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Daily news - 22nd July 2024

UK news

Experts urge Prime Minister not to leave alcohol behind in Labour’s plans to improve public health and economy

Action to tackle the “escalating crisis” of alcohol harm is urgently needed if Labour are to shorten NHS waiting times, prevent crime, reduce inequalities and grow the economy, say leading public health experts | AHA, UK

Council to cut funding for mental health centres

Funding for mental health wellbeing services in Hampshire is set to be slashed despite charity concerns over the knock-on effects on waiting lists | BBC, UK

Torbay Council hits back after claims kids are smoking deadly drug in schools

Torbay has been hit hard by the collapse of the tourist economy and the area is now rife with homelessness and poverty, with young people saying they have turned to drugs to escape | Devon Live, UK

Council gets government cash to help homeless

A council has been given a government grant of around £3m to help house and support people with a history of rough sleeping | BBC, UK

Calls for Tobacco Track and Trace data to be shared with police

The National Business Crime Centre is calling for Tobacco Track and Trace technology to be made available to policing in order to crack down on the illicit tobacco trade | Convenience Store, UK

International news

Arrest after €8m drug raid in Dublin

A man has been arrested following the seizure of more than €8m worth of suspected illegal drugs and €1m in cash | BBC, UK

Cannabis gummies like ‘a glass of wine with dinner’ for a growing number of Australians

More people are turning to the edibles instead of alcohol, but experts warn they cannot be sure what they are consuming | Guardian, UK

Urgent alert after dangerous drug found in prisons

The Irish Prison Service has issued an urgent drug alert to all prisons due to an analysis conducted by the HSE National Drug Treatment Centre Laboratory which confirmed the presence of a nitazene-type drug in prisons | RTe, Ireland

Kilroy case hears drug-induced psychosis not a defence to murder

James Kilroy (51) has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murdering his wife at Kilbree Lower, Westport, Co Mayo, in 2019 | Irish Times, Ireland

European cannabis firms look to list in the US as it mulls easing controls

Cannabis could be moved from the stringent Schedule 1 classification of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to the relatively less regulated Schedule 3, in view of its medicinal and pharmaceutical properties and usages | Euronews, Belgium

Alcohol abuse: Will liberal Germany ban teenage drinking?

In Germany, 14- to 16-year-olds are allowed to drink beer and wine in their parents' presence. But German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wants to amend the Youth Protection Act to make that illegal | DW, Germany

Increased e-cigarette use prevalence is associated with decreased smoking prevalence among US adults

If US adults who smoke cigarettes are switching to e-cigarettes, the effect may be observable at the population level: smoking prevalence should decline as e-cigarette prevalence increases, especially in sub-populations with highest e-cigarette use. This study aimed to assess such effects in recent nationally-representative data | Harm Reduction Journal, USA

Most young adults naturally mature out of high-risk substance use patterns, but it is important to identify factors that may impede normative declines. Use of alcohol and cannabis simultaneously (i.e., simultaneous alcohol and marijuana/cannabis [SAM]) is cross-sectionally associated with alcohol and cannabis concerns, and SAM use increases acute risks at the daily level. However, less is known about long-term risks of SAM use and, specifically, how SAM use relates to maturing out of alcohol and cannabis use | Drug and Alcohol Reports, USA

Digital games on vaping devices could lure more youth to nicotine addiction

In an "Industry Watch" research paper in the journal Tobacco Control, two scientists at the University of California, Riverside, raise the alarm on new electronic cigarette products equipped with touch screens, animated displays, and built-in games. Because the products are user-friendly and attractive to youth, they may couple nicotine addiction with gaming disorder, the researchers caution | Medical Xpress, USA

FDA allows marketing of Vuse tobacco-flavored vapes

The agency's decision only applies to several tobacco-flavored versions of the reusable product, sold as Vuse. In January 2023, the FDA rejected R.J. Reynold's application for its more popular menthol flavor, but the company has challenged that ruling in court | Medical Xpress, USA

Entering the Overdose Prevention Center: OnPoint NYC - video

In this clip, we enter the overdose prevention site known as OnPoint NYC, located in East Harlem in New York City | People, Place & Health Collective, USA

Psychedelics Are Now Legal in Australia—With a Catch - video

Australia is a nation known for its conservative attitude towards drugs. So the approval of psychedelics for use in psychotherapy in 2023 came as a shock. Maybe more shocking was who got it done - an opera singer and her former investment banker husband, who kicked up no shortage of controversy along the way | Bloomberg Originals, USA

Doctors warn of significant increase in people hospitalised with psychosis after being prescribed medicinal cannabis

Medicinal cannabis is causing harm to some patients, with doctors warning of a significant increase of people ending up in hospital with psychosis after being prescribed the drug. Their concerns come amid a proliferation of "single-issue" cannabis clinics setting up in Australia, some of them willing to prescribe via telehealth consultations with few checks | abc.net.au, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Pleasing and progressive – King’s Speech shows courage and feeds some hope

In today’s King’s Speech (17th July), we were encouraged to hear that housing was introduced early on via the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which brings focus to the delivery of high quality infrastructure and housing | Forward Trust, UK

Two reasons I’m sceptical about psychedelic science

Since I was young, I have been intrigued by altered states of consciousness, such as out-of-body experiences, paranormal phenomena and religious visions. I studied psychology and neuroscience to gain a better understanding of how these experiences come about. And in my scientific career, I have focused on the question of why some people are more prone to having these experiences than others | Conversation, The Netherlands

New Documentary Shows How Mexican Pharmacies Sell Deadly Pills to Tourists

You may have seen reports last year that Mexican pharmacies were selling adulterated pharmaceutical pills to tourists. A new documentary called Poison Pills investigates this phenomenon, taking hidden cameras inside these operations and confirming our worst fears; that licensed pharmacies are selling oxycodone that’s actually fentanyl, and Adderall that’s actually meth | Ben Westhoff, USA

Ways of Knowing and Our AOD Treatment & Recovery Workforce

In the addiction and recovery space, we often fail to see issues and related solutions through multiple lenses. We want simple answers and even simpler solutions to our most profoundly complex challenges | Recovery Review blog, USA

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