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Daily news - 23rd March 2023 |
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UK news
Shooting Up: infections among people who inject drugs in the UK
This report describes the extent of infections and injecting-related harms among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United Kingdom | UKHSA, UK
Warning over vape misuse after children collapse
Lincolnshire Police said it was believed the children had been offered e-cigarettes containing a mix of vape juice and cannabis-based liquid. Following last week's incident, the force wrote to parents to highlight the dangers of vaping, particularly in accepting vapes from other people. All the children involved had since recovered, although some required hospital treatment, a spokesperson added | BBC, UK
Just get on with setting up drug consumption rooms, campaigners urge
The Scottish Government has been urged to “just get on” with drug consumption rooms despite concerns over their legality | Press and Journal, UK
The government is set to restrict laughing gas. But just how dangerous is it?
Recently, Home Secretary Suella Braverman declared her commitment to cracking down on the "unacceptable" use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, as a recreational drug. But how danderous is it? David Nutt, the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, explains the drug’s effects, its current legal status and the associated risks of using it | BBC Science Focus, UK
Drinking has long been the centre of workplace culture. But younger employees are changing the role of alcohol in the office
Alcohol has long been a staple of workplace culture. In some industries, post-shift pints to unwind are par for the course; in others, drinking is woven into the fabric of the work itself, with client relationships built over boozy lunches and dinners. And yet, while the pandemic destabilised workplace social culture as we knew it, alcohol didn’t disappear. In many cases, especially early in the pandemic, pub happy hours simply moved to Zoom | BBC, UK
More than My Past podcast - Education and Work
In this episode, education and meaningful work opportunities are explored as key factors in the process of transformation. Jason and Julie are inspired by the remarkable stories of individuals who have overcome significant obstacles to break free from the cycles of addiction and crime. Lack of access to education and decent job prospects played a crucial role in their struggles, but with the right support, self-belief and determination, our guests were able to turn their lives around | More Than My Past, UK
How vaping took over Britain - audio
They are supposed to help adults quit smoking – so why is a Willy Wonka array of disposable vapes being mass marketed to children? The Chartered Trading Standards Institute wants tougher penalties for those selling to under-18s. Just how did vaping get so big in Britain? | BBC, UK
Care of Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions
The next item of business is a statement by Angela Constance on improving care for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions. The minister will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions | They work for you, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Children
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of children who use e-cigarettes | They work for you, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the known medical risks of vaping | They work for you, UK
Three-quarters of Brits think disposable vapes should be banned
The survey was conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Marine Conservation Society, which highlighted growing numbers of the plastic devices in its annual Beachwater litter survey | Metro, UK
Two men guilty of murder after gang fight over cannabis
Two men have been convicted of murder, and a third of manslaughter, after they killed a rival during a gang fight over a £95,000 cannabis crop | BBC, UK
International news
These Are Europe's Top Cities For Taking Drugs
Europe’s cocaine capital is the Belgian port of Antwerp, Gävle in Sweden is the hotspot for speed, and Ostrava in Czechia is big on meth, according to the latest analysis of drugs in wastewater in 104 European cities | VICE, UK
Killer drug: Fentanyl in the US - video
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is destroying lives all over the United States. Manufactured illegally and at a huge profit by drug cartels in Mexico, it’s smuggled across the border into southern California and Arizona. The director at one entry point on the border acknowledges that they’re looking for needles in a haystack. And she says that they drug organisations have more money than they do | BBC, UK
Five NSW men charged after methamphetamine worth $15m allegedly found on ‘black flight’ from PNG
A “black flight” allegedly carrying more than $15m worth of methamphetamine from Papua New Guinea has been halted by Australian federal police in rural Queensland allegedly on its way to New South Wales | Guardian, UK
Adolescent Addiction Service Report 2023 (PDF)
In 2022 the service celebrated its twenty fifth anniversary and a conference was held in Bridge House, Cherry Orchard Hospital on 20th October to mark the occasion which was attended by representatives from multiple services | HSE, Ireland
Alcohol brand advertised every eight seconds during Irish rugby match, new study reveals
Almost a quarter of alcohol ads during leading rugby matches in Ireland deemed to be promoting “regular strength” alcohol | Independent, Ireland
Wastewater samples from over 100 European cities reveal latest drug-taking trends
The latest findings from the largest European project in the science of wastewater analysis are released today in Wastewater analysis and drugs — a European multi-city study, published by the Europe-wide SCORE group, in association with the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA). The analysis reveals a rise in cocaine and methamphetamine detections and describes how wastewater research can now tell us more | EMCDDA, Portugal
Racial disparities in US drug overdose fatalities significantly higher in 2020, shows study
The first year of the COVID pandemic saw significant increases in drug overdose deaths across the U.S., with rates higher than recent trends could have predicted | Medical Xpress, USA
New NIH study reveals shared genetic markers underlying substance use disorders
Breakthrough findings could lead to more effective prevention and treatment strategies for multiple substance use disorders | NIDA, USA
Association of Patients’ Direct Addition of Buprenorphine to Urine Drug Test Specimens With Clinical Factors in Opioid Use Disorder
In this cross-sectional study of 507 735 urine specimens, 1.9% had evidence that patients directly added buprenorphine to the specimen. Specimens suggestive of the direct addition of buprenorphine were more likely to be positive for nonprescribed opioids and collected in primary care settings | JAMA Network Open, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Drinking Alone Predicts Future Alcohol Problems
Alcohol is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substances in the world, and excessive alcohol use is a global problem that contributes to millions of deaths each year. It’s important to understand the risk factors that contribute to the development of AUD to help prevent it from happening | IAS blog, UK
Mounting research points to health harms from cannabis, THC and CBD use during pregnancy, adolescence and other periods of rapid development
Cannabis is a widely used psychoactive drug worldwide, and its popularity is growing: The U.S. market for recreational cannabis sales could surpass US$72 billion by 2023 | Conversation, USA