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Weekly news - 4th August 2023

 

In date order, Monday to Friday

Newly published figures reveal 40% drop in alcohol treatment in Scotland over 10 years

New analysis by Alcohol Focus Scotland shows that access to specialist alcohol treatment dropped by 40% over the last 10 years. And the charity has warned that if we don’t act now to prevent and treat alcohol problems, Scotland could be turning the clock back 30 years to when death rates soared to record levels.  In 2021, 1,245 people lost their lives to alcohol-specific causes, the highest number since 2008 | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK

Children increasingly exposed to e-cigarettes on display in shops

Children increasingly exposed to e-cigarettes on display in shops, and more likely to buy from small shops, according to new analysis of data | Imperial College London, UK

Influencers and freebies: Big Tobacco’s push to sell nicotine pouches in UK

Health experts raise concerns over marketing for flavoured oral sachets that can legally be sold to under-18s | Guardian, UK

National statistics: reported road casualties in great britain, involving illegal alcohol levels: 2021

Estimates of casualties in collisions involving at least one driver or rider over the drink-drive limit in Great Britain for 2021 show that: between 240 and 280 people were killed in drink-drive collisions, with a central estimate of 260 fatalities. The estimate of fatalities for 2021 is the highest since 2009 and represents a statistically significant increase from 2020 the central estimate of the number of killed or seriously injured drink-drive casualties in 2021 is 1,880, an increase of 23% on 2020 an estimated 6,740 people were killed or injured in drink-drive collisions, an increase of 4% from 2020 | Department for Transport, UK

Warning over potentially fatal heroin in Lincolnshire after drugs deaths

Lincolnshire police have issued a warning about a potentially fatal supply of heroin circulating in the county | ITV, UK

Boots rapped for cash-back 'incentives' on addictive pills offering Advantage Card points on purchases of co-codamol

igh Street pharmacist Boots is offering points on purchases of addictive codeine painkillers – which customers can then use to buy 'treats'. The firm gives about 24 Advantage Card points – worth 24p – to customers buying Boots Ibuprofen & Codeine over the counter. It offers similar incentives for buying co-codamol, which are paracetamol and codeine tablets | Mail Online, UK

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

Public health warning over potential risk of potent synthetic opioids [Isle of Man]

A warning has been issued about the potential harmfulness of illegal recreational drugs Nitazenes. The Manx public health directorate said while the group of synthetic opioids had not been found on the island yet they could lead to an overdose | BBC, UK

Belfast drug users warned over possible bad batch of 'benzos'

Drug users in Belfast are being warned that prescription drugs with the street name 'benzos' may be laced with other dangerous chemicals | BBC, 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

Peer naloxone champions celebrate the supply of the 3000th naloxone kit by innovative programme

The 8th National Peer Naloxone Network meeting has taken place at SDF’s office in Glasgow. This was an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the peers’ supply of the 3000th naloxone kit, a key milestone in the project and to network and plan future work. The group also attended a training workshop on reducing the harms of polydrug use prior to the meeting | SDF, UK

High-strength alcohol more expensive as new duties come into force

A new system for taxing alcohol has come into force in the UK, increasing the price of many drinks. Alcohol duty, which had been frozen since 2020, increases by 10.1 per cent overall but will fall on lower-alcohol beverages | Holyrood, UK

E-cigarettes may be better than nicotine patches to help pregnant women stop smoking, reduce the risk of low birthweight

Smoking in pregnancy can harm developing babies, especially their growth. Current guidelines recommend that pregnant smokers who find quitting difficult should be provided with nicotine replacements products, and stop-smoking services usually recommend nicotine patches | Medical Xpress, UK

£19.5m NIHR funding to tackle health and social care issues

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) today awarded King’s £19.5m to tackle important long-standing and emerging health and social care issues. Professor Ann McNeill, Co-Director of the NIHR Policy Research Unit for Addictions said: “We are delighted to have this unique opportunity to help shape effective addictions policy in the coming years by working closely with both subject experts and experts by experience from a UK-wide consortium... | King's College London, UK

Warning to Worcestershire drugs users about dangerous synthetic opioids

Police are issuing a warning to drug users in Evesham after two men nearly died when they unknowingly took synthetic opioids last month. The men believed they were taking heroin, but after both suffering a serious adverse reaction the drugs were tested and found to be synthetic opioids | West Mercia Police, UK

Merseyside drink and drug driving campaign launched by police

The road safety campaign, Operation Limit, is part of the force's support for Vision Zero, which aims to see no more deaths or serious injuries on roads by 2040 | BBC, UK

Four in ten smokers wrongly believe that vaping is as or more harmful as smoking

The latest ASH annual survey data show that in 2023: Four in ten smokers (39%) in Great Britain now believe vaping is as or more risky compared with smoking up from a third last year; and 1.8 million smokers (27%) have never tried vaping even though it’s a very effective quitting aid. Finally, 2.9 million smokers have tried vaping but stopped | ASH, UK

Addressing common myths about vaping: Putting the evidence in context

This short brief is to aid responsible reporting of the evidence about vaping and reduce: Repetition of misconceptions as conventional wisdom; Overstating the evidence, with caveats downplayed or missed out; Presenting opinions as facts | ASH, UK

Urgent warning over 'killer' batch of drugs circulating in West Midlands

A batch of potentially deadly drugs are being sold in Birmingham and the Black Country, triggering an urgent warning | Birmingham Mail, UK

Risk of overdose higher when opioid agonists are prescribed with other medicines

Patients prescribed medicines to replace illicit drugs are at higher risk of overdose resulting in hospital admission when taking other medicines which treat mental health conditions or pain, University of Manchester researchers have found. The authors of the study, published in the journal Addiction on August 3, say doctors should avoid co-prescription of opioid agonists, with benzodiazepines, gabapentinoids, antipsychotics or Z-drugs if harm is greater than the benefit to patients | Medical Xpress, UK

Second Scottish NHS board considers prescribing heroin as drug treatment

A second Scottish NHS health board is considering offering heroin on prescription to drug users following an evaluation of a “successfully implemented” Glasgow-based pilot | The Ferret, UK

Just one alcoholic drink a day could raise blood pressure, study finds

Researchers, who found a link between increases in systolic blood pressure and the number of daily alcoholic drinks, say while limiting alcohol intake is advised, avoiding it is "even better" | Sky News, UK

Cocaine Capital: record London seizures by police but number of arrests tumbles

Cocaine seizures in London have soared by 1,576 per cent in a decade with more than a ton of the drug taken off the streets last year. The latest figures show the Metropolitan Police seized 1,048kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of £105 million in the year to March 2022 — the highest total on record. Casual use has reached such a peak, the force now removes from the streets two-thirds of the drug found by all British police | Yahoo, UK