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Daily news - 25th November 2024

UK news

Smoking could cause 300,000 cancer cases in UK by 2029, study finds

Cancer Research urges MPs to back tobacco and vapes bill, saying damage caused by cigarettes cannot be ignored | Guardian, UK

ASH/Smokefree Action Coalition briefing: The Tobacco and Vapes Bill Second reading - November 2024 (PDF)

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a world-leading piece of health legislation which will phase out the sale of tobacco for the next generation and take a strong regulatory approach to vaping. Raising the age of sale is supported by 69% of GB adults, with only 12% opposed. Support is consistent among supporters of the three main parties (Lab 74%, Con 70%, Lib Dem 75%) | ASH et al, UK

Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco: Sales

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many reports have been received by the Citizens Advice consumer hotline on the illegal sale of (a) tobacco products, (b) vape and c) alcohol products in each of the last five years | They work for you, UK

Panorama - Binge Drinking and Me - video

Televised tonight on BBC 1 at 8pm. BBC journalist Hazel Martin goes on a personal journey to find out why alcohol-related deaths from liver disease among women under 40 have risen sharply over the last decade | BBC, UK

Welsh Overdose Awareness Day 2024

Friday 13th December. Friday 13th December marks ‘Welsh Overdose Awareness Day’, an opportunity to raise awareness of overdose, how to reduce the risk and what can be implemented to help mitigate against various issues associated to drug-related overdoses, here in Wales | Barod, UK

Stigma Shorts Series with Alex Stevens

Friday 13 December 2024 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM (UTC+00). Online. Professor Alex Stevens will use ideas from his latest book, on Drug Policy Constellations, to explain how the current mix of policies on drug-related deaths came to be. Instead of focusing on electoral politics, or appealing for 'evidence-based policy', Alex will show how particularly Scottish combinations of policy actors, ideas, morals and forms of power influenced the belated response to the crisis of drug-related deaths | Alex Stevens, UK

Davina McCall shares most difficult thing about heroin addiction in her twenties

“My biggest problem was that I had to say I was an addict, and I’d never said that out loud before,” she said in an interview with author Johann Hari on her Begin Again podcast.| Independent, UK

Residents split on plans for another alcohol venue

Hospitality chain Loungers has applied to Leeds City Council for an alcohol licence at the site of the former Wilko store at Headingley Central on Otley Road | BBC, UK

Widow of gambling addict lambasts watchdog’s failure to investigate suicides

Exclusive: Annie Ashton, whose husband killed himself, says more people will die because of Gambling Commission inaction | Guardian, UK

Man who forced children to deal cocaine jailed

Arron Kenny, 24, used threats of violence to get young people involved in his crime in Tameside, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard | BBC, UK

Man caused fatal crash in chase over fake drugs

A man has been jailed for 18 years for killing three men in a car chase after they cheated him in a drug deal and sold him popcorn instead of cannabis | BBC, UK

International news

Exploring public preferences for alcohol risk communication

[Open access] Despite numerous educational initiatives, effectively communicating alcohol-related risks remains a significant public health challenge. This study investigates the sources and preferences for alcohol risk information in Poland, analyzing how these are influenced by sociodemographic factors and alcohol consumption levels | DEPP, UK

Dutch police find gnome made of MDMA during drug bust

Officers in the southern Netherlands have found a garden gnome weighing nearly 2kg (4lb) and made of the drug MDMA | BBC, UK

Dartmouth sorority and two fraternity members charged over death of student

Won Jang drowned in Connecticut River in July after party where alcohol was supplied by his fraternity | Guardian, UK

'Don't drink the spirits': Laos backpackers avoid shots after suspected poisonings

It’s not hard to see what draws so many travellers here to this little town in central Laos. The scenery is stunning, the fun cheap and plentiful. But the town has found itself at the centre of an international scandal after six tourists died last week following suspected methanol poisoning | BBC, UK

Major disparities in smoking rates based on ethnicity, income and sexual orientation: Surgeon general

Despite progress the United States population has made in reducing its cigarette smoking, the measure of that progress has not been equal for all groups, according to a new report from the Surgeon General | abc news, USA

Nurse Care Management of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment After 3 Years

In 3 years since the start of OBAT implementation, the increase in OUD treatment in intervention compared with usual care clinics was greater than during the first 2 years of implementation, suggesting that integration of a new model of OUD treatment into primary care takes time to overcome barriers | JAMA Network Open, USA

[Open access] Onset of cannabis vaping during youth and young adulthood was most common among NH (Non-hispanic)-Black youth, relative to other race/ethnic categories. Alcohol was a common predictor of cannabis vaping across race/ethnic categories while depression was linked to cannabis vaping transitions among Hispanic and NH-Black youth, only. Future research should investigate the link between alcohol use, mental health, and cannabis vaping among young people | SSM, USA

Flavored vapes behind big surge in U.S. e-cigarette sales

In all, e-cigarette sales rose 47% over the period, according to a new report from the CDC Foundation and Truth Initiative that called on more states to restrict sales of flavored vapes | Medical Xpress, USA

College students less likely than general population to receive treatment

Alcohol and other drug use disorders are more common in college students and, for some, can lead to long-term problems. Yet, motivation for treatment is typically low in this group. This study examined prevalence rates and factors associated with treatment seeking | Recovery Research Institute, USA

Should I stay or should I go: Investigating characteristics of youth likely to complete treatment

Many youths with substance use disorder that start treatment do not finish. This study examined what characteristics of young patients relate to completing treatment in both community-based and residential treatment | Recovery Research Institute, USA

Will Indonesia, a Key Tobacco Control Outlier, Keep Vaping Legal?

If Indonesia was already frowned upon by the World Health Organization (WHO) and tobacco control groups for its high and rising smoking rate, it sealed that outlier status in 2018. That’s when the country became one of the first in Asia, and in the Global South, to recognize vaping as a legitimate alternative to combustible tobacco | Filter Magazine, USA

Documents Show BC Scrapped OPC Plan at Hospitals Where Pop-Ups Ran

On November 18, the newly organized group Doctors for Safer Drug Policy set up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites on the grounds outside at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and Regional General Hospital in Nanaimo. Both tents, which planned short-term runs that have now concluded, were immediately approached by private security officers, but were allowed to relocate to the sidewalk and proceed without much interference | Filter Magazine, USA

First Festival Chosen For Pill Testing Trial

Pill testing saves lives – and the first of ten festival events in Victoria to take part in the Allan Labor Government’s pill testing trial has been selected | Premier of Victoria, Australia

Queensland government confirms it will stop funding pill testing facilities - video

The Queensland government has confirmed it will stop funding two pill testing facilities in the state’s southeast | The Australian, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

A chance for countries to support Ireland's world-leading cancer warning labels for alcohol containers

Ireland has regulated for all packaged alcohol products to include a health warning that states that ‘there is a link between alcohol and fatal cancers’. This warning is being opposed in the World Trade Organization by 12 member states who are raising that the warning is an unnecessary barrier to trade. The World Health Organization is supporting Ireland. Countries should not oppose Ireland's warning which is defensible from legal and public health perspectives | DAR editorial, UK

Not Invented Here #4 - Smoking

'Not Invented Here' syndrome is a term used about institutions which reject practical solutions because they originated from outside the in-group | IEA blog, UK

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