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Daily news - 28th October 2024 |
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UK news
Change drug policy or risk more poisoning deaths, UK government warned
Experts call for consumption rooms and wider testing of substances, as number of people dying hits new high | Guardian, UK
'It's a potentially fatal dose': The superstrong ecstasy pills taking over London
The MDMA pills tested in London this October were found to be double an adult dose, on average. Maddy Mussen asks the experts how they flooded the market, and how to stay safe while partying this Halloween weekend | Standard, UK
Cocaine deaths soar as charity warns 'drug more available than ever'
Change Grow Live is a national drug and alcohol service with a treatment centre in Hockley. Nic Adamson, the group's deputy CEO, said the Birmingham treatment centre had seen a 'huge spike' in the number of people coming forward for treatment for cocaine abuse | Birmingham Live, UK
Poppers, the Politics of Exemption and the Characteristics of Poppers Users in the annual English Festival Study, 2014–23
[Open access] This paper explores the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported alkyl nitrite (‘poppers’) use and sexual behaviours against a backdrop of UK policy change and ambiguity surrounding legal status | British Journal of Criminology, UK
Stigma Kills - resources for staff
This training guide has been designed in order to support NHS staff,
particularly those who work in mental health services, to recognise and apply the skills they already have to support people with co-occurring conditions | NHS APA, UK
A fair exchange
My first real job opportunity felt like a battle against the system – but then something changed for me, says Stuart Lloyd. "Exchange Supplies is a social enterprise (their words), meaning (in the government’s words) ‘a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.’ They are also harm reduction innovators extraordinaire (my words)." | DDN, UK
Innovation: The Forward Trust Community App
The Forward Trust have developed a new peer support app for clients. It combines a content feed with GDPR-compliant chat messaging and access to resources, all tailored to clients’ individual journeys with Forward | Forward Trust, UK
Essex County Council set to spend almost £5m to fund alcohol addiction service
Essex County Council is looking to spend almost £5m to help alcoholics recover from their addiction. The Psychosocial Alcohol Intervention and Recovery Service (PAIRS) has been delivered in Essex since 2019 | Essex Live, UK
Alcohol licensing, England and Wales, April 2023 to March 2024
Includes statistics on premises licences, club premises certificates, personal licences, late night refreshment and 24-hour alcohol licences | Home Office, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Licensing
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Vape Licensing Scheme | They work for you, UK
Drugs: Northern Ireland
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government are taking to ensure the continued supply of medicines to Northern Ireland, in the context of the implementation of the Windsor Framework | They work for you, UK
Wines: Excise Duties
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make the temporary duty easement for wines permanent from 1 February 2025 | They work for you, UK
London Smokefree Pregnancy Week 2024 – Briefing (PDF)
London Tobacco Alliance (LTA) and Stop Smoking London (SSL) are London-wide partnerships aiming to make London SmokeFree by 2030. We have worked with partners to create a new awareness week around the smoking in pregnancy. The London Smokefree Pregnancy Week (#LDNSmokefreepreg) will run from 18-24 November | LTA and SSL, UK
Advances in Opioid Substitution Treatment
7th November 2024, 10.30am - 2.30pm, Broadway House Conference Centre, Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NQ. Join our engaging and interactive event to learn about Via’s history of using long-acting buprenorphine and the impact that long-acting buprenorphine has on the outcomes and experiences of the people that we support. Hear from experts at Via and our partners at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), who we worked collaboratively with on this research study, as well as the view from commissioners of drug and alcohol services and those people with lived experience | Via, UK
SDF’s Innovative Practice Showcase
Thursday, October 31st, 2024, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The Apex Hotel, Dundee. Join us at the 2024 Innovative Practice Showcase, a premier event spotlighting innovative practice in the substance use and related fields. This is your chance to explore the latest advances in practice in treatment, support, education, prevention, staff development and other services across Scotland | SDF, UK
Grolsch ‘watered down’ to save 23p per can on alcohol tax
Grolsch Premium Pilsner is the latest beer to be watered down, with its strength dropping from 4% ABV to 3.4% ABV in the UK | Metro, UK
More than 1,000 drone incidents at jails in England and Wales last year
Exclusive: MoJ attempts to fight back against brazen deliveries that often include household items like ketchup alongside drugs | Guardian, UK
Bar keeps licence despite criticism over drugs death
A lack of action by staff denied a man "the chance to survive” after he collapsed when taking drugs at a city centre bar, a council meeting has heard | BBC, UK
International news
Addictions Edited - LxAddictions podcasts
The official Lisbon Addictions podcast brings you all the talks, events and seminars from the recent Lisbon Addictions conference | SSA, UK
US ex-Juul users suddenly find thousands in their bank accounts after lawsuit: ‘I forgot about it completely’
Recipients say they filed class-action claims on a whim amid lawsuit alleging products were unlawfully marketed to minors | Guardian, UK
A puff on a joint - then six months of forced rehab in a concrete cell
Kim* is a young professional who started using cannabis when family life became messy. Things improved, but her drug habit stuck - and by then, her social circle was primarily made up of people who also used. With a reliable local supplier of weed, Kim’s friends asked her if she would get some for them | BBC, UK
More than half of WA pharmacies choosing not to stock vapes, survey shows
Exclusive: Uncertainty over regulations and discomfort over stocking a product not evaluated by drugs regulator among reasons given | Guardian, UK
Police find vapes worth $8m after being called to Melbourne warehouse robbery
About 200,000 e-cigarettes found in Box Hill South after officers were told of reported burglary on Thursday | Guardian, UK
‘I offer no apologies’: Duterte testifies at Philippines ‘war on drugs’ inquiry
Ex-president appears for first time at hearing investigating crackdowns in which up to 30,000 people were killed | Guardian, UK
Opioid substitution treatment, relapse and addiction-related outcomes in prison setting and after release: A longitudinal study
Opioid-dependent prisoners in Germany prescribed methadone or buprenorphine while incarcerated were significantly less likely to illicitly use opioids in prison and after release, and also suffered far fewer non-fatal overdoses | Nordic Welfare Centre, Sweden
French legislators divided over a lawmaker caught buying drugs
French politicians appear deeply divided over the fate of leftist lawmaker Andy Kerbrat, and whether he should resign | Washington Post, USA
Challenging public stigma: the impact of a statewide social media campaign to reduce opioid use disorder stigma
[Open access] Concern that stigma was harming health and recovery among individuals with opioid use disorder led Pennsylvania in the USA to fund an anti-stigma social media campaign. Comparing the responses of people who had versus had not interacted with the campaign suggested “integrative anti-stigma campaigns and the use of mass media can have a positive effect on stigma reduction” | DEPP, USA
Study reveals misuse of scientific evidence by opioid makers
A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that makers and marketers of prescription opioid painkillers misused scientific evidence to advance five common and inaccurate claims about the safety and effectiveness of prescription opioids-;including that they were not addictive | News Medical, USA
Safer Drug Supply on the Dark Web? It’s Complicated, Researchers Find
Buying drugs on the dark web is often seen as a safer alternative to navigating an unpredictable, adulterated local supply. But is this notion consistently accurate? To put it to the test, a team of researchers analyzed the composition of over 60,000 drug samples—some purchased from the dark web, some bought in-person | Filter Magazine, USA
It's been 12 months since small amounts of illicit drugs were decriminalised in the ACT
A year ago, a change in the ACT's drug laws prompted some concern their nights would get much busier. But 12 months on from the territory becoming the first jurisdiction in Australia to decriminalise small amounts of illicit drugs, they haven't seen any difference | abc,net.au, Australia
Lower House debates pill testing trial
The Legislative Assembly has debated an amendment to pave the way for Victoria’s first pill testing trial | Parliament of Victoria, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The tragic rise of drug-related deaths
Last week (23 October 2024), the Office for National Statistics published the annual drug-deaths statistics. These are officially called Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2023 registrations. As you will have seen from coverage in the mainstream media, the number and rate of drug-related deaths continue to rise and it is tragic to report that 5,448 people lost their lives to drugs in 2023, the highest number on record | Russell Webster, UK
Britons are dying in a blizzard of cheap cocaine. Why is so little being done to save them?
Deaths rose 30% last year, partly due to a rise in purity, but the stigma over drug abuse still stands in the way of funding the means to stop the toll | Guardian opinion, UK
Why Scotland can’t get clean Politicians only pay lip service to addiction
Tourists emerging from Glasgow’s Central Station onto Gordon Street are immediately confronted with a scene familiar to every Glaswegian: cold air, tornadoes of litter, and the visible overlap of the city’s drug and homelessness crises | UnHerd, UK
UK Budget: Why Chancellor should increase alcohol duty for sake of Scotland’s economy, as well as its health
Scotland’s relationship with alcohol has long been double-sided. On the one hand, we try to preserve and profit from our heritage as a drinks producer. On the other hand, we want to mitigate the sickness and social harm that results from excessive consumption | Scotsman opinion, UK
What’s the point of banning Elf bars?
Part of me wishes that disposable vapes had never been invented. Until they arrived, it seemed like the battle for tobacco harm reduction in Britain had been won. The kind of people who want to ban everything wanted to ban e-cigarettes, but most people could see that they were a relatively harmless substitute for cigarettes and were helping to drive down smoking rates | Spectator, UK
Celebrating 20 Years of the Strategic Prevention Framework
Each October, we celebrate Substance Use Prevention Month — an opportunity to highlight the importance of prevention and the positive impact prevention is having on individuals, families, and communities across the country. Preventing substance use is a major priority for the Biden-Harris Administration, as evidenced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Overdose Prevention Strategy | SAMHSA, USA