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Daily news - 26th January 2024 |
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UK news
Press Release: The UK’s first regular drug checking service launches in Bristol this month (PDF)
The UK’s first regular drug checking service is set to launch in Bristol this month, delivered by leading harm reduction charity The Loop. In partnership with Bristol City Council and Bristol Drugs Project, The Loop will be bringing its pioneering service, which combines personalised health advice with drug testing, to central Bristol | BDP, The Loop, UK
Bristol to host first regular drug checking service
A regular drug-checking service, aimed at saving lives, is set to launch for the first time in the UK. Harm-reduction charity, The Loop, will be offering a monthly drop-in drug testing service combined with health advice in Bristol from Saturday. Licensed by the Home Office, it will focus on dependent, frequent and problematic use | BBC, UK
National statistics: Substance misuse treatment for young people: 2022 to 2023
Alcohol and drug treatment data for young people under 18, from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) | OHID, UK
Official Statistics: Substance misuse treatment in secure settings: 2022 to 2023
Statistics for alcohol and drug misuse treatment in prisons and other secure settings from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) | OHID, UK
Drug Testing on Arrest (DToA): programme data
Updated with data up to September 2023. Added data on the number of tests by trigger or non-trigger offence, the number of positive tests by substance, and the number of referrals into assessment following a positive test | Home Office, UK
Calls for Chancellor to ‘curb the mounting death toll from alcohol’ ahead of Spring Budget
A group of 35 leading health experts from the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) are urging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to increase alcohol duty by 2% above inflation in the upcoming Spring Budget. If implemented, the group say it will help to curb the mounting death toll from alcohol, reduce pressure on the NHS and generate revenue for the economy | AHA, UK
Sober Times: What’s Behind Gen Z’s Lack of Interest in Booze?
Nathan O’Hagan explores the notable shift away from a culture of excess drinking among today’s younger generations | Byline Times, UK
Forward Trust Social Impact Report (PDF)
This is Forward Trust's sixth annual impact report, and the biggest and most comprehensive yet, reflecting our growing reach and expanding range of support... | Forward Trust, UK
We are looking to appoint three new trustees to our Scotland board
We are looking for individuals who share our passion for recovery that in turn motivates people with substance use problems to realise their own recovery. We know families, friends and carers need hope, care and guidance just as much as their loved ones. As a trustee you will, along with other Board members, have a key role in supporting the work Phoenix Futures through involvement with strategy formulation and monitoring, risk management and internal control | Phoenix Futures, UK
International news
‘It beats getting stoned on the street’: how Portugal decriminalised drugs – as seen from the ‘shoot-up centre’
At a portable cabin in Porto, addicts queue up to use heroin and crack cocaine in safety, with medical staff on hand. Can other countries learn anything from Portugal’s liberal drugs policy? | Guardian, UK
Woman avoids jail for fatally stabbing man over 100 times during cannabis psychosis
Father of the victim says the judge has given anyone who smokes marijuana a ‘licence to kill’ after sentencing | Independent, UK
“I knew it was different there”: a qualitative study of the motivations and risks of drug policy migrants going to Denmark from Sweden
[Open access] This study explores why Swedish people who use drugs (PWUD) relocate to Denmark, in the context of differing drug policy approaches in the two countries. Specifically, the aim was to understand how PWUD experience and value different drug scenes and policy contexts, and reason about the benefits and risks of changing environments | DEPP, UK
Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use
This report published in two volumes, details the proceedings, deliberations and recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. The Assembly concluded its work by making 36 recommendations, which are published in Volume 1 of this report. Taken together, these recommendations provide a strong and uneuivocal signal to the Government and the Oireachtas that the State needs to take a far more innovative, ambitious, comprehensive and coherent approach to drugs use in Ireland | Citizen's Assemby, Ireland
Oireachtas committee to tease out what assembly means by drugs decriminalisation
A special Oireachtas committee will have the task of “teasing out what was envisaged” by the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use when it recommended that personal possession of drugs should be decriminalised, but remain illegal, the drugs strategy minister has said | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Revenue sees 'significant' rise in Irish cocaine seizures while Europe shifts focus in heroin trade
Revenue chairman Niall Cody appeared today before the Public Accounts Committee and a new Europol reports reveals the current trade in heroin across the EU | Journal, Ireland
EMCDDA-Europol Launch: EU Drug Markets – heroin and other opioids
This webinar provides an overview of the EU heroin market, from production and trafficking, to distribution and use. Attention will be given to the recent developments in Afghanistan and their possible repercussions on the EU drug market. Finally, key findings will be presented and recommendations for action at EU and Member State level will be provided | EMCDDA, Portugal
Report Launch | The Mental Health Challenges Faced by Harm Reduction Staff
To mark the publication of The Mental Health Challenges Faced by Harm Reduction Staff, we invite you to join the webinar on the 15th of February | C-EHRN, The Netherlands
FDA issues another warning on tianeptine products, which can cause seizures and death
Reiterating a warning first issued in November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging Americans to stay away from supplements containing tianeptine, known on the street as "gas station heroin." | Medical Xpress, USA
Study reveals link between cannabis use and current asthma prevalence in US adolescents and adults
Asthma is more common among U.S. individuals who report cannabis use in the most recent 30 days, with the odds of asthma being significantly even greater among individuals who reported cannabis use 20 to 30 days per month, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, City University of New York and Children's National Hospital at George Washington University | Medical Xpress, USA
Q&A: Why regulators may toss cold water on buzz over psychedelics
Interest in psychedelics is surging, fueled by growing research suggesting they have a place in treatment of conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. But regulatory challenges loom | Medical Xpress, USA
AI Program Finds Thousands of Possible Psychedelics. Will They Lead to New Drugs?
Researchers have doubted how useful AI protein-structure tool AlphaFold will be in discovering medicines—now they are learning how to deploy it effectively | Scientific American, USA
Australia Tightens the Screw Even More Against Vaping
One million additional GP appointments will be needed in Australia annually, according to the Health Department, as the government tightens its highly restrictive prescription-only policy on nicotine vapes | Filter Magazine, USA
A new therapy for Ukraine’s scarred soldiers: ketamine
Ihor Kholodilo should probably not have survived. The military psychologist and medic was evacuating comrades in early 2023 when his jeep was hit by a Russian tank shell. He was left barely able to communicate. Operations saved his heart and vision. But doctors were unable to correct his slur and stammer | The Age, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Junkies Don’t Exist
I’ll never forget the time a relative casually called me a “junkie,” as I organised my collection of drugstore makeup and fancy soaps on my bathroom countertop. This particular incident stands out as memorable because it was so random – not connected to a specific instance of heroin use or recent drastic weight loss, but simply an out of the blue insult about my past use | Talking Drugs, UK
How does the czech approach to legalisation compare to the us?
On the 10th of January, the Czech Government drafted a long awaited bill that sets forward the framework by which they intend to legalise cannabis. However, the bill noticeably avoided the integration of a regulated cannabis market, instead focusing on the use of cannabis social clubs, possession, and home cultivation | Volteface, UK