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Daily news - 20th September 2023 |
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UK news
Commissioning Quality Standard, strand 3 webinar: whole and integrated system approaches
19th October 2023 10am-12 noon. OHID published the Commissioning Quality Standards (CQS) for alcohol and drug treatment and recovery last year and is supporting its implementation with a series of webinars. Working with the English Substance Use Commissioning Group, OHID is delivering a series of free webinars on each of the four strands of the CQS throughout 2023. The webinars are of most value to commissioners and others implementing the CQS but will also be of interest to drug treatment and recovery providers. The next webinar will be on strand 3, covering whole and integrated system approaches. Register here | OHID, UK
95% of ex-smokers see positive changes soon after quitting
Stoptober is back and calling on smokers to join the thousands of others committing to quit from 1 October | Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and Neil O'Brien MP, UK
Injecting equipment provision in Scotland
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on injecting equipment provision (IEP). This includes the number of outlets, attendances and the types of injecting equipment distributed to people who used illicit drugs (including Novel Psychoactive Substances and Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs) in Scotland in 2022/23 | Public Health Scotland, UK
New report highlights emerging trends for substance use in Greater Manchester
New findings from the second GM TRENDS report have revealed the latest trends and patterns for substance use across Greater Manchester. Findings will help raise awareness of and inform harm reduction policies | MMU, UK
Spotlight: Deadly little pills - video
The summer has seen a wave of deaths and overdoses from a powerful wave of synthetic drugs. Mandy McAuley find out about the risk posed by dealers and hears from families who have suffered most | BBC, UK
Substance Misuse: Harm Reduction Model
Rachel Maskell MP asks about recent discussions between Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of introducing a substance misuse harm reduction model to tackle acquisitive crime | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Scotland
Alison Thewlis MP asks the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Scotland at Scotland Questions, Official Report on 13 September 2023, whether it is her policy not to intervene should a pilot supervised drug consumption facility go ahead in Scotland | They work for you, UK
Drugs Policy: Scotland
Patrick Grady MP asks whether there have been discussions between Cabinet colleagues and the Scottish Government on further devolution of drugs policy to Scotland | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2023 [Nitrous oxide] on the (a) workload of and (b) resources available to police forces | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Sentencing
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plan to take steps to strengthen sentencing guidance on dealing and supplying drugs which lead to the death of those who consume them | They work for you, UK
Turning Point 218: 'Women need it, there's no other place like this'
This service supporting female offenders to rebuild their lives faces job losses and closure after almost two decades in the community | STV, UK
Fly on the wall documentary premiers in Doncaster
A film following the daily life of staff, and current and former people who have used the services of our Doncaster based drug and alcohol treatment unit, was given its official premier during Recovery Month. Produced and directed by local Doncaster film maker Rajnish Madaan, ‘New Beginnings’ shows the everyday life and work of staff and service users at Aspire Drug and Alcohol Service | Aspire, UK
Street Drugs Discussions: Drugs & Universities
Fri, 6 Oct 2023 12:00 - 14:00 BST. This webinar features a panel of experts discussing how drugs are being used at universities, student experience and policies | Drug Science, UK
Gang convicted over cannabis farm murder
Three men have been jailed for life for murdering a man during an attempt to rob a cannabis farm | BBC, UK
Teenager charged with drug offence after girl's death in Inverkeithing
A teenager has been charged with a drugs offence after the death of a schoolgirl in Inverkeithing in Fife | BBC, UK
Stray dog leads police to cannabis haul near Norwich
A stray dog found "running around a busy street" led police to a garden full of cannabis plants | BBC, UK
International news
Inside a drug consumption room
As the UK heads towards an opioid crisis, Scotland has announced it will be opening drug consumption rooms. Here’s what happens inside a facility like that | The Face, UK
Fentanyl-Laced Coke and Meth Is Not Fuelling America's Overdose Crisis
The authors of a new study charting a deadly “fourth wave” of drug overdoses tell VICE News that media reports attributing the rise to cocaine and meth being cut with synthetic opioids are wrong | VICE, UK
Ovidio Guzmán: Drug lord El Chapo's son pleads not guilty
The son of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges in the US | BBC, UK
Almost 1,000 people arrested and $500m in drugs seized in police raids across Australia
Week-long operation targeting criminal drug syndicates nets 814kg of methamphetamine and 182kg of MDMA | Guardian, UK
Vape stores opening near Australian schools to ‘recruit new generation to nicotine’, Mark Butler says
Companies skirting regulations by labelling e-cigarettes as ‘nicotine-free’ despite them containing the drug | Guardian, UK
Ireland's most popular wines revealed as consumption drops
Chilean wine is the most popular in Ireland, but sales of the popular tipple remain down on pre-pandemic levels as the industry called for an excise cut in the upcoming Budget | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Ana Liffey Drug Project annual report 2022 (PDF)
2022 saw Ana Liffey Drug Project reach two major milestones – the 40th anniversary of the organisation being founded in Dublin by Frank Brady and Mara de Lacy, and ten years since the launch in Limerick of Ana Liffey in the Midwest Region. Both are testament to the dedication and hard work of Ana Liffey’s team members past and present, and the positive way in which service users have chosen to engage with them | Ana Liffy Drug Project, Ireland
EU4Monitoring Drugs II: first EMCDDA visit to Azerbaijan
An EMCDDA delegation is in Baku today for the agency's first visit to the Republic Azerbaijan under the EU4Monitoring Drugs II project (EU4MD II). The visit is organised in close cooperation with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the EU Delegation to the Republic of Azerbaijan | EMCDDA, Portugal
Best Practices for Recovery Housing
This document updates SAMHSA’s 2018 document and outlines best practices for the implementation and operation of recovery housing. These best practices are intended to serve as a tool for states, governing bodies, providers, recovery house operators, and other interested stakeholders to improve the health of their citizens, reduce incidence of overdose, and promote recovery housing as a key support strategy in achieving and sustaining recovery | SAMHSA, USA
Fighting the Uphill War Against Illicit Drugs and Overdose Deaths: Detecting Emerging Designer Drugs and Opioid Analogs
The NPS Discovery drug database contains more than 1,100 drugs. When a sample comes in to the CFSRE, be it from a medical examiner’s office, a law enforcement agency, a crime lab, or even an emergency room or concerned doctor, their scientists begin the process of determining what drugs are in the sample | NIJ, USA
Researchers find association between vaping and asthma among US adolescents
A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggests that vaping increases the risk of asthma in adolescents who have never smoked conventional tobacco products | Medical Xpress, USA
Using both cannabis and tobacco linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety
People who use both cannabis and tobacco have significantly higher rates of depression and anxiety than those who use either substance alone or not at all, according to a new study by UC San Francisco researchers | News Medical, USA
Naturalistic psilocybin use is associated with persisting improvements in mental health and wellbeing: results from a prospective, longitudinal survey
Results from this study, the largest prospective survey of naturalistic psilocybin use to date, support the potential for psilocybin to produce lasting improvements in mental health symptoms and general wellbeing | Frontiers in Psychiatry, USA
The Call - audio
The Never Use Alone hotline was set up so that drug users can call if they are say, using heroin by themselves. Someone will stay on the line with them in case they overdose. We hear the recording of one call, from a woman named Kimber. (13 minutes) | This American Life, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
New App to support people who use drugs
Luke O’Neil is Assistant Director for Business Development at Cranstoun. Cranstoun are a UK Social Justice and Harm Reduction charity. Here he writes about changes in the drug scene and a helpful new mobile app | Homeless Link blog, UK
Could belgium become the next european country to legalise cannabis?
It appears that Belgium could become the next European country to legalise cannabis after the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, recently declared that legalisation was ‘common sense’ | Volteface, UK
Is US teen nicotine use increasing?
Almost everyone in America is now firmly convinced that nicotine vapes (“e-cigarettes”) have created a “whole new generation addicted to nicotine.” Click-bait media helpfully reminds the public almost daily. Is it true? |
Charles A. Gardner, PhD, USA