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Daily news - 20th March 2024

UK news

Press release: Smokefree generation one step closer as Bill introduced

A new Bill to protect future generations across the UK from the harmful impacts of smoking and build a better future for our children will be introduced to Parliament today (Wednesday 20 March). The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will deliver on the Prime Minister's commitment to create a smokefree generation, saving thousands of lives and billions for the NHS | Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, UK

Youngsters who break new smoking ban face on-the-spot fines in UK

Council officers to be given power to issue fines in tobacco and vapes bill that will ban future generations from smoking | Guardian, UK

Smoking age ban policy will apply in Scotland

Legislation to block the next generation of adults from being able to buy cigarettes will be introduced in Scotland as well as the rest of the UK | BBC, UK

Correspondence: 001/2024: The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) Order 2024 and The Misuse of Drugs and Misuse of Drugs (Designation) (England and Wales and Scotland) (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2024

This release draws attention to 2 statutory instruments which amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and associated regulations to control and schedule 20 new drugs. These are: 15 synthetic opioids, 14 of which are nitazenes, which are now controlled as Class A drugs; Diphenidine, ephenidine and methoxyphenidine which are controlled under Class B; Cumyl-PeGaClone, a type of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist which is controlled under Class B; And Remimazolam, a type of benzodiazepine, which is controlled under Class C | Home Office, UK

UK too slow to act on lethal drug threat - doctors

The UK government is behind the curve in tracking the spread of new super-strength drugs, a doctor who has treated patients has said. More than 100 deaths have now been linked to synthetic opioids called nitazenes since the summer, according to the National Crime Agency. Dr Mark Pucci says flawed data collection methods mean the numbers are a significant underestimate | BBC, UK

Estimated Prevalence of Opioid Dependence in Scotland 2014/15 to 2019/20 (PDF)

This report describes the findings from a public health surveillance collaboration between Public Health Scotland, the University of Bristol, and Glasgow Caledonian University. The report describes estimates of the number of people with opioid dependence who are at risk of drug-related harm (such as overdose poisoning and other causes of premature mortality, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV), with the potential to benefit from opioid agonist therapy (OAT ), whether they are/were in receipt of OAT or not. Estimates of prevalence are also provided | Public Health Scotland, UK

Alcohol related hospital statistics: Scotland financial year 2022 to 2023

This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides information on alcohol-related inpatient and day case activity within general acute and psychiatric hospitals in Scotland. This release covers general acute hospital activity for the financial years 1981/82 to 2022/23 and psychiatric hospital admissions from 1997/98 to 2022/23. Please note that for this March 2024 release the 2022/23 rates analysis figures are based on 2021 mid-year population estimates | Public Health Scotland, UK

More evidence needed to understand consumer behaviour around no and low-alcoholic drinks

There is not yet enough data on consumer behaviour around no-and-low alcoholic (NOLO) drinks to position them as the ‘healthy’ alternative to alcoholic beverages, say researchers | University of York, UK

The rehab service that keeps families together

Harper House is the only drug and alcohol rehabilitation unit in Scotland that can support both parents to get clean while still having responsibility for their children | BBC, UK

Films with long sex scenes and nudity may no longer be rated 12

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) said its new guidelines were in response to its research on people's attitudes towards violence, drug use, sex and use of language | Sky News, UK

New Sheffield ad ban shows how councils can act on harmful advertising

In a tangible step towards a greener, healthier city with lower air pollution, Sheffield City Council is calling time on advertising and sponsorships that fuel the climate emergency. The policy also restricts the promotion of gambling, alcohol, vaping and unhealthy food, and explicitly aims to protect against the disproportionate impact of unhealthy advertising on lower income communities and young people | AdFree Cities, UK

Ripon rugby player died from cocaine toxicity, inquest concludes

A man who died from cocaine toxicity was a "proud dad" trying to beat his drug addiction, his girlfriend has said following an inquest into his death | BBC, UK

Desk rejection with Katie Witkiewitz - audio

In this episode Dr Casy Calver talks to Dr Katie Witkiewitz about her experience as an editor and specifically about desk rejection - sometimes called reject without review. She talks about the many reasons that articles are rejected without going to peer-review. These can include there being too many similar studies already in the journal, page limits and articles being outside the scope of the journal. There are also avoidable issues of quality. Dr Witkiewitz then gives her top tips for how best to avoid (and cope with) desk rejection | SSA, UK

Medical Cannabis and Multiple Sclerosis: A Patient and Clinical Perspective

Tuesday, March 26 · 6 - 7pm GMT. Online. Come learn about how medical cannabis can be used to treat multiple sclerosis. You'll hear from a patient and clinician | Volteface, UK

Northern Ireland: Take Drugs Seriously

Thursday, March 21. South dining hall, Main site, Queen's University. Come along to learn about the impact of drugs in Northern Ireland and how we can better protect our community. Join the discussion about what a new approach to drugs could mean for Northern Ireland, your family and your community | J Slater, UK

Pilot jailed after trying to fly plane from Edinburgh to New York while drunk

The Delta airlines employee was caught with a half empty bottle of Jägermeister in his hand luggage | Guardian, UK

Merseyside PC sacked for ignoring ex-girlfriend's cocaine use

A Merseyside Police constable has been sacked after she ignored her ex-girlfriend snorting cocaine in front of her | BBC, UK

Bristol gang jailed for £4.5 cocaine conspiracy in South West

A gang that supplied more than 130 kilos of cocaine valued at £4.5 million across the South West has been jailed for 56 years | BBC, UK

 

International news

The death penalty for drug offences:global overview 2023

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our 13th on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international human rights and drug control standards | HRI, UK

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the outcomes of the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; and if she will have discussions with the Leader of the House on making parliamentary time available for scrutiny of those outcomes | They work for you, UK

Queensland to become first state to introduce permanent pill-testing clinics

Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival will conduct testing onsite at the end of March and first fixed-site clinic will open in Bowen Hills in April | Guardian, UK

EMCDDA webinar: The role of Artificial Intelligence in evidence-based research

26 MAR 2024.  In view of the fast-moving developments in the field of AI, we would like to discuss opportunities and challenges of using AI for evidence-based research | EMCDDA, Portugal

Morocco reports first legal cannabis harvest of 294 metric tons

Morocco's first legal cannabis harvest was 294 metric tons in 2023, after the country approved its cultivation and export for medicine and industrial uses, cannabis regulator ANRAC said | Reuters, USA

West Virginia city once battered by opioid overdoses confronts 'fourth wave'

From 2006 through 2014, more than 81 million painkiller pills were shipped to this city and surrounding rural Cabell County | Medical Xpress, USA

Study finds low social status increases risk of health conditions from alcohol problems

Men and women with lower income or education levels are more likely to develop medical conditions related to alcohol abuse compared to similar individuals with a higher socioeconomic status. Alexis Edwards of Virginia Commonwealth University, US, and colleagues report these findings in a new study published in the open access journal PLOS Medicine | Medical Xpress, USA

Nearly 72% Of Canada’s Cannabis Users Buy From Legal Market, Survey Finds

Based on data collected from a self-reported survey of 2,251 young adults aged 18 to 24 years and 5,185 adults aged 25 years and older, the findings indicate that over two-thirds of cannabis consumers are purchasing from the legal market | Forbes, USA

Q&A: Mark Parrino says it’s time to ‘completely re-examine’ methadone treatment for opioid addiction

Nobody has made more of an impact on methadone treatment than Mark Parrino. For decades, he’s served as the founder and president of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, a nationwide advocacy group representing methadone clinics. Before AATOD, he ran a statewide advocacy group in New York, having made the jump to politics and policy after working as a clinic director and, before that, as an addiction counselor | STAT News, USA

The long and winding road to city drug checking: Reflections on the history, development and rollout of drug checking services in the UK

3:00pm - 4:30pm PDT (22:00 - 23:30 GMT). Fiona will discuss the history and development of drug checking in the UK from 3 years of festival piloting through to a central government licensed, local government funded regular city service launching this year. Alongside an overview of the rollout and evaluation of The Loop Drug Checking Service, which Fiona founded in 2012, she will consider wider issues of evidence-based policy, advocacy, legality and precarity in the harm reduction movement and raise the question of how we make change in challenging political environments | UVIC, Canada

Queensland to introduce pill testing at Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival, where two people died in 2019

Pill testing will be introduced for the first time in Queensland this month — at the Rabbits Eat Lettuce music festival, where two young people died five years ago | abc.net.au, Australia

The absence of mandatory pregnancy warning labels in online alcohol purchasing contexts

[Open access] As people increasingly migrate to online shopping platforms, hard-won improvements in requirements for consumer information provision at the point of sale are being eroded. An example is the alcohol pregnancy warning label for packaged alcoholic beverages that has been recently introduced in Australia and New Zealand. The aim of the present study was to assess the extent to which the pregnancy warning was visible at the online point of sale when the requirement became mandatory in August 2023 | DAR, Australia