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Daily news - 13th November 2023 |
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UK news
£267 million to boost local drug and alcohol treatment
Every local authority across England to be allocated additional funding to help combat drug and alcohol misuse. The funding, which will be rolled out in April 2024, will enable local authorities to: 1) recruit more specialised staff to work with people with drug and alcohol problems, 2) support more prison leavers into treatment and recovery services and 3) help reduce crime by increasing the number of people receiving structured drug and alcohol treatment, as well as improving the quality of treatment provided, which in turn helps make streets safer by getting people out of drug use addictions which is known to drive offending | Department of Health and Social Care and Neil O'Brien MP, UK
Major prevention inquiry turns to harms caused by alcohol, drugs, gambling and tobacco
MPs will consider harms, including addictive behaviours, in the next stage of their major inquiry into preventing ill-health. On the agenda, the effectiveness of regulation and messaging around harms caused by alcohol, drugs, gambling and smoking – factors that contribute to poor health | UK Parliament, UK
Warning a child could die due to illegal drugs in vapes
A head teacher is warning that illegal vaping could kill a child, after the collapse of a 12-year-old pupil who had used a vape containing spice - an illegal synthetic drug | BBC, UK
Balance campaign reveals North East alcohol-related cancer deaths
That is according to figures released as part of a new campaign raising awareness of the direct link between booze and cancer | Northern Echo, UK
Hepatitis C GP Toolkit
This toolkit has been created to support healthcare professionals working within primary care with knowledge about hepatitis C, resources they can use, access to training, and ideas for those wanting to be more involved in eliminating hepatitis C in England | NHS Inclusion, UK
The Detectives - Taking Down an OCG: Episode 1 - video
When a group of tree surgeons attempt to intervene in a road rage incident on Rochdale’s Newbold Estate, the dispute escalates, and one of the group is attacked with an axe, his hand almost severed. It soon emerges that the main suspects in the axe-attack are members of a notorious local gang known as the Adam OCG (Organised Crime Group), and the case is passed to Detective Sergeant Martin Soutter and his small team of specialist officers. With the axe attack providing a way into a wider investigation, Martin decides to launch an operation with the aim of bringing down the entire gang | BBC, UK
BDP Creative Communities Winter Show - Facebook link
Monday 4th December. Bristol. It’s that time of year again when our creative groups are busy rehearsing to warm your hearts at our Winter Show! With live performances from Rising Voices Recovery Choir, and Bristol Recovery Orchestra, guest appearances from Oi Polloi Theatre Group, plus mince pies and mulled apple juice for all! | Rising Voices and BDP, UK
Chelmsford prison death linked to easy drug access, says ombudsman
The ease with which a prisoner obtained illegal drugs was a factor in his death, an ombudsman report has said | BBC, UK
Scunthorpe drugs raids seize £110,000 worth of cocaine
More than £110,000 of suspected cocaine was seized in raids on three properties, Humberside Police said | BBC, UK
Cannabis plants found in former nightclub in Birmingham
Almost a thousand cannabis plants have been found in a former nightclub adjoining a Birmingham restaurant | BBC, UK
International news
Tobacco harm reduction consumer advocacy organisations
Tobacco harm reduction is a potentially life-saving intervention for millions of people across the world.[i] To those who use high-risk tobacco products, like cigarettes and some oral tobaccos, it offers the chance to switch to a range of safer nicotine products that pose fewer risks to their health. These include nicotine vapes (e-cigarettes), snus,[ii] nicotine pouches[iii] and heated tobacco products. While some governments are encouraging people who smoke to switch to safer nicotine products, in many countries, access is being limited or even banned entirely | GSTHR, UK
Second batch of heroin found with nitazene in Dublin
The Health Service Executive has confirmed that a second batch of illegal drugs linked to overdoses in the Dublin region was identified as heroin adulterated with nitazene drugs | RTe, Ireland
HSE Press release: Nitazenes detected in heroin samples related to Dublin Overdose cluster
It has been confirmed through analysis conducted by Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) that a trace amount of a Nitazene type substance has been identified in a brown powder associated with a Dublin overdose. Ongoing analysis is being conducted on the sample to identify the exact composition of the substance. The HSE advises that there is EXTRA RISK at this time and strongly recommends people do not try new types of drugs or new batches being sold on the market | HSE, Ireland
Call for expressions of interest for inclusion on a list of experts to be used by the EUDA Executive Director to extend the Scientific Committee for the risk assessment of new psychoactive substances
This call is addressed to scientists who wish to be considered for inclusion on a list of experts to be used by the Executive Director to extend the Scientific Committee for the purposes of ensuring a balanced assessment of the risks posed by new psychoactive substances in accordance with Article 10 and Article 31 of the EUDA Regulation | EMCDDA, Portugal
Majority Now Say U.S. Losing Ground on Illegal Drug Problem
Americans are more negative about U.S. progress in dealing with the problem of illegal drugs than at any prior point in Gallup’s trend, which dates back to 1972. For the first time, a majority of U.S. adults, 52%, say the U.S. has lost ground in coping with the illegal drug problem, while a record-low 24% say it has made progress. Another 23% believe it has stood still | Gallup, USA
Telemedicine treatment for HCV in people with opioid use disorder more than twice as successful as offsite referral
Telemedicine is widely perceived as an important tool for potentially improving health care access for the underserved. However, few randomized controlled trials have been conducted to determine its effectiveness in treating these populations | Medical Xpress, USA
New landscape map highlights Michigan counties affected hardest by opioid epidemic
A new landscape map and analysis created by the University of Michigan show demographic information with a connection to opioid use disorder, examining data such as unemployment rates, annual income, opioid-related hospitalizations, and physical and mental health and well-being | Medical Xpress, USA
A Harvard-affiliated hospital is testing magic mushrooms on dying patients
Sixty years after Harvard fired Timothy Leary over his experiments with psychedelic drugs, a hospital affiliated with the university has reopened the door on such research by testing whether hallucinogenic mushrooms can help dying patients face death | STAT News, USA
No or low alcohol wine's popularity increasing but more research on taste needed, experts say
For most of Steve Goodman's adult life, wine wasn't just a career — it was his passion. So as a wine consultant and researcher at Adelaide University's Business School, he couldn't wrap his head around the logic of alcohol-free wine | abc.net.au, Australia
'First thing I'd do when I woke up': Hard-hitting campaign targets vaping in young people
Six-in-ten Aussies who vape say they want to quit | 9 News, Australia
Synthetic opioid ’25 times more potent than fentanyl’ found in NZ drug supply
In April, The Spinoff reported that one-third of drugs tested by the New Zealand Drug Foundation had traces of other substances. For example, bath salts are sold as cocaine and MDMA, ketamine is masquerading as LSD, and some “legit” ketamine is actually cough medicine. But ahead of the upcoming festival season – the first since the summer of 2019/2020 not to be affected by Covid-19 restrictions and, as such, the biggest in years – the NZ Drug Foundation has released a fresh warning | The Spinoff, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
The UK must prepare for a fentanyl crisis
Synthetic opioids cause 70,000 drug overdose deaths a year in the US – we need to prevent a similar epidemic in Britain | New Statesman, UK
Proposed smoking ban would improve UK public health – but tobacco industry opposition could be a major roadblock
In his speech on Tuesday, King Charles III outlined what measures the government plans to introduce to cut smoking rates and create a smoke-free generation in England | Conversation, UK
Living in limbo: The experiences of UK patients who are prescribed cannabis
What happens when the medicine you take is otherwise illegal, and not many people know the law has changed to allow doctors to prescribe it for you? This is the strange (and often scary) liminal space occupied by cannabis patients across the UK. One of us (Lindsey) is a researcher and lecturer who has personal experience of this liminal space, through a family member who is treated by cannabis under the new law. The other (Helen) has been a drug policy analyst and lecturer for nineteen years. Together, we undertook research to find out what it was like for other patients to take a legally prescribed medicine in a context of prohibition | Volteface, UK
On war and drugs
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that “in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes” – but both the consumption of psychoactive substances, and the pursuit of armed conflict, are criminally absent from this list, for both are as old as human civilisation itself | Volteface, UK
Why we need to regulate psychedelics
Psychedelic drugs are a source of fascination and wonder for many. Humans’ relationship with these drugs dates back as much as 8,000 years, from the use of plants containing DMT among ancient Mesoamerican civilisations and ceremonial use of Psilocybe mushrooms among communities in the Americas and Europe, to the use of the peyote cactus as a religious sacrament among Indigenous communities in North and Central America | Transform blog, UK
The arts are the first step towards conquering the addiction crisis
We need to change the narrative around substance use disorder. Plays, TV and books are the perfect place to start | Salon, USA