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Daily news - 31st January 2024 |
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UK news
Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report
The Drugs Team at Public Health Scotland (PHS) has compiled this RADARquarterly report of drug-related indicators. The objective of this report is to monitor drug-related harms, service usage and toxicology data, in order to provide an early warning of emerging drug trends and identify actions to reduce and prevent drug harms and deaths | PHS, UK
Research and analysis: Hepatitis C in England 2023
This report summarises England’s progress towards the World Health Organization (WHO) elimination targets for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with data to end of 2022 | UKHSA, UK
Record Dry January saved people £118 on average
A record one in five drinkers gave up alcohol for Dry January, a British Beer and Pub Association survey suggests | BBC, UK
Smoking: Young People
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is to respond to the consultation entitled Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping | They work for you, UK
Are cigarettes already making a comeback? As a vape ban looms in England, traditional tobacco gets a TikTok rebrand to appeal to Gen Z-ers with 'Hello Kitty'-themed cases and tips for the 'prettiest packs' to smoke
Single-use vapes will be banned in England to prevent children and young people getting hooked on e-cigarettes, may of which come in bubblegum and candy flavours and bright colours that appeal to youngsters. But there appears to be a global movement tempting young people back to traditional cigarettes – which are increasingly being marketed to appear in cuter, more aesthetically pleasing packaging | Mail Online, UK
School to use sniffer dog to prevent pupils vaping
City of Norwich School says a "passive deterrence dog" will be taken around the school one day in February | BBC, UK
NI drug deaths: West Belfast woman 'needed help but there wasn't any'
Chloe Lennon, from west Belfast, was 22 when she died from a drug overdose in November 2022 | BBC, UK
Drug deaths falling in Northumberland thanks to successful treatment and recovery support
Focussed support in stopping people taking harmful substances and recovering from addiction is preventing people at risk from dying from overdoses | Northumberland Gazette, UK
Experience of drug use and treatment services amongst minority ethnic groups
Feb 6, 2024 12:30 PM in London. After the second volume of the Government commissioned independent review of drugs, it was highlighted there was a need for research into what works in reducing problems associated with substance use, and into the improvement of prevention, treatment, and recovery. Within this, there was a large evidence gap identified with those from minority ethnic communities. In 2023, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee reported that those from minority ethnic communities face additional barriers in gaining support or treatment for drug use, whilst also being negatively impacted by legislation | NatCen, UK
Drop anonymity orders for drug dealers, says Derry mum who lost daughter
A total of 292 media gagging orders made at one court office since 2019, compared to just 37 in the rest of NI combined | Belfast News, UK
International news
‘I don’t see how it ends’: expert sounds alarm on new wave of US opioids crisis
Dr Art Van Zee set out in the early 2000s to tell anyone who would listen how a powerful opioid was destroying lives. Two decades later, he’s still in disbelief | Guardian, UK
When a seriously ill Sydney raver ‘set off alarm bells’, a DJ stepped in to avert a nightmare scenario
Medical experts at the HTID festival at Olympic Park realised a dangerous synthetic opioid was circulating and acted fast to save lives | Guardian, UK
Vape stores clustered around schools and in the most disadvantaged suburbs, Australian study finds
Nation-first audit of shops in Western Australia found almost nine out of 10 vape stores were within walking distance of schools | Guardian, UK
Jam Master Jay: Run-DMC star shot by godson after drug deal dispute, court hears
A court has heard that Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay was shot dead more than two decades ago by his godson as revenge for being cut out of a drug deal | BBC, UK
Government to defer decriminalising cannabis bill for nine months
People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West Gino Kenny will bring forward a bill on Wednesday which would allow a person to possess up to 7g of cannabis herb, or 2.5g of cannabis resin. However, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on Tuesday got Cabinet commitment for a nine-month timed amendment to be put on the bill in Wednesday night's votes | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Merchants Quay says it will take time for drug users to 'trust' new supervised injection centre
The Chief Executive of Merchants Quay Ireland has said it will take time for those who are injecting drugs to “gain trust” with the new medically supervised injection centre | Journal, Ireland
Eliminating Hepatitis C in Europe: Report on Policy Implementation for People Who Inject Drugs
We are excited to launch Eliminating Hepatitis C in Europe: Report on Policy Implementation for People Who Inject Drugs! The publication is part of C-EHRN’s Civil Society-led Monitoring of Harm Reduction In Europe 2023 Data Report and focuses on the availability of and access to interventions that constitute the HCV continuum of care specific for people who inject drugs | C-EHRN, The Netherlands
Will Ireland’s Public Vape Consultation Trigger Bans?
A public consultation to help determine the future of vaping in Ireland has come to an end. The results aren’t yet known, but tobacco harm reduction advocates are nervous about the potential outcomes | Filter Magazine, USA
The ketamine economy: New mental health clinics are a 'Wild West' with few rules
In late 2022, Sarah Gutilla's treatment-resistant depression had grown so severe that she was actively contemplating suicide. Raised in foster care, the 34-year-old's childhood was marked by physical violence, sexual abuse and drug use, leaving her with life-threatening mental scars | NPR, USA
Sacramento study finds that after seven years, alcohol control program still reduces child abuse
A neighborhood alcohol control project in Sacramento that reduced cases of child abuse and neglect soon after implementation still had a positive impact seven years later, a new study found. The study was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review | Medical Xpress, USA
Tribal program takes addiction treatment on the road
With the national opioid epidemic disproportionately affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives, a tribal confederation in Oregon decided to take matters into their own hands | Medical Xpress, USA
Nebraska, a State With No Syringe Programs, Looks Set to Allow Them
Nebraska is a state so big that it takes at least six hours to drive across it from east to west. But its two million residents have zero syringe service programs (SSP), leaving people who inject drugs without access to safe equipment. Possession or distribution of syringes is criminalized as a misdemeanor under the state’s drug “paraphernalia” laws. But Nebraska’s lawmakers now seem set to change that, with a bill to authorize syringe services—if cities or counties allow them | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
There’s no such thing as ‘evidence-based’ drug policy
Have you ever wondered why drug prohibition continues, despite its obvious failure to end drug use and the rising toll of drug-related deaths? My latest findings have revealed that the answer is that drug policy is not based on research evidence, but on the moral commitments and material interests that motivate political action | Transforming Society blog, UK
Are consumers paying a premium for no- and low-alcohol drinks?
New research suggests that no- and low-alcohol drinks tend to be more expensive than standard alcoholic beverages. Colin Angus from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group examines some of the potential explanations for this ‘no/lo price premium’. | SSA blog, UK
The Guardian view on vapes: Rishi Sunak is right that rules need tightening
Initial hopes that e-cigarettes were harmless were misplaced. Reducing their appeal to children should be a priority | Guardian, UK
Tories fret about a nanny state – but with decay all around, voters want politicians who step in
The prime minister’s anti-smoking crusade is panicking his party, even as it meets with enthusiasm among the public | Guardian opinion, UK
Whisper it, but in opposing Rishi Sunak’s smoking ban, Liz Truss might be right
Restricting flavoured vapes make sense, but halting tobacco sales altogether for all entering adulthood is bizarre | Guardian opinion, UK
Addicted to punishment: Jails and prisons punish drug use far more than they treat it
Despite the common refrain that jails and prisons are "de facto treatment facilities," most prioritize punitive mail scanning policies and strict visitation rules that fail to prevent drugs from entering facilities while providing little to no access to treatment and healthcare | Prison Policy Initiave, USA
The next generation of tobacco control measures
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Tenth Conference of the Parties will discuss next generation tobacco control policies, as the incoming New Zealand Government receives strong international condemnation for repealing recent tobacco control measures | MJA Insight, Australia