Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 3rd June 2024 |
 |
A BIG thank you to Humankind for generously renewing their sponsorship to DrugWise Daily - helping to keep this service going for thousands in the field.
UK news
Warning after fourth suspected drugs death
Police have issued an urgent warning about a stronger than usual batch of drugs after the death of a man in his 40s | BBC, UK
Britain has an addiction crisis – is 12-step recovery the answer?
The tenets of Alcoholics Anonymous have been replicated across different forms of addiction treatment, while numerous studies have proven their effectiveness. So why do they remain misunderstood | Independent, UK
Report highlights drug-related teen exploitation [Jersey]
The Probation Service's annual report said there was an increasing trend of older dealers taking advantage of people as young as 15 | BBC, UK
Breaking barriers
Last year we opened an important new residential service, Ophelia House. Six months into the journey we’re keen to share our insights, learning, and some of the challenges we’ve faced along the way. We also want to use this space to encourage sector-wide collective action to keep on working together to overcome the significant barriers that women still face in accessing effective gender specific-treatment | DDN, UK
Three inmates taken to hospital after disorder at Welsh prison
No life-threatening injuries reported, but news follows spate of drug-related deaths at privately-run HMP Parc | Guardian, UK
Darts players 'petrified' of playing without booze - one had to be placed in recovery position
One darts player was allegedly put in the recovery position outside a PDC Pro Tour venue in Wigan, while another was seen passed out in his chair in a chair in the practice room | Mirror, UK
Funding crisis 'has closed 12 pharmacies'
Siobhan McNulty, who runs Melvin Pharmacy in Garrison, County Fermanagh, says she relies on sales of makeup and gifts to “keep the ship running” and subsidise the cost of dispensing prescriptions | BBC, UK
Summer Safety: Young People and Festivals - Webinar - 27 June 2024
Thursday, June 27 · 6 - 7pm GMT+1. The DSM Foundation is delighted to announce the first in a series of webinars to help parents and caregivers support their children to make safer choices about alcohol and other drugs. This event will arm attendees with up to date, evidence-based and relevant information about festivals, parties and gatherings that many teenagers may be at this summer. The interactive session will look at topics as wide-ranging as hosting a party, drug testing at festivals, and factors that influence decision making during adolescence, as well as provide advice that adults can pass on to try and help their children make more informed – and safer – choices | Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, UK
Drug Education Forum Summer 2024
Wed, 3 Jul 2024 15:30 - 17:00 BST. The DEF is a new UK community of drug education professionals, committed to providing evidence-based and age appropriate drug education | Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, UK
NCA investigation leads to modern slavery and cannabis charges
Six people have been charged with forcing people to work in cannabis farms, following a National Crime Agency investigation. The six, including three Vietnamese nationals, stand accused of being part of a crime group responsible for growing and moving cannabis across the Midlands and north of England | NCA, UK
Ex-police trainee quit after smoking cannabis
A former trainee police officer who said he accidentally smoked cannabis at a party weeks into his new job would have been sacked had he not quit | BBC, UK
International news
The association between alcohol retail access and health care visits attributable to alcohol for individuals with and without a history of alcohol-related health-care use
[Open access] Alcohol retail access is associated with alcohol use and related harms. This study measured whether this association differs for people with and without heavy and disordered patterns of alcohol use | Addiction, UK
The battle for MDMA as drug steps closer to becoming a prescription medicine
MDMA could be reclassified as a prescription medicine and made available to specially certified doctors and therapists | Independent, UK
Can psychedelics treat depression? Maybe, and you might not even have to take a trip
The use of the drugs in treating low mood has sparked debate, not least about the necessity of a hallucinogenic experience. But a new discovery may provide an answer | Guardian, UK
Effectiveness of genetic feedback on alcohol metabolism to reduce alcohol consumption in young adults: an open-label randomized controlled trial
Especially in East Asian populations, certain genetic variations reduce tolerance to alcohol and may increase the risk of alcohol-related disease. Testing for and feeding back these risks to heavy-drinking university students and staff in Japan led to reduced drinking compared to non-individualised alcohol education | BMC Medicine, UK
May 2024 Andrea Villanti: let's talk e-cigarettes - podcast
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research interview Andrea Villanti | University of Oxford, UK
EMCDDA webinar: Safe festivals and healthy nightlife — sharing experiences among practitioners
12 JUN 2024. Music festivals are common in Europe during the summer and attract high numbers of participants, especially young people. They may last several days. This webinar addresses current and innovative practices to make festivals and nightlife settings a safer and healthier environment for the participants and professionals involved. Professionals from different festivals/countries across Europe will discuss their experiences, challenges and strategies to reduce risks and improve safety | EMCDDA, Portugal
DrugNet Europe - Issue 177 May 2024
Latest monthly drug policy news round-up published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction | EMCDDA, Portugal
Almost 1 in 3 Americans know someone who's died from a drug overdose
As the opioid addiction crisis continues to lay waste to American life, a new survey finds that nearly a third of U.S. adults now know someone who's died of a drug overdose | Medical Xpress, USA
Government Direct-to-Consumer Education to Reduce Prescription Opioid Use
In this cluster randomized clinical trial including 4206 adults, there was no difference in the number of people filling opioid prescriptions within 6 months between those who received the educational brochure and those receiving usual care | JAMA Network Open, USA
Childhood stress linked with earlier substance use in male and female teens
Stress during childhood is associated with earlier substance use in male and female adolescents, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Boston, Mass. Traumatic events may increase substance use risk for males, while environmental stress and early puberty may increase the risk for females, the researchers found | Medical Xpress, USA
Beer Without Alcohol Is Gaining Momentum. But Can It Win at the Paris Olympics?
Bottles of beer emblazoned with the five Olympic rings are already rolling off the production line at Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s brewery in Belgium, in preparation for the games in Paris this summer | TIME, USA
Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial of Dutasteride for Reducing Heavy Drinking in Men
[Open access] Trial of a new use for a prostate medication suggests it can reduce drinking in men who drink heavily as a way of coping with uncomfortable emotions such as feeling nervous or depressed | Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, USA
An Urgent Call for Action on World No Tobacco Day 2024
The global combustible tobacco epidemic remains a formidable public health challenge, with devastating disparities in smoking rates across nations. As we reflect on the progress made in countries like the United Kingdom, it becomes evident that a one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate and unacceptable | Filter Magazine, USA
Illegal ecstasy takes step toward becoming legal drug for PTSD
The first new PTSD drug in over 20 years is up for approval. It will require U.S. regulators to do something they've never done before: greenlight the mind-altering—and illegal—party drug known as ecstasy | Medical Xpress, USA
The public health impacts of supervised injection sites in Canada: Moving beyond social acceptability and impacts on crime
[Open access] At the time of this review Canada had 39 facilities where dugs can be injected more safely. Limited research offered no clear picture of the public health, crime or disorder impacts on communities hosting such services | Canadian Journal of Public Health, Canada
Australian state first to offer permanent pill testing
Queensland will invest $1 million over two years to establish free, confidential and ongoing illicit drug testing services | News GP, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Changing the game: Being an alcohol-free footie fan
There are many things I thought I’d never witness during my time as a football fan, England getting to a major final, United going over a decade without a title, City winning the treble (ffs!), it’s been a strange time. One side to my footballing fandom I never once expected to be talking about was enjoying the game without alcohol, yet for the past nearly 10 years that’s exactly what life has been like for me | Alcohol Change UK, UK
I don’t want to invite my alcoholic dad to my wedding
Trust your gut instinct about not having him there. The shame that is creeping in may be about pressure to conform | Guardian, UK
Poland is Having a Medical Cannabis Revolution
Poland has undergone a political and societal shift in drug-related attitudes in the past few years, and there are growing indications that cannabis is increasingly accepted as a medicine within this European nation. Recent findings from the Polish Centre for Investigating Public Opinions (CBOS) revealed that 73.4% of Poles support the decriminalisation of cannabis | Talking Drugs, UK
The problem with Biden’s soft stance on cannabis
When Joe Biden directed a review into the classification of cannabis two years ago, no one – not the stoners nor the industry – expected a volte face from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the agency with the last word on the drug’s status. It has, after all, rejected countless attempts in the past | Spectator, UK
Millions of current smokers became addicted when they were teens – and nicotine marketing targets adolescents today just as it did decades ago
About 37 million children ages 13 to 15 around the world use tobacco, according to a 2024 report from the World Health Organization. In 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product in the U.S., with 7.7% of middle school and high school students reporting e-cigarette use. Cigarettes were the next most common, with 1.6% of middle- and high school students saying they had consumed them in the past month | Conversation, USA