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Daily news - 6th December 2024 |
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UK news
Official Statistics - Health Survey Northern Ireland: First Results 2023/24
First results from the 2023/24 Health Survey Northern Ireland. The survey covers a range of topics including general health, smoking, drinking, mental health and emotional well-being | Department of Health (Northern Ireland) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, UK
North East tops alcohol-related deaths table again
The North East continues to have the highest number of alcohol-related deaths anywhere in England, figures have revealed | BBC, UK
Real terms funding cut and missed opportunities amount to disappointing budget which fails to take Scotland’s alcohol harm emergency seriously
Alcohol Focus Scotland has questioned the Scottish Government’s commitment to addressing Scotland’s alcohol harm emergency following yesterday’s draft Scottish Budget. The charity says that a mix of funding cuts and missed opportunities amount to a disappointingly lacking budget which will miss the mark in tackling alcohol harm | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK
Trust 'inadequate' after patients smoke on wards
Mental health wards where staff were unable to stop patients smoking and did not know what to do when fire alarms went off have been ordered to "rapidly improve" | BBC, UK
New low-alcohol beer launched to cut boozy train passenger accidents
Avanti West Coast said the pale ale will create a 'more enjoyable travel experience' and help passengers 'drink responsibly' | STV News, UK
Driving under Influence
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to lower the blood alcohol content limit for driving | They work for you, UK
‘Recovery is possible, and we all have a role to play’: Sally Benton on the results of our latest poll
There's no need to feel powerless in the face of shocking addiction statistics. Recovery is possible, and we all have a role to play. As our new poll reveals, the scale of addiction in the UK is growing. Its impact runs wide and deep | Forward Trust, UK
South Asian women’s experiences of alcohol use and the role of the family
[Open access] Family plays an important role in helping or hindering a loved one’s alcohol recovery and this is particularly true in South Asian communities. In South Asian cultures women are seen as the keepers of the izzat (family honour), and to behave in ways that can jeopardise the izzat, such as drinking alcohol, can have a grave impact on women’s health and wellbeing. This paper explores the lived experiences of alcohol use and help-seeking among South Asian women in England with a particular focus on the role of the family | DEPP, UK
Liverpool City Council awards transformational public health service contracts
The second contract, worth £45m over five-years has been awarded to Change Grow Live (CGL). This will be an all-age integrated drug and alcohol treatment and recovery service providing comprehensive that addresses both treatment and recovery. The new single-lead contractor model promises a visible, accessible, and inclusive service, tailored to meet the needs of people and their families | Liverpool Express, UK
Lottery funding supports addiction recovery group
A charity that works with adults suffering with addiction has received nearly £20,000 in National Lottery funding. Support Through Addiction Recovery (STAR Housing), based in Bristol, provides residential and day care | BBC, UK
Children criminalised by drug trade, says ex-addict
Vulnerable children and young people are being groomed into the drug trade and criminalised, an ex-heroin addict jailed as a teenager has said | BBC, UK
Harm reduction was a game changer with Deb Hussey - video
In this episode, we are joined by Deb Hussey. Deb is Turning Point's National SaferLives Lead and is widely recognised across the UK as one of the countries leading figures within harm reduction. Deb talks about how harm reduction was a game changer in her own life, as well as highlighting we already know what the solutions are to the rising drug-related-deaths in the UK | Barod, UK
Scrooge | A Christmas Carol
Monday, December 16 · 7:30 - 9pm GMT. Johnstone Town Hall, 25 Church Street, Johnstone PA5 8EG. People in recovery from drug and alcohol addictions will take part in a special stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story A Christmas Carol later this month | Abbeycare, UK
Whisky: Scotland
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to alcohol duties on Scotch whisky at the Autumn Budget 2024 on the Government’s plans for Brand Scotland | They work for you, UK
Guidance: Notification of tobacco or herbal products for smoking
Updated lists of notified tobacco or herbal products for sale in Great Britain and Northern Ireland | OHID, UK
Volunteer at BDP
We’re looking for non-judgemental, committed volunteers who believe in people’s capacity to change. Is this you? | BDP, UK
Drugs worth £2.5m seized in county lines crackdown
More than £2.5m worth of drugs have been seized and 68 arrests made during a crackdown on county lines in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire | BBC, UK
Police officer found with drugs banned from force
PC Mathew Carter was found to be carrying a wrap of cocaine when he was stopped by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) while on a night out on 21 September 2023 | BBC, UK
International news
Countries back Brussels’ plan to ban outdoor vaping
But Hungary’s minister reminded countries that the move was nonbinding, as Germany and Greece abstained | Politico, UK
John Krystal: 'The drug that killed Matthew Perry can fix the mental health crisis'
A Professor of Neuroscience at Yale and an expert in alcoholism, PTSD and depression dispels the myths about the drug that killed Matthew Perry – and which Elon Musk swears by | Evening Standard, UK
Why has NSW ruled out what health experts say is the ‘best way forward’ on drugs?
Ex-addict Josh was shattered when, mid-drug summit, decriminalisation was taken off the table. He says it would have allowed him to seek help sooner | Guardian, UK
Life. Restored. Longitudinal service user evaluation 2019-2023 (PDF)
Tiglin provides addiction treatment through long-term residential and aftercare programmes grounded in a Christian ethos, focusing on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual wellbeing of individuals. From 2019 to 2023, Tiglin conducted a comprehensive evaluation of its group programmes across the Men’s, Women’s, and Aftercare centres. It assessed service user satisfaction and programme effectiveness through quantitative and qualitative methodologies | Tiglin, Ireland
Beyond punishment: From criminal justice responses to drug policy reform
This report exposes how punitive drug policies have driven mass incarceration and grave human rights violations. In 2023 alone, over 3.1 million people were arrested for drug-related offenses, with 20% of the global prison population detained for such crimes - nearly half for simple possession | Global Commission on Drug Policy, Switzerland
France supports EU initiative to extend outdoor smoking ban
Smoking could soon be banned at transport stops, near schools, and on restaurant terraces | Connexion, France
EUDA Management Board elects Austrian and Luxembourgish members to leadership roles
The Management Board of the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), meeting in Lisbon this week, held elections today for its leadership positions. The Board elected Austrian member Franz Pietsch as Chairperson and Luxembourgish member Xavier Poos as Deputy Chairperson. They will hold these positions for a four-year term (2025–2028) | EUDA, Portugal
US overdose deaths linked to fentanyl may be declining
Deaths from fentanyl-linked drug overdoses have begun to decline in the United States, but the crisis is far from over and those numbers could easily rise again, a new government report shows | Medical Xpress, USA
Psilocybin Therapy for Clinicians With Symptoms of Depression From Frontline Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This randomized clinical trial found that psilocybin therapy resulted in a significant, sustained reduction in symptoms of depression experienced by clinicians after frontline work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings establish psilocybin therapy as a new paradigm of treatment for this postpandemic condition | JAMA Network Open, USA
MDMA-assisted therapy could improve neurorehabilitation of injured service members beyond PTSD
A UCLA Health analysis of MDMA-assisted therapy research suggests that the drug could improve outcomes of treatment of a wider range of trauma-related conditions experienced by military personnel beyond the current focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by increasing a collaborative and trusting relationship between a client and therapist | Medical Xpress, USA
Barbarian Warriors May Have Fought The Romans While High On Drugs
Like Gina Montana in Scarface, Barbarian soldiers potentially sniffed narcotics from dainty little drug spoons when heading into battle against the ferocious Roman army, according to new research. Somewhat classier than a rolled-up banknote, these ancient instruments were often attached to soldiers’ belts and may have been used to deliver hits of anything from opium to psychedelic fungi | IFLScience, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Is the BBC institutionally stigmatising?
We recently complained to the BBC about an article that focused on the topic of substance use, mental health, organised crime and shoplifting. Our complaint focused on a range of stigmatising language and tropes in the reporting on the BBC website and Radio 4 Today programme. Key to our concern was that one only person with lived experience of substance use was included in the piece and he was unfairly presented as representative of the majority people who shoplift. We felt this stereotyped both the participant and denied other people their own personal life experiences | AntiStigma Network, UK
The government’s “biggest reforms to employment support for a generation” must not overlook people in recovery from substance use
The newly launched ‘Get Britain Working Again’ white paper (released 26 November) demonstrates the new government’s commitment to help people who are not working into employment if they can. But they must include targeted support for people in treatment for substance misuse – and for wider health issues | Forward Trust blog, UK
What your finger length might predict about your drinking habits – new study
People whose ring finger is longer than their index digit tend to drink more alcohol, new research shows. But why is this so? The answer lies in our understanding of sex differences. Some sex differences are influenced by social factors, but others have their roots in our biology | Conversation, USA
Harm reduction must replace punitive drug policies
The so-called war on drugs has failed. In the last century, countries have increasingly attempted absolute prohibition of drug use, often via penal measures. Despite global action, these policies have not deterred drug use: we have reached record levels of “abuse, illicit cultivation and production and manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances”, as acknowledged at the 2024 UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Drug trafficking networks have become increasingly sophisticated and violent, and deaths related to drug use have increased | Lancet, UK