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Daily news - 18th September 2023 |
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UK news
Call for Evidence: Reducing the harm from illegal drugs
Closing date: Friday 17 November 2023. The Committee’s inquiry follows its May 2023 report on alcohol treatment services, and will examine both progress to-date in implementing the strategy, and the work of the cross-government Joint Combatting Drugs Unit. The Committee will also hear from senior officials at the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care, with likely topics including: progress on disrupting drugs supply; reducing long-term demand for drugs; any barriers to accessing treatment and supporting recovery; certainty of Government funding. If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here | Public Accounts Committee, UK
Pharmacological and electronic cigarette interventions for smoking cessation in adults: component network meta‐analyses
The most effective interventions were nicotine e‐cigarettes, varenicline and cytisine (all high certainty), as well as combination NRT (additive effect, certainty not rated). There was also high‐certainty evidence for the effectiveness of nicotine patch, fast‐acting NRT and bupropion. Less certain evidence of benefit was present for nortriptyline (moderate certainty), non‐nicotine e‐cigarettes and tapering of nicotine dose (both low certainty) | Cochrane Library, UK
‘Dire need’ for labels on alcohol and ads about unhealthy eating to cut avoidable cancers
Health campaigners call for hard-hitting messages about risks of drinking and of being overweight | Guardian, UK
Majority support ‘nanny state’ policies to improve Britain’s health outcomes
Brits largely support public health interventions like bans on advertising, regulating food prices, and affordability limits on gambling, a think tank shows today | SMF, UK
Alcoholism: Rehabilitation
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to use positive interventions on alcohol use | They work for you, UK
Man with Tourette's calls on NHS to increase cannabis prescriptions
A man with Tourette's who spends thousands on medicinal cannabis has called on the government to make the drug more readily available on the NHS | BBC, UK
Watch: Inside a medicinal cannabis farm
The BBC visited the farm as part of an investigation that found fewer than five NHS patients have been given the medicine, leaving others to either pay privately or miss out | BBC, UK
Big Alcohol: Explained - video
Across the world, alcohol consumption and harm are on the rise, and since the pandemic, deaths from alcohol rose to their highest level on record in the UK. Despite an abundance of evidence showing how to reduce alcohol consumption and harm, the alcohol industry has been a major barrier to progress and has slowed or prevented meaningful change | IAS, UK
The teenagers killed by fake prescription drugs
ITV News' Sam Holder has this special report as more than a dozen fake pharmacy sites remain online and pose a deadly threat | ITV, UK
Binge-drinking: 'I was stuck in a cycle of self-destruction'
"Stuck in a cycle of self-destruction" is how Sarah Cartin spent her weekends for a long period of her life. Her regular, hard sessions of binge-drinking alcohol led to illness, blackouts, danger and misery | BBC, UK
Uber Eats 'investigating' after Tyneside family say loved one struggling with alcohol addiction gets booze delivered even while drunk
Delivery giant Uber Eats is investigating after concerns from a Tyneside family that their loved one has been able to repeatedly get alcohol delivered despite being "obviously intoxicated" and struggling with addiction | Chronicle Live, UK
Performing Recovery - issue 4
New issue of the magazine which features individuals and organisations using art and art practices in addiction recovery. Included in this issue: Bristol Diamond: Sophie Wilsdon and Jon James talk over the history, and work of the Bristol Recovery Orchestra; Spotlight on…leon clowes speaks to Surfing Sofas the poet in residence for the Museum of Homelessness; Capital Ideas: Criminologist Dr David Patton talks about recovery capital and an exciting new publishing project. And many more stories | ARA Network, UK
Investigating the use of digital apps that can support people recovering from addiction - survey
The purpose of this study is to explore the potential use of digital applications to support recovery from addiction. It will seek to identify behavioural patterns and understand perspectives on key milestones that help in recovery. This information will help shape a developing prototype application | University of Hull, UK
Leeds stars support 2023 recovery graduation
Leeds United Legend Jermaine Beckford, Leeds Rhinos past and present and a winner of ‘the toughest reality show on TV’ joined almost 100 people celebrating becoming abstinent from alcohol and/or drugs at the 2023 Forward Leeds Recovery Graduation | Forward Leeds, UK
Enhanced First Response Volunteers needed
Location: Bristol, Closing Date: 29/09/2023. As an Enhanced First Response Volunteer, you will be working with a partner volunteer to look for referrals made by StreetLink, engaging with those found sleeping rough, and passing on information to the Outreach team. Enhanced First Responders play a crucial role in ensuring people sleeping rough receive vital support from the Outreach team to move away from the streets and get connected to other local services | St Mungo's, UK
Recovery Walk UK – Hull
23rd September 2023. One of the biggest celebrations of people in recovery in the UK. The UK Recovery Walk 2023 will be held in Hull from 11.00am on Saturday 23rd September. Individuals and families will walk through the centre of the town to celebrate the event | FAVOR, UK
Recovery Walk Scotland Greenock 2023
23rd September 2023. Recovery Walk Scotland is the largest recovery event in Scotland and has been held in different locations across our beautiful country since 2013. The event is comprised of three parts: Roses in the River Memorial, Recovery Walk Scotland procession through the town and a Recovery Festival and Village in Greenock | Recovery Walk Scotland, UK
Irvine Welsh on Crime, drugs and Trainspotting - audio
The best-selling author speaks to Today's Martha Kearney about writing for TV, 30 years of Trainspotting and his thoughts about the relationship Scotland has with drugs | BBC, UK
Vaping: Nearly 400,000 illegal vapes seized in Kent in three years
Since 2021, almost 400,000 illegal vapes were seized in the county, with the majority picked up at the Port of Dover, Europe's busiest ferry port | BBC, UK
Watch: Humberside Police arrest 27 in organised crime and drugs raids
Sixteen people have been charged with dealing class A drugs after officers raided addresses across East Yorkshire and north east Lincolnshire on Wednesday and Thursday | BBC, UK
International news
How the fentanyl crisis' fourth wave has hit every corner of the US
More Americans than ever are dying from fentanyl overdoses as the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic crashes through every community, in every corner of the country | BBC, UK
New York City daycare owner charged with murder after infant overdose death
Another person was also charged with murder in relation to the fatal overdose and the sickening of three other children | Guardian, UK
‘I couldn’t stop myself’: inside the 12-step program for internet addiction
Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous is based on the principles of AA, offering community support to aid recovery | Guardian, UK
Stuart MacGill: Australian cricket star charged over drug supply plot
Former Australian star cricketer Stuart MacGill has been charged over his alleged role in a large cocaine supply plot | BBC, UK
Coolmine strategic plan 2023-2026: responsive sustainable recovery
The overarching principle of this strategic plan is further development of Coolmine’s strong commitment to Environmental Social Governance. In line with our Sustainability Policy, and in partnership, we seek to deliver a fully sustainable organisation. We shall achieve this through implementation of our strategic objectives ensuring our service delivery is driven by equality, diversity and inclusion, by decreasing our carbon footprint and evidencing excellence in our governance structures and systems | Coolmine, Ireland
European think tank calls for mandatory EU alcohol health labelling
Health warnings on alcohol should be made mandatory across the European Union, according to a recent report by the European Policy Centre, a think tank that praised the European Commission for giving the green light to Ireland’s plans in this direction | Euractiv, Belgium
Prescribing just a few opioid tablets to patients discharged from emergency departments can ease pain but prevent misuse
Half of patients discharged from the emergency department need only five tablets or fewer of morphine 5mg or an equivalent opioid pain killer, according to new research presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress | Medical Xpress, USA
Preventing fatal overdoses in the local community
Partnerships between the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office (CCMEO) and the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education has allowed for the creation of a comprehensive database of more than 250 variables to understand fatal overdoses in the county | Medical Xpress, USA
Psychedelic drug MDMA eases PTSD symptoms in a study that paves the way for possible US approval
The psychedelic drug MDMA can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported in a new study published Thursday | Medical Xpress, USA
Let’s work together! Interprofessional education and students’ knowledge of alcohol use
To minimize the public health burden of alcohol use disorder (AUD), healthcare professionals across diverse fields must be prepared to screen patients, provide brief interventions, and refer to treatment (SBIRT). However, these skills take training, education, and communication between providers. This week, The DRAM reviews a study by Scott Edwards and colleagues that examined the impact of an interprofessional education (IPE) training module on knowledge and perceptions of alcohol and AUD prevention among a group of college students studying health sciences | BASIS, USA
Another Record Coca Crop in Colombia, But Context Has Changed
Colombia set a new record for coca production in 2022. This isn’t surprising, when the country is established as the world’s leading cocaine producer, followed by Peru and Bolivia. But the context has seemingly transformed, when the president who took office in August that year says he wants to end the drug war, emphasizing poverty and violence reduction, not crop eradication and enforcement | Filter Magazine, USA
Insite, North America’s first supervised drug-use site, turns 20 as overdose crisis evolves
Credited with dramatically curbing needle-sharing and reducing blood-borne infections in Vancouver, the facility hits a milestone amid a new public health crisis | Globe and Mail, Canada
Characteristics of Substance-Related Toxicity Deaths in Ontario
Over the past 4 years, substance toxicity deaths have nearly doubled in Ontario. Polysubstance use complicates substance toxicity responses, resulting in higher fatality rates compared to when substances are used alone. Ontario has seen polysubstance involvement, mainly stimulants, in opioid-related deaths. In Ontario, detailed data on fatal substance-related toxicities have largely been restricted to opioid toxicity deaths, with limited data available on the relative frequency of toxicity deaths attributable to alcohol, benzodiazepines, and stimulants, and the frequency of polysubstance use among these deaths | ODPRN, Canada
The wild, green shrub in Afghanistan that is dividing drug experts
A wild, green shrub that has grown for centuries in the central mountains of Afghanistan is dividing international drug experts probing the embattled nation’s ballooning methamphetamine trade | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Scotland’s legal go-ahead for safer drug consumption rooms is a gamechanger
Scotland’s most senior law officer, the Lord Advocate, has released a statement that would enable NHS Glasgow and Clyde to open a safer drug consumption facility (SDCF) in the city | Conversation, UK
Words mean little without action on drugs policy – Peter Krykant
Over the last few weeks, Scotland’s drug deaths crisis has been the focus of much media attention, starting with drug death figures for 2022 being published last month showing the lowest figures since 2017 and a 21 per cent drop from the previous year | Scotsman opinion, UK
Lord Advocate's intervention does not mean the drug-death crisis has been solved
Sometimes it can be a little difficult to keep up. No sooner are we given the good – though still frankly awful – news that Scotland’s drug-death figures fell by a fifth in 2022 than we learn they rose by seven per cent in the first six months of this year. ‘Only’ 1,051 people died a drug-related death in 2022, down from 1,330 the year before, while 600 lost their lives between January and June, up from 562 in the same period last year | Holyrood, UK
What does it mean to be a ‘treatment and recovery service’?
“There are enormous differences between professionally-directed treatment institutions and mutual aid societies, just as there are enormous differences in what constitutes “treatment” and what constitutes “recovery”. | David W. Best, UK
Why is it better to vape cannabis than smoke it?
Smoking and vaping are some of the most common ways to consume cannabis. However, research and experts suggest that vaping could be healthier, and it makes better use of the therapeutic elements of the plant. Let’s explore why | Volteface, UK
How to write a scientific paper that’s memorable
The publisher Wiley has lots of useful resources for researchers, educators, and professionals, including a blog by Dr Karen McKee on how to distill your work into the modern-day equivalent of a ‘message in a bottle’. Read the blog below, reprinted with permission from Wiley | SSA, UK
The 1981 “Alcoholism – You Can Beat It!” USPS Stamp Debacle: Lessons Moving Forward
In 1981 US Postal Service has a stamp campaign intended to reduce stigma and improve access to care titled “Alcoholism – You Can Beat It.” It was issued at a time when national advocacy groups were relatively strong, and headway was being made in respect to developing services and improving public perceptions about alcohol and other substance dependence. It is a revealing story of good intentions run amok. What can we learn from it? | Recovery Review blog, USA