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Daily news - 19th October 2023 |
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UK news
Government response to the ACMD’s advice on 2-benzyl benzimidazole and piperidine benzimidazolone opioids (PDF)
Dear Owen and Simon, I thank the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), especially the Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Committee for its consideration of 2-benzyl benzimidazole (‘nitazene’) and other synthetic opioids... I formally accept the ACMD’s recommendation to control the four additional substances as Class A drugs under the 1971 Act | Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, UK
Wine definition to be watered down in post-Brexit move
The government plans to change the legal definition of wine following Brexit, to reflect demand for low-alcohol versions of the drink | BBC, UK
Westminster’s drinking culture means witnesses ‘cannot recall’ bad behaviour
[Possible paywall] Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme says alcohol is a ‘frequent factor’ in its investigations | Telegraph, UK
Adele says she has quit drinking after being a ‘borderline alcoholic’
Performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday, Adele, 35, said: “I stopped drinking maybe like three and a half months ago. It’s boring. I mean, I was literally borderline alcoholic for quite a lot of my 20s, but I miss it so much.” | Guardian, UK
Isle of Wight: Arrest over washed-up cocaine find
A man has been arrested after packages of cocaine were found opened and moved after they washed up on a beach | BBC, UK
HMP Lindholme nurse and inmate lover 'flooded' prison with drugs - court
A prison health worker "flooded" a jail with drugs by smuggling packages to her inmate lover, a court heard. Prosecutors said prisoners could buy "any drugs" they wanted inside HMP Lindholme in South Yorkshire while Amy Hatfield, 38, was employed there as a mental health nursing assistant | BBC, UK
Let's Talk About Addiction - Register for our Event
On November 2nd (7:00pm - 8:45pm), at the peak of Addiction Awareness Week 2023, Taking Action on Addiction will be presenting an unforgettable event titled "Let's Talk About Addiction" | Forward Trust, UK
Book launch: Rethinking Drug Laws: Theory, History, Politics
Tue, 28 Nov 2023 18:00 - 20:00 GMT. Join MetroPolis and the Substance Use and Associated Behaviours (SUAB) research group for the Manchester launch of Toby Seddon’s major new drug policy publication, 'Rethinking Drug Laws: Theory, History, Politics'.This book draws on diverse social science disciplines - law, sociology, criminology, political science, economics - to present a new regulatory perspective on drug control and drug law reform. It develops a novel theoretical framework for looking at drug control laws, provides a new account of the origins of global drug prohibition and explores ways of developing a 'better politics' of drugs | MetroPolis, UK
Cannabis farm worth £1m found in Oldham raid
Hundreds of cannabis plants with a street value of £1m have been found in a raid on an empty industrial unit | BBc, UK
International news
EU launches crackdown on cocaine smuggling
Commissioner reveals plans to foil child exploitation by criminal gangs as figures show half of homicides in the bloc are now drug-related | Guardian, UK
Cannabis liberalisation: lessons for alcohol policy (PDF)
This briefing was based on a roundtable meeting hosted by the Institute of Alcohol Studies on 29th June 2023. At the roundtable, Dr Elle Wadsworth presented research on alcohol and cannabis co-use in Canada and the United States immediately before and one year after legalisation of non-medical cannabis in Canada in 2018, and Dr Sadie Boniface facilitated an informal discussion on research gaps and priorities in this area | IAS, UK
Their kids died after buying drugs on Snapchat. Now the parents are suing
Suit claims that app features like disappearing messages and geolocating users make kids easy targets for dealers | Guardian, UK
Cannabis use for menopause in women aged 35 and over: a cross-sectional survey on usage patterns and perceptions in Alberta, Canada
Use of cannabis for medical reasons has increased in Canada since legalisation of recreational cannabis in 2018. The objective of this study was to examine the pattern of use and perceptions about cannabis for menopause in women aged 35 and over in Alberta, Canada | BMJ Open, UK
'Absolute priority' to open Ireland's first supervised drug injection centre by next September
The new chief executive of Merchants Quay Ireland said the organisation also wants to push for ‘mobile injection clinics’ in the future | Journal, Ireland
Commission sets out new EU Roadmap of priority measures to fight organised crime and drug-trafficking
The Commission is adopting today an EU Roadmap to step up the fight against drug trafficking and criminal networks, building on the legislative and operational initiatives put forward so far. The drugs trade is one of the most significant security threats faced by the EU today. Seizures of cocaine in the EU are hitting record levels, with 303 tonnes seized in 2021 alone. The activities of criminal networks have evolved in their scale, sophistication, and violent consequences | European Commission, Belgium
Telehealth supports retention in treatment for opioid use disorder
Federally funded study provides additional evidence supporting expanded use of telehealth services for opioid use disorder-related care | NIDA, USA
E-cigarette flavor restrictions may increase cigarette sales, study finds
The immense popularity of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, among young people has led many policymakers to restrict the sale of flavored varieties. But rather than nudging people away from "vapes," as these e-cigarettes are called, such measures could backfire by driving users to instead buy conventional cigarettes, a much more dangerous product, according to researchers at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) | News Medical, USA
New York City's tobacco retailer density policy mitigates longstanding neighborhood inequities in tobacco access: Study
Tobacco retail licenses in New York City decreased by over 30 percent since 2018, when the City established a policy to cap the number of licenses in each of its 59 community districts, according to a study just released by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health | Medical Xpress, USA
Economic Benefits and Social Costs of Legalizing Recreational Marijuana (PDF)
We analyze the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana on state economic and social outcomes (2000–20) using difference-in-differences estimation robust to staggered timing and heterogeneity of treatment. We find moderate economic gains and accompanied by some social costs | Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, USA
Canadian guideline for the clinical management of high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder
In Canada, low awareness of evidence-based interventions for the clinical management of alcohol use disorder exists among health care providers and people who could benefit from care. To address this gap, the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse convened a national committee to develop a guideline for the clinical management of high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder | CMAJ, Canada
Classification change to low-dose medicinal cannabis (CBD) products
Medsafe has reclassified the medicinal cannabis product, cannabidiol (CBD), from a prescription-only medicine to a restricted (pharmacist-only) medicine, aligning our approach with Australia, which made a similar change in December 2020 | Ministry of Health, Australia
Cancer warnings could be coming to wine bottle and beer can labels
Bottles of wine and beer cans could soon be slapped with health warning labels similar to cigarette packets if the government heeds calls from national health groups | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The ChatGPT therapist will see you now: Navigating generative artificial intelligence's potential in addiction medicine research and patient care
Generative AI offers potential for enhancing addiction medicine research and practice by analyzing medical literature, improving research efficiency, streamlining clinical workflows, and even providing counseling support. Addressing challenges such as confabulation, biases, and patient acceptance and adoption is crucial for responsible integration and to improve care in substance use disorders | Addiction editorial, USA