Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 16th April 2024 |
 |
UK news
News story: MPs to vote on landmark Bill to create Smokefree generation
MPs to vote on legislation to create first smoke-free generation, protecting young people turning 15 this year or younger from harms of smoking |
Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP, and The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, UK
MPs to vote on smoking ban for Generation Alpha
MPs will debate plans for some of the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws today. Rishi Sunak wants to make Generation Alpha, born since 2009, the UK's first smoke-free generation in a major public health intervention. Anyone turning 15 from this year would be banned from buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which also makes vapes less appealing to children | BBC, UK
Addressing the leading risk factors for ill health – supporting local government to do more
This briefing outlines five proposals for national policy that would allow local government in England to do more to reduce harm from tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food | The Health Foundation, UK
The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing)(Scotland) Act 2012 (Continuation) Order 2024 (PDF)
The legislation that introduced minimum unit pricing for alcohol contained a 'sunset clause'. This means the policy will expire on 30 April 2024 unless the Scottish Parliament votes for it to continue. This briefing examines the background to the policy, key areas of debate, the findings of the evaluation and the response of stakeholders | Scottish Parliament, UK
Scotland urged to adopt UK procedure for sudden death investigations
Favor UK want Scotland to adopt the same system of inquests that is used elsewhere in the United Kingdom | STV News, UK
Force for good
UK veterans who served in military operations are likely to report a significantly higher prevalence of common mental disorders than non-veterans (23 per cent versus 16 per cent), as well as alcohol misuse (11 per cent versus 6 per cent), according to a 2020 King’s Centre for Military Health Research study Mental health disorders and alcohol misuse among UK military veterans and the general population | Drink and Drugs News, UK
Breaking Down Stigma In Community Settings: An Interview with Jess Murfin
We interviewed Jess Murfin from the East Riding Partnership Trust, an open-access addiction support service. They are working to break down stigma and make support services more accessible for those living with an addiction | NHS APA, UK
Amy's Place: How a 'beautiful' housing project giving hope became Amy Winehouse's real legacy
Amy’s Place offers supported housing for young women who have left treatment for drug addiction | Big Issue, UK
Jersey politician to propose decriminalising cannabis for personal use
Deputy Tom Coles is drawing up a proposal that would see cannabis decriminalised for personal use on the island | ITV, UK
Men tried hiding £17,200,000-worth of cocaine in blocks of cheese
Lancashire Police made their biggest-ever discovery when officers raided a unit in Blackburn last May and cut open blocks of gouda to uncover the class-A drugs | Metro, UK
Bogus Salford removals man hid cocaine in piano in back of van
A man who masqueraded as a furniture removals driver has been jailed after £4.2m of high-purity cocaine was found hidden inside a piano in his van | BBC, UK
Trafford town hall car park is a drug den - planning chief
Several incidents of drug taking and anti-social behaviour have been reported by staff at Trafford Town Hall, with workers said to feel threatened | BBC, UK
Drug dealer bought gold bar in Dubai, court hears
A former university student who travelled to Dubai to buy a gold bar after dealing Class A drugs faces a lengthy jail sentence, a court has heard | BBC, UK
International news
International cooperation partners participate in EMCDDA-CEPOL training course on 'Drug crime and markets: strategic analysis’
'Drug crime and markets: strategic analysis' is the focus of a training course being hosted at the EMCDDA in Lisbon this week in cooperation with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL). The course will welcome around 40 law enforcement, customs and criminal justice officers from the Candidate and Potential candidates to the EU, European Neighbourhood Policy area beneficiaries, Latin America and the Caribbean and also the EU | EMCDDA, Portugal
High-Acuity Alcohol-Related Complications During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In this cohort study of a US national, commercially insured population, high-acuity alcohol-related complication episodes increased beyond what was expected in 4 of 18 pandemic months. Women aged 40 to 64 years experienced increases of 33.3% to 56.0% in high-acuity complication episodes in 10 of 18 pandemic months, a pattern associated with a large and sustained increase in high-acuity alcohol-related liver disease complications | JAMA Network Open, USA
More kids are dying of drug overdoses: Could pediatricians do more to help?
Medina was treating Sam for an addiction to opioids. He prescribed a medication called buprenorphine, which curbs cravings for the more dangerous and addictive opioid pills. Sam's urine tests showed no signs of the Percocet or OxyContin pills he had been buying on Snapchat, the pills that fueled Sam's addiction | Medical Xpress, USA
Ketamine's rapid impact on depression linked to immune system pathways
In a recent study published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers review the anti-inflammatory effects of ketamine in the peripheral and central nervous systems. To this end, all relevant articles were obtained from PubMed and Web of Science databases, with both animal and human studies published until September 2023 considered for the analysis | News Medical, USA
Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia: early insights
Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia: early insights presents key statistics about Australia’s publicly funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment services and their clients. Early insights is a companion report to the data and analysis presented in Alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia: annual report | AIHW, Australia
Vaccination coverage among people who inject drugs: A systematic review
[Open access] People who inject drugs may be at excess risk of acquiring vaccine-preventable diseases and negative associated health outcomes, but experience barriers to vaccination. We aimed to determine vaccination coverage among people who inject drugs globally | IJDP, Australia
Landmark Australian study on oxycodone prescribing
To understand the previously unmapped associations between Australia’s oxycodone use and sociodemographic factors, UNSW researchers from the Medicines Intelligence Centre of Research Excellence and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) analysed linked data from 800,000 patients on PBS medicines dispensed, Medicare claims, hospitalisations and emergency department (ED) visits between 2014–2018 | Australian Pharmacist, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Second wave of super-strong heroin is set to hit Scotland. We must not repeat 'War on Drugs' mistakes of the first in the 1980s – Tom Wood
When the first wave of heroin hit Scotland in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the decision to concentrate on prosecutions, rather than health, was a mistake | Scotsman, UK
Why Scotch whisky industry deserves as much condemnation as celebration – Aveek Bhattacharya
Whisky is a Scottish cultural icon that make billions for the economy, but the industry has also sought to block lifesaving public health policies | Scotsman, UK
Brazil’s Fight Against Constitutional Amendment to Criminalise Drug Use
In October 2023, a few months after the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court had resumed a hearing on the decriminalisation of drug possession for personal use, a group of conservative senators led by Efraim Filho filed a proposal for a constitutional amendment. PEC 45/2023 aims to criminalise the possession of any amount of drugs, thus curbing the momentum for progressive drug reform in Brazil | Talking Drugs, UK
Pharmacists should be able to dispense nicotine vapes without a prescription. Here’s why
The Australian government is currently considering a bill to implement the next stage of reforms to vaping regulation. At present, vaping products that don’t contain nicotine can be sold in regular shops, such as convenience stores, like tobacco products are. To use vaping products that contain nicotine, people must have a prescription from a doctor or a nurse practitioner, and get the prescription filled at a pharmacy | Conversation, Australia