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Daily news - 14th May 2024

UK news

Press release: Expansion of life-saving opioid overdose treatment

More professionals such as nurses, paramedics, police officers and probation workers will be able to supply a life-saving opioid overdose antidote without a prescription to save the lives of the most vulnerable, the government has announced. More professionals such as nurses, paramedics, police officers and probation workers will be able to supply a life-saving opioid overdose antidote without a prescription to save the lives of the most vulnerable, the government has announced | Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP, and The Rt Hon Victoria Atkins MP, UK

Life-saving overdose drug to be given without prescription

Opioid-related deaths – for example from heroin or powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl - make up the biggest proportion of drug fatalities across the UK. There is an average of 40 deaths a week across the country. But administering the drug naloxone to someone who is overdosing can be life-saving, by easing potentially fatal breathing difficulties | BBC, UK

Children’s exposure to vape marketing at all-time high – poll

Children’s exposure to vape marketing is at an all-time high, with youngsters overwhelmingly opting for fruit and dessert-flavoured vapes, new data shows. Annual survey results from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) show children in Great Britain are increasingly aware of vape marketing, including in shops and via social media sites such as TikTok and YouTube | Evening Standard, UK

Project that reduced teenage drinking and drug taking in Iceland trialled in Dundee

There are currently six pilot areas in Scotland taking part in the Planet Youth initiative | STV News, UK

Incident psychotic experiences following self-reported use of high-potency cannabis: Results from a longitudinal cohort study

[Open access] High-potency cannabis has been associated with increased risk of psychosis, but a lack of prospective data hinders understanding of causality in this relationship. This study aimed to combine prospective report of cannabis use with retrospective report of potency to infer the potency of cannabis used in adolescence and explore whether use of cannabis, and the use of high-potency cannabis, in adolescence is associated with incident psychotic experiences | Addiction, UK

[Open access] It was already known that adding interactive individualisation and feedback to a drinking reduction phone app reduced drinking among heavy-drinking UK ex-military. This new analysis shows it also improved their quality of life, though the effects had faded six months later | Behaviour Research and Therapy, UK

Warning issued for drug being detected in deaths in Scotland

Public Health Scotland (PHS) issued a RADAR alert for the 'new synthetic' drug xylazine on Thursday, May 9. PHS says people who take drugs may not be aware of the potential presence of xylazine in the supply | Glasgow Times, UK

Consumption Rooms: Enabling or Preventing?

Anthony Heron explores some of the detail of the proposed safe consumption rooms in Glasgow, given Scotland’s shocking statistics for drugs-related mortality, its essential that we get these right | Bella Caledonia, UK

Blackburn recovery group transforms wasteland into garden

A group of people recovering from addiction have been busy transforming neglected land in a town centre into a thriving community garden | Lancashire Telegraph, UK

Teacher who sold cocaine is given classroom ban

Stephanie Szymanska, 36, was caught when Essex Police investigated the rise of drug-fuelled violence in Colchester | BBC, UK

Prison staff allegedly bringing in drugs

Staff are allegedly bringing drugs into a privately-run prison where nine people died in two months, a Conservative MP has said | BBC, UK

International news

Is it right to force someone into rehab? The man whose life inspired a landmark law

Ricky Klausmeyer-Garcia’s friends struggled to get him addiction treatment, leading to the creation of a law in his name. A year after his death, profound questions remain about how best to help those with substance use disorder | Guardian, UK

EMCDDA official visit to Colombia to sign Working Arrangement with Ministry of Justice and Law

This week, EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel is making an official visit to Colombia to sign the agency's Working Arrangement with the Colombian Ministry of Justice and Law. The Ministry — through its Strategic Sub-Directorate for Analysis, under the Directorate for Drug Policy and Related Activities — is responsible for directing, coordinating and managing the National Drugs Observatory | EMCDDA, Portugal

[Open access] Rates of synthetic opioid-related deaths over time and across regions have been compared within the US, but other indicator data could help inform prevention and harm reduction as well. We compared regional trends in fentanyl seizures to examine potential shifts in illicit fentanyl availability | IJDP, USA

Study reveals soaring rates of adolescent daily e-cigarette use

In 2022, 6% of adults in the U.S. reported current vaping device use. Widespread use by adults has raised concerns about EVP use among adolescents | Medical Xpress, USA

New research sheds light on why college students in Mexico choose to vape

Many smokers begin using tobacco products as young adults, and vaping—consuming tobacco through an e-cigarette or other device that typically uses a battery, heating element and a liquid to produce an inhalable aerosol—is the method of choice for this age group | Medical Xpress, USA

Experiential suicide prevention training for substance use treatment intensive outpatient program counselors: Stepped wedge cluster-randomized training study

A previous US study found anti-suicide training specifically for addiction counsellors improved patients' knowledge and related attitudes, and promoted help-seeking. This new study found similar improvements among counsellors, including confidence in working with suicidal patients | JSAT, USA

[Open access] While research has evolved to view substance use stigma as a context sensitive international phenomenon that is embedded within cultures, validated self-report measures are lacking and comprehensive reviews of the existing measures are limited. In this systematic review of substance use stigma and shame measures, we aim to contextualize results from existing research, lay the groundwork for future measurement development research, and provide a thorough resource for research scientists currently designing studies to measure substance use stigma | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

Harm Reduction Policies Are Adopted Inconsistently Across Substances

RSI examined state harm reduction policies targeting three substances: tobacco, opioids, and cannabis | RStreet, USA

San Francisco tries tough love by tying welfare to drug rehab

Raymond Llano carries a plastic bag with everything he owns in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and the flattened cardboard box he uses as a bed under his arm as he waits in line for lunch at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. At 55, he hasn’t had a home for 15 years, since he lost a job at Target | San Francisco Standard, USA

Psilocybin may reverse anorexia's cognitive rigidity

Characterized by pathological weight loss driven by restrictive feeding and excessive exercise behaviors, anorexia nervosa (AN) has one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disease | Medical Xpress, USA

In the Ugly Nicotine Debate, Being Kind Isn’t Just Right—It’s Effective

Going to school as an autistic kid sometimes felt like a never-ending nightmare. Spitballs hitting me in the back of the head, being tripped in the hallway, having my books knocked out of my arms, and the constant name-calling and ridicule | Filter Magazine, USA

Harm from the drinking of people you know: A range of effects from different relationships

[Open access] Australians appear to be commonly adversely affected by the drinking of people they know. Harms from known drinkers are more likely to be experienced by women than men, particularly from the people they live with and other relatives | Addiction, Australia

Nitazenes drug sparks warnings from health workers and experts as powerful opioid arrives in Australia

Frontline health workers and drug experts have warned Australia is unprepared for a possible wave of overdoses linked to an emerging drug that is up to a thousand times more potent than morphine | The Nightly, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Deaths related to alcohol poisoning in England and Wales: 2022 registrations: NHS APA Statement

The ONS has published their annual report, sharing the statistics for deaths related to alcohol poisoning. In 2022, there were 10,048 deaths registered (16.6 per 100,000 people), an increase of 4.2% on 2021’s registrations (9,641 deaths) | NHS APA, UK

Catherine Conlon: Time to tackle vaping with strong legislation

Medical research all points one way — we must pass laws to ban disposable vapes, limit flavours, and mandate plain packaging | Irish Examiner opinion, Ireland

Partnering in pursuit of truth and recovery

Bill Stauffer recently shared Bill White’s keynote from this week’s Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science. It’s a great speech and there’s a lot to absorb. I’m sure more will be said about it on this blog | Recovery Review blog, USA

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