Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports
Daily news - 27th September 2024 |
 |
UK news
Preventing drug and alcohol deaths: partnership review process
Guidance for local partnerships on how to review adult drug and alcohol related deaths and near-fatal overdoses to prevent future deaths. This guidance updates, expands and replaces much older guidance by the NTA, which was archived some time ago but continued to be used by some areas. This new guidance better reflects the breadth of issues to be considered by local review processes. It also better reflects health and social care, and integrated systems as they are now | OHID, UK
National Mission evaluation: Lived experience survey
PHS has launched a survey aimed at individuals with experience of using drugs. This survey will help improve our understanding of what it is like for individuals with experience of using drugs in Scotland to try and get the support they need. The survey also asks people whether they feel that their experience of trying to access support has improved or worsened over the last two years | Public Health Scotland, UK
Scottish Parliament: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Debate - video
This short debate in the Scottish Parliament marking Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder awareness month, took place on Thursday 26 September | BBC, UK
Looking to lower your alcohol intake? Participants needed to take part in new research study
The University of Sheffield is looking for people who want to reduce their alcohol intake to take part in a new study which aims to understand what influences their decision to drink and test new approaches to help people to cut down | Yorkshire Post, UK
Mike Amesbury MP visits charity giving a voice to vulnerable kids who go missing
MP Mike Amesbury has visited WithYou’s Missing From Home Service, which supports under 18s who go missing from home and care across Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington, and Halton | DDN, UK
Drug and alcohol workers set to strike again over pay
Some 55 drug and alcohol support workers in Wigan are set to strike for a second time over a disparity in their pay which means some are getting salaries ‘inferior’ to their colleagues. The staff will walk out on the two days when the next tranche of inmates are released on the Government’s prison release dates of October 10 and 11, aimed at easing the burden on jails | Manchester Evening News, UK
University opens dry bar as student habits change
A university has transformed one of its student union bars into an alcohol-free social space in response to changing student habits | BBC, UK
BDP Creative Communities 10 year Anniversary Gala
Friday 11th October, Circomedia. Doors open 19:00 with entertainment starting at 19:30. Bristol Drugs Project is proud to be celebrating a decade of Creative Communities – weekly creative and arts-based groups for people with lived experience of drug and / or alcohol use. We have built a national reputation for community-based creative recovery and have regular performances in venues all over Bristol. The Gala will showcase our members’ talents and journeys, with performances from Rising Voices Recovery Choir, Bristol Recovery Orchestra, Oi Polloi Theatre Group, Changing Tunes Beginners Group, Hip Hop Garden, Recovery in Motion and Bristol Sober Spaces | BDP, UK
Roadside drug tests to be introduced by PSNI
This is an initial 12 month pilot programme across Northern Ireland, during which officers will use new swab testing kits on motorists, which can pick up the presence of cocaine and cannabis | BBC, UK
MPS outlines next steps to rebuild trust with black Londoners
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has launched its latest steps to try to rebuild trust with London’s black community, which the Commissioner says has been “let down” over a number of years | Police Professionals, UK
Pressure mounts on publisher of Economist over ties to tobacco
Exclusive: Experts pull out of health conferences run by Economist Impact after revelations of commercial links | Guardian, UK
Half of Premier League clubs breaking code on gambling ads for children
Review of gambling regulation finds clubs advertising gambling on pages aimed at, or featuring, minors | Guardian, UK
Women stole £10,500 from Alcoholics Anonymous
The court heard that the defendant had been the treasurer of the local branch of Alcoholics Anonymous | BBC, UK
International news
EU Council Updated Recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments
On Tuesday 17 September the European Commission published the Council’s updated recommendation on smoke-free environments. The update comes after a Call for Evidence Consultation, which was open to the public, and a Targeted Stakeholder Consultation which was invite only. ETHRA participated in both consultations which you can read here | ETHRA, UK
EUDA concludes visit to Canada hosted by the CCSA
An EUDA delegation is concluding a four-day visit to Canada today, hosted by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). EUDA Executive Director, Alexis Goosdeel and CCSA Chief Executive Officer, Dr Alexander Caudarella, reinforced the collaboration between the organisations through high-level discussions on drug policy, substance use care and emerging trends. Topics on the agenda included cannabis initiatives, impaired driving and harm reduction services | EUDA, Portugal
Old newspaper dispensers deliver Narcan opioid overdose reversal drug instead of news
Tasha Withrow, a co-founder of harm reduction organization Project Mayday, said Narcan wasn't something she ever had access to when she was using opioids. A person in recovery, she now helps place boxes of naloxone in a community distribution box, where those in need can obtain the life-saving medication for free. | CBS News, USA
Naloxone successful in over half of uses in reversing signs of opioid overdose in the prehospital setting
Research titled, "Naloxone Administration to Pediatric Patients During Emergency Medical Service Events," finds that among pediatric emergency medical service responses where naloxone was administered, the first dose was successful in improving clinical status in 54.1% of cases | Medical Xpress, USA
Study finds opioid poisoning in children increasing alongside adult misuse
The impacts of the ongoing opioid crisis are trickling down to young children, according to research presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2024 National Conference & Exhibition | Medical Xpress, USA
Support for Expanding Access to Cannabis Among Physicians and Adults With Chronic Pain
Most states have legalized medical cannabis; many have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use. Given this policy environment, we conducted surveys of physicians and people with chronic pain on support for policies affecting access to cannabis for chronic pain| JAMA Network Open, USA
I Just Overdosed Again. This Time, It Was Different
I’ve been using drugs—opioids, stimulants and many others—on and off for basically my whole adult life. I don’t see it as a good or a bad thing. There have been plenty of fun times. And at other points, when I’ve struggled with mental health and suicide has been a threat, drugs have felt like the only support available to me | Filter Magazine, USA
More than a bad trip: Experts warn about the risk of cannabis-induced psychosis
ER visits in Ontario for cannabis-related psychosis rose 220% from 2014-21: study | CBC, Canada
Patterns of nicotine pouch use among young Australians
Despite increasing interest in the use of nicotine pouches in Australia – where retail sale of the products is illegal – research exploring patterns of pouch use and reasons for use is lacking. Accordingly, this study explored young Australians’ experiences with nicotine pouches | DAD, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Ketamine: what you need to know about the UK’s growing drug problem
There is growing awareness of the problems caused by the use of a fast-acting drug called ketamine. Often referred to as K or ket, it was made a class B drug in the UK in 2014 and is illegal to buy or sell. Possessing the drug can lead to a maximum five-year prison sentence and supplying the drug up to 14 years in prison | Conversation, UK
Reducing Alcohol Harm – a blueprint for urgent national action
North East, Balance has launched “Reducing Alcohol Harm”, a blueprint calling for urgent national action to tackle the significant impact of alcohol on health, social care, crime and disorder, workplaces, and the economy and outlining evidence-based steps across price, promotion and availability | IAS blog, UK
Sally Benton: Employers can offer a lot of support to employees with addictions
Addiction is a serious mental illness that has a devastating impact on people’s lives. Everybody knows somebody impacted by addiction, at home, in families, or work. This is why it is important that employers start to consider employees who may be impacted | Employee Benefits, UK
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch: MPs and the Issue of Accepting Freebies
In this blog, Katherine Jenner, Director at the Obesity Health Alliance discusses why and how parliamentarians must protect public health from the lobbying of health harming industries | AHA blog, UK
Sometimes it’s the doctor struggling with addiction
There is no reliable, recent data on the number of doctors with addictions, but safe to say there is a problem. In 1998, a BMA report said as many as one in 15 doctors may suffer from some form of alcohol or drug dependency | General Medical Council blog, UK
Can alcohol control policies reduce family and domestic violence?
One particular alcohol control policy introduced in New South Wales was known as the ‘Newcastle Solution’. Newcastle is a regional city in the state of New South Wales, and home to a late-night entertainment precinct. In 2008, in an effort to reduce assault rates in the entertainment precinct, the state’s Liquor Administration Board (defunct) introduced a range of administrative controls on all 14 on-licence alcohol outlets in the precinct as well as two temporal conditions: no new entries past 1.30am, and earlier closing times | NDARC blog, Australia