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Daily news - 17th July 2024 |
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UK news
Three dead following suspected dangerous drug batch in South Shields
Three people, a man in his 30s, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 30s, have died following "fatal medical episodes" in one town in northeast England. Police believe the deaths could all be linked | Sky News, UK
Research Briefing: Advertising, marketing and promotion of vaping products
The Labour government has committed to banning vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children. This briefing outlines their current regulation | House of Commons Library, UK
Addiction support across Warwickshire set to improve following Cabinet decision
Warwickshire County Council’s has strengthened its commitment to ensuring that residents across Warwickshire have access to high-quality support to help them overcome addiction | Warwickshire County Council, UK
BDP’s Allotment Receives Funding from The National Lottery Community Fund
BDP’s allotment group have been granted £20,000 from the National Lottery! | BDP, UK
Recovery Street Film Festival
Entries for the 2024 film festival will are open until the 31st August 2024 at 11:59pm. The judges will be looking for the most original and imaginative approaches to telling stories of recovery, and films should show a link to our theme of the year, ‘Belonging’ | Phoenix Futures, UK
Ben Scher wins prestigious Barnett Prize
The Barnett Prize is awarded annually by the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (University of Oxford) for the best papers submitted by research students. This year, Ben Scher was recognised for his paper ‘Criminalization causes the stigma: perspectives from people who use drugs’, which was published in Contemporary Drug Problems | SSA, UK
Warning issued as dozens of vapes block sewer
"The issue of vapes being disposed of into the sewer network is a trend that we’ve started to see over the last few years as they’ve grown in popularity. We’d like to remind people that they shouldn’t be flushed down the loo or chucked down drains." | BBC, UK
More than 30 arrested in major drugs operation
Knives, drugs and an air rifle have been seized as part of a major drugs operation in Plymouth, police have said | BBC, UK
Cannabis worth £2.4m found at former bed factory
West Yorkshire Police seized around 4,000 plants and several vehicles, including a Lamborghini car, when officers raided the building in Quarry Road, Gomersal, on Friday | BBC, UK
International news
Is a new opioid crisis about to devastate the UK? – video
When the Afghan Taliban ceased production of heroin, global supplies were depleted, with new, powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes flooding in to fill the vacuum. With overdoses creeping up and very little on-the-spot testing available in the UK, experts are concerned about how to keep drug users safe | Guardian, UK
Disposable e-cigarette use: Factors, frequency and cigarette smoking among United States high school students
[Open access] Disposable e-cigarette use has increased among United States (US) high school students in recent years. However, there is limited research on the profile of these users, how often they use these products, and whether they displace cigarette smoking. This study aimed to measure how disposable e-cigarette use among US youth varies according to demographic characteristics and whether there is any association between e-cigarette use and reduced use of traditional cigarettes | Addiction, UK
Munich, home of the Oktoberfest, to open alcohol-free beer garden
Die Null is part of efforts to cut antisocial behaviour in city seen as global centre of beer drinking | Guardian, UK
Six tonnes of cocaine found in banana shipment
Sniffer dogs in Ecuador have found 6.23 tonnes of cocaine hidden in a banana shipment, police say | BBC, UK
HRB National Drugs Library - July newsletter
This newsletter includes links to the latest Irish and international publications related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs | HRB, Ireland
Cocaine seizures fall in big EU ports as gangs target easier routes
Cocaine seizures in Europe's biggest importing countries — the Netherlands and Belgium — have plummeted this year as heightened enforcement pushes traffickers to ports in southern and northern Europe | Politico, Belgium
OHSU study: Telehealth builds autonomy, trust in treating addiction
Even as the nation’s opioid epidemic continues to ravage families and communities nationwide — with more than 100,000 Americans dying of drug overdoses each year — stigma remains a barrier for many people accessing treatment for addiction | OHSU, USA
Proof-of-principle study shows protein isoform inhibitors may hold the key to making opioids safer
Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences identified a new way to make opioids safer, increasing the pain-relieving properties of opioids while decreasing unwanted side effects through the spinal inhibition of a Heat shock protein 90 isoform | Medical Xpress, USA
Study finds tobacco industry is specifically targeting Arab and Ultra-Orthodox news media in Israel
A recent study has revealed that there are significant disparities in how Philip Morris International's IQOS heated tobacco product is portrayed in newspapers and other media aimed at different demographic groups in Israel | Medical Xpress, USA
Australian teenagers say zero alcohol products are appealing and could act as a gateway to alcohol use
New research commissioned by Cancer Council, led by The George Institute for Global Health, and published today in Appetite, found that over half (56%) of Australian teenagers aged 15–17 surveyed agreed zero alcohol products looked appealing, and said the packaging was attractive (54%) | Cancer Council, Australia
Recent overdose deaths raise fears for people in prison – naloxone must be made available to save lives
The recent concern about fatal opioid overdose from nitazenes in the illicit drug supply has raised fears for many prison experts. People who are in prison are not afforded the same protections as people in the community while recent release from prison is also an extremely vulnerable time in which many people experience fatal overdose | AIVL, Australia
Strong emotions, intense cravings and daily disruption: young people’s experiences of vaping
Young people in Aotearoa New Zealand are struggling with the effects of vaping addiction, with physical and mental cravings disrupting their school and work routines, researchers at the University of Otago have found | University of Otago, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
An Eternal Pilot: Is Portugal’s Decriminalisation System Frozen In Time?
Portugal has been one of the most lauded and discussed examples of global drug decriminalisation. The model was praised for eliminating the distinction between hard and soft drugs, shifting away from a criminal model towards a public health model and focusing on destigmatising people who use drugs (PWUD), ultimately becoming the face of innovation and progression in European drug policy | Talking Drugs, UK
Report reveals 594% increase in Irish crack cocaine use
Stuart Clark and Tony Duffin crunch the alarming numbers, which highlight the strain that’s being placed on drug treatment services here | Hotpress opinion, Ireland