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Daily news - 11th March 2025 |
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UK news
Warning over super-strength drugs linked to deaths
An addiction support service is warning about the danger of super-strength drugs that have been linked to a number of deaths across the UK | BBC, UK
Today is the day - 12th March 2025
A range of resources to help you support No Smoking Day are now available to download from the DHSC Campaign Resource Centre. These can be used immediately to help drive awareness and encourage smokers to make a quit attempt as we approach No Smoking Day on Wednesday 12 March 2025 | NHS, UK
Former smoker tells of heart attack 'nightmare'
A former smoker who almost died from a heart attack says he does not want others to go through the same "living nightmare". John Stephenson, from Stockton, Teesside, had three stents fitted two years ago, at the age of 48, having been told by doctors he may not survive the operation following a lifetime of smoking. He has been chosen as the face of a health campaign in north-east England encouraging people to kick the habit ahead of No Smoking Day on Wednesday | BBC, UK
Concern over rise in alcohol-related harm in city
Incidents of anti-social behaviour in York city centre's alcohol restriction zone went up over the past year, councillors have been told | BBC, UK
13% of ‘nicotine-free’ vapes contain the addictive substance – Trading Standards
All 10 products found to contain nicotine were also found to exceed the limit on the amount of e-liquid permitted in vapes | Independent, UK
The school asking pupils to reject vape culture
The course at Bridgwater College Academy in Somerset also advises young people not to turn to vaping or smoking when facing stresses | BBC, UK
Ketamine: 'I slept in the bath to be closer to the toilet'
Ketamine use has reached record levels in recent years, with young people in particular becoming increasingly hooked on the powerful anaesthetic. But health professionals have warned the drug is leaving people with lifelong bladder disabilities | BBC, UK
More support for people in ill health to stay in work ‘could save UK £1bn’
Commission for Healthier Working Lives warns against cutting benefits and calls for proactive route for 8m affected | Guardian, UK
Police sergeant barred after failing drug test
A former West Yorkshire Police sergeant who tested positive for cocaine has been barred from the profession. An accelerated misconduct hearing was told Andrew Haveron failed a drug test on 16 December, while a serving officer, and text messages found on his phone suggested he had obtained drugs from a dealer | BBC, UK
International news
Understanding Tobacco Harm Reduction - training course
By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the global landscape of tobacco smoking, define tobacco harm reduction principles, identify safer nicotine products and their regulatory needs, evaluate critiques and challenges, and dispel common myths about tobacco harm reduction | THR Academy, UK
A systematic review of adolescent alcohol-related harm trends in high-income countries with declines in adolescent consumption
Adolescent alcohol consumption decreased in high-income countries during the 2000s and 2010s. While evidence for declining consumption is clear, there has been less research tracking trends in alcohol-related harms. This article reviewed trends in adolescent alcohol-related harms in high-income countries where a decline in consumption had occurred and investigated sex-based differences in trends | Addiction, UK
Philippines ex-leader Duterte arrested on ICC warrant over drug killings
Philippine police have arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant accusing him of crimes against humanity over his deadly "war on drugs" | BBC, UK
DrugNet Ireland
Latest news and research from Ireland's focal point to the EUDA | HRB, Ireland
Opiates and Methamphetamine Traffi cking on the Balkan Route: Drug Flows, Illicit Incomes and Illicit Financial Flows (PDF)
Between 2019 and 2022, the Balkan route – a major corridor for trafficking opiates and, more recently, methamphetamine – generated an estimated total annual illicit gross income ranging from US$13.9 to US$21.4 billion. Opiates accounted for about 90 per cent of this total, with methamphetamine representing a smaller but growing share | UNODC, Austria
CND 2025 side event — Shaping the future: preparedness for a changing drug landscape
[Yesterday], the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the support of the European Union, co-hosted a side event at the 68th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), taking place this week in Vienna | EUDA, Portugal
Risk communication about high-dose MDMA: Impact of a hypothetical drug alert on future MDMA use
Despite high-dose 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) drug alerts being distributed, no research has been conducted as to changes in use in response. This study aimed to determine if: (i) high-dose MDMA drug alerts, and (ii) varied descriptions of dose, effects and actions to reduce harm were associated with intentions to reduce the initial MDMA dose in a hypothetical scenario | DAR, USA
Prehospital Use of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Rapid Review of Implementation Approaches and Outcomes
[Open access] Explores the limited research on advancing initiation of opioid dependence treatment (especially the relatively safe option of buprenorphine) from hospital admission upstream to the initial intervention of emergency medical services, helping ensure a start to treatment regardless of admission | Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, USA
Overdoses in federal drug trafficking crimes (PDF)
In this report, the Commission examines all overdoses identified in drug trafficking cases reported to the Commission for fiscal years 2019 to 2023. The Commission is able to collect information about the overdoses reported in these cases through the sentencing documents the courts provide to the Commission in every case. Using that information, this report provides an analysis of the 1,340 individuals sentenced for a federal drug trafficking offense involving an overdose in fiscal years 2019 to 2023 | United States Sentencing Commission, USA
Vape Scaremongering: The Science-to-Media Pipeline
It’s a scenario that has become all too familiar. Tobacco harm reduction experts recently scrambled to tackle alarmist news coverage, based on an incomplete, unpublished study purportedly showing that vapes are as harmful as cigarettes | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Rainbow-Washing or Genuine Allyship? How Alcohol Companies Target the LGBTQ+ Community
Compelling evidence from countries including the United Kingdom (Meads et al., 2023), the United States (Schuler & Collins, 2020) Australia (McNair et al., 2016) and Aotearoa New Zealand (Surace et al., 2019) indicates that LGBTQ+ people consume alcohol in significantly higher quantities and with greater frequency than heterosexual and cisgender people. Alcohol consumption appears particularly prevalent among lesbians and bisexual women, with bisexual women being especially susceptible to alcohol-related harm | IAS blog, UK
Drugs, gender and Dope Girls
There are many very fine non-fiction books written about drugs and the number grows each year. But over time a handful stay the course and become classics that stand out from the crowd for their originality and insight. Marek Kohn’s 1992 book Dope Girls is undoubtedly in this category. I was delighted to be interviewed about it recently for a History Hit podcast and you can hear what I had to say here | Toby Seddon, UK
Opening of the 68th Session of the CND
Live reporting from the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the central policy-making body of the UN drug control system. However, official access to the proceedings, statements and reports from CND are very limited. This CND Blog is a project of the International Drug Policy Consortium in collaboration with NGO partners, which aims to ensure transparency and provide live records of the discussions taking place at the meeting | CND Blog, UK
Review: “Crackdown: Surviving and Resisting the War on Drugs”
Garth Mullins is an activist, musician, podcaster and writer. His first book, Crackdown: Surviving and Resisting the War on Drugs, is about growing up with albinism in Western Canada, coming to adulthood through punk, activism and heroin, and organising as a person who uses drugs during an overdose crisis | Talking Drugs, UK