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Daily news - 14th February 2024 |
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Dear Readers, welcome to Today's issue of DrugWise Daily. Yesterday's newsletter was finally sent very late last night so please check your inboxes for this issue too if you'd like to see it.
UK news
First evaluation report of residential rehab in Scotland published
The first report of Public Health Scotland’s (PHS) evaluation of a Scottish Government programme relating to residential rehabilitation provision for people with substance use problems in Scotland has been published. The release presents findings from a baseline phase of the evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme, a five-year programme launched in 2021 to help improve access to residential rehab for individuals who use alcohol or drugs | Public Health Scotland, UK
Perceptions of residential rehabilitation among referrers (PDF)
The National Drug Deaths Mission was launched in January 2021 to reduce drug-related deaths and harms. One aspect of this is the increased capacity and use of residential rehabilitation to ensure this is available for everyone who wants it and for whom it is deemed to be clinically appropriate | Public Health Scotland, UK
Drug and alcohol treatment services for women: A guide to commissioning
This briefing offers guidance to commissioners for developing drug and alcohol treatment services for women. It intends to help commissioners utilise much-needed additional funding under the Government’s 10-year drugs strategy, From Harm to Hope, to create a legacy of partnership working that supports knowledge sharing and lived experience involvement within drug and alcohol treatment to ensure that treatment services can meet women’s gendered needs | Centre for Justice Innovation, UK
Naloxone: Legal Challenges and Opportunities for Life Saving Intervention (PDF)
Emerging reports indicate that the UK’s illicit opioid supply is increasingly being contaminated with highly potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes which have been linked to clusters of overdoses. Naloxone is a life-saving medication, administered to reverse an opioid overdose. The benefits of naloxone administration strongly outweigh the risks, it is used to treat a readily identifiable condition, it has no potential for misuse and its administration is straightforward and safe following a brief training | Centre for Evidence Based Drug Policy, UK
Could banning disposable vapes cause more harm than good?
Rishi is coming for your Elf Bar. But experts have warned the ban could cause an increase of smoking in young people | The Face, UK
You Might be Smoking a Black Market Vape Without Even Knowing It
Over forty percent of vapes in the UK don't comply with safety regulation | VICE, UK
Drugs: Easier to get crack than takeaway says ex-addict
The former gardener and bus driver said he had to move 200 miles from his daughter in south Wales for rehab to start building a future for them | BBC, UK
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to (a) consult experts on and (b) develop a strategy to help prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorder | They work for you, UK
Pregnancy: Alcoholic Drinks
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help ensure that all pregnant women are (a) asked about their alcohol intake and (b) supported in reducing and stopping this during pregnancy | They work for you, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for alcohol (a) harm and (b) addiction services | They work for you, UK
Accident and Emergency Departments: Alcoholic Drinks
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in what proportion of cases presented at urgent care and emergency departments has alcohol been recorded as (a) a contributing or (b) major factor in the latest period for which data is available | They work for you, UK
Adfam at 40
Adfam was established in 1984 by Simon Ann Dorin, who could not find the support she needed to deal with her son’s heroin use. In its early years, Adfam was run by volunteers using the vestry at the back of St George’s Church in Campden Hill, West London. Over time, Adfam has evolved, adapted, and changed – but our mission has always remained the same: to improve life for families affected by substance misuse | DDN, UK
Alcohol brief interventions for people with cognitive decline
Tuesday, March 12 · 3:30 - 4:30pm GMT. Webinar to present a systematic review of modifications to alcohol brief interventions for people with cognitive decline | IAS, UK
Council puts homelessness cuts on hold
A council has paused plans to halve spending on beds and support for homeless people. The cuts were removed from final budget proposals published ahead of Newcastle City Council's next cabinet meeting, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said | BBC, UK
Former footballers broke UK advertising rules with CBD tweets, says ASA
Matt Le Tissier and John Hartson recommended product but did not reveal they were being paid | Guardian, UK
Illegal vape warning after jump in number seized in Wolverhampton
A warning has been issued by Trading Standards officers about the dangers of illicit vapes after a huge rise in the number of seizures in Wolverhampton. Up to 4,665 were seized in 2023, compared to 1,042 in 2022 and just 18 in 2021, city council figures show | BBC, UK
Washington man found with two million fake cigarettes jailed
A man who looked after more than two million counterfeit cigarettes for an organised crime group has been jailed for two and a half years | BBC, UK
International news
The Bronze Age of drug checking: barriers and facilitators to implementing advanced drug checking amidst police violence and COVID-19
Unpredictable fluctuations in the illicit drug market increase overdose risk. Drug checking, or the use of technology to provide insight into the contents of illicit drug products, is an overdose prevention strategy with an emerging evidence base. The use of portable spectrometry devices to provide point-of-service analysis of the contents of illicit drugs been adopted by harm reduction organizations internationally but is only emerging in the United States. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators of implementing drug checking services with spectrometry devices in an urban harm reduction organization and syringe service program serving economically marginalized people who use drugs in Boston, Massachusetts | Harm Reduction Journal, USA
A closer look at cannabis use and binge eating
New research from Drexel University's Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center), examined how often people experiencing binge eating are also using cannabis recreationally, and whether patients who use cannabis experience more severe eating disorder symptoms or symptoms of struggling with mental health | Science Daily, USA
Examining the ethical duality of using prescription drug monitoring programs in the fight against opioids
Saint Louis University's Liz Chiarello, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, recently published an article in the American Sociological Review. The article explores pharmacists' use of prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) and the ethical and practical application of PDMPs in health care | Medical Xpress, USA
Study shows sense of smell is impacted by vaping
Sensory changes may be an unexpected side effect of vaping, new University of Otago research shows. The study, carried out in collaboration with the National Institute for Health Innovation and published in the journal Appetite, assessed the potential effects of vaping on the sense of taste and smell among young New Zealanders | Medical Xpress, USA
Vaping is ‘a young person phenomenon’ in Australia
For the first time, the annual HILDA survey has explored who is using vapes and e-cigarettes. And it’s Australia’s young people getting hooked | University of Melbourne, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Saving Lives and Money: A Call for a €1 Minimum Unit Price for Alcohol to Prevent Chronic Liver Disease
In Europe, liver diseases, including cancer, are escalating alarmingly primarily due to excessive alcohol consumption and obesity. This growing health crisis demands effective policy responses | IAS blog, UK
The Paradox of Prohibition Is Clear With Ketamine in the UK
Ketamine was first made in 1962 as a replacement for phencycylidine (PCP). Because of its safety profile, it soon became widely used by doctors as an anaesthetic and analgesic with adults and children, as well as being used by vets on animals. However, sensationalist media coverage preferred to describe it as a “horse tranquilliser” rather than a human medicine | Talking Drugs, UK
Dr Catherine Conlon: The Sale of Alcohol Bill will significantly increase road deaths — here’s why
An open letter has been signed voicing strong opposition to proposed measures that will dramatically increase the number of venues serving alcohol, as well as significantly extending opening hours | Irish Examiner, Ireland