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Daily news - 20th March 2025 |
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UK news
Patients in mental health wards need better quit support as government prepares to ban smoking on hospital grounds
New research - Space to breathe - Findings from a survey of smokefree policies and tobacco dependence treatment services in NHS mental health trusts in England - by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), funded by Cancer Research UK, finds that people admitted to mental health trusts have better access to treatment for smoking than they did 5 years ago but are being let down by a failure to create smokefree care environments. The findings come as the government prepares to ban smoking on all hospital grounds | ASH, UK
Estimated Prevalence of Opioid Dependence in Scotland
The estimated number of people with opioid dependence in Scotland was 43,400 (95% CrI: 41,900 to 45,100). This represents an estimated prevalence of 1.23% (95% CrI: 1.19% to 1.28%) of 15- to 64-year-olds | Public Health Scotland, UK
More than 15 medical emergencies at UK's first drug consumption room
The facility, known as the Thistle, began operating in Glasgow on January 13 | STV News, UK
Pupils taken ill after 'vaping Class B drugs'
Humberside Police attended Kelvin Hall, in Hull, to speak to those involved and to "establish the full circumstances around the incident" | BBC, UK
Leeds City Council to tackle drug and alcohol harm
The local authority have partnered with the NHS, police officers, prisons, children’s services and the third sector to address the increasing problem | New Start Magazine, UK
Pilot vape action group targets illegal sales
The Local Vape Action (LVA) partnership began in Tunbridge Wells in September and brought together Kent County Council, Kent Police and the Independent British Vape Trade Association | BBC, UK
Heroin: Rehabilitation
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of patient outcomes for those undergoing heroin detoxification using Buvidal compared to Methadone | They work for you, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Unit Prices
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the potential merits of Minimum Unit Pricing in England; and whether she plans to introduce the policy in England this Parliament | They work for you, UK
In pictures: Inside a 500-plant cannabis farm
Northamptonshire Police searched the property in Harpole, Northamptonshire, after receiving information suggesting drugs were being grown there | BBC, UK
International news
Prince Harry US visa documents released in redacted form over harassment fears
US thinktank made FoI request for Harry’s visa form after California-residing royal wrote about drug use in memoir Spare | Guardian, UK
Identifying hazardous alcohol use in primary care using phosphatidylethanol: Timing of screening matters
[Open access] Alcohol is a well-established risk factor for numerous health conditions, making screening for hazardous alcohol use in healthcare a critical task. While self-reported data suggest that alcohol consumption varies across seasons, this seasonal fluctuation has not yet been confirmed using objective biological markers. This study aimed to measure whether phosphatidylethanol (PEth) captures variations in hazardous alcohol use across two temporal resolutions: month of the year and day of the week | Addiction, UK
Latest wastewater data from 128 European cities: more stimulants but less cannabis found
The latest findings from the largest European project monitoring illicit drug use through wastewater analysis are released today in Wastewater analysis and drugs — a European multi-city study, published by the Europe-wide SCORE group, in association with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). The rise in MDMA, cocaine and amphetamine detections compared to 2023 takes centre stage in this year's study, along with decreases in cannabis detections | EUDA, Portugal
Wastewater analysis and drugs — a European multi-city study
The analysis of municipal wastewater for drugs and their metabolic products to estimate community consumption is a developing field, involving scientists working in different research areas, including analytical chemistry, physiology, biochemistry, sewage engineering, spatial epidemiology and statistics, and conventional drug epidemiology. This page presents the findings from studies conducted since 2011. Data from all studies can be explored through an interactive tool, and a detailed analysis of the findings of the most recent study, in 2024, is presented | EUDA, Portugal
Safety and Efficacy of Repeated Low-Dose LSD for ADHD Treatment in Adults
In this multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial in 53 individuals, both the LSD and placebo groups exhibited a significant reduction of ADHD symptoms. However, there was no difference in symptom reduction between the 2 groups | JAMA Psychiatry, USA
Law Enforcement Drug Seizures and Opioid-Involved Overdose Mortality
This cross-sectional study included 2653 drug seizure crime events. Within the surrounding 100, 250, and 500 meters, drug seizures were associated with a statistically significant increase in the relative risk for fatal opioid overdoses 1, 2, 3, and 7 days following law enforcement drug seizure events | JAMA Network Open, USA
Hospital Security Searches Among Patients With Substance-Related Encounters
In this cohort study of 576 hospital room search requests, 79% occurred during substance-related encounters, 44% resulted in nothing confiscated, 29% resulted in confiscation of syringes and unspecified paraphernalia, and 23% in confiscation of illicit drugs or alcohol. Searches were associated with increased odds of patient-directed discharges | JAMA Network Open, USA
Online games may be an effective intervention to help adolescents reduce substance abuse
For adolescents struggling with substance abuse, traditional in-person interventions such as counseling are not always effective, and rural areas often lack access to these services. A researcher at the University of Missouri is thinking outside the box, aiming to help game designers develop fun, digital games that make ditching bad habits easier by meeting adolescents where they already are: online | Medical Xpress, USA
Experts weigh in: Is sugar truly addictive like alcohol or nicotine?
Cravings are real, a nutrition researcher says—but lumping sweets with alcohol and nicotine is a problem | Medical Xpress, USA
“What does recovery look like for you?” Recovery goals for people with a methamphetamine use history
Definitions of recovery often include substance use outcomes and related improvements in other areas of life (e.g., physical, social, psychological). However, recovery perceptions and goals may differ from person to person. This study surveyed people who use methamphetamines to understand the degree to which substance use and and other recovery outcomes are present in the definitions of this group with lived experience | Recovery Research Institute, USA
“One-size-fits some”: Can tailored cognitive-behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder improve on the standard version
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is widely used, but not everybody benefits who receives it. This study tested whether a highly personalized CBT approach – tailored to individuals’ real-time experiences with alcohol use and coping dynamically over time – leads to better outcomes than standard CBT or case management. Researchers also went one step further to investigate whether improvements in coping skills explained why the tailored approach may have been helpful | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Harry’s blog 127: The truth is still out there
A free self-guided introduction to tobacco harm reduction from K•A•C aims to raise awareness of the approach among a wider community of policymakers, researchers, health professionals – and adult smokers | NSP Blog, UK
Two Months In, A Deeper Look at The Thistle, Glasgow’s Drug Consumption Room
Scotland has been making the news for the past year on several headlines. First, as the capital of drug-related deaths in Europe, with 22.4 deaths recorded per 100,000 in 2023. This cost is particularly felt in Glasgow, Scotland’s capital, where there were 33.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2023. However, more recently, the Northern nation made the news again as it finally broke through decades of British drug prohibition. The Thistle, the UK’s first legal safer injection site, opened on 13 January | Talking Drugs, UK
Scotland’s Right to Recovery Bill: The Battle for Truth, Accountability, and Access to Treatment
Scotland’s Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill is a groundbreaking piece of legislation designed to ensure that anyone seeking treatment for addiction has a legal right to access it. With drug-related deaths at crisis levels, the Bill represents a clear, rights-based approach to tackling Scotland’s long-standing failures in addiction treatment | FAVOR, UK
Wastewater Analysis shows shocking spike in Ketamine consumption
Since 2021, the Home Office Wastewater Analysis Programme (WWAP) has taken samples from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across England and Scotland to calculate the quantity of illicit drug consumption | Forward Trust, UK
SHAAP Chair comments on liver disease figures
Dr Alastair MacGilchrist, Chair of SHAAP, commented: “Today’s estimate by PHS predicts that by 2044, there will be a rise of over 50% in chronic liver disease in Scotland, placing a huge burden on our already-struggling NHS. Over 70% of this liver disease burden is due to alcohol, and these figures underline the severity of the public health emergency from alcohol that Scotland is facing, with the latest figures showing alcohol is directly responsible for 1,277 deaths annually... | SHAAP comment, UK
“A meal is a way of connecting with somebody”
Since the earliest times, the making and sharing of food has been one of the main ways humans have connected with each other. As well as sustaining our bodies, food brings us together. Most of us have a favourite food. And when someone offers to make us a meal, we take it as a sign that they wish to welcome us. In short, food matters | IAS blog, UK
Shamil's story: My journey to recovery
My name is Shamil, and I am in long-term recovery from addiction. My journey has been marked by struggle, resilience, and hope. At my lowest point, I was homeless, sleeping on the streets, and battling a severe experience with addiction. I was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis and suffered multiple seizures. By the age of 35, I had been to rehab four times and I was hospitalised 11 times. My turning point came when I decided to seek help after my last drink and drug use while staying in a hostel where substance use was rampant | NHS APA blog, UK