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Daily news - 4th July 2024 |
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UK news
Enabling student health and success
We have published a report covering the work of our taskforce into tackling supply and demand for drugs in the context of student health and wellbeing. Our taskforce was convened in 2022 to build a stronger evidence base to help universities understand and address student drug use. Previous research has shown a rise in drug use in the population as a whole but has not focused on students in particular | Universities UK, UK
Rates of smoking in pregnancy see biggest single-year drop since data started being recorded
New data from NHS digital shows that smoking rates among pregnant women have fallen to an all-time low, with the biggest drop in smoking rates since records began in 2006. The fall from 8.8% in 2022/23 to 7.3% in 2023/24 follows sustained investment to provide better quit support to women who smoke within their maternity care | ASH, UK
Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Quarter 4, 2023/24
7.4% of women were known to be smokers at time of delivery in 2023-24. 1.3 percentage point decrease from 2022-23 (8.8%), but above the current national ambition of 6% or less | ONS, UK
Children given vape warning after 20,000 seized
Children in Leicestershire are being warned of the dangers of vaping after about 20,000 illegal devices were seized in the county | BBC, UK
Toolkits at Jersey pharmacies to help cut alcohol consumption
As part of Alcohol Awareness Week, the government is funding toolkits that will be available at pharmacies to help islanders work out how much they are drinking and cut their intake | Island FM, UK
Record-breaking year for Scotland’s first alcohol-free music festival
A record number of people attended Scotland’s first alcohol-free music festival in Glasgow at the weekend, with thousands descending on Queens Park Arena | Renfrewshire News, UK
2024 MCA Quality Improvement Prize
Closes: 1 August 2024. This competition is open to all qualified doctors in any specialty working in the UK, in any non-consultant training grade. You should report a completed audit, clinical governance or quality improvement project on an alcohol-related health harm topic and reflect current best practice guidelines/evidence. The topic can reflect the full range of interventions from prevention to detection to treatment | MCA, UK
Plan to extend stricter alcohol licensing revealed
If plans are approved, Middlesbrough Council's cumulative impact policy (CIP) zone will be extended to restrict the granting of licences to sell alcohol in more areas | BBC, UK
Beach smoking ban among options in tobacco survey
People in Guernsey are being asked for their views on how to cut smoking rates in the Bailiwick | BBC, UK
School bus driver arrested for drug driving
The 45-year-old man, from Llandudno, was arrested shortly before 17:00 BST on Tuesday on the A5 by The Druids junction in Corwen, Denbighshire, after testing positive for cannabis at the roadside | BBC, UK
International news
Revolution in the air: how laughing gas changed the world
Since its discovery in the 18th century, nitrous oxide has gone from vaudeville gimmick to pioneering anaesthetic to modern party drug | Guardian, UK
107. Kava with Dr Apo Aporosa - podcast
In this episode we meet with Dr Apo Aporosa. He discusses his unconventional route to his PhD, having not finished school and joined the Army followed by the police only to break into academia at a masters level and continuing studies from there. Apo talks about his PTSD diagnosis and his subsequent journey with Kava, a spiritual drink consumed in Fijian culture | Drug Science, UK
Cannabis clubs allowed to open in Germany - video
Germany partly decriminalised marijuana use on 1 April this year, allowing over 18s to possess up to 25g of cannabis in public and adults to grow up to three plants per household. But for those wanting to just purchase the drug, growers associations or "social clubs" can now be established with up to 500 members, as of 1 July | BBC, UK
Cannabis will likely soon be legally classified as medicine. But medicine for what?
Experts say the DEA’s rescheduling of cannabis as a medication will be ‘a little bit incoherent’ | Guardian, UK
Synthetic opioid detected in bodies of four people found dead in Melbourne home
Police confirm drug’s presence after deaths of boy, 17, and three adults in Broadmeadows last week | Guardian, UK
EU to examine draft proposals for drug alert system for all member states
Draft proposals are being considered this Friday by the EU drugs body which will recommend that assessments be carried out to determine how member states are to identify and deal with new drug threats. The developments form part of a much-strengthened remit of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which is being replaced by a renamed European Union Drugs Agency (Euda) | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Not drinking today? Study reveals why young adult drinkers choose alcohol-free days
Understanding the reasons why young adults choose not to drink on certain days may inform prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing the harms associated with alcohol consequences. Although alcohol use is declining among young adults, rates of hazardous drinking and its harmful consequences remain high. Current research has examined motivations to drink, but a new University of Michigan study suggests that focusing on the reasons young adults choose not to drink could enhance strategies to prevent negative consequences associated with alcohol use | University of Michigan, USA
Concurrent Use of Tobacco and Cannabis and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in US Youths
In this cross-sectional study of a national sample of 5585 youths aged 14 to 17 years, concurrent use was associated with almost twice the odds of reporting higher levels of externalizing problems compared with tobacco or cannabis use exclusively, but this association did not hold for internalizing problems | JAMA Network Open, USA
Adding newly identified compound makes naloxone more potent, longer lasting, mouse study shows
The ongoing opioid epidemic in the U.S. kills tens of thousands of people every year. Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan, has saved countless lives by reversing opioid overdoses. But new and more powerful opioids keep appearing, and first responders are finding it increasingly difficult to revive people who overdose | Medical Xpress, USA
Study finds smokers are on average more extraverted, but less conscientious and agreeable
Tobacco use remains a formidable global public health challenge, responsible for more than 8 million deaths annually, including those attributed to second-hand smoke exposure. Emerging research underscores the critical role of psychological factors, including personality traits, in shaping tobacco consumption patterns | Medical Xpress, USA
The Global Psychedelic Survey: Consumer characteristics, patterns of use, and access in primarily anglophone regions around the world
[Open access] Despite advancements in policies governing psychedelic substances globally, our understanding of real-world psychedelic use and its variations across international jurisdictions remains limited. We implemented the Global Psychedelic Survey (GPS) to capture information about psychedelic consumer characteristics, access, and usage patterns around the world | IJDP, USA
Microdosing candies may be linked to death, illnesses in NY, NJ, other states
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating nearly 50 illnesses—including one possible death—that might be linked to microdosing candies available online and at retailers nationwide | Medical Xpress, USA
Afghans struggling with drug addiction call for tougher laws - video
Despite 20 years of government treatment programs and a Taliban-imposed ban on poppy cultivation, opium addiction rates continue to rise in Afghanistan. Some Afghans who are addicted to drugs say the Taliban should crack down harder on the sales and purchase of illicit drugs. Mohammad Zaman Sohail has this report from Jalalabad, narrated by Shaista Sadat Lami. Contributors: Anne Ball and Rahim Gul Sarwan | VOA, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
How the next government can curb the crisis in alcohol harm
In this blog, AHA chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore explains what an incoming government could do to work towards a future free of alcohol harm | AHA UK blog, UK
Interest grows in fly agaric – but here’s why you shouldn’t confuse it with ‘magic mushrooms’
Psilocybin, a compound found in many types of mushrooms, is an antidepressant with potential use in treating anxiety. Unfortunately, unscrupulous vendors have used these clinical results to sell products made from an unrelated and somewhat toxic mushroom: Amanita muscaria | Conversation, UK
Medbud’s june 2024 data: uk medical cannabis clinics, pharmacies, flower & oil
Welcome back to our second edition of the viewership statistics breakdown with MedBud.wiki, taking a deeper look at UK medical cannabis data for June 2024 | Volteface, UK