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Daily news - 5th February 2024 |
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UK news
Rapid improvement of alcohol care teams urged as review finds ‘postcode lottery’
More than 35,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions were recorded from 2021 to 2022 | STV, UK
The disposable vape ban - podcast
Vapes are often used by smokers to help them quit cigarettes, but in recent years more British children have taken up the habit. So is a ban the right course of action? Sarah Boseley reports | Guardian, UK
‘My mind had been shattered into a million pieces’: inside the Scientology-linked UK rehab centre
It’s listed on the NHS website and claims to be a ‘world leader’ in tackling substance abuse. But there is a shocking side to the Narconon addiction facility – as our nine-month investigation reveals | Guardian, UK
Charities warn of ‘devastating knock-on impact’ of English councils’ financial crisis
Exclusive: Local voluntary groups forced to cut services or close as council funding pulled | Guardian, UK
Stormont vigil held by local families bereaved by addiction and mental health
"It is too late for my Jack, and all the other people we have lost - but we need to do this for our grandchildren" | Belfast Live, UK
'Cemeteries full of drug deaths and suicides' - audio
A bereaved mother has 'no confidence' a restored Stormont will improve addiction services. Rosemary Lynn's son, Sean Pol Boyle, was just 28 when he died in August 2023 after taking a cocktail of drugs. Rosemary tells North West Today Derry's cemeteries are 'full of young people from drug deaths and suicides.' | BBC Sounds, UK
Alcohol Education Trust Progress on Strategic Goals and Impact Report 2023 (PDF)
It is with immense pride that we reflect on the work of our small charity over the last 14 years in ensuring children and young people are equipped with the knowledge, resilience and life skills to make safer life choices around alcohol and other substances | Alcohol Education Trust, UK
Investigation into the current state of ketamine use and services - survey
The escalating prevalence of ketamine abuse has prompted concerns regarding the recognition of dependence, the availability of effective treatment options, and the comparably little understanding of ketamine addiction compared to other substances. We aim to raise awareness about ketamine use disorder while emphasizing the urgent need for the development of evidence-based treatment guidelines, with the goal of improving treatment success rates among individuals seeking help for ketamine use disorder | University of Exeter, UK
See the weapons and drugs found inside a Scottish jail - video
A prison security officer has been showing the kind of homemade weapons and smuggled drugs warders have to deal with | BBC, UK
Mouayed Bashir died from drugs after restraint, inquest finds
A man died from the effects of cocaine, after becoming distressed when restrained by police, an inquest found | BBC, UK
North Somerset residents to receive hangers about lithium battery disposal
Bin hangers explaining how to safely dispose of batteries, vapes and gas canisters are to be distributed from Monday | BBC, UK
International news
Cash, cars and drugs worth €4.2m seized by Irish police
Gardaí (Irish police) have seized 44kg of cocaine with an estimated value of €3.1m (£2.7m) in County Wicklow | BBC, UK
Doctors fighting US opioid epidemic say insurance barrier impedes treatment
Prior authorization requires permission to be sought before prescribing critical drugs, which could cost lives, doctors say | Guardian, UK
Increase in victims of drug debt intimidation refusing to go to gardaí
Report examining drug crime trends in west Dublin most people are too frightened to report intimidation to authorities | Irish Times, Ireland
A New Wind is Blowing in the Drug Debate
It seems that a new wind is blowing in the drug policy debate. With new, surprisingly high-pitched voices promoting a narrative previously considered rather hippie-like. They don’t quite know how it will end but are clear about fundamentally changing course. An article by Arild Knutsen, leader of the Association for Humane Drug Policy, Norway | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Is Paris poised to make new strides in tobacco control in 2024?
When France unveiled a new tobacco control plan late last year, anti-smoking campaigners were quick to caution that despite the promising-sounding headlines—“from now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm,” proclaimed then-health minister Aurélien Rousseau about the policy—the strategy fell short in a number of ways | European Views, Belgium
Veterinary drug newly found in illicit opioid supply resistant to naloxone
An article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal describes five things clinicians and harm reduction workers should know about xylazine, a veterinary medication adulterating the illicit opioid supply | Medical Xpress, USA
With opioid deaths soaring, Biden administration will widen access to methadone
As drug deaths surged above 112,000 a year in the U.S., driven by the spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, addiction experts have pointed to a troubling paradox. Proven medications, including methadone, have been shown to save lives, cutting the risk of relapses and fatal overdoses by nearly 60%. Yet they are rarely prescribed | NPR, USA
Coming of age in recovery: The prevalence and correlates of substance use recovery status among adolescents and emerging adults
[Open access] To date, no epidemiological survey has estimated the prevalence of adolescents identifying as being in recovery. This is necessary for planning and identifying the needs of youth with current and remitted substance use disorders. This study estimated the prevalence of recovery status in a large statewide epidemiological survey administered between January and March 2020 | PLOS One, USA
Schools are using surveillance tech to catch students vaping, snaring some with harsh punishments
When Aaliyah Iglesias was caught vaping at a Texas high school, she didn't realize how much could be taken from her | Medical Xpress, USA
Overdose mortality incidence and supervised consumption services in Toronto, Canada: an ecological study and spatial analysis
[Open access] Supervised consumption services (SCS) prevent overdose deaths onsite; however, less is known about their effect on population-level overdose mortality. We aimed to characterise overdose mortality in Toronto, ON, Canada, and to establish the spatial association between SCS locations and overdose mortality events | Lancet, Canada
How much a pill-testing trial would cost Victoria
A two-year pill-testing trial would cost Victoria about $3.7 million, the Parliamentary Budget Office has found, as left-wing crossbenchers pressure the state government over drug reform after overdoses at this summer’s festivals | The Age, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The insanity of banning vape flavours
Nicotine may have some deleterious and costly health effects, but so do winter sports, mountaineering, motorcycling and many other activities we leave to personal choice. (I have never been asked to work on a government anti-skiing campaign, though if the opportunity arose I would happily volunteer my services for free.) | Spectator, UK
Completed Dry January? Reading fiction can help newly sober mothers decide what’s next
More people in the UK have gone dry this January than ever before, so drinking, not drinking, and navigating a course between the two, is on many of our minds | Conversation, UK
Opinion: ‘Just say no’ can kill kids. Teach them how to stay safe in the fentanyl era
Melanie Ramos was only 15 years old when she died of a suspected overdose in a high school bathroom in Hollywood. Police reported that she and a friend had purchased pills they thought were prescription painkillers but which were likely fakes containing fentanyl, a potent opioid incorporated into counterfeit pills widely available in the illicit drug market | LA Times opinion, USA
Harnessing tobacco harm reduction
[Free registration may be required] Harm reduction is a successful public health strategy, for example, in minimising the harms of drug use. Tobacco harm reduction should, therefore, be a central strategy of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in addition to the measures for demand and supply reduction which are necessary, but not sufficient. WHO FCTC has been influential in encouraging a global response to tobacco control, but it has been challenging to show a strong and consistent association between the implementation of FCTC measures and smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption outcomes | Lancet comment, New Zealand