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Daily news - 15th January 2024 |
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UK news
Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Services National Workforce Census (PDF)
NHS England, together with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) have developed a 10-year workforce strategic plan, (2024-2034) which outlines the vision for the drug and alcohol treatment and recovery workforce. To support the continued development of workforce and training plans, the NHS Benchmarking Network were commissioned to develop and undertake a workforce census. This is the second year of the census and provides an update as at the 30th June 2023 compared to the baseline position established as at 30th June 2022 | NHS Benchmarking Network, UK
Synthetic opioids could fuel ‘second wave’ of UK drug deaths crisis, experts warn
Government urged to act as experts sound the alarm on nitazenes, with 54 deaths in past six months likely ‘tip of the iceberg’ | Independent, UK
Revealed: Huge rise in women drinking themselves to death
Exclusive: Expert warns ‘incessant marketing of drinks towards women’ has helped fuel a surge in alcohol-related deaths, particularly liver disease | Independent, UK
Booze tax: Scottish Labour calls for public health levy on alcohol
Scottish Labour has called for the introduction of a public health levy on alcohol sales, to fund "vital, life-saving treatment." | Herald, UK
Alcohol and Drugs Policy (Budget)
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its proposed budget spend increase of £0.1 million for alcohol and drugs policy, which is reportedly a real-terms reduction, is sufficient to address the challenges faced in this area | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Misuse [Drug Consumption rooms]
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the effectiveness of overdose prevention centres in reducing death and other harms caused by drug use to individuals and society; and why they do not support pilot overdose prevention centres | They work for you, UK
Research Briefing: Use and sale of illegal vapes
There will be a Westminster Hall debate on the use and sale of illegal vapes on 16 January 2024 at 4.30pm. The debate will be led by Peter Gibson MP. This research briefing, produced in time for the debate, looks at the issues surrounding vaping | UK Parliament, House of Commons Library, UK
Westminster Hall debate: Smokefree Future
Last Thursday, peers debated the recommendations in the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Smoking and Health’s manifesto for a smoke-free future | UK Parliament, Hansard, UK
Sharp rise in clinicians seeking poisoning information about nitrous oxide and ketamine
There has been a 175 per cent increase in clinicians consulting the National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) about nitrous oxide in a year, says the latest NPIS report, with a 25 per cent increase related to ketamine over the same period | DDN, UK
‘I asked to keep my alcohol tag on after it helped end my life of crime’
[Possible paywall] Danny Herbert said that wearing an alcohol tag has kept him out of prison | Telegraph, UK
Spend Dry January with us, say pubs and bars
After indulging at Christmas, many drinkers take up the Dry January challenge to take a break from the booze and make a healthy start to the new year. But pubs and bars across Yorkshire are urging customers not to stay away during what can be a challenging month for the hospitality sector | BBC, UK
How much do you know about medical cannabis? - UK Patient Conference 2024 Highlights Film - video
Find out more about medical cannabis and how to become a cannabis patient in the UK | Drug Science, UK
War on drugs shatters silence on sleepy streets
County lines gangs are plaguing UK towns and cities by ferrying illegal goods in and out of communities, many of them supposedly quiet and rural. But last week, police arrested 30 people in under 48 hours as part of Project Medusa - a joint operation involving 100 officers across the North Yorkshire and Merseyside forces | BBC, UK
Humza Yousaf's brother-in-law charged with drug offences
Ramsay El-Nakla, who is the brother of Mr Yousaf's wife Nadia El-Nakla, was arrested after a break-in was reported in Dundee on Thursday | BBC, UK
Cannabis plants worth £4m seized in Rotherham police raid
Thousands of cannabis plants worth more than £4m have been seized by police in a raid in Rotherham town centre | BBC, UK
International news
‘This used to be a calm place’: killing continues in Ecuador’s week of chaos
As cartels and crime syndicates flock to Ecuador for cocaine trade profits, its murder rate has soared, with a TV station assault the crescendo of a week of bloodshed | Guardian, UK
Field trip: inside America’s first magic mushroom school
At a forest facility in Oregon, the first US state to allow supervised use of the drug, students work toward becoming licensed trip facilitators | Guardian, UK
Drug testing in Canberra reveals three recreational substances not previously seen in Australia
CanTEST facility also finds more than half of drugs tested were not what user expected, with ones similar to MDMA and potentially fatal ‘bath salts’ | Guardian, UK
Warning of 'high risk' to heroin users in Cork and Dublin
The HSE has reiterated its concern for heroin users in Cork and Dublin on foot of the arrival of a new synthetic opioid drug in the two cities | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Fears grow over ketamine use in wake of five deaths
The latest figures recorded by the National Drug-Related Deaths Index in Ireland show eight poisoning deaths where ketamine was implicated between 2011 and 2020. Five of these deaths were recorded between 2018 and 2020 | Irish Independent, Ireland
Suspected cocaine worth estimated €3.4 million seized in Rosslare Harbour
Revenue officers seized approximately 49 kilograms of the drugs at Rosslare Europort in Co Wexford | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Free nicotine replacement therapy from the HSE
January is a popular time for people to try to stop smoking. Many try to quit alone without supports and therapies that can give the best chance of quitting, such as stop smoking medications. The HSE is here to help you quit by providing free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) along with other tried and tested supports | Westmeath Examiner, Ireland
Taliban’s Poppy Ban Raises Concerns of Nitazenes as Potential Heroin Substitute: Industry Expert - video
Harry Shapiro, Director of DrugWise, discusses the Taliban’s possible disruption of the heroin supply chain in Afghanistan. He highlighted the looming risk of synthetic opioids taking the place of traditional heroin, underscoring the associated dangers, ease of production, and cost advantages for traffickers. Notably, Shapiro also points out that while the U.K. has seen relatively low Nitazene-related deaths to date, there is a recognition that this situation may evolve in the future | NTD, USA
Marijuana meets criteria for reclassification as lower-risk drug, FDA scientific review finds
Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance | CNN, USA
Want safer prescribing? Provide doctors with a plan for helping patients in pain, says study
Physicians who are notified that a patient has died of a drug overdose are more judicious in issuing controlled substances if the notification includes a plan for what to do during subsequent patient visits, according to a study published today in Nature Communications | Medical Xpress, USA
Could an already approved drug cut down on opioid use after surgery?
Researchers in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have found that an FDA-approved drug may help to decrease pain after surgery. In the pilot study published in Pain Management, spinal surgery patients who received N-acetylcysteine (NAC) during surgery in addition to standard pain control treatments reported lower pain scores and requested fewer opioids after surgery than patients given a placebo | Medical Xpress, USA
Male gender expression in schools is associated with substance abuse later in life
A new study led by researchers at the University of Chicago found that changes in male gender expression from adolescence to young adulthood align closely with the gender norms present in individuals' school environments and that these trajectories are associated with subsequent patterns of substance abuse | Medical Xpress, USA
Childhood Trauma, Emotional Awareness, and Neural Correlates of Long-Term Nicotine Smoking
In this cross-sectional study of 102 individuals who smoked nicotine long term matched with 102 healthy controls, individuals who smoked nicotine spent more time in the frontoinsular default mode brain network. Alexithymia mediated the association between childhood trauma and time spent in the frontoinsular default mode network only in individuals who smoked nicotine | JAMA Network Open, USA
How Israel became the world leader in medical marijuana
Israel has long been considered a global leader in the research and development of the cannabis industry. The country has become a hub for other countries to conduct research in the medicinal cannabis field due to a history of pioneering studies in the field and less stringent restrictions on initiating clinical trials | The Week, USA
How do users compare the costs between nicotine vaping products and cigarettes? Findings from the 2016–2020 International Tobacco Control United States surveys
Nicotine vaping products (NVPs) can potentially help adult tobacco users quit smoking. This study evaluated how adult consumers compare the costs between NVPs and cigarettes | Addiction, Canada
Pill testers find three new party drugs
The discoveries were made by Prof Malcolm McLeod, Chemistry Lead at CanTEST and Pill Testing Australia, and a team of ANU chemists | CityNews, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Four street drugs that could pose the biggest threat to UK public health in 2024
As with fashion and music, illicit drugs go through peaks and troughs of popularity. There are popular staples, such as cannabis, and more disruptive and transient substances, such as mephedrone. As with clothing fashion, the drugs that most people are able to buy are determined by the choices of designers, manufacturers and logistical operations, rather than consumers | Conversation, UK
No- and low-alcohol drinks – a growing market that could change public health but challenges remain
As Dry January continues, many people are looking to no- and low-alcohol (no/lo) drinks as an alternative to their usual choice. There is no doubt these drinks are increasingly popular but reporting on the no/lo market is often characterised by hype and selective data releases. Anyone looking for clear and comprehensive information will often draw a blank | Alcohol Change UK blog, UK
The US opioid crisis has come to Britain
‘Never do drugs, you’ll be hooked instantly,’ my mother used to say, and though I nodded, I never even considered paying attention. So I don’t expect my young cousins or my godchildren or my pill-popping friends to take a blind bit of notice when I tell them the same, but I mean it: don’t do drugs. It’s not worth it. Not any more | Spectator, UK
How the EU Makes Drug Policies
The way that the European Union (EU) creates drug policy can seem unclear given its many levels of decision- and policymaking in the bloc. Here we uncover how EU drug policy is created, including how decisions on drugs are taken, whether drug policies are binding for Member States, and more | Transform blog, UK
How Ecuador went from being Latin America’s model of stability to a nation in crisis
Ecuador was until relatively recently seen as one of the safest countries in Latin America. That reputation has surely now been destroyed | Conversation, USA
The West’s war on drugs has failed – and brought carnage to Latin America
[Possible paywall] Ecuador is the latest country to fall into chaos thanks to our policy of leaving cocaine to the criminals | Telegraph, UK
Abortion Dumpster 4 Biden
It’s easy to categorize addicted drug users: “He uses heroin,” or “she uses crack.” But those labels don’t apply anymore. That’s because there are almost no pure drugs out there. Almost everything is a mélange of random shit — uppers, downers, cough medicine, horse tranquilizers, and everything in between | Ben Westhoff, USA
Successfully treated for OUD, but the patient died of addiction?
An article in Forbes responds to the coverage of Matthew Perry’s death. Specifically, the references to buprenorphine (Suboxone) in his system | Recovery Review blog, USA