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Daily news - 9th December 2024 |
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UK news
Cannabis use increases risk of psychosis independently from genetic predisposition
New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has shown that genetic load for schizophrenia and frequent use of cannabis have independent links to the likelihood of developing clinical psychosis | KCL, UK
The dark side of GHB: This is what the sex and party drug is doing to the UK's LGBTQ community
A lack of awareness and education paired with outdated nightlife practices is resulting in a growing number of LGBTQ people dying from accidental GHB overdoses. Jordan Page investigates how lives can be saved | Evening Standard, UK
Drug deaths are on the rise and we need action
Substance use service Barod calls for more support and action in a new 10-point plan to improve the lives of people affected by substance use in Wales | IWA, UK
A self-efficacy enhancement alcohol reduction intervention for men on-remand in prison: the APPRAISE feasibility pilot RCT
[Open access] To see if a more definitive study would be feasible, researchers tested a brief face-to-face counselling and phone booster follow-up programme aimed at reducing drinking among risky-drinking male remand prisoners in two British prisons. The lessons relate mainly to how to implement such a programme and follow-up released prisoners | NIHR, UK
Employers' Contributions: Voluntary Organisations
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the voluntary drug and alcohol treatment sector | They work for you, UK
Lung cancer is Channel Islands' deadliest cancer
Smoking causes more than 85% of lung cancer deaths, external, according to Cancer Research UK. Guernsey recently introduced a ban on smoking in cars carrying children, while other options have been floated such as a ban on beach smoking or an increase in the smoking age. Jersey has had a similar car smoking ban since 2015 and banned branding on cigarettes in 2022 | BBC, UK
Hundreds of lung cancers identified in 'exciting' North East screening programme
Around 500 lung cancers have been detected in a North East patient screening programme, according to the NHS. The checks are for people at higher risk of developing the disease because they are, or have been, smokers | ITV, UK
Change Grow Live 2024 annual report
The launch of our 2024 annual report is a time to reflect and to acknowledge our achievements despite the significant challenges the country has faced – from the cost-of-living crisis and the growing pressure on health and social care services, to changing patterns in drug use and the emerging risk from synthetic substances | Change Grow Live, UK
The historical opposition to psychedelic research and implications for credibility in psychiatry
This perspective article explores the historical opposition to psychedelic research and the implications for the credibility of the field. In the midst of psychedelic drug policy reform, drawing lessons from historical events will contribute to clinical research efforts in psychiatry | Cambridge University Press, UK
Inside the 'secret' £10m medicinal cannabis factory
Since it was legalised in the UK, the number of medicinal cannabis prescriptions has surged. With demand showing no signs of slowing, one company has ambitions to take production of the drug to a new level | BBC, UK
Glasgow - Delivering the UK's first Drug Consumption Room - podcast
What is happening in Glasgow will be crucial in the development of harm reduction services across the UK in the next decade. Dr Saket Priyadarshi, clinical lead of Glasgow's treatment services and Gillian Ferguson co-ordinator of Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Partnership - the local commissioning and co-ordinating body - discuss the background to delivering the UK's first drug consumption room - the issues it will address; how it has been designed and delivered and how its impacts will be evaluated | Drugs Uncut, UK
Street Drugs Discussions - video
Street Drugs Discussions evolved from a series of pre-pandemic live events held across the UK. The initial event was in March 2018 “Street Drugs in the Northern Powerhouse” held at Manchester University, hosted by Jo. We had a number of expert speakers including Prof Fiona Measham (the Loop), Neil Woods (LEAP UK), Prof David Nutt (Imperial) and Andy Costello (GMP) | Drug Science, UK
County Lines - Episode 2: Cycles - podcast
This highly personal series investigates how criminal networks systematically exploit vulnerable young people, transforming them from ordinary schoolchildren into drug dealers through manipulation, violence, and trauma. An estimated 50,000 children in Britain have been groomed into county lines drug trafficking, yet their stories remain largely hidden. In this second episode, we investigate what keeps young people returning to county lines, even after interventions | BBC Sounds, UK
What's in your drugs?
Wednesday 11th December. Centre Space Studios & Gallery. Bristol. Doors are at 18:00 with entertainment starting at 18:30. The event finishes at 19:30. At the event, you will be able to: 1) Learn more about the changes we’re seeing & what these changes mean for people who use drugs 2) Get taught to spot and respond to an opioid overdose with Naloxone (aka Narcan) 3) Find out how you can test what’s actually in your drugs | Bristol Sober Spaces, UK
Guinness rations supply to British pubs as popularity soars with Gen Z
Brand’s owner, Diageo, facing pressures as newfound appreciation for drink creates extraordinary demand | Guardian, UK
Guard smuggled drugs into prison in Pot Noodle
Victoria Sked, 32, was part of a wider smuggling and money laundering enterprise involving inmates at HMP Lindholme, near Doncaster, and their associates | BBC, UK
International news
We Met Germany’s New Generation of Crack Cocaine Users - video
Crack cocaine use across Europe is booming, and Germany is one of the nations where authorities are struggling to work out how to deal with the uptick. In the latest episode of The War On Drugs show, VICE visited downtown Düsseldorf, a city that has recorded a 14000% increase in crack use at its safe consumption rooms | VICE, UK
Most in US view substance use as health issue, but many states treat it as crime
More than half of states treat drug possession as a felony, even as 75% of Americans say it’s a health problem, poll says | Guardian, UK
Fentanyl may enter the US from Mexico, but the drug of choice there is different
Use of crystal meth is soaring among workers, partiers and the young and threatening a public health crisis | Guardian, UK
Dominican Republic records largest cocaine seizure
Hidden in a banana shipment, officials found 9,500kg of the drug at a port in the capital, Santo Domingo | BBC, UK
‘They were just kids’: the award-winning photographer who captured the Bali Nine at their most vulnerable
As the government works to secure the release of the remaining Australians, Mick Tsikas looks back on his work documenting their fate, from arrests to, in some cases, executions | Guardian, UK
Fraud and Fakery at the Country’s Largest Chain of Methadone Clinics
[Seems to be open access] Acadia Healthcare falsifies records at its methadone clinics and enrolls patients who aren’t addicted to opioids, a Times investigation found | NYTimes, USA
Virtual Primary Care for People With Opioid Use Disorder: Scoping Review of Current Strategies, Benefits, and Challenges
[Open access] COVID gave a major boost to non-face-to-face treatments, including those for opioid dependence conducted via phone, internet, or other remote technologies. Reviewers find these have proved “feasible, acceptable, and effective … particularly in enhancing accessibility and continuous access to care” | JMIR, USA
U-shaped association seen for alcohol consumption, cardiometabolic disease
There is a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease (CHD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) but no evidence for a causal association, according to a study published online Nov. 24 in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research | Medical Xpress, USA
The “Reemergence” of Carfentanil
Proponents of the Controlled Substances Act like to characterize fentanyl analogs as more potent and thus more deadly than fentanyl—if you want to keep the public afraid of drugs, each new one has to be scarier than whatever came before. But for the most part fentanyl analogs are sometimes a bit more potent than fentanyl and sometimes a bit less, which is a boring explanation with no shock value. For that you’d want to focus on the highest-potency analog identified so far, which is why everyone likes talking about carfentanil | Filter Magazine, USA
The key takeaways from NSW drug summit's Sydney hearings
Earlier this week, several hundred politicians, policy experts, police, health professionals, and people with lived experience of drug use packed into Sydney's International Convention Centre to discuss drug-related harm in New South Wales. Here are some of the key points from the summit | abc.net.au, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Whose Definition? Fear-Based Responses to Everyday Words
Understanding how language shapes perception is critical, especially when discussing substance use and treatment services. Words we consider neutral can evoke unexpected, fear-based responses, rooted in societal stigma and misunderstanding. Drawing on my personal experiences opening treatment services and engaging with diverse stakeholders—including neighbours, policymakers, and the media—I've observed how language often unintentionally reinforces fears and biases. Let me share some reflections and practical insights on navigating this complex communication landscape | AntiStigma Network, UK
‘I’d always enjoyed alcohol – but my mother’s sudden, violent death made me a heavy drinker overnight’
When she died, my life plunged into darkness and I turned to the bottle. It quickly became clear to me how trauma could change a moderate habit into a dangerous one | Guardian, UK