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Daily news - 24th June 2024

UK news

Addicts being charged huge sums for private rehabilitation services they do not need, expert warns

Addicts are being charged huge sums for private rehabilitation services they do not need, one of the UK's leading experts in the field has claimed | Mail Online, UK

Video prompts call for action on city drug abuse

There have been renewed calls for action to address drugs issues in Belfast city centre. It comes after a video was widely shared on social media of a man appearing to take hard drugs in "broad daylight" on Thursday on Donegall Place | BBC, UK

MoH, Liberty & Release respond to Haringey PSPO

Museum of Homelessness has teamed up with Release and Liberty to respond to a Haringey Council proposed borough-wide Public Space protection order. Working together over the past few weeks, our organisations highlight a number of issues and make detailed points about our opposition to this proposal. Please read our submission here | MoH, UK

Barrister to chair island's cannabis advisory board [Jersey]

A new chairperson has been appointed to the Jersey Cannabis Advisory Board (JCAB). The independent organisation brings together businesses and other stakeholders from the regulated cannabis industry to develop the sector and its regulation on the island | BBC, UK

‘At breaking point’: anger brewing in Lancashire village over booze tourism

Whalley residents say drunken crowds and antisocial behaviour at weekends is making life unbearable | Guardian, UK

Tell us: will you be drinking at music festivals this summer?

Ahead of Glastonbury next weekend, we’d like to hear your approach to alcohol this festival season | Guardian, UK

Recovery Walk Scotland Glasgow 2024

Saturday, September 7 · 11am - 4pm GMT+1. Glasgow Green. Recovery Walk Scotland is the largest recovery event in Scotland and has been held in different locations across our beautiful country since 2013. The event is comprised of three parts: Roses in the River Memorial, Recovery Walk Scotland procession through the town and a Recovery Festival and Village in Glasgow Green | Recovery Walk Scotland, UK

'Cannabis crooks dumped 10 tonnes of soil in my bedroom'

"I turned the lights on and it's 'Oh my God, 3ft of soil in my bedroom'," Charles Reeves says, still in disbelief, as he shows the BBC his home. "I'm surprised the floors are even withstanding all this stuff." | BBC, UK

International news

2024 Global Day of Action: Expanding our ecosystems of change

26th June 2024. For over a decade, the Support. Don’t Punishcampaign has resourced a global, decentralised network of change-makers in drug policy reform and harm reduction to reduce stigma, end violent and neglectful policies and practices against our communities, and ensure redress for all | IDPC, UK

Doctors accuse Nationals of serving interests of tobacco lobby by opposing vaping prohibition [Australia]

AMA president says party’s push to regulate vapes like cigarettes is a ‘tax grab’ that shows ‘complete disregard’ for health | Guardian, UK

Drugs harm reduction expert, Tony Duffin, welcomes supervised injection room opening

After numerous delays, the Merchant's Quay pilot facilty is set to launch before the end of the year | Hotpress, Ireland

Harm Reduction Advocacy – Webinar Series

We present the video recordings of the four webinars we organised in collaboration with the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network to strengthen harm reduction advocacy across Europe | Drug Reporter, Hungary

Launch: EU Drug Markets – New psychoactive substances (EMCDDA-Europol Webinar)

27th June 2024. This webinar provides an overview of the EU market on New psychoactive substances (NPS), from production and trafficking, to distribution and use of these substances. The speakers will discuss the continued adaptation of the NPS market and increasing integration with the market for established controlled drugs, drawing conclusions from a number of data sources, including the European Union Early Warning System on NPS. Key issues will be defined and recommendations for action at EU and Member State level will be provided | EMCDDA, Portugal

Launch of new European Union Drugs Agency on 3 July

On 2 July, a new European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) will officially replace the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), which has been operating in Lisbon since 1995. The development is the result of new legislation entering into application on that day which revises the EMCDDA mandate and name and formally establishes the EUDA | EMCDDA, Portugal

Cannabis, Tobacco Use, and COVID-19 Outcomes

In this cohort study of 72 501 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in a large medical center, individuals who used cannabis had a higher risk of hospitalization and intensive care unit admission compared with those not using cannabis after controlling for other risk factors | JAMA Network Open, USA

2.5 million Americans will have marijuana convictions cleared or forgiven

Maryland this week became the latest state to announce mass pardons for people convicted of marijuana-related crimes as the nation wrestles with how to make amends for the lives disrupted in the decades-long war on drugs | VOA, USA

FDA OKs the First Menthol E-Cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers, the government’s strongest indication yet that vaping flavors can reduce the harms of traditional tobacco smoking | TIME, USA

Factors associated with abstinence in addiction inpatient treatment cohort: a five-year follow-up

[Open access] Overcoming addiction is characterized by a long-term recovery process and a high rate of relapse. This study aimed to identify factors associated with relapse and long-term abstinence in patients with substance use disorders or behavioral addictions (SUDs/BA) five years after completing the inpatient addiction treatment based on the Apolinar model | Journal of Substance Use, USA

[Open access] In 2018 the US state of Minnesota made the services of substance users now in recovery freely available to current clients with federal health insurance. Clients who experienced this support were much more likely to complete their outpatient treatment than those who did not, though overdose rates were about the same | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

[Open access] Compared to the previous six months, over the next six dependent opioid users treated with long-acting buprenorphine in a US region were far less likely to require emergency care or inpatient treatment for mental health or substance use diagnoses, offsetting the cost of the intervention | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

Taliban’s opium ban imperiled by climate change as alternative crops struggle

Prolonged droughts attributed to climate change are making it hard for Afghans to grow other field crops and fruits, but hardy opium poppies can still thrive | Washington Post, USA

[Open access] Sites where people can inject or otherwise consume drugs more safely may be resisted by nearby home-owners concerned about the impact on house prices. Shortly after three sites opened in Montreal there was a hit on prices, but this soon rectified itself | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

“Let’s Go After This Whole Thing”—DULF Challenges Criminal Charges

Vancouver’s drug-user rights movement is bracing for what could be yet another long legal battle ahead, as the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) files a constitutional challenge to recent criminal charges against two of its founders | Filter Magazine, USA

Risky drinking even riskier for women

A concerning number of Australian women are drinking at dangerous levels despite knowing that it is likely to be causing them harm, warn Flinders University researchers | Medical Xpress, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Putting the brakes on the harm caused by drink and drug driving

England, Wales and Northern Ireland have the highest drink driving limit in Europe. In this blog, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the AHA and President of the British Medical Association (BMA), explains why the BMA, together with the AHA and others, are calling on the next government to lower the limit to reduce harm and saves lives | AHA blog, UK

I am sober curious – but a little alcohol is still valuable to me

I could easily give up. But should I? It isn’t necessarily an easy question to answer, writes Emma Beddington | Guardian opinion, UK

Khat in Kenya: why efforts to ban this popular stimulant are unlikely to work

Khat – the stimulant leaves and twigs of the plant Catha edulis – seemed to have secure legal status in Kenya despite being illegal elsewhere. It had been declared an official cash crop in 2016, and efforts were under way to formalise its mostly informal production and trade | Conversation, UK

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