

International news

‘Cheap and easy’ synthetic drugs transforming markets, says UNODC

‘Cheap and easy’ synthetic drugs are ‘changing drug markets with lethal results’, according to UNODC’s World drug report 2023. Fentanyl has ‘drastically altered the opioid market in North America with dire consequences’, it says, with the majority of the country’s approximately 90,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2021 involving illegally manufactured fentanyls | DDN, UK

Wine producers make drinks weaker to combat new tax rises

[Possible paywall] Industry figures hit out at ‘stifling duty costs’ that ‘discriminate against premium spirits and wine more than other products’ | Telegraph, UK

Syria: New Captagon drug trade link to top officials found

New direct links between the multi-billion dollar Captagon drug trade and leading members of the Syrian Armed Forces and President Bashar al-Assad's family have been revealed in a joint investigation by BBC News Arabic and the investigative journalism network OCCRP | BBC, UK

Myanmar burns $446 million worth of seized drugs as illicit trade booms in Southeast Asia

The authorities in Myanmar destroyed more than $446 million worth of illegal drugs seized from around the country to mark an annual international anti-drug trafficking day on Monday, police said | Mail Online, UK

The Taliban’s War on Opium Could Have Disastrous Effects

A puff of smoke from a group of men huddled beneath us greeted me and my guide, Maiwand, as we climbed down to the rubbish-filled riverbed beneath the Pul-e-Sokhta bridge in western Kabul. Afghanistan’s Kabul River is drying out due to global heating, turning the bridge into a shelter for the desperate and homeless | Novaro Media, UK

Bondi Junction shooting: Sydney drug kingpin Alen Moradian dead after shots fired into car

A key figure in Australia’s cocaine trade has been shot dead in his car in an underground car park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, with police treating the killing as an organised crime hit | Guardian, UK

Support service calls for better availability of overdose-reversing drug

Drug Support Services charity Novas has called on the government to help make an overdose-reversing drug be more readily available to the public in order to reduce drug related deaths | Journal, Ireland

WATCH: Ana Liffey’s video submission to the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use

The Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use has invited submissions from stakeholders and the wider public who wish to engage with them. Ana Liffey has submitted a video to the Citizens Assembly and we invite you to watch it too! The video runs for nine minutes, it includes people with lived experience... | Ana Liffey, Ireland

HSE issues safety alert over higher than permitted nicotine levels in e-cigarette liquid

The Fantasi Ice products were found to have a nicotine concentration up to 25.3mg/ml, higher than the 20mg/ml limit | Journal, Ireland

#WorldDrugDay: Growing support in Europe for evidence-based prevention programmes, but more training needed

‘People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention’, is the theme of the 2023 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (#WorldDrugDay). The EMCDDA will mark this occasion with an event on its premises for the Lisbon diplomatic community and its partners from the Portuguese authorities | EMCDDA, Portugal

E-cigarette Unit Sales by Product and Flavor Type, and Top-Selling Brands, United States, 2020–2022

E-cigarette unit sales increased by 46.6% during January 2020–December 2022. After January 2020, sales of mint and other flavored prefilled cartridges ceased, and disposable e-cigarettes in fruit, sweet, and other flavors increased. Disposable e-cigarettes in youth-appealing flavors are now more commonly sold than prefilled units | CDC, USA

New study reveals brain's potential to regulate fentanyl consumption

The opioid crisis continues to pose a grave public health concern, with synthetic opioids such as fentanyl posing a major risk for development of addiction and death due to overdose. A recent study by the research group led by Prof. Ami Citri at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences has unveiled crucial insights into the brain's potential ability to regulate the urge to consume fentanyl | Medical Xpress, USA

Race- and gender-specific interventions may lower drug overdose death rates

Interventions to address stimulant and opioid use that consider race and gender may prove more effective at preventing overdose deaths than current methods, according to a Penn State-led team of researchers who studied how drug treatment admissions and overdose deaths differed among race and gender. The researchers found that minority communities bore the brunt of the crisis in both urban and rural areas | Medical Xpress, USA