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Daily news - 29th January 2025

UK news

Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report

Drug-related harms decreased during the most recent quarter (September to November 2024). However, intelligence suggests the drug supply remains highly toxic and unpredictable, requiring ongoing vigilance and a heightened response. Significant disruptions and adaptations in the heroin and benzodiazepine markets, appear to be influencing levels and patterns of harm | Public Health Scotland, UK

[Open access] Alcohol consumption and its associated harms pose a significant challenge to public health in the UK. To address this issue, Wales implemented a Minimum Unit Price policy (MUP) in February 2020, setting a minimum price of 50p per UK unit of alcohol (10 ml/8 g). In this study we evaluate the policy's impact on alcohol sales metrics to gauge its effectiveness in improving public health outcomes | Public Health, UK

Greens and Lib Dems agree to back Scottish Budget

The Greens had lobbied for measures including an expansion of free school meals to S1-S3 pupils who receive the Scottish child payment in eight council areas, while the Lib Dems argued for an additional £2.6m to be spent on drugs and neonatal services | BBC, UK

'Life-changing' brewery given the go-ahead

A microbrewery providing training for adults with disabilities and neurodivergence has been given the green light | BBC, UK

Woman raises thousands for children of alcoholics

A woman from Sussex whose mother died after a battle with alcoholism is raising awareness of her experiences in the hope of helping others. Ceri Walker, from Hove, was just four when her mum Carolyn started drinking heavily, something which would have a profound affect on her | BBC, UK

'My child didn't want me to die, so I quit smoking'

A father says it took a poignant remark from his nine-year-old daughter to motivate him to give up cigarettes after 25 years | BBC, UK

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of alcohol harm; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a national alcohol strategy | They work for you, UK

Let's Talk E-Cigarettes: Ep 38. January 2025 - podcast

Jamie Hartmann-Boyce and Nicola Lindson discuss emerging evidence in e-cigarette research and talk about the findings of their newly published Cochrane review of interventions for quitting vaping | University of Oxford, UK

Alcohol Consumption: Impact on A&E [Northern Ireland]

Mr Irwin asked the Minister of Health to outline the impact of excessive alcohol consumption on visits to accident and emergency facilities over the Christmas and new year period | They work for you, UK

Tobacco and Vapes Bill [Northern Ireland]

Mr Beattie asked the Minister of Health for an update on the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill | They work for you, UK

International news

Belgium’s Disposable Vapes Ban Could Be First of Many

Belgium has become the first European Union country to enact a ban on disposable vapes, with others expected to follow. The ban took effect on January 1 | BBC, UK

Brain Function Outcomes of Recent and Lifetime Cannabis Use

In this cross-sectional study of 1003 young adults, heavy lifetime cannabis use was associated with lower brain activation during a working memory task; this association remained after removing individuals with recent cannabis use. These results were not explained by differences in demographic variables, age at first cannabis use, alcohol use, or nicotine use | JAMA Network Open, USA

People Are Using Ketamine-Derived Nasal Spray to Treat Depression

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved a nasal spray that could potentially combat treatment-resistant depression | VICE, USA

Social factors associated with longer stays in alcohol treatment

When seeking treatment for alcohol use disorder, how a person is functioning in society strongly influences how long they will stay in inpatient treatment. According to a study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, people who are dissatisfied in their primary social role—at work or school, for example—and people with a strong social network stay in treatment longer, giving them more opportunities for therapeutic intervention | Medical Xpress, USA

Rooted in Colonialism, Coca Prohibition Could Be Nearing Its End

Calls to eradicate coca fields in the Peruvian Andes began a century ago as part of a mission civilisatrice led by eugenicist Enrique Paz Soldán, long before concern over cocaine and the subsequent United States-abetted drug war. “If we await with folded arms a divine miracle to free our Indigenous population from the deteriorating action of coca, we will be renouncing our position as men who love civilization,” he once said | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Proposing Two First-Rank Symptoms of Alcoholism

Jason Schwartz recently posted about the 11 DSM-5 criteria for SUD (APA, 2013). In doing so he discussed the: category of Substance Use Disorder in the DSM-5 as being too broad to be useful; ballooning of epidemiological data concerning the incidence and prevalence of addiction based on category errors in context of the DSM-5 SUD cutoffs for “mild”, “moderate” and “severe”; commensurate and inordinate swelling of numbers for those in “recovery” – based on that kind of inflated data | Recovery Review blog, USA

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