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Daily news - 20th February 2024 |
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UK news
Nitazenes and xylazine: what’s behind the rise of dangerous synthetic drugs? – podcast
Social affairs correspondent Robert Booth tells Madeleine Finlay why a class of synthetic opioids called nitazenes, first developed in the 1950s, is leading to a worrying number of fatal overdoses in the UK. And she hears from toxicology and addiction specialist Dr Joseph D’Orazio about a tranquilliser called xylazine that has been showing up in alarming volumes in the US illegal drug supply and is now starting to appear in toxicology reports in the UK | Guardian, UK
Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) Continuation and future pricing: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment
Scottish Government developed a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment to analyse the costs and benefits of the continuation and uprating of Minimum Unit Price (MUP) on businesses | Scottish Government, UK
First jailing over intention to supply nitrous oxide in Essex
A man has been jailed for four months for possession and intention to supply nitrous oxide in the first prosecution since it became an offence | BBC, UK
Vaping bans respond to growing health and environmental concerns
When the UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced a ban on the sale of disposable vapes in late January, he said his government’s aim was to stamp out vaping among children. ‘Children shouldn’t be vaping, we don’t want them to get addicted, we still don’t understand the full long-term health impacts’, he explained. What’s more, the government has acknowledged the environmental consequences of the use of disposable vapes | International Bar Association, UK
Drowning not waving
In September 2023, the CSJ office in Scotland embarked on a mission to understand the challenges faced by grassroots charities. Through polling 1,000 people in Scotland and engaging with 80 charity executives, a grim picture emerged: increasing poverty, failing public services, and overburdened charities struggling with reduced funding | CSJ, UK
How can we raise awareness of the link between alcohol and breast cancer?
Thu, 21 Mar 2024 13:00 - 14:00 GMT. Join our webinar at 1pm on 21st March to find out about our research on raising awareness of alcohol and breast cancer risk | Emma Davies, UK
Northern Ireland: Take Drugs Seriously
Thursday, March 21 · 7:00 PM. South dining hall, Main site, Queen's University. Come along to learn about the impact of drugs in Northern Ireland and how we can better protect our community. Join the discussion about what a new approach to drugs could mean for Northern Ireland, your family and your community | J Slater, UK
High - video
Docudrama. Sun, sea and suspicious substances. How dreams of sunshine and adventure spiralled into a nightmare of drugs, allegations and arrests abroad | BBC Three, UK
Sheffield custody death: Man had heart attack after cocktail of drugs, inquest told
A man who died while in police custody in Sheffield suffered a fatal heart attack after ingesting a range of drugs, an inquest has heard | BBC, UK
Grimsby drugs gang jailed for 35 years
Four men who supplied and distributed £1m worth of cocaine and drugs into Grimsby and North East Lincolnshire have been jailed for a total of 35 years | BBC, UK
Burglars steal £20k worth of vapes in Totton ram-raid
A vape shop in Hampshire has been wrecked and about £20,000 worth of stock stolen in a ram-raid burglary | BBC, UK
International news
Mike Tyson urges Biden to free thousands locked up over cannabis: ‘Right these wrongs’
Boxer tells the Guardian it’s time for president to grant clemency to those in prison and ‘end cannabis prohibition once and for all’ | Guardian, UK
Australians back stronger regulation on vapes including a ban, study finds
Professor says vaping stores need to be shut down for people to realise supply is being regulated | Guardian, UK
Crystal meth seizure proof that drug cartels 'are using Ireland as a staging post'
Gardaí investigating the seizure of a landmark haul of crystal meth in the Port of Cork say the seizure is proof that Ireland is now being used as a “staging post” by international drug smuggling cartels | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Accelerate tobacco and e-cigarette control measures: WHO
The World Health Organization is calling on countries in South-East Asia Region to intensify efforts to control tobacco and e-cigarette use, as despite steep decline over the years tobacco consumption in the Region continues to be the highest globally, and vaping is on the rise | WHO, India
Brown researchers launch resource to educate public about overdose prevention centers
With two publicly recognized overdose prevention centers open in New York and the nation’s third expected to open in Rhode Island, the project includes recent research about the centers to answer questions and address misconceptions | Brown University, USA
E-cigarettes boost tobacco use abstinence with smoking cessation counseling
The addition of electronic cigarettes to standard smoking-cessation counseling results in greater abstinence from tobacco use among smokers than smoking-cessation counseling alone, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine | Medical Xpress, USA
Music exposes listeners to alcohol references, potentially influencing drinking
At least one in four contemporary songs references alcohol, according to an analysis of multiple studies that hint at the effects of music exposure on listeners' drinking. Music is nearly ubiquitous in modern life, thanks partly to smartphones and streaming services | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Colonial Turbulence: Bermuda’s Weed Wars with Great Britain
Excitement around the possibility of legal cannabis in Bermuda in 2022 was cut short by an unprecedented intervention by the Governor of Bermuda, a British-appointed civil servant with the unique power to block Bermudian legislation, a stark reminder of Bermuda’s colonial relationship with its Motherland. With a new year upon us, has there been any progress with Bermudian cannabis? | Talking Drugs, UK
Cannabis use and its legalisation: analysing chronic pain in US veterans using electronic health records
The United States has a complex relationship with cannabis and its legal status, notably a high level of tension between state and federal level (Young-Wolff et al., 2022). At the federal level, cannabis remains classified as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (1906). This means it is officially regarded as having a high potential for abuse and isn’t a recognised medical treatment option for any disease or condition by the United States Food and Drug Administration | Mental Elf, UK