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Daily news - 30th November 2023

UK news

Social media use and health risk behaviours in young people: systematic review and meta-analysis

Health risk behaviours were defined as use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, electronic nicotine delivery systems, unhealthy dietary behaviour, inadequate physical activity, gambling, and anti-social, sexual risk, and multiple risk behaviours... Social media use is associated with adverse health risk behaviours in young people, but further high quality research is needed to establish causality, understand effects on health inequalities, and determine which aspects of social media are most harmful | BMJ, UK

Two thirds of the public back raising the age of sale to create a smokefree generation

A new YouGov poll for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) finds that 67% of people in England back the Prime Minister’s plans to create a smokefree generation by raising the age of sale so that it will never be legal to sell tobacco to anyone born after the start of 2009 (14% oppose) | ASH, UK

Elfbar: Top vape firm drops sweet flavours over appeal to kids

The UK's leading vape brand Elfbar and its sister brand Lost Mary say they will drop dessert and soft drink flavours, which have been criticised for appealing to children | BBC, UK

The twenty drugs to be made class A by the government

Twenty dangerous opioids and drugs will be banned in a new crackdown announced by the Home Office | Independent, UK

Guidance: Drug strategy housing support funding: allocations 2022 to 2025

Updated to include confirmed housing support funding for Birmingham | OHID, UK

NIHR invests a further £55m to tackle health inequalities through local government research

Millions of people will benefit from a further £55 million research investment to tackle health inequalities and improve health outcomes in local areas across the UK. Examples include facilitating research to better understand and introduce interventions to help with drug-related deaths, violent crime, issues facing children and young people, employment and skills. This is as well as tackling health inequalities and wider deprivation | NIHR, UK

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps raise awareness of (a) the levels of nicotine in and (b) the risk of addiction from vape devices | They work for you, UK

Man runs for sister who 'drank herself to death'

A man whose sister "drank herself to death" aged 30, has run the equivalent of seven marathons to raise awareness of alcoholism | BBC, UK

Mum took cocaine before baby died after sharing bed

A mother admitted taking cocaine and drinking alcohol before her baby daughter unexpectedly died after sleeping in her bed, an inquest has heard | BBC, UK

Fake 'drugs zone' posters illegal say police

Fake signs apparently permitting drug-taking have appeared in parts of Leeds city centre. Posters indicating a "crack and heroin zone" were spotted on Kirkgate and Briggate on Wednesday | BBC, UK

Suspected organised crime group arrested over 1.3 tonnes of cocaine worth £140m

Members of a suspected organised crime group from the North West of England have been arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle £140m worth of cocaine into the United Kingdom, as part of a National Crime Agency investigation | NCA, UK

Gwynedd: Cocaine found by police on baby changing area

Police have expressed concern after finding cocaine in a baby changing area during a string of spot checks of pubs and bars | BBC, UK

The Wetherspoon’s game: why thousands of people are buying food and drink for strangers

A Facebook group has gone viral with a karmic proposition: all you can eat and drink at the pub if you promise to do a similar favour some day. How has it become so popular? | Guardian, UK

International news

Three tonnes of cocaine seized from ship, Senegal's navy says

This is one of the largest drugs hauls by Senegal's navy | BBC, UK

User perceptions of long-term costs and benefits of MDMA use: findings from a large online sample

[Open access] Previous research has focused on risks associated with non-clinical MDMA use, contrasting short-sighted hedonistic motivations with negative long-term consequences. User perceptions may be more nuanced, incorporating numerous underexplored positive long-term effects. We aimed to: (1) Assess MDMA user perceptions regarding both positive and negative long-term effects, and (2) Generate a large, open dataset with correlates to explore for future research | DEPP, UK

Victorian treasurer expresses support for decriminalising cannabis as senior leaders admit use

Tim Pallas says he personally believes using cannabis should not be a crime as Allan government commits to discussion | Guardian, UK

Irish Prison Service drugs strategy 2023-2026

The Irish Prison Service Statement of Strategy 2023-2027 and the Irish Prison Service Drugs Strategy 2023-2026 marks a new chapter in the approach to imprisonment and substance abuse within the Irish prison system. The Irish Prison Service has embarked on an extensive consultation process to identify the strategic priorities that will shape its operations over the next number of years. This collaborative effort involved senior management and staff from across the prison estate, and, for the first time, engagement with individuals in custody facilitated by the Irish Red Cross | Irish Prison Service, Ireland

[Open access] In this retrospective cohort study we compiled and merged state agency data on accidental and undetermined opioid overdose deaths in 2017 and exposures to OUD treatment in the prior six months to determine incidence rates following exposure to different treatment modalities. These rates were compared to the estimated incidence among those exposed to no treatment to determine relative risk of death for each treatment exposure | DAD, USA

Study: Cannabis use disorder increasing among veterans with psychiatric disorders

Research published in The American Journal of Psychiatry finds that during a period of increasing cannabis use in the U.S., the prevalence of cannabis use disorder is disproportionally increasing among veterans with psychiatric disorders, especially those with more severe psychiatric disorders | Medical Xpress, USA

What Will Javier Milei Mean for People Who Use Drugs in Argentina?

Argentina has just experienced a political earthquake. On November 19, Javier Milei, a rightwing self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” won a runoff election to become president-elect | Filter Magazine, USA

Crossbench teams up on pill testing trial, as government says it’s open to cannabis discussion

Pill testing could be trialled over next year’s music festival season if three minor Victorian parties get their way on Thursday, a day after the state government announced it was open to talks about decriminalising personal use of cannabis | The Age, Australia

Senior Victorian politicians admit they've tried cannabis - video

Three senior politicians, including the Victorian premier, have admitted they have tried cannabis | The Age, Australia

Trends in the availability and types of drugs sold on the internet via cryptomarkets, October 2022 – September 2023

Drug Trends has identified, crawled (or ‘scraped’), extracted, categorised and analysed drug listings on cryptomarkets on a regular basis since 1st February 2014. This bulletin series reports on trends in the availability and types of drugs sold on the internet via cryptomarkets over 12-months | NDARC, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping: Response from Action on Smoking and Health (PDF)

ASH supports the proposal to raise the age of sale for tobacco products, which under all the modelled scenarios show significant benefit to health, wellbeing and productivity | ASH, UK

The rules that govern the rules: why meta-regulation matters for public health

Whilst there is a growing body of research on regulation as an instrument of health policy, much less attention has been paid to meta-regulation. Socio-legal scholar Bronwen Morgan defines meta-regulation as “a set of institutions and processes that embed regulatory review mechanisms into the every-day routines of governmental policymaking” | IAS blog, UK

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