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Daily news - 31st July 2024

UK news

Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report

Drug-related harms remain high in Scotland. Patterns of polysubstance use remain the key driver of harms. The most common combinations associated with risk of harm involve benzodiazepines (most commonly diazepam and bromazolam), cocaine and opioids. New synthetic drugs (particularly nitazene-type opioids and xylazine) played an increasing role in harms | Public Health Scotland, UK

Drug-related deaths: a shared approach to a public health crisis

As part of our Policy Thinking series, we hear from Toby Seddon, Professor of Social Science at University College London and head of the UCL Social Research Institute, on the rising tide of drug-related deaths in the UK, and why a new joined-up approach that focuses on mobilising community public health could help tackle the crisis for individuals and communities | UCL, UK

Alcohol harm - EDM (Early Day Motion)87: tabled on 29 July 2024

Motion text: That this House supports the call from the Alcohol Health Alliance and leading public health professionals, made on 17 July 2024, for urgent action to tackle the escalating crisis of alcohol harm; realises that such action will help achieve ambitions to reduce NHS waiting times, crime and inequalities, and to grow the economy; notes with concern that over 10,000 people died due to alcohol in 2022, a record level and a 33% increase from 2019 | UK Parliament, UK

Fully engaged

With Scotland’s opioid crisis seldom out of the headlines it’s easy to overlook the significant – and growing – problem of cocaine. A recent Change Grow Live conference explored the best approaches to tackling this worsening public health problem, says Simon Holmes | DDN, UK

Herefordshire Recovery Service Launches Click & Deliver Programme for Naloxone Kits

Turning Point's Herefordshire recovery service has introduced a delivery service for Naloxone kits in Herefordshire. Naloxone is a critical first aid medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, potentially saving lives in emergency situations | Turning Point, UK

Music and 'hope' festival to celebrate recovery and sobriety set to launch in Pleasley this September

Rhubarb Farm, based in Langwith, has teamed up with Elastic FM for an exciting new ‘empowering’ project – The Hope Festival – showcasing stories of recovery, strength, and the resilience of the human spirit with a free celebration of sobriety | Chad, UK

Drug detection dogs and drones at festival site

Police have warned people to expect drug checks and drones at a festival this weekend | BBC, UK

International news

Register for the webinar on community-led approaches to HCV testing, treatment and care

TODAY. July 31, at 13 pm GMT/14 pm CET. European Network of People who Use Drugs is pleased to invite you to the webinar launch of the “Community-led approaches to HCV testing, treatment and care” resource created within the framework of the BOOST project. It is part of our series of resources on Peer Led Harm Reduction and is related to the World Hepatitis Day marked on July 28 globally | EURNPUD, UK

The relationship between homelessness and substance use disorder (SUD) is layered and complex. Adults pursuing recovery while dealing with homelessness and SUD face many challenges. Little research has inspected qualitative first-person accounts of recovery in the context of homelessness and SUD, and few studies have employed conceptualisations of recovery beyond abstinence. In this systematic review study, we examine the qualitative literature on the recovery experiences of adult homeless service users with SUD | IJDP, UK

Drug consumption rooms around the world - video

Drug Consumption Rooms are safe spaces where people can use drugs under hygienic conditions, with support, and without fear of violence or legal repercussions. Today, more than 140 legally-sanctioned DCRs operate in 11 European countries, as well as in Australia, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Join us on a global video tour to discover why they were established, how they support their local communities and how these life-saving harm reduction facilities have evolved over time | Drug Reporter, Hungary

Therapeutic use of psychedelic substances: FAQs published today

What are psychedelic substances? Why are they currently being researched in the medical field? Are psychedelics already available for treatment in Europe? These are some of the issues addressed in a new set of EUDA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): therapeutic use of psychedelic substances released today | EUDA, Portugal

SAMHSA Releases Annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health

In 2023, 3.1% of people (8.9 million) misused opioids in the past year, which is similar to 2022 and 2021 (3.2% and 8.9 million, 3.4% and 9.4 million respectively). Among the 134.7 million people aged 12 or older who currently used alcohol in 2023, 61.4 million people (or 45.6%) had engaged in binge drinking in the past month. Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 21.8% of people aged 12 or older (or 61.8 million people) using it in the past year | SAMHSA, USA

Impact of text-only versus large text-and-picture alcohol warning formats: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study in French young male drinkers

[Open access] Although the World Health Organization recommends visible and clear warning labels about the risks of alcohol consumption on containers and advertising, many of the currently used labels are too small to be visible. This study investigated the brain activity (using fMRI) and alcohol consumption intentions of French young men exposed to two warning formats displayed on alcoholic beverage advertisements: a small Text-only Alcohol Warning currently used in many countries, and a larger text-and-picture alcohol warning | ACER, USA

Illicit fentanyl use linked to increased risk of hepatitis C among people who use drugs

An international team of researchers from University of California San Diego and el Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Mexico have revealed a significant association between the use of illicit fentanyl and the transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico | Medical Xpress, USA

Get Sensible, a project by Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP), is an entirely youth-led cannabis education initiative funded by Health Canada that challenges traditional approaches to cannabis education by prioritizing harm reduction, evidence-based information, lived experience, and non-judgmental conversations through innovative peer-to-peer models | IJDP, Canada

Values in drug policy documents: applying Schwartz’s values theory to the report of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’ (NSW)

[Open access] Documents are influential in shaping drug policy debates and are valuable data for drug policy research. In this article we conduct a values analysis of one drug policy document. The objectives were to assess the values within a policy document; assess the utility of Schwartz’s values framework in documentary analysis; and consider the relationship between values and policy positions | DEPP, Australia

Calls for more frontline workers to be armed with drug-overdose-fighting medicine

There are calls for naloxone to be given to a wider range of workers who engage with drug users, including parking inspectors and firefighters | abc.net.au, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Assertive outreach techniques are helping us to reach very vulnerable people

One of our strategic aims is to reduce inequalities in treatment and recovery for marginalised people. By using techniques like assertive outreach, we are able to take our skills and expertise out into communities to ensure we are reaching those who need us the most | WithYou blog, UK

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