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Daily news - 10th September 2024

UK news

Baby vests 'show NHS failings' on foetal alcohol disorder

Baby vests have been hung on a bridge by a charity that says most NHS boards and trusts are failing to take action to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) | BBC, UK

Not Commissioned: Systemic confusion in NHS services for alcohol, pregnancy and FASD

The report shows that the majority of NHS Integrated Care Boards and NHS Trusts are missing a golden opportunity to protect baby’s brains and futures with their slow, non-strategic and uncoordinated responses to the 2022 NICE Quality Standard 204 on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) | The National Organisation for FASD, UK

Alcohol free? An analysis of UK and Scottish Government obesity policies’ engagement with alcohol 1999–2023

[Open access] Alcoholic beverages can be highly calorific yet remain largely absent from obesity policy debates. This article seeks to identify how Scottish and English obesity policies have engaged with the issue of alcohol consumption since devolution | BMC Public Health, UK

Exploring the Impact of Stigma on Health and Wellbeing: Insights from Mothers with Lived Experience Accessing Recovery Services

[Open access] The aim of this paper is to show how social harms can occur and how stigma is damaging to the health and wellbeing of a person in recovery. To do so, we focus on the harms that arise from the internalisation of labels that mothers who use drugs encounter in a treatment and recovery setting whilst in active recovery, and how this stigmatisation can manifest negative self-beliefs | Environmental Research and Public Health, UK

Drug warning issued as people fall ill at festival

North Northamptonshire Council said "a small number of people" were affected and the illness was "potentially linked to illicit drug use". It has urged anyone who used drugs while attending the Illusive Festival, near Corby, at the weekend to seek help swiftly if they become unwell | BBC, UK

Nearly 130 kids a day sent home from school after being caught with drugs, booze and cigarettes, alarming figures reveal

Nearly 130 children a day are being sent home from school after being caught with booze, drugs or cigarettes. Alarmingly, the figures for England obtained by The Sun include at least one pupil as young as five | The Sun, UK

Recovery Month – a time to celebrate everyone’s journey from addiction to recovery

Now in its 34th year, Recovery Month (September 2024) celebrates the success of those in recovery from all addictive behaviours | DDN, UK

Outdoor smoking ban - audio

The Prime Minister has confirmed he's thinking about extending the indoor smoking ban to include outdoor areas restaurants and pubs. This, in addition, to plans to progressively increase the age at which you can buy cigarettes so a whole generation never even starts smoking. It's sparked a social media discussion on personal freedom, the nanny state and the removal of civil liberties. But others argued that it would improve health, help the NHS and de-normalise smoking. Adam Fleming asks what does this reaction tell us about attitudes to public health... | BBC, UK

MedBud’s August 2024 UK Cannabis Market Data: Clinics, Flower, Pharmacies and Oils

Welcome to August’s analysis of the MedBud traffic data. The most interesting month we have had yet, and a clear sign that the data we analyse provides a real time accurate representation of how the sector is performing. In terms of the MedBud site it currently averages over a million monthly search result impressions via Google, with 57.7k clicks through for August. In general traffic increased by 1.8% for the month compared to July. Another impressive month for the site | Volteface, UK

Volunteer at BDP

We’re looking for non-judgemental, committed volunteers who believe in people’s capacity to change. Is this you? | BDP, UK

Briefing: Systemic confusion in NHS services for alcohol, pregnancy & FASD

Monday, September 16 · 12:30 - 2pm GMT+1. Join us for a discussion with experts about National FASD’s new report which explores progress on NICE Quality Standard 204 | The National Organisation for FASD, UK

International news

Age, period and cohort effects of heavy episodic drinking by sex/gender and socioeconomic position in Canada, 2000–2021

[Open access] The sex/gender gap in heavy episodic drinking (HED) appears to be converging in Canada: current young adult men are reducing HED, while high-risk cohorts of women are aging into middle adulthood with greater HED. Recent birth cohorts with a bachelor's degree or above experienced pronounced HED increases, which among women suggests greater educational attainment contributes to the converging gender gap in HED | Addiction, UK

Trump says he will vote to legalize marijuana in Florida: ‘It’s time to end needless arrests’

Trump’s support of Florida Amendment 3 starkly contrasts many state Republicans, including Governor Ron DeSantis declaring it would make the state ‘smell like marijuana’ | Independent, UK

Police seize two tonnes of cocaine in Guinea-Bissau

Authorities in Guinea-Bissau say they have seized 2.63 tonnes of cocaine that was found on a plane at the capital's international airport | BBC, UK

When the Nazis banned smoking - audio

What happened when the Nazis banned smoking and what were the effects? On this week's AntiSocial, we looked at proposals to ban smoking in some outdoor spaces. It led to some people on social media bringing up the Nazis, who launched the first and most broadly reaching anti-smoking campaign in history. In this mini-guide, Adam Fleming speaks to Professor George Davey Smith, a clinical epidemiologist at Bristol Medical School, about what happened and why | BBC, UK

Health Minister to seek Cabinet approval to ban the sale of disposable vapes in Ireland

Under the proposed legislation, there would be a complete ban on the sale, manufacture or import of single-use vapes | Journal, Ireland

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Treasury issue final rules strengthening access to mental health, substance use disorder benefits

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s effort to ensure more than 150 million people with private health coverage have greater access to mental health and substance use disorder care,the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury took significant action today by issuing final rules to clarify and strengthen protections to expand equitable access to these benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits and reduce barriers to accessing these services | US Department of Labor, USA

Association between alcohol consumption and incidence of dementia in current drinkers: linear and non-linear mendelian randomization analysis

[Open access] This study identified a positive linear causal relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia among current drinkers. The J-shaped association found in conventional epidemiological analysis was not supported by non-linear MR analyses. Our findings suggested that there was no safe level of alcohol consumption for dementia | Lancet eClinical Medicine, USA

[Open access] As prosecutors shift their approach to redress the harms caused by drug criminalization, clarity is needed on what a harm reduction approach to using discretionary powers entails. Targeting reform-minded prosecutors with messaging on the principles, evidence base, and best practices of harm reduction is merited | IJDP, USA

Study finds increase in exposures to delta-8 THC among young children, teens, and adults

A new study examining trends in calls to poison centers across the country for exposures to delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center, shows a sharp rise in exposures, including among children, and variation among states and regions | Medical Xpress, USA

Psychedelic Advocates Air FDA Frustrations at Reagan-Udall Meeting

On September 6, the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the Food and Drug Administration, an independent nonprofit created by Congress in 2007 to support the FDA’s mission, hosted a public meeting in Washington, DC, to discuss the latest advancements in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. Psychedelics were high on the agenda | Filter Magazine, USA

New Laws To Enable Pill Testing And Save Lives

The Allan Labor Government will today introduce a Bill into Parliament to ensure pill testing – also known as drug checking – can begin this summer. Once passed, the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Amendment (Pill Testing) Bill 2024 will allow both fixed and mobile pill testing services to operate in Victoria | Premier of Victoria, Australia

Influencers sway smoking and vaping attitudes in young people

Young people exposed to social media posts by celebrities and influencers who endorse nicotine products are more susceptible to smoking or vaping, University of Queensland research has found | University of Queensland, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Expert reaction to unpublished conference abstract on vaping, smoking and exercise

An unpublished conference abstract presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress 2024 looks at the association between exercise performance and vaping/smoking. Here two experts in the field give their reactions | Science Media Centre, UK

Grief and Harm Reduction

Despite the horrors unfolding in this time, grief remains taboo in the Western world. There are little to no public spaces to be with grief and very few practices available to us to metabolise waves of sorrow as and when they crash into our lives...The lack of space for grief is entangled with Western imperialism and assimilation but thankfully, many communities around the world still have intact, communal grief practices. Given this context, it’s unsurprising that grief is also absent from the context of drug policy and harm reduction in the West | Talking Drugs, UK

‘It’s where all the best socialising happens’: the joy of the smoking area

As the government mulls an outdoor smoking ban, clubbers are lamenting the possible loss of a valuable space where friendships are formed and bonds strengthened | Guardian opinion, UK

Extend Studio