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Daily news - 21st June 2024 |
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UK news
Avoidable mortality in England and Wales: 2021 and 2022
Deaths from causes considered treatable or preventable given timely and effective healthcare or public health interventions in those aged under 75 years. The mortality rate for alcohol-related and drug-related deaths has continued to increase in England and Wales. In England, the ASMR for alcohol-related and drug-related deaths was 25.9 per 100,000 people in 2022, compared with 21.3 in 2019. In Wales, the ASMR for alcohol-related and drug-related deaths was 30.2 per 100,000 people in 2022, compared with 24.2 in 2019 | ONS, UK
Government accused of failing to tackle opioid crisis after failing to reassess life saving treatment centres
Exclusive: Minister admits no work done to assess benefit of centres used to save lives in 17 other countries | Independent, UK
‘A ticking time bomb’: Grieving mother’s warning over deadly Chinese opioid epidemic
Exclusive: Musician Dylan Rocha, 21, had no idea the drugs he received in the post were laced with a deadly type of nitazene | Independent, UK
Former drug users to help prevent opiate overdoses
For the first time in Devon, a team will take to the streets equipped with naloxone, which temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose | BBC, UK
Drug alert: Xylazine and Bromazolam being detected in the UK’s illegal drug market
The Forward Trust has issued a new national alert to staff following increasing reports of Xylazine and Bromazolam being detected in the UK’s illegal drug market | Forward Trust, UK
Substance use charity warns of threat caused by synthetic opioids
Leading substance use charity Barod is warning of the threat to public health in Wales posed by synthetic opioids nitazenes. Nitazenes have entered the illegal drug market in Wales, significantly increasing the risk to life for those that unintentionally consume the substance, according to the charity | Nation.Cymru, UK
Boy taken to hospital after school vaping incident
Pupils at Humphrey Perkins School in Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire, were confined to classrooms for 30 minutes on Wednesday after a child became unwell and needed emergency treatment | BBC, UK
Roles created to help smokers on hospital grounds
New dedicated officers will give people found smoking in the grounds of Nottingham's hospitals advice on quitting | BBC, UK
'Booze was a comfort blanket': North East football figure backs alcohol campaign during Euro 2024
Matty Arnell of Spennymoor Town FC said it was important to reduce dependence on alcohol in the North East | Chronicle Live, UK
Cannabis shop to open at landmark building [Guernsey]
Bailiwick Botanicals has announced that it has taken on the lease at the Weighbridge House, formerly known as the White Hart | BBC, UK
Ex-smoker backs support service after teeth recovery
A former smoker, who recovered teeth she had lost to gum disease, has said she "would urge anyone" to ditch the addiction | BBC, UK
Extra jail time for inmate who hid drugs in cell
A prisoner who hid drugs and a mobile phone in his cell has been sentenced to a further six months behind bars | BBC, UK
International news
French and German governments sign onto EU wide flavour ban
A new document circulated to EU health ministers and seen by Clearing the Air indicates that the French and German governments have signed onto a new call for a ban on flavours in all nicotine products | Clearing the Air, UK
Spanish police arrest 10 after discovery of ‘highly sophisticated’ meth lab
Mobile facility found near Barcelona capable of producing 10kg of drug a day, say police, who seized 70kg | Guardian, UK
Florida boaters find $1m worth of cocaine in Atlantic Ocean
Wrapped in bald eagle packaging, 21kg of cocaine was found off the Florida Keys coast | Guardian, UK
‘They die like flies’: there is an alcohol problem in Honduras – can prohibition and tough love fix it?
Intibucá is renowned for its culture – and sky-high alcohol-related death rate. Health workers, local government and a pastor on a mission are trying to halt the damage caused by cheap booze and a macho culture | Guardian, UK
At least 34 die in India after drinking toxic alcohol
At least 34 people have died after consuming toxic bootleg alcohol in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, officials said | BBC, UK
Drug injection centres will be considered for Cork and Limerick if pilot programme a success
Supervised drug injecting rooms for Cork and Limerick will be considered if the pilot in Dublin proves to be working well, the Department of Health has said | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Growing Up in Ireland - Key findings from the self-complete survey with cohort ’08 at 13 (PDF)
This Growing Up in Ireland report is a supplemental analysis to the previous publication Key Findings: Cohort ’08 at 13 years old (2023). This supplement discusses the findings emerging from the self-complete online module from that survey, whereas the initial report was concerned with an analysis of information from the main telephone interviews with participants at that time. The self-complete surveys, and therefore this report, cover more sensitive topics such as relationships, mental health and substance use; which participants may not have felt comfortable discussing over the telephone. There were separate modules for 13-year-olds and their parents | Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Ireland
Treatment model in France shows better access to methadone in US could save lives
In France, the majority of people with an opioid use disorder—87%—receive access to medication designed to treat it. In the United States, where more than 100,000 people are dying annually from drug overdoses, less than 20% of people with opioid use disorder receive methadone or buprenorphine | Medical Xpress, USA
Does LSD confer lasting psychological resilience? an investigation of naturalistic users experiencing job loss
Lifetime LSD use is associated with a higher likelihood of severe psychological distress after losing one's job, according to a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Benjamin Korman, formerly of the University of Konstanz, Germany | PLOS One, USA
The dirty secret of California’s legal weed
An L.A. Times/WeedWeek investigation finds alarming levels of pesticides in cannabis products at dispensaries across the state | LATimes, USA
The Dangers of Public Health Zealotry
The latest studies confirm that bans on vaping and flavored tobacco push people back to far more dangerous combustible cigarettes | American Spectator, USA
Tackling negative healthcare bias in addiction treatment
Researchers at the Monash Addiction Research Centre and Turning Point have uncovered multiple examples of stigma within Australia’s health system, as well as processes and procedures that act as barriers when people seek help as a result of harm from alcohol and other drugs (AOD) | Monash University, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
What does 'recovery' mean when it comes to drink and drugs problems?
The use of "recovery" in relation to drugs and alcohol has been the topic of much discussion in Scotland over the last few weeks. Many people find the word off-putting, and even inequitable, because they believe it implies abstinence | Herald, UK