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Daily news - 27th March 2024 |
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UK news
MSPs back minimum alcohol pricing increase
A committee of MSPs has backed the increase to the minimum unit price of alcohol as a minister urged councils to spend Government funding on addiction services. The change will see the floor rise from 50p to 65p from September 30 | STV News, UK
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee [Scotland] - video
The Committee takes evidence on the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 (Continuation) Order 2024 [draft] and the Alcohol (Minimum Price per Unit) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2024 | Scottish Parliament TV, UK
Age-restriction interventions for tobacco and nicotine vapour products in children and young people
Most smokers start in adolescence. Therefore, policies that restrict the sale of tobacco products by age have the potential to prevent smoking and related harm. We undertook a scoping review to identify evidence for two potential policies to restrict the sale and supply of tobacco to younger people | Public Health Scotland, UK
Free vapes could 'save thousands of lives' - report
Handing out free vapes to smokers in A&E departments could "save thousands of lives", a new study has found. Academics from the University of East Anglia (UEA), based in Norwich, conducted a trial in six UK emergency departments, between January and August 2022 | BBC, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times - 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023
This release by Public Health Scotland reports on waiting times for people accessing specialist drug and alcohol treatment services between 1 October and 31 December 2023. 10,534 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,239 (49.7%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,885 (36.9%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,410 (13.4%) for co-dependency | Public Health Scotland, UK
Alcohol Consumption and Harms Dashboard
This dashboard release combines alcohol consumption and harms information from a variety of sources including NHS hospital admissions data, National Records of Scotland mortality data and Scottish Government survey data. General hospital admissions resulting from conditions wholly attributable to alcohol peaked in 2007/08 (855 per 100,000 population) but have fallen most years since and reduced by 37.5% between 2007/08 and 2022/23 (532 per 100,000) | Public Health Scotland, UK
NHS stop smoking services quarterly
This release presents information on NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland and their progress towards their annual Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard. The LDP Standard for NHS Scotland in 2023/24 is to achieve at least 7,026 self-reported successful twelve-week quits through smoking cessation services in the 40% most deprived areas | Public Health Scotland, UK
The drug users being given phones to rebuild their lives
Hundreds of drug users in Scotland have been given phones, tablets and laptops as part of a scheme to help them rebuild their lives. The initiative, which is part of a £3m project aimed at improving digital inclusion, also pays for a data plan | BBC, UK
Nitazenes in non-opioid drugs: What does this mean for Bristol?
22nd of April Join us as we discuss the prevalence of nitazenes within non-opioid drugs and what this means for Bristol. This webinar is aimed at people working within Bristol-based organisations who work with people who use drugs but is open to all | BDP, UK
Wanted £26m drugs conspiracy suspect may have left UK
A man wanted in connection with a £26m drug ring may have left the country, police have said | BBC, UK
International news
Estimating causality between smoking and abdominal obesity by Mendelian randomization
[Open access] Smokers tend to have a lower body weight than non-smokers, but also more abdominal fat. It remains unclear whether or not the relationship between smoking and abdominal obesity is causal. Previous Mendelian randomization studies have investigated this relationship by relying upon a single genetic variant for smoking heaviness. We aimed to estimate causality between smoking and abdominal obesity using multiple genetic instruments | Addiction, UK
Australia Football League denies it has a cocaine problem after whistleblower claims
The Australian Football League (AFL) has denied it has a cocaine problem, after whistleblowers claimed abuse of the drug is widespread in the sport | BBC, UK
Kerry businessman denied bail in €32m crystal meth haul case
Customs officers discovered 543kg of crystal meth, with an estimated value of €32.8million, in container in the Port of Cork | Journal, Ireland
Information page on the EMCDDA's new mandate (EUDA)
On 2 July 2024 the EMCDDA will become the EUDA. On this page, you can learn more about what this change means for the agency and its work, as well as practical information to ensure a smooth transition | EMCDDA, Portugal
New drug checking data from the Trans-European Drug Information (TEDI) network
Data from drug checking services across Europe provide us with valuable insights into drug market dynamics and can help warn users of dangerous substances in circulation. Analysing such data is part of the EMCDDA's multi-indicator approach to drug monitoring and provides crucial information for local interventions. [Yesterday], the EMCDDA released the latest drug-checking data from the Trans-European Drug Information network | EMCDDA, Portugal
First in Europe: Belgium will ban sale of disposable vapes from 2025
Belgium will ban the sale of disposable e-cigarettes from 1 January 2025, as it received approval from the European Commission to do so, announced Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke on Saturday | Brussels Times, Belgium
Rural Americans are going without meds to fight opioid, alcohol addictions
Less than 9% of rural Americans who abuse both opioids and alcohol are prescribed medications to treat both disorders, new research reveals | Medical Xpress, USA
How expanded methadone access helped Switzerland defuse its drug crisis
ZURICH — The lobby of this addiction clinic is unremarkable, really, except for the network of metal chutes and tubes that hug the walls as they snake downward from a pharmacy on the upper floors. Every few minutes, a new prescription comes clattering down, delivering a bottle full of powerful and effective pills used to treat opioid addiction to a waiting patient at the front desk | STAT News, USA
New rules lowered prescription opioid use - but where does that leave those in pain? - audio with transcript
In Australia, the misuse of prescription opioids has been a longstanding problem. At one point the nation recorded the world's ninth highest per capita consumption in the world. But changes to prescribing rules in 2020 appear to have been effective in reducing their use | SBS News, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Chief Inspector's blog: Drugs and disorder: worrying times for prisons
Over the past year, I have been increasingly concerned about the levels of illicit drugs finding their way into prisons, and whilst drugs in prisons are nothing new, I was shocked when we found that, in random tests, more than half the prisoners at Hindley, a Category C resettlement prison between Manchester and Liverpool, tested positive for illicit drug use. For the first time in my experience as Chief Inspector, more people in a jail were under the influence of drugs than sober | HM Inspectorate of Prisons blog, UK
Can we increase government revenue by raising alcohol taxes?
Alcohol consumption is a major global public health concern, causing various social and health harms. To address these issues, governments often impose alcohol excise taxes. However, some argue that increasing alcohol taxes leads to a decrease in government revenue. This blog post examines the relationship between alcohol taxes and government tax revenue, as well as the impact of changes in these taxes on government revenue | IAS blog, UK
‘Harm reduction’ takes centre stage as UN drug policy breaks free from the shackles of consensus
The 67th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs culminated in a historical day of high drama in Vienna on Friday, 22nd March, as member states resorted to voting on resolutions for the first time in modern history, and finally included the words “harm reduction” | IDPC blog, UK
Want to quit vaping? There’s an app for that
More Australians than ever are vaping, according to recently released data. The National Drug Strategy Household Survey shows the proportion of Australians aged 14 and over who, in 2022–2023, said they currently vaped was 7%. In 2019 it was just 2.5%. Users are most likely to be aged 18-24. As we learn more about the potential harms of vaping, many will be keen to quit | Conversation, Australia