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Daily news - 23rd December 2024

Dear Readers, tomorrow will be the last DrugWise Daily until the new year. Harry and Jackie would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

UK news

UK to open its first safe drug consumption room amid soaring deaths

The Thistle in Glasgow aims to save lives by providing a supervised environment in ‘Europe’s drug deaths capital’ | Guardian, UK

‘Free and impartial’ addiction helplines paid secret commission by rehabs

Advertising regulator reprimands services that claim to offer unbiased advice but then direct people to partner facilities | Guardian, UK

ACMD annual report 2020 to 2022

Overview of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' (ACMD) work from January 2020 to December 2022 | ACMD, UK

Smoking cessation services face funding uncertainty, survey reveals

The survey from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and Cancer Research UK has revealed that for the first time since the transfer of public health to local government a decade ago, all surveyed local authorities commissioned a stop smoking service, providing essential support to those who want to quit | Dental Nursing, UK

Life-saving drug Naloxone now being carried by South Yorkshire Police officers

A gradual rollout of Naloxone will now take place across South Yorkshire following partnership work involving all four of the county’s local authorities. All police officers and operational staff must complete mandatory training before they will be allowed to carry it | South Yorkshire Police, UK

Drug Dealers Have Moved on to Social Media

The marketing of illegal drugs on open platforms is “gaining prominence,” authorities note, while the number of drug transactions on the dark web has decreased in recent years | Wired, UK

SARG research on drinking guidelines presented in Brussels

Professor Holmes presented SARG's evaluation of the UK's low-risk drinking guidelines which concluded that announcing new drinking guidelines did not lead to a substantial or sustained reduction in drinking or a downturn in the long-term trend in alcohol consumption, though there was evidence of a temporary reduction in consumption | SARG, UK

How much alcohol is too much? - video

This episode is brought to you by Drinkaware. Almost two-thirds of us will drink more alcohol over Christmas than at other times of the year, according to a new survey from the alcohol-harm charity drinkaware. 18-34-year-olds are twice as likely to feel pressure from friends to have a drink during the festive period. My guest is Karen Tyrell, CEO of drinkaware, the charity which aims to reduce alcohol harm | The Dr Hilary Show, UK

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve the process for families to obtain a diagnosis for foetal alcohol spectrum disorder | They work for you, UK

Smoking: Public Houses

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take legislative steps to allow pubs to designate outdoor smoking and vaping areas | They work for you, UK

We are sad to announce that our Chief Executive Officer, Anna Smith will be stepping down from her role with us on the 24th December

Anna started with us in July 2023 following the untimely passing of our previous CEO Maggie Telfer. Whilst not an easy situation to come into, Anna has steered BDP to calmer waters with poise and a level head | BDP, UK

Views sought over alcohol licensing law changes [Jersey]

Islanders are being asked for their views on a proposed shake of the laws governing the sale of alcohol | BBC, UK

Funding hurdle stalling cannabis growing plans

A medicinal cannabis company in Guernsey said it has struggled to secure the £2m investment needed to start work on its new growing and testing facility | BBC, UK

Cannabis farmer was 'paying back people smugglers'

An Albanian man who tended a cannabis farm to pay off people smugglers who brought him into the UK illegally has been jailed for nine months | BBC, UK

Drug dealer's killers traced by DNA on cigarettes

Two men who tried to rob a drug dealer in south London of his stash of cocaine have been convicted after they were identified from DNA left on cigarettes discarded at the scene | BBC, UK

International news

THC drinks gain popularity in the US – but can they fully replace alcohol?

A growing trend of state laws permit the sale of cannabis drinks – and beverage companies are angling to make the next hit alcohol alternative | Guardian, UK

Pro-consumer laws and an endorsement for vaping: why smoking is disappearing in Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand has experienced a steady decline in smoking rates over the past 50 years, and since the legalisation and widespread adoption of vaping products in the past decade, this decline has gathered pace with a significant uptick in the use of safer products. Aotearoa New Zealand is now on track to become one of the first “Smokefree” countries in the world, a designation indicating that smoking prevalence has been reduced to below 5%. This Briefing Paper seeks to explore the complex and rapid trajectory of Aotearoa New Zealand’s smokefree journey, and the lessons that can be learned from the country’s consumer-forward approach to public health | GSTHR, UK

Home-based detoxification for individuals with alcohol or drug dependence: A systematic review of the recent literature

[Open access] Eleven studies published since 2010 suggest home-based detoxification is “a viable treatment option that offers benefits for both patients and their families”, though the evidence was limited by the paucity of randomised trials comparing these approaches to other methods | Drug and Alcohol Review, UK, UK

Strategies for enhancing the implementation of school‐based policies or practices targeting diet, physical activity, obesity, tobacco or alcohol use

[Open access] Schools focused on academic results can be hard to engage in health-promoting initiatives, but this review found that can be significantly turned around by targeted support, information and other strategies – “evidence supporting the use of implementation strategies to improve the implementation of interventions targeting risk factors for chronic disease in schools” | Cochrane Library, UK

Consumer reactions to multiple and single health warnings on static alcohol ads: A factorial survey experiment with a convenience sample of adults in Ireland

[Open access] In 2018 Ireland legislated to require health warnings in alcohol advertisements. Shown online to adults in Ireland, such warnings were not found to bolster confidence in resisting drinking nor to intensify concern over health impacts | Drug and Alcohol Review, UK

The drug-trafficking Rio gangsters who see themselves as God's 'soldiers of crime'

When police in Rio de Janeiro seize blocks of cocaine and bundles of marijuana they may well find them branded with a religious symbol – the Star of David. This is not a reference to the Jewish faith, but to the belief of some Pentecostal Christians that the return of Jews to Israel will lead to the Second Coming of Christ | BBC, UK

What now for Syria’s £4.5bn illegal drug empire

When Syrian rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Damascus and gave a victory speech on the heels of a lightning military campaign that swept through the country and toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime, one remark went widely unnoticed. That was his reference to an illegal narcotic that has flooded the Middle East over the past 10 years | BBC, UK

Trends in Opioid Use Disorder in the Veterans Health Administration, 2005-2022

In this cross-sectional study of patients in the Veterans Health Administration that included approximately 5 million adults per year, the prevalence of OUD increased from 2005 to 2017, peaked in 2017 at 1.16%, and declined until 2022 to 0.97% | JAMA Network Open, USA

Offering buprenorphine treatment over the phone or by video link promises to extend access. Across 40 studies patients say it has done just that and are highly satisfied. However, it is more suited to some patients and phases of treatment than others, and there are misgivings about what is lost without face-to-face contact | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

Avatar Intervention in Virtual Reality for Cannabis Use Disorder in Individuals With Severe Mental Disorders: Results From a 1-Year, Single-Arm Clinical Trial

In Canada psychiatric patients with problematic cannabis use interacted with a psychiatrist who took the form of a virtual-reality ‘avatar’ representing a significant figure in the patient’s cannabis-using life, such as a dealer or fellow user. Results were promising but require replication in a more robust study | JMIR Public Health, USA

Province repeals public use law previously blocked by B.C. Supreme Court for irreparable harm

Yesterday the B.C. provincial government repealed Bill 34: the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act. This represents a small but hard-fought victory against politically-driven laws and policies that inflict harm upon those made most vulnerable by oppressive systems | Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Canada

Blogs, comment and opinion

Written evidence: Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill

Alcohol Change UK submission to the Scottish Parliament Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Call for Written Evidence on the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill | Alcohol Change UK, UK

Words Matter: A Knowledge Exchange Event

The language we use when communicating about alcohol and other drugs can frame how we think about the subject. In Turning Point Scotland we have been working on this issue for the last couple of years and we know just how sensitive a topic it can be | DRNS blog, UK

Decriminalising drugs: “Open secret that most of the NSW Cabinet now support major drug law reform”

As Francis Hodgson Burnett said more than a century ago “at first people refuse to believe that strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done – then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago.“ This is the spirit that is needed with drug policy | Pearls and irritations, Australia

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