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Daily news - 24th May 2023 |
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UK news
Alcohol treatment services (PDF)
For those in deepest need alcohol treatment services offer real hope. However, despite the alarming increase in alcohol-related deaths over the past twenty years and sharp rises since 2019, the number of people receiving treatment for alcohol dependency has generally been falling. A staggering 82% of the 600,000 dependent drinkers in England are not in treatment. This is despite success rates of around 60% and evidence that, on average, every £1 spent on treatment immediately delivers £3 of benefit and significantly more in the longer term | House of Commons, UK
Tories’ failure to tackle alcohol harm is causing public health crisis, say MPs
Problem drinking in England costs NHS £25bn a year, with deaths nearly doubling in two decades, Commons committee warns | Guardian, UK
Call for more action to curb teen vaping
Prof Linda Bauld, of the University of Edinburgh, said issues such as underage sales and the branding of e-cigarettes needed to be tackled. It came as a BBC investigation found vapes confiscated from school pupils contained high levels of lead, nickel and chromium | BBC, UK
2023 YouGov addendum to MUP cross-border report
This is an addendum to our 2022 report on the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) of alcohol in Scotland on cross-border purchasing. This paper describes updated data collected in March 2023 by putting survey questions about self-reported cross-border and online purchasing to a panel | Public Health Scotland, UK
Prime: Caffeine warnings should be clearer, says expert
Concerns have been raised that Prime Energy drinks don't display caffeine warnings clearly enough to show they are unsuitable for children | BBC, UK
Getting ahead of new drug trends
When a new recreational drug emerges, it can leave authorities and services struggling for a response. But researchers at Manchester Met have found a way to keep tabs on trends and help protect communities | MMU, UK
ASH Ready Reckoner
The ASH Ready Reckoner is an easy-to-use cost calculator, allowing you to see the costs of smoking to society at national, regional, and local authority levels | ASH, UK
Joint submission with Liberty on Government's Anti-Social Behaviour Plan
We've submitted a consultation response on the Government's Anti-Social Behaviour Plan jointly with Liberty due to the potential implications that the plan may have on our civil liberties, as they're implemented through drug control measures | Release, UK
Parents back universities plan to soften stance on drugs
Parents who lost their son to drugs have backed plans for universities to soften their stance on students who use them - saying it will save lives | Reading Chronicle, UK
Alcohol (in)justice
On Wednesday 19 April, SHAAP hosted “Alcohol (in)justice”, a symposium about those with alcohol problems in the justice system. Here is a write-up of the event, along with the presentations | SHAAP, UK
Drugs: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to review the drug classification of (a) monkey dust and (b) other synthetic cathinones | They work for you, UK
Histories of Tobacco
Wed, 7 Jun 2023 14:00 - 17:00 BST. Bristol. The use and trade of tobacco has a long and complex history. Join us to discover lessons from the past and how we can inform our future | University of Bristol, UK
Needle bin installed in Glasgow to reduce drug-related litter
The needle drop box, which is the first of its kind in Glasgow, is located in the Trongate area and will allow people who are injecting drugs away from home to safely dispose of needles and syringes | Glasgow Times, UK
Former Somerset PC who seized and returned drugs barred for life
A police officer who undertook a "noble form of corruption" by returning Class A drugs to users in exchange for information about dealers committed gross misconduct, a panel has ruled | BBC, UK
International news
Academics with tobacco industry links are not declaring potential conflicts of interest in research
Exclusive: Study sparks calls for academic journals to consider penalties for inadequate declarations | Guardian, UK
Chinese livestreamer dies after drinking on Tiktok-like platform Douyin
A Chinese livestreamer was found dead in his house hours after he livestreamed himself drinking an excessive amount of alcohol on the Chinese TikTok-like app Douyin | Independent, UK
Australian police find huge haul of Mexican meth worth $273m in hydraulic press
Federal police try to identify crime syndicate behind elaborate smuggling scheme into NSW, after drugs found at port inspection in Sydney | Guardian, UK
Model of care for people with mental disorder and co-existing substance use disorder (dual diagnosis)
Dual Diagnosis teams will primarily provide services to those with severe mental illness and co-morbid mild, moderate or severe disorders due to substance misuse and disorders due to addictive behaviours. However, those with a Dual Diagnosis involving less severe co-morbid disorders of mental illness will also be assessed if necessary by the Dual Diagnosis services for the purpose of a second opinion or if the diagnosis is unclear after assessment by the HSE Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) and HSE addiction services | HSE, Ireland
Full ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products associated with lower use
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine found that residents of jurisdictions with a comprehensive sales ban have a 30% reduced odds of using flavored tobacco relative to those living in a jurisdiction without a ban. In contrast, lower use was not observed for residents of jurisdictions that enacted a partial sales ban | Medical Xpress, USA
The DRAM, Vol. 19(6) – Discrimination, distress, and drinking among Asian Americans
This week, as part of the Special Series on Asian American/Pacific Islander Addiction Research, The DRAM reviews a study by Derek Kenji Iwamoto and colleagues that investigated the relationships between racial discrimination, psychological distress, drinking to cope, and alcohol-related problems among Asian American college students | BASIS, USA
$11.6 million NIDA grant supports the study of cannabis effects on HIV-infected brains
Weill Cornell Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $11.6 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health to study the effects cannabis, including marijuana and compounds derived from it, may have on the brains of those living with HIV | News Medical, USA
Minnesota to Become 23rd State to Fully Legalize Cannabis
Minnesota is poised to become the 23rd state to legalize cannabis for adult use. The House and Senate have sent a bill to the desk of Governor Tim Walz (D), who supports cannabis reform and has made clear that he will sign it | Filter Magazine, USA
Acute care related to cannabis use during pregnancy after the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in Ontario
Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing, but the contribution of cannabis legalization to these trends is unclear. We sought to determine whether health service utilization related to cannabis use during pregnancy increased after the legalization of nonmedical cannabis in October 2018 in Ontario, Canada | CMAJ, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
Why are particular alcohol policies adopted in some contexts and not others, and what is the role of the alcohol industry in these developments?
Since the Scottish Government announced their intention to introduce a minimum unit price (MUP) for alcohol in 2008, significant attention has been paid by policy scholars to the political strategies of alcohol industry actors to oppose this | IAS blog, UK
Alcohol Problems in the Justice Setting
In this blog, SHAAP Steering Group Member Dr Lesley Graham reflects on the current management of those with alcohol problems within the justice system in Scotland and looks back on SHAAP’s most recent symposium “Alcohol (in)justice” | SHAAP blog, UK
Like Harry, I’ve tried mushrooms and I know what drugs can do
[Possible paywall] Our politicians need to get real instead of pursuing ineffective prohibition | Telegraph, UK
The truth about booze: how alcohol really affects your body, from first flush of happiness to hangover hell
Is red wine good for you? Is it healthier to drink a little than not at all? Is there such a thing as hangxiety? It’s time to sort fact from fiction | Guardian, UK
What makes me happy now: not drinking
I’m not going to lie: being sober is not a hot-air balloon ride. It’s more like a hike in the mountains | Guardian, UK
Is Macron losing France’s war on drugs?
The story that dominated much of the French media last week was the vicious assault of a shopkeeper in Amiens. A gang kicked and punched Jean-Baptiste Trogneux outside his chocolate shop in a savage attack that left him bruised and nursing a couple of broken ribs. It was, alas, an all too common incident in a country where violent crime has been rising steadily for a number of years | Spectator, UK
Cannabis can have serious health effects that Canadians may not be aware of, like nonstop vomiting and heart issues
Non-medical cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2018. Although a primary motivation for legalization was to enhance public awareness of the health risks associated with cannabis use, the Canadian government’s online resources regarding cannabis harms may not reveal the full picture | Conversation, Canada