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Daily news - 20th May 2024

UK news

Revealed: Deadly epidemic of super-strength Chinese opioids gripping Britain’s streets

Six people in the UK are dying each week from super-strength street drugs made in China which are up to 500 stronger than morphine, The Independent can reveal, in a terrifying escalation in fatalities | Independent, UK

Alcohol abuse costing £27bn a year in England

Exclusive: Experts call for higher taxes and tougher regulation as research shows cost to NHS, other public services and economy | Guardian, UK

Smoking and mental health: a framework for action in Wales

Smoking contributes to poor mental health and increases inequalities in physical health and premature mortality. Smoking is a leading contributor to the 7–23-year lower life expectancy among people with severe mental illness (SMI) compared to the general population | RCPsych, UK

Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill

Douglas Ross MSP has introduced this Member’s Bill. It will establish a right in law to treatment for addiction for anyone in Scotland who is addicted to either alcohol, or drugs or both | Scottish Parliament, 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

Needle exchanges help stop the spread of infection

New figures from the Public Health Agency (PHA) show a total of 31,851 transactions were made by the Needle and Syringe Exchange Service (NSES) across Northern Ireland in 2023. Helping to stop the spread of infection from potential drug-related litter and sharing of injecting equipment, the NSES also provides those who use the service with direct contact with a health professional who can help them engage with additional services they may require | Public Health Agency, UK

Powder cocaine becoming most reported substance at Belfast needle exchanges

Powder cocaine is becoming the most reported substance being used at Belfast needle exchanges, according to a recent report [Item above] | Belfast Live, UK

Alcoholic Drinks: Public Health

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the labelling of alcohol products with consumer health information | UK Parliament, UK

'I was spending up to £400 a day on cocaine'

A man who spent up to £400 a day on cocaine at the height of his drug and alcohol addiction is now helping others turn their lives around | BBC, UK

Morrisons blasted by customers for display selling £3 vapes in a bargain bin

The devices were advertised with the branding, “When it’s gone it’s gone” — dicing with strict nicotine sale laws | Sun, UK

Students turn to art to warn children about vaping danger

Thirty-eight students from Hereford College of Arts produced a piece of art through painting, drawing and graphic design | BBC, UK

Collegiate Recovery UK: Launching a new way to support students

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:30 - 14:30 BST. Join us for the launch of Collegiate Recovery UK, a new platform to help support students in recovery from addiction across the country | Collegiate Recovery UK, UK

Eleven jailed for organised Class A drugs ring

Eleven people have been sentenced for their role in an organised drugs gang, following months of undercover surveillance | BBC, UK

Two arrested after cannabis worth £2.1m seized in Tyrone

Two men have been arrested following the discovery of cannabis with a street value of £2.1m in County Tyrone | BBC, UK

International news

Nitazenes: The ‘New Fentanyl’ Killing Drug Users in Europe

Up to 300 times more potent than heroin, these synthetic opioids are increasingly showing up in the continent’s drug supply. [See also a video of the report here] | VICE, UK

Is it now time to prepare psychiatry for a psychedelic future?

[Open access] Australia has just rescheduled two drugs controlled under the United Nations Psychotropic Drug Conventions, psilocybin and MDMA, as treatments for treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder respectively. This feature explores the reasons for these developments, the opportunities and challenges they provide to psychiatry communities and how along with health systems these communities might respond to these developments | BJPsych, UK

Canada denies Toronto's ask to decriminalise hard drugs

It was denied because of concerns over public safety and lack of political support, officials said | BBC, UK

New York is a lesson in how not to legalise cannabis

New Yorkers have taken to liberalisation but a plethora of illegal shops means taxes and protections are being circumvented | i news, UK

Florida’s other big November vote: will the state legalize weed?

The push to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida ramped up this week. Campaigners bankrolled by dominant players in the cannabis and CBD marketplace launched a $5m advertising blitz in support of a ballot measure in November’s election | Guardian, UK

Victorian psychologist banned after supplying patient with ice

Psychologist admitted to supplying or offering crystal meth, amphetamine and Xanax to a patient on multiple occasions | Guardian, UK

Use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Age of Asthma Onset Among US Adults and Youths

This cohort study of 7766 adults and 17 023 youths from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (2013-2021) found that adults who used ENDS in the past 30-days had an increased risk for asthma incidence at earlier ages vs adults who did not use ENDS in the past 30 days. This finding did not hold for youths | JAMA Network Open, USA

Law Requiring Warning that Alcohol Causes Breast and Colon Cancers Passes the Alaska State Legislature

The Alaska State Legislature passed Representative Andrew Gray’s “Alcoholic Beverages and Cancer Act” today, a first of its kind bill to require all alcohol retailers in the state to post cancer warning signs at the point-of-sale | Alaska Native News, USA

The Sunday Story: Life in the Shadow of the Philippines' Drug War

Since 2016, thousands have been killed in the Philippines' war on drugs. The bloody campaign began under the Philippines' last president, Rodrigo Duterte, who said he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts in the country. When current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, he promised to end this spree of state-sanctioned killings of alleged drug users and sellers, and focus on rehabilitation instead | npr, USA

[Open access] Wastewater analysis provides a complementary measure of alcohol use in whole communities. We assessed absolute differences and temporal trends in alcohol consumption by degree of remoteness and socioeconomics indicators in Australia from 2016 to 2023 | DAD, Australia

[Open access] Peer workers operating within health care settings can offer unique perspectives based on their own lived experience. Within alcohol and other drug (AOD) rehabilitation services, the potential value of peer work is becoming increasingly recognised. This qualitative study aimed to evaluate a newly implemented peer worker program located across three rehabilitation services in Tasmania, Australia | JSAT, Australia

Cannabis companies advertising on social media face backlash from drug watchdog

The Therapeutic Goods Administration alleges advertising cannabis directly to consumers can lead to 'inappropriate demand for these medicines' | Crikey, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Why gymgoers should be wary of using testosterone supplements to boost their gains

The desire for a sculpted physique is driving some amateur gymgoers to experiment with synthetic steroids – specifically, testosterone supplements. This trend is largely being driven by social media, with thousands of posts discussing ways to boost testosterone levels, and high-profile influencers promoting the supposed benefits of using the synthetic hormone – and even recommending products that anyone can purchase online without a prescription | Conversation, UK

US cannabis rescheduling: what does the DEA announcement mean?

12 years since the first US state legalised recreational cannabis, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) finally announced their intention to reschedule cannabis earlier this month after lengthy speculation. What will this change look like and how will this impact the future of the cannabis market in the US? | Volteface, UK

Prohibition, Colonisation, and Undermining Indigenous Rights

Much of the criticism of prohibition talks about the ‘war on drugs’ as a war on Black and Brown people, a war on the poor, and a war on people who use drugs. While true, this is missing an important part of the picture. Less has been said about how the legal and political system that makes drug wars possible originally came about: colonisation | Talking Drugs, UK

And finally...

Blue tits force sports club to close smoking area

The smoking area at a sports club has been closed due to a family of blue tits nesting in a wall-mounted ashtray | BBC, UK

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