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Daily news - 23rd October 2023 |
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UK news
Reducing the harm from illegal drugs
It is almost two years since the government introduced its latest drugs strategy and less than 18 months remain in the current funding period to March 2025. This report examines whether the government is well positioned to achieve the strategy’s 10-year ambitions | National Audit Office, UK
From criminalisation to harm reduction? The forms and functions of police drug diversion in England and Wales
While drugs policing often involves enforcement interventions that seek to tackle drug offences and drug-related crime through criminal sanctions, it is becoming increasingly apparent that diversion now occupies a central position in police responses to people suspected of either simple possession or an offence related to their drug use. This article draws on findings from a qualitative study of police-led schemes in England and Wales to examine police perspectives on diversion, the rationales behind its various forms, and the problems it is designed to resolve | Policing and Society, UK
Drones to be banned from flying near prisons in England and Wales
Change means drone operators could face fines up to £2,500 for flying within 400 metres of prisons or young offender institutions | Guardian, UK
Drug-spiking reports rise fivefold but proportion leading to charges fall
FoI requests reveal number of reports resulting in prosecution fell from 1 in 25 in 2018 to 1 in 400 in 2022 | Guardian, UK
New project will deliver nutrition support to thousands affected by addiction
A new charity-funded project will deliver nutrition and hydration support to thousands of people in Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion and affected by addiction. Hywel Dda University Health Board’s Health Improvement Nutrition & Dietetic team will deliver training to at least 65 staff at Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Service (DDAS) who will be empowered support their service users to achieve a healthier diet | Tenby Observer, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance includes a requirement for pupils to be taught about the risks associated with e-cigarettes and vapes | They work for you, UK
Football: Alcoholic Drinks
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 89 of the policy paper entitled A sustainable future - reforming club football governance, what recent discussions her Department has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of conducting (a) trials for alcohol sales in sight of the pitch for clubs in the National League and League Two and (b) a review of the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985 | They work for you, UK
Pub landlords boycott Macmillan Cancer in plea to scrap Sober October
[Possible paywall] Anger of campaign to discourage drinking in month when trade is already slow | Telegraph, UK
Cannabis industry news show - audio
In this week’s episode of the Volteface Cannabis Industry News Show, Paul and Katya discuss: Grow and Dalgety joining forces to supply UK grown medical cannabis to patients / Mamedica getting coverage in the New Statesman / The Times writing about medical cannabis and much more... | Volteface, UK
Top Boy ‘glamourises’ drug dealing, claims Britain’s top county lines police officer
[Possible paywall] Commander Paul Brogden singled out Bafta-winning Netflix drama series for not reflecting real-life ‘violence’ and ‘misery’ | Telegraph, UK
Eight men jailed after cocaine found in Gloucestershire butcher's shop
Eight men have been jailed for a total of more than 50 years for using a village butcher's shop to sell and store class A drugs | BBC, UK
Fifty arrested and drugs seized in Lancashire county lines crackdown
The Lancashire Police operation was part of a week of "intensified" action. Thousands of pounds worth of class A and class B drugs were seized along with cash, 40 mobile phones and 17 weapons | BBC, UK
International news
Systematic Review and Critical Analysis of Longitudinal Studies Assessing Effect of E-Cigarettes on Cigarette Initiation among Adolescent Never-Smokers
Prospective longitudinal studies mainly conclude on a causal role of e-cigarettes in the initiation of cigarettes in flagrant contradiction with conclusions drawn from epidemiology and other studies showing a sharp decline in cigarette use in parallel with the spread of e-cigarette use. This systematic review explores the reasons for this discrepancy | Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, UK
Citizens' Assembly votes for health-led approach to drug use rather than legalisation
The Citizen's Assembly on Drug Use has voted to recommend that the State should take a comprehensive health-led policy response to dealing with people who are in possession of drugs for personal use, rather than voting for a legalisation and regulation approach | Journal, Ireland
The Sale of Alcohol Bill (2022): an analysis of children’s rights impacts
Alcohol licensing in Ireland historically developed in a fragmented manner though multiple pieces of overlapping legislation. The Irish Government have championed the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022 on the basis that it will consolidate and simplify existing licensing law, and as an exercise in better regulation this is to be welcomed. However, a legislative exercise of this magnitude should not miss other opportunities to improve the way in which other issues are treated. Unfortunately, the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022 misses the opportunity to amend Irish alcohol licensing law so that it protects children’s rights | Alcohol Forum Ireland and Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network, Ireland
The latest college campus freebies? Naloxone and fentanyl test strips
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, three students stand behind a card table covered in naloxone injection kits. When a curious student leans in and asks what the kits are for, Caroline Clodfelter, one of the co-founders of the student group running the table, explains: "It will reverse an opioid overdose. ... So let's say you're going out to a frat — stick it in your pocket. It's easy to just have on you." | npr, USA
Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms
Cannabidiol (CBD) attracts considerable attention for promoting good health and treating various conditions, predominantly pain, often in breach of advertising rules. Examination of available CBD products in N America and Europe demonstrate that CBD content can vary from none to much more than advertised, and that potentially harmful other chemicals are often included | Journal of Pain, USA
Contaminants in cannabis and hemp flowers create potential for health risks
Cannabis use, even for medical purposes, could make some people sick due to harmful fungi that contaminate the plants. That is the finding of a recently published peer-reviewed journal article, whose authors recommend further study and consideration of changes to regulations to protect consumers, especially those who are immunocompromised | Medical Xpress, USA
Georgia will be first US state where pharmacies sell medical cannabis
For the past year and a half, medical cannabis company CEO Gary Long has spent a lot of his time reassuring Georgia’s small-town mayors about what will soon be coming to their local pharmacy: medical marijuana | CNN, USA
Is Your Aging Parent Addicted To Alcohol Or Drugs?
It’s a widespread problem, not often in the spotlight: an elder who is dependent on drinking or drugs. The sad downward spiral of those aging parents who already face age-related health problems is hastened by the use of habit forming substances | Forbes, USA
A new crop, a new vision: Sabino’s switch from growing coca to growing coffee in Bolivia
Sabino Ortiz, walking through a dense thicket of trees, stops and fingers some bright red beans. “This is my second harvest,” he says proudly, gesturing towards his plantation | UNODC, USA
Selling Meth Sent Him to Prison. It Also Saved His Life
Louis Bell was a type of person we typically didn’t encounter in our Tennessee prison. A middle-aged white man with a white-collar résumé and a nonchalant air, he stuck out everywhere he went | Filter Magazine, USA
NSW Labor MP speaks out in support over pill testing
A Labor MP has split with the Minns government over pill testing, urging the premier to undertake an “urgent” trial during this summer’s music festival season, saying the implementation could save lives | SMH, Australia
Drug Checking and Early Warning Systems: Knowing the harms can prevent the harms
The undersigned call on the Victorian government to implement a drug checking and public early warning system to reduce harms relating to novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in line with four recommendations of the Coroners Court of Victoria | VAADA, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Change Grow Live backs NAO report
In response to the National Audit Office report on the drug strategy, Nic Adamson, Change Grow Live’s Deputy Chief Executive, said: “The headline facts presented in today’s report speak for themselves, people and communities are suffering, and whilst we have made some progress with achieving the ambition of the national drug strategy, there is still more to do... | Change Grow Live, UK
The Importance Of Dogs To People With Drug Problems
New research explores how people living with a drug problem describe their everyday life when owning a dog | Russell Webster, UK
Burning issue: will age-based cigarette bans work?
The UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced a policy in his 2023 conference speech to progressively increase the age at which people would be able to buy smoked tobacco products in England by one year, each year. As an organisation that advocates for the responsible regulation of drug markets, this unconventional sales ‘ban’ demands our consideration. Getting to grips with whether the policy is justified and proportionate boils down to balancing the answers from a series of questions | Transform blog, UK
CBD: why recommended daily dose was lowered from 70mg to 10mg by food regulator
Since 2018 when the UK parliament passed legislation legalising CBD, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis, sales of CBD-related products have skyrocketed. Today, you can buy CBD oil, CBD vape pens, CBD coffee, CBD muffins to go with your CBD coffee … CBD everything. And these products are often sold with various vague promises of increased wellness | Conversation, UK
Script assist continues to revolutionmise medical cannabis prescriptions with expamded platform functionality
Script Assist is an online UK medical cannabis prescription platform enabling medical cannabis prescribing from any private setting. Their technology gives doctors, medical cannabis clinics and patients the tools they need to manage medical cannabis prescriptions from any private setting, offering a streamlined and accessible pathway to effective treatment | Volteface, UK
Using the highs to combat the lows: ketamine-assisted therapy for anxiety and depression
One in 6 adults in the UK has a common mental health disorder such as anxiety and depression (McManus et al, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an 8.1% increase in common mental health disorders in the UK (Banks & Xu, 2020), shifting the focus to digital treatment. Digital interventions have gained popularity, perhaps not only due to their convenience and accessibility to the masses, but also the possibility that well-established effects of traditional mental health interventions may be starting to decline (Johnsen & Friborg, 2015) | Mental Elf blog, UK
Cormac O'Keeffe: Drugs assembly sets goal and leaves it to Oireachtas to reach it
Given their massive and complex task, and the limited time available to them, the assembly has done its bit for society. It is now in the hands of the politicians | Irish Examiner opinion, Ireland
Novel drugs are leading to rising overdose deaths in Victoria – drug checking services could help
Many of the harms people experience from using illegal drugs are a result of unregulated supply. Drugs may be contaminated, or completely substituted with something unexpected. They may also be of variable and unknown dosage or strength | Conversation, Australia