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Daily news - 20th November 2023

UK news

Open call for evidence: ACMD internet-facilitated drug markets review

The ACMD has established a working group focused on understanding internet-facilitated drug markets and has specified its scope into the following: 1. Providing a typology of internet-facilitated drug markets. 2. Investigating the resilience of internet-facilitated drug markets in the face of law enforcement actions. 3. Establishing the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies that aim to reduce the harms that internet-facilitated drug markets generate. The evidence collected will play an important role for any advice that will be published by the working group. We would be grateful for your written feedback by 12 January 2024 | Home Office, UK

Vaping: a guide for health and social care professionals (PDF)

These guidleines aim to educate health professionals about vaping and to encourage them to assist smokers to quit with vaping. The guidelines were prepared by a team of UK and international experts in the field | NCSCT, UK

‘It's a horrible situation for everyone’: The impact of over the counter and prescription medication misuse on friends and family

[Open access] Over the counter and prescription-only medication misuse is of concern. Little is known about the impact on friends/family who provide individuals with support. It is important to increase understanding to identify how substance misuse services (SMS) and others can better meet their needs | Drugs, Science Policy & Law, UK

A UK national study of prevalence and correlates of adopting or not adopting a recovery identity among individuals who have overcome a drug or alcohol problem

[Open access] The concept of recovery has increasingly become an organizing paradigm in the addiction field in the past 20 years, but definitions of the term vary amongst interested groups (e.g. researchers, clinicians, policy makers or people with lived experience). Although professional groups have started to form a consensus, people with lived experience of alcohol or drug (AOD) problems use the term in a different way, leading to confusion in policy making in the UK | Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, UK

[Open access] We call for multiple stakeholders to support efforts to prioritize a public health first approach to advancing ‘Alcohol use disorder’ (AUD) research, policy and treatment in order to make significant advances in AUD prevention and treatment. We offer several recommendations to assist in shifting public understanding and scientific limitations in AUD concepts and responses | DAD, UK

Evaluating police drug diversion in England: protocol for a realist evaluation

[Open access] There is increasing international interest in the use of police drug diversion schemes that offer people suspected of minor drug-related offences an educative or therapeutic intervention as an alternative to criminalisation. While there have been randomised trials of some such schemes for their effects on reducing offending, with generally positive results, less is known about the health outcomes, and what works, for whom, in what circumstances and why. This protocol reports on a realist evaluation of police drug diversion in England that has been coproduced by a team of academic, policing, health, and service user partners | Health & Justice Journal, UK

Are women in the UK the biggest binge drinkers in the world? - audio

We check out suspect stats on boozing Brits with the help of Professor John Holmes from the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health | BBC, UK

Firms earn £53bn a year from UK smoking, excess drinking and junk food – study

Harmful habits are worsening public health, says report, as groups urge crackdown on ‘irresponsible’ industries | Guardian, UK

Medical cannabis: Inside Northern Ireland's first legal vape lounge

At one high street café in County Antrim, there's a high chance you will find someone openly using cannabis alongside their morning coffee | BBC, UK

Alcohol alternatives – new rules and guidance

Following a public consultation earlier this year, CAP has announced new rules on alcohol alternative product advertising which will come into force on 14 May 2024. These rules are accompanied by detailed guidance to help advertisers understand where the ASA Council is likely to draw the line in judging whether the advertising rules have been broken | ASA, UK

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of vaping on adult lungs | They work for you, UK

Smoking: Health Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of hospital trusts run specialist in-patient smoking cessation services; and what recent estimate he has made of when all hospital trusts will provided these services | They work for you, UK

Electronic Cigarettes: Marketing

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the marketing of vaping is subject to the same rules as smoking tobacco | They work for you, UK

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnostic processes for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder | They work for you, UK

Antisocial Behaviour and Drug-related Crime

To ask whether the Church of England is taking steps to support parishes experiencing antisocial behaviour and drug-related crime in and around church buildings | They work for you, UK

Brighton Addiction recovery orchestra plays at Royal Opera House

A group of musicians in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction played in front of a sold-out crowd at The Royal Opera House in London | Argus, UK

Police county lines strategy ‘cruelly targets’ black youth in UK

Home Office approach to tackling drug operations is based on ‘racialised tropes’, says new study | Guardian, UK

Police point to drugs crackdown amid concern in Evesham

More than 20 county lines operations have been shut down across south Worcestershire in a year, police have said amid concerns about Evesham | BBC, UK

Two arrested after cannabis factories discovered

A man and a woman have been arrested after police discovered cannabis factories at two properties in Nottinghamshire | BBC, UK

International news

[Open access] Stigma of people with substance and non-substance use disorders (SNSUD) is a long-known phenomenon. The aim of this review was to assess the stigmatization, by health professionals, of people with SNSUD, its characteristics and change over time | DAD, UK

Irish society 'hates heroin users': Former minister hits out at drugs policy

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin says Ireland needs to reevaluate its attitude to people with addiction issues | Journal, Ireland

New guidance for drug checking services in health risk communication

Health risk communication strategies for drug checking services in Europe is the focus of a new EMCDDA manual out today. The resource provides staff working in these services with practical guidance on communicating drug-related risks at both an individual and community level | EMCDDA, Portugal

Brain Volume in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Over a 20-Year Span

These findings suggest that a sustained spectrum of brain volume deficits endured from adolescence into early middle age based on the original severity of dysmorphia and a diagnostic distinction between fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related neurodevelopment disorder | JAMA Network Open, USA

FDA moves against vape products that mimic toys, slushies and appeal to kids

The FDA sent warning letters Thursday to seven online retailers that were selling unauthorized vape devices that look like drink containers, toys and phones | Medical Xpress, USA

Oregon's Drug Decriminalization Law Faces Growing Pushback Amid Fentanyl Crisis

Oregon's first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children | Voice of America, USA

Research aims to curb fatalities caused by illicit drugs [Australia]

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Center for Forensic Science Ph.D. candidate Harry Fursman is working on two fronts to prevent harm to people who use drugs: He is testing a new handheld device for rapidly and accurately identifying drug specimens and conducting ongoing chemical analysis of used syringes | Medical Xpress, USA

Cannabis use during pregnancy associated with adverse birth outcomes

A meta-analysis of studies published over the past 40 years on cannabis use during pregnancy has found an association between fetal exposure to cannabis in the womb and preterm delivery, low birth weight and the need for neonatal intensive care admission (NICU) | CAMH, Canada

Blogs, comment and opinion

Gemma's #BelieveInPeople story

In today’s #BelieveInPeople story we spoke to Gemma, a Women at Risk Worker at Change Grow Live. She told us how the belief of a recovery worker changed her life, and how it led to her role supporting sex workers in her area | Change Grow Live, UK

‘Shaping Us’ Childhood Symposium Event – Supporting Childhood Development – by Katherine Jenkins

Early childhood matters. It shapes the adults we become. The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood Shaping Us National Symposium held it's first meeting (15th November) and I have been immensely proud to be a part of this | Forward Trust blog, UK

Matt’s story: I was searching for more from life, the mountains were calling and booze wasn’t invited

Matt Phillips, a photographer, musician and tradesmen is now the co-founder of First Light Coffee, the Official Coffee of Dry January | Alcohol Change UK, UK

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