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Daily news - 13th March 2024

UK news

Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: October to December 2023

This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. There were 1,197 suspected drug deaths, 10% (105) more than during 2022 | Scottish Government, UK

Suspected drug deaths surge by 10% in Scotland

The number of suspected drug deaths in Scotland surged by 10% last year, police believe | STV, UK

Scotland’s Public Health Emergency Continues

Figures provided to the Scottish Government by Police Scotland show that there were 1197 suspected drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2023. In 2022 there were 1092 suspected deaths and 1051 were confirmed as being drug-related. This suggests that the number of deaths confirmed to be drug-related to be published this summer will show that drug-related deaths have risen and that Scotland’s public health emergency continues | SDF, UK

Press release: Urgent call to smokers to make a quit attempt for No Smoking Day

Smokers in England are being urged to make a quit attempt this No Smoking Day to improve their health and wealth. Leading charities, including ASH, Cancer Research UK and Asthma + Lung UK, are joining forces with the government to encourage the nation’s 5.3 million smokers to make a quit attempt this No Smoking Day, 13 March | Department of Health and Social Care and The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP, UK

Early Day Motions: Public Accounts Committee report entitled Reducing the harm from illegal drugs

Motion text: That this House welcomes the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, Reducing the harm from illegal drugs, published in February 2024; notes that this acknowledges recent progress in workforce recruitment and countering county lines; heeds and highlights the PAC’s warning that, should the Joint Combating Drugs Unit, the Department of Health and Social Care and other Government departments fail to develop a compelling case for the sustained investment needed to reduce the growing harms from illegal drugs, then such progress will be wasted... | UK Parliament, UK

Stepping Stones Study - Early Findings Webinar

TODAY. Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:00 - 14:00 GMT. Evaluating care models for women who use/in treatment for drug use and their infants from preconception to 18-months postnatal | Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, UK

What would you like to say about alcohol addiction, treatment and recovery? - survey

Our Message, Our Voice is a project led by the University of Keele and our group of public contributors. We are gathering views from people who have lived experience of alcohol addiction, and we will use these views to inform our short film, which we hope will help to shape future policy, treatment and practice. Please do complete the survey if it is relevant to you, and we would be grateful for your help in sharing it widely | University of Keele, UK

County lines gang jailed for £1m drugs enterprise

Nine members of a criminal gang that ran a county lines drug operation across two regions have been jailed | BBC, UK

Five Jersey fires linked to smoking in last year, fire service warns

Marking No Smoking Day, the service warned smoking killed and not just because of health risks | BBC, UK

International news

Surge in Australian drug use revealed in wastewater as methamphetamine dominates

More than 16.5 tonnes of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA consumed in the year ending August 2023 | Guardian, UK [See ACIC report towards the end of this section, below]

Should tobacco sales be restricted to state-run alcohol outlets? Perspectives from 10 US alcohol control states

[Open access] The ubiquity of tobacco retailers helps to sustain the tobacco epidemic. A tobacco retail reduction approach that has not been tried is transitioning tobacco sales to state-controlled alcohol stores (TTS), which are limited in number and operate under some restrictions, e.g. regarding opening hours or marketing materials. This study summarizes policy experts' and advocates’ views of TTS, including (1) advantages and disadvantages; (2) feasibility; and (3) potential implementation obstacles | Addiction, USA

Rigid rules at methadone clinics are jeopardizing patients’ path to recovery from opioid addiction

Detroit — Every morning, Rebecca Smith, nursing a surgically repaired knee, carefully walks down the hallway of her brutalist brick apartment building, takes the elevator one floor to the lobby, and negotiates the sharply angled driveway outside. There, she waits for an Uber to take her to the last place she wants to go: her methadone clinic | STAT News, USA

Doctors, experts acknowledge the changing perception of nicotine

Participants in a panel discussion at the recent Global Forum on Nicotine agreed that nicotine has been increasingly recognized for its broader applications, including potential therapeutic uses, and should not be continuously demonized as the cause of tobacco-related diseases | Inquirer.net, USA

More than 11% of US 12th graders used psychoactive delta-8-THC last year, study finds

A new study suggests that delta-8-THC, an intoxicating substance typically made from hemp, is being used by a substantial number of young people across the United States and could potentially pose a significant public health risk | Medical Xpress, USA

If You’re a Cop, There Are Better Ways for You to Use Narcan

As the overdose crisis escalates, so do law enforcement’s misconceptions about Narcan, the nasal-spray formulation of the opioid-overdose antidote naloxone. It’s common for officers to believe that Narcan doesn’t work on fentanyl, or that giving someone four or five doses is helpful, or that chest compressions are more important than rescue breathing. Police officers learn it from other police officers, corrections officers from other corrections officers, and so forth | Filter Magazine, USA

Denver Prepares to “Lead the Way” With Legal Psilocybin Businesses

Officials in Denver are actively considering how the city will host and oversee psilocybin businesses, after Colorado voted in 2022 to legalize possession and regulate therapeutic use | Filter Magazine, USA

Drug Checking Symposium 2023 Report: October 5–7, 2023

Provides a comprehensive review of the Drug Checking Symposium 2023, emphasizing the importance of drug checking in promoting safety and awareness in the unregulated drug supply. Offers a comprehensive overview of collaborative strategies, advocacy and technical advancements. Serves as a crucial resource for professionals seeking to enhance their understanding and support mechanisms in drug checking, thereby playing a pivotal role in guiding and improving access to safer substance use practices | CCSA, Canada

Australia’s drug use goes under the microscope in new wastewater report

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) has released the latest findings from its National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program, revealing that during the year ended August 2023, methylamphetamine, cocaine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) consumption increased tangibly | ACIC, Australia

The Sick-Quitter Effect: Alcohol-related death has been underestimated over the past 30 years

New research led by the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, has identified that alcohol may cause more deaths than previously thought, as evidence reviews over the past 30 years may have underestimated the number of deaths caused by alcohol due to an issue called the ‘sick-quitter effect’ | Daffodil Centre, Australia

[Open access] There is little knowledge of the perspectives of people who use methamphetamine and have participated in clinical trials, and none for interventions not intended to address abstinence. A better understanding of these experiences could lead to more patient centred clinical trial design. This study seeks to understand the experiences of people who completed a clinical trial of lisdexamfetamine for the treatment of acute methamphetamine withdrawal | IJDP, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

The game the alcohol industry played with the Dutch National Prevention Agreement

In 2018, Paul Blokhuis (then State Secretary of Health, Welfare and Sport) announced the National Prevention Agreement with the aim of a healthier Netherlands in 2040 by reducing smoking, obesity and problematic alcohol use. A total of 70 partners joined the agreement | IAS blog, UK

And finally...

Stoner rats found eating up marijuana in New Orleans police evidence room: ‘They’re all high!’

Reefer-loving rodents are gobbling up the cannabis stash held under lock and key in the New Orleans Police Department’s dilapidated evidence room, officials announced on Monday | New York Post, USA

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