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Daily news - 28th August 2024 |
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UK news
Protect kids from vapes, doctors urge government
The British Medical Association says bold action is needed and vapes have no rightful place in young people’s lives. Children are being targeted with colours, branding and flavours such as bubble gum or candy floss, it says, to push a product that can lead to nicotine addiction | BBC, UK
Share your history!
Working with Everyone are compiling a fascinating history of drug user involvement. April Wareham and the team from Working with Everyone have embarked on tracing the path of drug user involvement that takes them from the harm reduction pioneers of the 1980s with a backdrop of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, through the rise of the recovery movement, to the here and now. Some of the campaigning groups have grown and evolved into services; many, sadly, are just a memory of a newsletter or logo | DDN, UK
Mobile units detect 100 lung cancers in Sussex
Between July 2022 and June 2024, nearly 50,000 people in Sussex were invited for screening as part of the Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) programme. Around 30,000 people took up the offer leading to the detection of 114 lung cancer cases | BBC, UK
Leading drug and alcohol rehab centre hosts Recovery Gathering
Sunday September 8th Glynhill Hotel and Spa in Renfrew. An event designed to celebrate the achievements of people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions will be held in Renfrewshire next month. The Abbeycare annual Recovery Gathering will mark the start of National Recovery Month | Abbeycare, UK
Amount of cannabis seized at UK airports triples in less than a year
National Crime Agency says overproduction of drug in countries where it has been legalised may be behind rise | Guardian, UK
Ex-Bradford winger Foggin-Johnston given cocaine ban
Former Bradford Bulls winger David Foggin-Johnston has been given a two-year ban from rugby league after testing positive for cocaine | BBC, UK
PC sacked after magic mushrooms found in gun cabinet
PC Guy Patten was arrested after officers were called to his Wirral address for unrelated reasons on 3 December, 2023. According to a misconduct ruling by Merseyside's Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, Patten was found to be intoxicated and access was requested to his gun cabinet | BBC, UK
International news
Heightened mortality risk after a non-fatal opioid overdose: Risk factors for mortality in the week following emergency treatment
[Open access] Despite averaging 38 years of age, in Oslo 1 in 8 survivors of an overdose treated with naloxone by emergency services had died by the end of this five-year study. The death rate was greatest in the first week and for those whose overdose was severe, indicating the need for follow-up support | Addiction, UK
‘There is nothing to replace coca’: Colombia’s struggling farmers tempted by illegal crops
A government initiative to help communities move away from farming coca has stalled, while a surge in global cocaine use has made demand for the plant higher than ever | Guardian, UK
Prozac in waterways is changing how fish behave, research finds
Australian study of guppies shows that pharmaceutical pollution could threaten species’ long-term survival | Guardian, UK
Australians are the world's biggest gamblers - could banning ads help?
Like so many in Australia, Sam grew up in a community where having a punt was synonymous with sport. “Our friends, our family would ask ‘Oh who are you betting on this week?’ That was the normal conversation that occurred,” his sister Amy - who is not using her real name - says | BBC, UK
EU and Brazil collaborate on evidence-based prevention initiatives for Latin America
The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) is teaming up with the Brazilian Secretaria Nacional de Políticas sobre Drogas e Gestão de Ativos (SENAD) this week to host a series of evidence-based prevention events in Brasília. The events aim to strengthen prevention efforts in Latin America by fostering the use of scientifically proven strategies | EUDA, Portugal
Overdose Awareness Week
During Overdose Awareness Week, the President has called upon us to “raise awareness of substance use disorder so that our Nation can combat stigmatization, promote treatment, celebrate recovery, and strengthen our collective efforts to prevent overdose deaths.” | SAMHSA, USA
From alcohol and other drug treatment mediator to mechanism to implementation: A systematic review and the cases of self-efficacy, social support, and craving
[Open access] Review finds evidence that impacts on self-efficacy, social support, and craving for substance use underlie the effectiveness of treatment. It remains a big step to showing that interventions can improve substance use outcomes by targeting these constructs | ACER, USA
Researchers find e-cigarette use disrupts the nasal microbiome
The nose plays more roles than merely allowing us to smell and shaping our facial profiles. It also acts as a gatekeeper for the respiratory tract, capable of preventing bacteria and other pathogens from leaving the nasal passage and taking up residence in the lungs | Medical Xpress, USA
Comprehensive review identifies three key concepts for recovery from substance use disorders
Certain concepts have a demonstrated basis for aiding recovery from dangerous alcohol or substance use, according to an analysis of scientific literature since 1990. Self-efficacy (a belief in one's ability to achieve a goal), social support, and managing cravings are among the treatment elements best supported by evidence | Medical Xpress, USA
Ohio study reveals high risk of overdose deaths among those using drugs when they're alone
In Cuyahoga County, the stark reality of the opioid crisis is that most drug overdose victims die alone, with no one nearby to help. A recent study, done in partnership with Case Western Reserve University and Cuyahoga County, highlights the critical need for "targeted harm-reduction strategies" in Northeast Ohio, where the opioid epidemic continues to claim lives at nearly twice the national average | Medical Xpress, USA
Naloxone narratives: Characterizing harm reduction discourse on TikTok
Though life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications are widely available, annual drug overdose deaths remain at all-time highs, and increased education about how to access and administer naloxone (also known as Narcan) is needed. Popular social media platforms may represent a means through which to provide such harm reduction education. This study explored naloxone content on the short video-sharing social media platform, TikTok | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Large-scale implementation of evidence-based approaches to reduce overdose proves challenging
Clinical trials and naturalistic studies have produced several evidence-based practices for opioid use disorder and overdose risk reduction, but how best to implement these strategies remains an open question. This major NIH-funded study tested large-scale, community-wide interventions for expanding evidence-based practices, and assessed its effects on overdose death rates | Recovery Research Institute, USA
A Week to Ramp Up the Pressure for Overdose Prevention Centers
In 2022, over 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States—more than from firearms and vehicles combined. These are not just numbers. These are our family members, friends and neighbors who are being lost to the unpredictability of a potent drug supply, and a system that largely treats substance use disorder as a criminal problem instead of a public health issue | Filter Magazine, USA
Iowa Advocates Seeking to Legalize Fentanyl Test Strips
Iowa is part of a shrinking club: It’s one of just five states that still does not authorize fentanyl test strips. These tools simply show whether or not fentanyl is present in a substance—information that may be unnecessary for regular opioid users who already assume it’s there, but could be lifesaving for someone who’s not expecting to use fentanyl. Iowa activists, with some allies in the state legislature, are working to legalize fentanyl test strips (FTS) | Filter Magazine, USA
Brazilian moms are leading the charge to secure medical marijuana for sick kids
The 4-year-old boy struggled to balance while walking through the living room. His mother's eyes attentively followed his every move. Then a seizure knocked him to the ground, the dull thud of his small body echoing through the home | Medical Xpress, USA
Mummified brains show cocaine arrived in Europe far earlier than we thought
Indigenous communities in South America’s western regions have ingested coca leaves for both medicinal and recreational purposes for thousands of years. However, it wasn’t until 19th century Western chemists developed cocaine hydrochloride that the plant became popular across Europe. But thanks to new forensic analysis, at least some people knew about (and embraced) the coca’s effects as much as 200 years earlier than originally believed | Popular Science, USA
Province says crime is an issue around CTS sites, but data shows that's not the case in Kitchener
CTS sites are not associated with increases in crime, experts say | CBC News, Canada
Examining how the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic affected alcohol use in different socio-demographic groups in an Australian representative longitudinal sample
[Open access] Research examining how alcohol consumption changed across different socio-demographic groups during the pandemic has largely relied upon convenience samples recruited after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to measure whether the pandemic shifted alcohol consumption in different gender, age and income groups in Australia | Addiction, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
What I learned about Scotland's drugs crisis from 'alarming' situation in Canada
[Last] week’s drug-related death figures for Scotland revealed that tragically, figures are once again on the rise, showing 1,172 people lost their lives last year. Each one of these will be someone’s brother, sister, son or daughter – the suffering and trauma is as unacceptable as it is unthinkable. Much more can and must be done to address this crisis, or it could get significantly worse very quickly | Scotsman, UK
Jen’s story: Losing a loved one to overdose
Jen Furby is a Melbourne-based teacher whose only daughter, Nicole, died of a mixed-toxicity drug overdose in 2022. Nicole was 25. By sharing her tragic loss, Jen hopes to start conversations and change community perceptions about drug overdose. This is her story | Penington Institute, Australia