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Daily news - 13th March 2025 |
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UK news
Record high alcohol related deaths in Wales highlight urgent public health concerns
Latest figures on substance misuse from Public Health Wales have revealed worrying trends in alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions across the country. The report, which examines data from health, social care, education and criminal justice services highlights the continuing need to recognise and address the growing public health impacts of alcohol consumption | Public Health Wales, UK
Alcohol-related deaths increase to record level in Wales
A Public Health Wales report recorded 562 deaths in Wales in 2023 which is a 15.6% increase from the previous year | BBC, UK
Prolonged-release opioids: Removal of indication for relief of post-operative pain
The indication for the treatment of post-operative pain has been removed from the licences of all prolonged release opioids due to the increased risk of persistent post-operative opioid use (PPOU) and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment (OIVI) | MHRA, UK
Correspondence: ACMD work programme 2025
Letter to the Home Secretary from the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) discussing the ACMD work programme for 2025 | ACMD, UK
New residential rehabilitation service opens
First Minister John Swinney has officially opened the first phase of a new residential rehabilitation service in Aberdeenshire, which will increase capacity in the North East of Scotland. The 27-bed facility, named Rae House and run by Phoenix Futures, will be followed by a second phase which will consist of 53 units of housing and therapeutic community ‘Dayhab’ in Aberdeen City, which in total could provide up to 200 placements a year | Scottish Government, UK
Press release: Antonia Romeo appointed as new Home Office Permanent Secretary
The Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister, has announced the appointment of Dame Antonia Romeo as the new Permanent Secretary at the Home Office. Antonia is currently Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice. Antonia will replace Sir Matthew Rycroft who is leaving the Civil Service at the end of March 2025 | Cabinet Office, UK
Justice minister calls for rethink on tackling illegal drugs {Northern Ireland]
Justice Minister Naomi Long has said the "war on drugs has not been won" and there needs to be a rethink of how illegal drugs are dealt with in Northern Ireland | BBC, UK
Ketamine: Reclassification - Private Members' Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 4:45 pm on 11 March 2025
I beg to move - That this Assembly commends the campaign of Sandra Larmour, who has fought with great dignity to increase awareness and seek reclassification of ketamine following the tragic death of her daughter, Jeni... | They work for you, UK
Prisons: Illegal Drug Use
What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of illegal drug use in prisons | They work for you, UK
Smoking: Advertising
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of a ban on the (a) marketing and (b) advertising of (i) e-cigarette and vaping products, (ii) non-medically licensed nicotine products, and (iii) heated tobacco products on adult smokers switching from combustible cigarettes to alternatives | They work for you, UK
intEgrating Smoking Cessation treatment As part of usual Psychological care for dEpression and anxiety (ESCAPE): A randomised and controlled, multi-centre, acceptability and feasibility trial with nested qualitative methods
[Open access] There is evidence that smoking cessation may improve depression and anxiety symptoms. We assessed the feasibility of implementing and trialling a smoking cessation intervention in services providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for common mental illness | Addiction, UK
Contingency management to promote treatment engagement in comorbid alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease: Findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial
[Open access] Problem drinkers being treated for alcohol-related liver disease at a liver care unit in London could earn shopping vouchers for attending treatment, but fewer than expected were interested in joining the study and of those who did, most did not engage with treatment | ACER, UK
Hospital trust goes completely smoke free
A hospital trust has announced it will go completely smoke free on all its hospital grounds. It means all University Hospitals Dorset sites are off limits to smoking tobacco products, including the Royal Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch hospitals, as well as the trust's off site locations across the county | BBC, UK
Hidden dangers of ketamine use: Sober warning from young man from Lancashire
A man who took ketamine for almost 10 years has spoken out about the hidden dangers of the so-called "party drug" in a bid to prevent other people from becoming hooked | ITV, UK
The ‘final turning point’ that helped Kym Marsh quit smoking for good
The TV presenter revealed her family is the main reason she quit smoking ahead of No Smoking Day | Independent, UK
Dad's lung cancer 'hell' made man quit smoking
A man urging people to stop smoking says the pain of watching his own father die from lung cancer made him want to quit | BBC, UK
Former athlete quit smoking after cancer diagnosis
A former athlete diagnosed with lung cancer has praised hospital staff for helping him beat a 50-year smoking addiction | BBC, UK
Passengers share thoughts on Metro vape ban plan - video
Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus is proposing to ban the use of vapes and electronic cigarettes on services and in stations | BBC, UK
Tackling gambling-related harm as a public health concern
Yesterday, Forward was proud to participate in a conference presented by Breakeven in Southend-on-Sea to raise awareness of gambling-related harm as a public health concern | Forward Trust, UK
Gang who used children to deliver drugs jailed
A drug dealing network has been left in "disarray" after nine gang members were sentenced, police have said | BBC, UK
£100m cocaine plotters guilty of at sea smuggling bid
Four drug smugglers have been convicted of trying to smuggle £100m of cocaine on a fishing boat off the coast of Cornwall, after a National Crime Agency investigation | NCA, UK
International news
Alcohol and cancer risk: what you need to know
Experts weigh in on the risks of moderate drinking — and how people should assess them | Nature, UK
Patient perspectives on medications for alcohol use disorder: A systematic scoping review
What do the patients think of being prescribed medications for problem drinking? Research shows treatment may be held back a lack of awareness and misunderstanding about their effects, concern over side effects, and apprehension over the stigma of being treated | ACER, UK
The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2024
This report, our 14th on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international human rights and drug control standards. The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2024 presents an analysis of key developments, with a focus on analysing and disseminating available figures and trends on drug-related executions and death sentences | HRI, UK
From Mexico cartel safe house to US streets: BBC tracks deadly fentanyl targeted by Trump tariffs
The fentanyl dealer from Los Angeles stands to the side watching carefully as a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid drug is wrapped in foil, sealed in plastic, then dropped with an oily splash into the petrol tank of the trafficker's nondescript car | BBC, UK
Philippines' Duterte in The Hague after ICC arrest over drug war
A plane carrying former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has arrived in the Netherlands where he is to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over his deadly "war on drugs" | BBC, UK
More than 200 influencers illegally promoted nicotine products in France, report finds
A new report from a French anti-tobacco organisation has criticised influencers’ support of nicotine-containing products online | Euronews, Belgium
Afghanistan: Opium prices approach historic peaks, crime syndicates benefit
One kilogramme of opium cost $750 last year, up from $75 just three years ago, compensating sellers for the loss in overall production and poppy fields, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime | UNODC, Austria
Dutch crack down on smoking and vaping, age limit may rise to 21
Junior health minister Vincent Karremans is looking into the options for increasing the legal age to buy cigarettes and vapes from 18 to 21, he told MPs on Wednesday | Dutch News, The Netherlands
Study examines a novel way to bring addiction care and HIV prevention to people who inject drugs
Researchers from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) have presented results from the HPTN 094 ("INTEGRA") study at the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in San Francisco | Medical Xpress, USA
Notes from the Field: Tobacco Product Use Among Adults — United States, 2017–2023
During 2017–2023, the approximate 6.8 million-person decrease in the number of adults who currently exclusively smoke cigarettes was offset by an approximate 7.2 million-person increase in the number who currently exclusively use e-cigarettes | CDC, USA
Nicotine Exposure From Smoking Tobacco and Vaping Among Adolescents
In this cross-sectional study of 364 adolescents from 3 countries, exclusively vaping in the past week was associated with similar nicotine metabolite levels compared with smoking tobacco (exclusively and both vaping and smoking). Among adolescents who exclusively vaped, those who reported using nicotine salts had higher levels of nicotine metabolites vs those who reported using nonsalt products or who did not know | JAMA Network Open, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Better support needed for people with alcohol problems in the justice system
Elinor Jayne, Director of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) outlines the findings of new report Alcohol (in)Justice | Community Justice Scotland, UK
The democratisation of cocaine
[Free registration required] Love or loathe Danny Dyer, hard-man hooligan of Football Factory, EastEnders bod and breakout Rivals star, but he does talk sense. The kind of straight-up, geezer sense you can only get down the pub, a locale to which he is no stranger. In the promotional press for his latest film, Marching Powder, Dyer, when pressed on the not-so-euphemistic title of the film, had the following to say on cocaine: ‘I’ve got that social butterfly thing where I mix in both circles and believe me, everyone’s fucking at it […] it’s classless actually, that drug.’| Spectator, UK
Adoption of Alcohol Health Warning Labels (AHWLs) across South East Asia: current status and recommendations for future
Harm due to alcohol use is a great public health concern for the South East Asia region (SEAR) with the annual per capita consumption expected to grow even further | Lancet comment, UK