Home | Archive | Weekly | ReportsWeekly news - 23rd December 2022 |
 |
In date order, Monday to Friday
First-time drug users will not be prosecuted under police chiefs' plan
[Possible Paywall] New guidance being drawn up aims to treat the issue of illegal substance taking as a public health problem | Telegraph, UK
Experts call on govt to rethink new drug possession proposals
Open letter: Individuals and organisations working in drug policy, health and social care, criminal justice, and human rights call on Government to rethink proposed approach to drug possession offences | Transform, UK
Scots back ban on alcohol sponsorship in sport, survey finds
A new survey has revealed that just one in four Scots would not support a ban on sports sponsorship by the alcohol industry, The Ferret can reveal | National, UK
Hewitt review: call for evidence - GOV.UK
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed the Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt to consider how the oversight and governance of integrated care systems (ICSs) can best enable them to succeed. More information about the objectives and scope of the review can be found in the Hewitt review terms of reference. There is a call for evidence to gather views from across the health and social care system, as well as from patients, the public, and the wider voluntary sector. You can respond as an individual, or on behalf of an organisation by completing the online survey | DHSC, UK
Alcohol duty to be frozen for further six months
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had said in his Autumn Statement that prices would go up in February, reversing a decision made by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng. But the Treasury is now freezing the duty until August 2023 when a new system for calculating taxes on alcohol is also due to come into force | BBC, UK
ACMD advice on 2-benzyl benzimidazole and piperidine benzimidazolone opioids
Updated to include consideration of a new synthetic opioid | ACMD, UK
The Benzo Research Project: An evaluation of recreational benzodiazepine use amongst UK young people (18-25)
The Benzo Research Project is a student-led group researching recreational benzodiazepine use in young people with the aim of sparking conversation and raising awareness. Over the course of 16 months, the Benzo Research Project collected 81 anonymous testimonies on non-medical benzo use amongst young people in the UK. We conducted an inductive thematic analysis of 73 testimonies received between March and September 2022 | Benzo Research Project, UK
Women, alcohol, pregnancy and FASD (PDF)
This report builds on work already being carried out in Scotland’s communities. Raising awareness and increasing understanding of FASD will help community nurses and midwives engage more effectively with those affected and the key people in their lives. The continuing professional development proposed in this report will focus on heightening their competence and confidence in this area of practice. The main findings and recommendations also appear as a series of blogs on the QNIS/ HPBL website | QNIS, UK
Remeasuring the Units An update on the organisation of alcohol-related liver disease services (PDF)
This short report summarises the results of a survey undertaken across NHS hospitals in 2020/21 and a round table discussion on the current status of Alcohol Related Liver Disease (ARLD) care. The report focuses on improvements that have been made across the system since ‘Measuring the units’ was published and also highlights areas where known deficiencies in services and care remain | NCEPOD, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times [Scotland]
This data release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) reports on waiting times for people accessing specialist drug and alcohol treatment services between 1 July and 30 September 2022. In 2011, the Scottish Government set a Standard that 90% of people referred for help with problematic drug or alcohol use will wait no longer than three weeks for specialist treatment that supports their recovery | Public Health Scotland, UK
Interim monitoring report on statutory funded residential rehabilitation placements
This is the fifth report on Residential Rehabilitation within the Monitoring and Evaluation Programme led by Public Health Scotland. The report presents information on the number of Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) statutory funded placements into residential rehabilitation, with estimated costs, that were approved between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2022 | Public Health Scotland, UK
Essex teen with epilepsy 'one of first' to get free medical cannabis to treat his condition
A teenager with epilepsy is one of the first to be given free medical cannabis following a campaign to get the drug given to more people with the disease. Harry Siddans, 15, from Dunmow in Essex, has refractory epilepsy and has been using medical cannabis for two and a half years | ITV, UK
Tobacco: treating dependence - NICE quality standard
In December 2022, this quality standard updated and replaced the quality standards on smoking: supporting people to stop (published August 2013) and smoking: harm reduction (published July 2015) | NICE, UK
One in seven Brits plan to take part in Dry January 2023, charity estimates
Anxiety and the cost of living crisis were cited as motivating factors for opting out of alcohol | Independent, UK
Make a new year quit attempt to help with cost of living
Smokers in England are being encouraged to search smokefree and quit this new year as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. It comes as Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) publishes its new smoking and poverty briefing which highlights smoking as a key driver of inequalities in wealth as well as health | ASH, UK
£3.6 million social prescribing funding to bolster mental health support and ease pressure on GPs
Social prescribing can help people with a wide range of issues, including grief, and support those battling addiction. Dale, who lives in North London recently joined the Men’s Woodwork Group, run by St Margaret’s House – who also received a grant from the Thriving Communities fund. After leaving rehab, where he received treatment to help with alcohol and drug addiction, the group gives Dale a space to connect and be creative | Department of Health and Social Care, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Maria Caulfield MP, The Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP, and Helen Whately MP, UK
Bristol adapts harm reduction approach for drug use
Bristol has become the first UK city to adopt a city-wide, harm-reduction approach to drugs and alcohol | BBC, UK
Drug Market Update: Oxycodone and Percocet Tablets
Do you or someone you know take non-prescribed oxycodone tablets? They might be sold as tablets designed to look like prescription medications such as OxyContin and Percocet amongst others. There is concern that some tablets that are being sold in the illicit UK drugs market may contain one of a variety of new synthetic opioid drugs. Synthetic opioid drugs called ‘nitazenes’ have been detected in the European and UK drug supply | CREW, UK