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Daily news - 16th February 2024 |
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UK news
Alcohol-Specific Deaths registered in Northern Ireland 2012-2022
NISRA has published figures for alcohol-specific deaths registered in Northern Ireland, 2012-2022. The definition of alcohol-specific deaths includes conditions known to be exclusively caused by alcohol and excludes conditions which may only be partially attributed to alcohol use | NISRA, UK
Update: Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Services National Workforce Census December 2023_V2 (PDF)
Following the completion of individual local authority reports by NHS Benchmarking Network (NHSBN), some minor discrepancies were identified in the local data which has therefore required changes to the main national report to ensure its accuracy and reliability. These changes do not impact the executive summary or messaging of the report | NHS England, UK
Safer consumption rooms 'key to addressing drug harms' in Edinburgh
The facilities have been recommended to tackle drug-related deaths and changing patterns of drug use in the capital | STV News, UK
Overcoming stigma crucial to curbing drug-related deaths in England and Wales (PDF)
The stigma surrounding addiction needs to be overcome to combat the rising number of drug-related deaths, urges the NHS Addictions Provider Alliance (APA) | NHS APA, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Death
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths each year | They work for you, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Children
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle underage vaping | They work for you, UK
Is vaping being banned in the UK? 5 things people say about vaping and the truth behind the myths
This content is part of a suite of content produced as part of Teen23 day, looking at some of the issues affecting young people aged 13-18 in Britain today | BBC Bitesize, UK
I’m an alcoholic and so is my mother. I want my daughter to break the cycle
Frank Skinner says teetotal parents are a child's best gift and Arabella Byrne vows to stop her daughter inheriting her alcoholism | i news, UK
Denise Welch on addiction, depression and being the 'Virgin Mary' to The 1975 fans
After four tumultuous decades in the spotlight, Denise Welch is known as many things - a well-travelled television personality, a (reformed) party animal, an outspoken Loose Woman, a rock-star mum, a survivor | BBC, UK
The brewing secrets behind tastier no-alcohol beer
At one end of Firebrand Brewing Company's factory stand four towering 9,000 litre vessels, a recent purchase to help meet growing demand for non-alcoholic beer | BBC, UK
Drugs, Stigma and Emergency Services
Thursday, March 7 · 10am - 12pm GMT. The Drugs Research Network for Scotland (DRNS) is holding an online event to discuss drugs, stigma and emergency services in Scotland | DRNS, UK
International news
HSE funds for mental health, drugs, and sexual assault services
Funding of €2.7m is set to go on extra staffing in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs) this year, according to the HSE National Service Plan 2024. The plan says that €600,000 is being provided this year for the expansion of dual diagnosis services for young people with addiction and mental health issues, with a further €400,000 in 2025 | Irish Examiner, Ireland
New Report: WHO urges urgent government actions to protect youth and prevent the uptake of e-cigarettes
Recently, WHO issued a call to action urging governments to take immediate measures to control e-cigarettes, safeguard young people, protect non-smokers, and minimize health risks to populations. E-cigarettes as consumer products are not shown to be effective for quitting tobacco use at the population level. Instead, mounting evidence reveals alarming adverse health effects | WHO, Laos
More people die after smoking drugs than injecting them, US study finds
CDC officials decided to study the topic after seeing reports from California suggesting that smoking fentanyl was becoming more common than injecting it. Potent, illicit versions of the painkiller are involved in more U.S. overdose deaths than any other drug | Medical Xpress, USA
President Zelensky Signs Bill Legalizing Medical Cannabis In Ukraine: Could It Help Millions Affected By War?
On Tuesday 13 February, less than a year after the bill’s first reading in the Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament], President Vladamir Zelensky signed the legislation permitting the prescription of cannabis-based medicines for conditions including pain, cancer and PTSD | Forbes, USA
Using cannabis can ease cravings for street-level drugs, new research suggests
New findings from researchers at the University of British Columbia suggest that cannabis could play a role in addressing the ongoing opioid overdose crisis | Medical Xpress, USA
Experts say 'diet weed' can be dangerous
"Diet weed" is a phrase used to describe Delta-8 products, which are often synthetic recreations of a chemical compound found in cannabis. First popularized following the 2018 Farm Bill that permitted the sale of hemp, Delta-8 users have reported improvements to their sleep, anxiety and pain without feeling any of the intoxicating effects often associated with marijuana | Medical Xpress, USA
MDMA Close to Being Legal Medicine, as FDA Grants Priority Review
MDMA is getting ever closer to becoming a legal medicine. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now expediting review of an application which, if approved, would allow doctors to prescribe the psychedelic for people experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Federal approval for an often-demonized drug would be historic, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would then have to reschedule it. But the next challenge would be finding a way to make the treatment affordable for people in need | Filter Magazine, USA
‘Hundreds of thousands’ of people switching ‘to vaping from smoking’ - video
Action for Smokefree 2025 Director Ben Youdan says “hundreds of thousands” of people in New Zealand have switched from vaping to smoking | Sky News, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Using ‘trip killers’ to cut short bad drug trips is potentially dangerous
As interest in psychedelics has grown, so has interest in ways to end a bad trip. Recent research reveals that people are giving potentially dangerous advice on social media on how to stop a trip that is less than pleasurable | Conversation, UK
Spice: the ‘zombie drug’ being found in some vape liquids
Five teenagers in London were hospitalised recently after smoking vapes containing the drug known as spice. This incident is only the latest in what appears to be a growing problem in the UK with unregulated vape liquids, especially those marketed as containing THC or cannabis | Conversation, UK
New tobacco and vaping legislation will go a long way to protect children’s health
Millions of people die each year from tobacco use across the world. This affects all of our communities and healthcare systems, and disproportionately affects poorer nations and people. It is unfathomable that transnational tobacco companies continue to trade and make billions of dollars of profit each year despite the known lethality from use of their tobacco products | BMJ Opinion, UK
State of Shock: Ecuador’s Descent Into Narco Violence
In early January, a series of very public and violent events across Ecuador was, unfortunately, a long time coming; it was the product of the continued failure of past security and drug control strategies that were unable to keep citizens safe from cartel-related violence. The current approach to drugs is partly to blame for the strengthening of new criminal groups that are linked to international cartels | Talking Drugs, UK
Free children’s book supports conversations around parental substance use
Children, young people, their families, teachers, and researchers at Newcastle University and Fuse have worked with an illustrator, Josie Brookes and author, Danielle Slade, to write a children’s book called, Twinkle, Twinkle Arti | Alcohol Action Ireland, Ireland
Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US
Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that contains more than 20 unique compounds, including isotonitazene, which was first identified in 2019 and is known on the streets as ISO. It also includes protonitazene, metonitazene and etonitazene | Conversation, USA