Reports: August |
Guidance: Potent synthetic opioids: preparing for a future threat
Incident planning for potent synthetic opioids arriving into the illicit drug market. Updated to take account of recent changes in the opioids appearing on the illicit drug market | OHID, UK
Carrots and sticks: Can governments do without public health regulation?
This is the first of three papers exploring tobacco, alcohol, obesity and gambling policy. It compares different types of policy approach, and concludes that more ‘interventionist’ and apparently politically challenging measures, such as strict regulations on availability and taxes, tend to be more effective | SMF, UK
Promoting positive change: young people give their views on the effects of alcohol marketing in Scotland
From phasing out alcohol advertising at sporting events, to reducing how often alcohol is promoted on TV and online, David Mackay, Policy Manager at Children in Scotland, discusses children and young people's approach to improving Scotland’s relationship with alcohol | Children in Scotland, UK
National Drug Treatment Reporting System: 2022 alcohol treatment demand (PDF)
In this bulletin, data on treated problem alcohol use for the year 2022 are presented, followed by trends for the seven-year period from 2016 to 2022.1 The data are from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS), the national surveillance system that records and reports on cases of drug and alcohol treatment in Ireland. In 2022, 7,421 cases were treated for problem alcohol use. • The proportion of new cases (never treated for problem alcohol use before) was 44.2%. • The majority of cases were treated in outpatient facilities (60.2%) | HRB, Ireland
Evaluation of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts
The objective of this impact evaluation was to understand the effect of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDAC) proceedings on reunification for children and families at the end of care proceedings compared to standard care proceedings. The evaluation also aimed to test if parents who had been through the FDAC process as opposed to standard care proceedings were more likely to stop misusing substances, and also investigated if there were any differences in the rate of contested final hearings or the use of expert witnesses in proceedings | Foundation, UK
Debts, Threats, Distress and Hope: Towards Understanding Drug-Related Intimidation in Dublin’s North East Inner City (PDF)
From an academic perspective, Drug-Related Intimidation is a relatively new concept. Conceptually, our understanding of DRI has been analysed through the broader lens of drugs and crime more generally. Similarly, our understanding of interventions has also been informed largely by other distinct but related fields – such as gang membership or witness intimidation | Ana Liffey, Ireland
Community Substance Misuse Team Intervention Model (PDF)
The Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme (CASP) was established in 1995 by community members, and workers in local voluntary and youth organisations, as a response to increasing numbers of young heroin users in the Clondalkin area. CASP is a community service for people who use substances, over 18 years of age, and their families from the North Clondalkin area. We respond to under 18’s and their families within the Mid-West, where substance misuse impacts them | CASP, Ireland
NHS stop smoking services quarterly
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland and their progress towards their annual Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard | Public Health Scotland, UK
Monitoring the Future Panel Study Annual Report: National data on substance use among adults ages 19 to 60, 1976-2022 (PDF)
Since 1975, the MTF study has annually surveyed substance use behaviors and attitudes among nationally representative samples of eighth, 10th and 12th graders. The MTF longitudinal panel study conducts follow-up surveys on a subset of the participants after the 12th grade to track their drug use through adulthood. After high school, the participants are followed every other year through age 30, then every five years afterward, with the oldest participants now in their 60s. “In 2022, we are seeing that marijuana and hallucinogen use, and vaping of nicotine and marijuana, are higher than ever among young adults ages 19 to 30,” Patrick said. “In addition, midlife adults ages 35 to 50 have the highest level of binge drinking we have ever seen in that age group.” University of Michigan, USA
Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2022
Statistics of drug-related deaths in 2022 and earlier years, broken down by age, sex, substances implicated in the death, underlying cause of death, and NHS Board and Council areas. In 2022 there were 1,051 deaths due to drug misuse in Scotland This is 279 deaths fewer than in 2021 and the lowest number of drug misuse deaths since 2017. The rate of drug misuse deaths is still much higher than at the beginning of the series in 1996 | National Records of Scotland, UK
Drug Testing on Arrest (DToA): programme data
An updated summary of the activity of the Drug Testing on Arrest (DToA) programme has been published | Home Office, UK
Alcohol-specific deaths
There were 1,276 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland in 2022, an increase of 2% (31 deaths) on 2021. Female deaths increased by 31 to 440 deaths in 2022, with the number of alcohol-specific male deaths unchanged from 2021. Male deaths continue to account for around two thirds of alcohol-specific deaths. The rate of mortality for alcohol-specific deaths was 22.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, similar to the rate of 22.3 per 100,000 people in 2021 (the increase is not statistically significant). This measure takes into account the size and age-structure of the population | National Records of Scotland, UK
Drugs: Third Report of Session 2022–23
In this report the Committee calls for a new legislative and funding framework that enables practical, risk-reducing interventions such as establishing a pilot drug consumption facility and drug testing at festivals. It further calls from a move away from an abstinence-only approach towards harm reduction with improved cross-working between police, health and social services. The Committee found that law enforcement should continue to do all it can to stamp out the illicit trade of controlled drugs, but will need to be bolstered by a stronger public health response that helps people escape drug addiction and related criminality | Home Affairs Committee, UK
Estimated numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland: Scottish Public Health Observatory August update
In 2022/23, the number of paid items for OST drugs was 423,814. In 2022/23 the dispensing of methadone was equivalent to 10.28 Defined Daily Doses per 1,000 population per day. Buprenorphine dispensing (including Buvidal© slow-release formulations) was equivalent to 1.75 DDDs per 1,000 population per day in 2022/23. In 2022/23, the dispensing of buprenorphine and naloxone combined (Suboxone) was equivalent to 0.20 DDDs per 1,000 population per day | Public Health Scotland, UK
Cranstoun Launches Report in Response to Escalating Opioid Crisis, Backed by Cross-Party Parliamentarians and Leading Academics
Cranstoun has launched a report containing 8 key recommendations on how to address the escalating drug crisis. The report is in response to emerging accounts of nitazenes – a potent, synthetic opioid similar to fentanyl – contaminating the UK’s heroin supply | Cranstoun, UK
Life-Saving Nalox-Home Intervention Announced to mark International Overdose Awareness Day 2023
Marking International Overdose Awareness Day 2023, the HSE in collaboration with St James’s Hospital is introducing Nalox-Home: a new pilot initiative designed to save lives and promote harm reduction among people who use drugs. Nalox-Home provides free naloxone kits to patients who attend the St James’s Hospital Emergency Department (ED) and have experienced or are at risk of an opioid overdose | HSE, Ireland