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Daily news - 14th November 2023 |
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UK news
Extra funding for drug and alcohol treatment: 2024 to 2025: Guidance
Information about drug strategy funding to local authorities to help them improve their drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems | OHID, UK
OHID and NHS England’s Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Workforce Transformation Programme (PDF)
In February 2019, Professor Dame Carol Black was commissioned by the then Home Secretary to undertake a two-part independent review of drugs, which should include an up-to-date analysis of the problems created by drugs in England and a set of recommended policy solutions. This second briefing is designed to update on programme progress and provide an overview of upcoming publications and projects | OHID, UK
Nearly 500 North East adults a year dying from cancers due to alcohol
Balance launches powerful new campaign supported by Cancer Research UK | Balance, UK
Nitrous Oxide: UK and Ireland DrugWatch Information Sheet
Updated Harm Reduction briefing and an updated briefing on Nitrous Oxide for Professionals | DrugWatch, UK
Estimation of integrated price elasticities for alcohol and tobacco in the United Kingdom using the living costs and food survey 2006–2017
This paper uses an econometric model which estimates participation and consumption elasticities, on data from the UK Living Costs and Food Survey 2006–2017 and extends the literature by, for the first time, estimating joint price elasticities for disaggregated alcohol and tobacco products. This paper presents new price elasticities and compares them to the existing literature | DAR, UK
Teesside smokers and ex-smokers ignoring invite for lung cancer check
Almost 10,000 smokers and ex-smokers have ignored a letter inviting them to have a free lung cancer check, according to a health trust | BBC, UK
Kent woman calls for children of alcoholics to get more support
A woman whose father died from alcohol addiction is calling for more support for children of alcoholic parents. Sarah Drage wants the government to fund a helpline run by the National Association for the Children of Alcoholics (NACOA) | BBC, UK
Charities ‘near insolvency’ after subsidising public sector contracts
Exclusive: voluntary organisations struggling as grants for local government and NHS contracts fail to cover costs | Guardian, UK
Open letter to the chancellor on vital funding for public services delivered by charities
We've written to the chancellor calling for immediate long-term funding for public bodies, so charities can continue providing the services that communities across the country desperately need | NCVO, UK
Addiction Recovery Community Hounslow wins Team of the Year at the Royal College of Nursing Awards (PDF)
CNWL’s Addiction Recovery Community in Hounslow (ARC Hounslow) won the prestigious ‘Team of the Year’ award at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) ceremony at Liverpool Cathedral on Friday 10th November 2023. The award celebrates dedication and excellence in nursing and improvements in patient’s quality of life | CNWL, UK
DRNS Member Survey
DRNS has started an exciting new phase of development at the University of Edinburgh, and we are seeking your views on how the network can best support your work and interests. We are inviting you to complete this brief survey which will inform our priorities and activities for the next 3 years. All responses are anonymous. We welcome responses from the funders, creators, users and beneficiaries of drugs research in Scotland | DRNS, UK
England stop and search pilot scheme does not cut violence, thinktank finds
Scheme allowing police to stop and search people without grounds for suspicion, targets people of colour, Runnymede Trust found | Guardian, UK
Essex Police makes arrests and seizes nitrous oxide cannisters
Police arrested two people and seized nitrous oxide cannisters less than 24 hours after being handed new powers to crack down on nitrous oxide | BBC, UK
County lines brothers' drugs sentences increased
James Mason, 33, and his brother Joshua, 25, from Liverpool, recruited nine young people in Oswestry, Shropshire, to distribute crack and heroin. One of them was just 14, and many were known to social services | BBC, UK
Birmingham Heartlands Hospital clinics cancelled after drug addicts break in
A hospital worker in Birmingham locked herself in a room after coming face-to-face with trespassers. Needles and drug paraphernalia were found in rooms at Birmingham's Heartlands Hospital as staff arrived in the morning | BBC, UK
International news
Leila de Lima: Philippine court grants bail to Duterte drugs war critic
A leading critic of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte was granted bail on Monday after almost seven years in jail on charges related to his bloody war on drugs | BBC, UK
Surge in overdoses among heroin users in Dublin has ‘tailed off’, HSE says
An “unprecedented” surge in overdoses among heroin users in Dublin “tailed off” over the weekend but there remains concern that it could become an “ongoing” problem, the HSE has said | Irish Times, Ireland
Teenagers who fell ill while vaping at Cork school were not an isolated incident
Four teenagers became sick at a Cork school last week after vaping but this was not an isolated case, according to Professor Eamon Keenan, the HSE's national clinical lead for addiction services | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Launch: EU Drug Markets – cannabis (EMCDDA-Europol Webinar)
16 NOV 2023. Online. This webinar provides an overview of the EU cannabis market, from production and trafficking, to distribution and use. The speakers will discuss the processes, materials and actors involved at different stages and levels of the market. Attention will be given to the environmental impact of cannabis production and to new emerging products. Finally, key issues will be defined and recommendations for action at EU and Member State level will be provided | EMCDDA, Portugal
National survey indicates more young adults begin nicotine use with vaping, not cigarettes
Young adults are now more likely to vape than to use traditional cigarettes. After years of public health success in decreasing the numbers of people using cigarettes, researchers are seeing striking increases in the numbers of young people who use e-cigarettes regularly—so much so that, for the first time, there are more young people who begin to use nicotine through vaping rather than through cigarettes | Medical Xpress, USA [See reaction below in blogs section]
Overdose Prevention Centers [OPCs], Crime, and Disorder in New York City
This cohort study of 2 OPCs and 17 syringe service programs found no significant increases in crimes recorded by the police or calls for emergency service in NYC neighborhoods where 2 OPCs were located. Consistent with the city’s commitment to ensuring clients could use the centers free from law enforcement interference, large, statistically significant declines in police narcotics enforcement around the OPCs were observed | JAMA Network Open, USA
US men are dying much earlier than women, as death 'gender gap' widens: Study
Researchers cited the pandemic as the biggest factor in the widening gender gap; it took a heavier toll on men. Unintentional injuries and poisonings (mostly drug overdoses), accidents and suicide were other contributors. Another factor in Americans' shrinking lifespan: so-called "deaths of despair." That's a nod to the rise in deaths owing to such causes as suicide, drug use disorders and alcoholic liver disease. These are often linked to economic hardship, depression and stress | Medical Xpress, USA
Not all overdose-related cardiac arrests are the same
A study of Seattle and surrounding King County finds that cases involving opioids combined with stimulants are on the rise and highly lethal | UW Medicine, USA
Study finds melatonin use soaring among youth
Nearly one in five school-aged children and preteens now take melatonin for sleep, and some parents routinely give the hormone to preschoolers, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder published Nov. 13 in JAMA Pediatrics | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Missed opportunities to create a world class treatment system
Under cover of the dramatic reshuffle the Government have announced additional funding for drug and alcohol treatment of £267m from April 2024. This is the 3rd year of additional monies committed to support the Government’s 10-year Drug Strategy. The National Audit Office recently reported on the progress of the strategy. They found that the delay in funding announcements in previous years had made progress difficult. So this very timely announcement will be welcomed by the sector... | Phoenix Futures Chief Executive blog, UK
Our response to 2024/25 announcement of drug and alcohol treatment funding
We welcome today’s announcement of £267 million for drug and alcohol treatment in 2024/5. We welcome the timing of this announcement and hope it will give drug and alcohol services more time to plan and prepare provision with local authorities that can start in April 24 | Change Grow Live, UK
Expert reaction to research letter on smoking / vaping in young adults
A research letter published by JAMA Internal Medicine looks at smoking and vaping in young adults. Here, three experts give their reactions to the results | SMC, UK [See summary of research here]
My daily fight for medical cannabis is agonising – UK drug laws have failed
Surveys as recent as 2022 show that a third of police officers are unaware of cannabis prescriptions | i news opinion, UK
Who’s lobbying whom? When it comes to alcohol, tobacco, food and gambling firms, we’re in the dark
Alcohol, tobacco, food and gambling industries are among those that lobby government ministers and their advisors to help shape public policy. But when we looked for details of who’s lobbying whom in Australia, we found government lobbyist registers largely left us in the dark | Conversation, Australia