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Daily news - 13th August 2024

UK news

Nearly 3 million people in Britain have quit smoking with a vape in the last 5 years

New data from health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) finds that vapes have been the most popular aid to quitting among those who have successfully stopped smoking in the last 5 years [1]. Their latest survey found that overall 5.6 million adults currently vape, 53% who whom have stopped smoking, 39% are still smoking and 8% have never smoked | ASH, UK

County drug users warned by local authorities of Nitazenes - strong synthetic opioids more potent than heroin - now in circulation

Police, health organisations, and North and West Northamptonshire Councils have issued a joint warning about the latest dangerous drugs in circulation in the county and across the UK | Northamptonshire Telegraph, UK

Addiction Mission Priority Setting Partnership survey - What questions about addiction would you like to see answered by research?

Your questions could be about what might cause addiction, support services, treatment, rehabilitation, mental or physical health, or anything else that is important to you. We want to hear your questions, no matter how big or small | Office for Life Sciences / James Lind Alliance, UK

Hepatitis C testing partnership success

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day on the 28th July 2024 we worked with The Hepatitis C Trust to invite clients from across our services for testing. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that can cause serious liver damage. It is quick and easy to test for hepatitis C, and with treatment it can be cured | Action Homeless, UK

Bolton Council funds say smoking costs nearly £100M a year

The report put before Cllr Fielding and the council officers said that Bolton had a higher-than-average rate of smoking compared to the rest of the North West and the rest of the country. It found that in 2022 there were around 42,444 adult smokers coming to around 14.2 per cent of the population | Bolton News, UK

Former Edinburgh addict opens 10-bed recovery home in West Lothian to 'save lives'

Richie Roncero has opened Hope House with the vision of helping addicts from across the UK to get onto the road to recovery regardless of their financial situation or personal background | Edinburgh Live, UK

Ketamine-assisted therapy for alcohol disorder trial now recruiting

The largest ever trial to investigate whether ketamine-assisted therapy could help people with alcohol problems stop drinking is now recruiting participants. The study is called Multicentre Investigation of Ketamine for Reduction of Alcohol Relapse (MORE-KARE). It is funded by a partnership between NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) | NIHR, UK

Hospital Alcohol Services Workshop

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:00 - 16:30 BST. We anticipate participants to be frontline nurses, doctors and third sector professionals, from a range of services within hospitals and in the community, who work with people who have alcohol problems. This is an opportunity to not only start to build a network of professionals to share ideas, developments and challenges, but to immediately build connections with people who you may not come across otherwise and who will be able to support you in a variety of ways | SHAAP / RCN / RCPsych, UK

Call for campaign after smoking fire death

Raymond Brattley, 71, was killed when a blaze broke out in his home in a sheltered housing complex in Bridlington | BBC, UK

Cannabis is growing on empty high streets in the UK - video

Just behind the High Street, right in the middle of town, Gwent police raid a disused building in Aberer, where hundreds of cannabis plants fill every room... | BBC, UK

Police seize £500,000 of cannabis plants in Dumfries raid

Cannabis plants worth £520,000 have been seized by police in a raid at a derelict property in Dumfries town centre | BBC, UK

Spurs' Bissouma apologises for laughing gas video

Tottenham Hotspur's Yves Bissouma has apologised for a "severe lack of judgement" after footage emerged appearing to show the midfielder inhaling laughing gas | BBC, UK

Elderly, disabled woman had Aylesbury home taken over by drug gang

Three people, who took over the home of a vulnerable, disabled and elderly woman in Aylesbury, have been sentenced for drug offences | ITV, UK

International news

Cannabis could help people cut down or stop opioid use, research shows

USC study finds cannabis can help manage withdrawal symptoms, as well as cravings and anxiety after withdrawal | Guardian, UK

Harms linked to drinking may be greater for people in worse health, study finds

Research finds even moderate alcohol consumption more damaging to health of the economically deprived | Guardian, UK

Just how bad is alcohol for us? – podcast

For the regular drinker it is a source of great comfort: the fat pile of studies that say a daily tipple is better for a longer life than avoiding alcohol completely. But a new analysis challenges that thinking and says it was based on flawed research that compares drinkers with people who are sick and sober. Madeleine Finlay hears from the study’s lead author, Tim Stockwell, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria | Guardian, UK

Fancy a ‘nada colada’? The rise of alcohol-free bars across the US

Though not a replacement for regular bars, the welcoming and inclusive nature of sober alternatives, combined with changing modern attitudes towards alcohol consumption mean that the concept is gaining a stronger footing across the US | Independent, UK

Harm Reduction and Treatment Among People at High Risk of Overdose

In this cross-sectional study of 1240 people who use drugs in 3 states, the proportion of respondents reporting use of fentanyl test strips was 36.8% among past year overdose survivors and 23.5% among those not experiencing an overdose—a significant difference. Approximately half (47.9%) of all participants received treatment in the past 30 days | JAMA Network Open, USA

Modeling the population health impact of accurate and inaccurate perceptions of harm from nicotine

Scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that inhaling the smoke from the combustion of cigarettes is responsible for most of the harm caused by smoking, and not the nicotine. However, a majority of U.S. adults who smoke inaccurately believe that nicotine causes cancer which may be a significant barrier, preventing switching to potentially reduced risk, non-combustible products like electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and smokeless tobacco (ST). We assessed the population health impact associated with nicotine perceptions | Harm Reduction Journal, USA

Hooked on a feeling: Opioids evoke positive feelings through a newly identified brain region

Opioids, like the commonly prescribed pain reliever oxycodone, are known for being highly addictive. In 2022, nearly 85,000 people died from an opioid overdose in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. Yet opioids are still being prescribed at alarming rates, particularly in Southern states, because of the lack of effective alternatives | Medical Xpress, USA

A tale of two opioid antidotes

The FDA this week approved a new product to reverse opioid overdoses, but some harm-reduction experts say it’s an unnecessary tool that could pose more risks than benefits | Politico, USA

[Open access] This intrinsic case study offers a unique perspective on the operation of Drug User Liberation Frontʼs Compassion Club and Fulfillment Centre, delving into its inception, development, implementation, and the challenges it faced in its operation | IJDP, Canada

NSW Premier Chris Minns calls for alcohol ban in parliament as public drinking rules examined

NSW Premier Chris Minns says alcohol should be banned from parliament and MPs should reflect on whether it is appropriate to be drinking in the workplace | abc.net.au, Australia

International Overdose Awareness Day 2024 theme: "Together we can"

This August 31, reach out and connect with others in your local community and join the global IOAD movement. Our collective voices are stronger, louder, and the most impactful when brought together | Penington Institute, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

No, smoking isn’t back This is the last gasp of a dying habit

Is smoking having a renaissance? During her now-iconic Boiler Room set in Ibiza, brat du jour Charli XCX popped under the table for a cheeky drag from her boyfriend’s cigarette. Meanwhile in Paris, the Olympic golfer Charley Hull was prevented by le woke mob from enjoying her custom of breezing through the course with a cig dangling from her lips, having been criticised for signing a load of autographs with one on the go at the US Open months before | UnHerd, UK

Preserving & Building on Our Knowledge: The Vanishing Role of Special Libraries – Bill Stauffer & William White

“How Can an Academic Field Come So Far and Then Erase Itself?” – Andrea Mitchell Et Al, Collective Amnesia: Reversing the Global Epidemic of Addiction Library Closures (2012) | Recovery Review blog, USA

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