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Weekly news - 25th August 2023 |
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In date order, Monday to Friday
Police and coroner probe 30 deaths in Birmingham linked to new super-strong drug
More details have emerged about a huge spike in deaths linked to drug use in the city | Birmingham Live, UK
Ellie Rowe ketamine death: 10 years on and not much change - mum
On 8 August 2013, Wendy Teasdill's life changed forever. Her 18-year-old daughter Ellie Rowe, died after taking ketamine at Boomtown Fair, a festival near Winchester | BBC, UK
Open call for evidence: Drug use in ethnic minority groups
The deadline to respond is Friday 22 September 2023. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has previously investigated vulnerability and risk factors to developing drug dependence and vulnerability of specific groups including young people, homeless, and LGBT communities. Following this work, the ACMD has agreed to begin a self-commissioned workstream investigating drug use in ethnic minority groups | ACMD, UK
Could decriminalisation solve Scotland's drug problem?
Scotland has the highest drugs death rate in Europe, with narcotics claiming more than 100 lives on average every month. The Scottish government is proposing to decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use to "help and support people rather than criminalise and stigmatise them" | BBC, UK
Pregabalin: Bereaved mother warns of drug abuse dangers
A Londonderry mother whose daughter died in February has warned young people about the dangers of abusing the prescription drug, pregabalin | BBC, UK
Leeds Festival: Coroner fears more teenage drug deaths
A coroner has warned he fears more young people will die after taking drugs at festivals unless authorities take action to tackle the issue | BBC, UK
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
Scottish drug deaths drop to lowest level for five years
The number of people who died due to drug misuse in Scotland last year fell by 279 to the lowest level for five years | BBC, UK
‘More than numbers to us’: how a homeless project is preventing Scottish drug deaths
“The things I’ve seen…” Laura – script gripped in one hand, her other on her hip – delivers her line with convincing knowingness | The Ferret, UK
Stigma is stopping an evidence based response to drug overdose deaths in the UK
[Open access] Andy Guise and colleagues argue that UK government opposition to drug consumption rooms is underpinned by, and reproduces stigma towards, drug use and people who use drugs | BMJ, UK
How to make the best of a bad psychedelic trip
“Psychedelics have the potential to be a legitimate psychotherapeutic tool,” explains Harry Shapiro, director of evidence-based information platform Drugwise. “The potential there is quite significant, particularly when antidepressants don’t work or do damage.” | Dazed Digital, UK
Charity welcomes call for more guidance on drug-testing at festivals
As this year's Leeds Festival officially gets underway, a charity says expanding drug-testing at festivals would help save lives. The Loop have spoken to us after the inquest into the death of David Celino, 16, who took a fatal dose of MDMA at last year’s event | Planet Radio, UK
Comparing trends in mid-life ‘deaths of despair’ in the USA, Canada and UK, 2001–2019: is the USA an anomaly?
In recent years, ‘deaths of despair’ due to drugs, alcohol and suicide have contributed to rising mid-life mortality in the USA. We examine whether despair-related deaths and mid-life mortality trends are also changing in peer countries, the UK and Canada | BMJ Open, UK
Off-trade alcohol availability and violence: Assessing the impact of on-trade outlet closures
There is strong and consistent evidence that on-trade alcohol availability is related to violence, but evidence regarding a similar association between off-trade availability and violence is more mixed | IAS, UK
Dying Homeless Project (PDF)
The Dying Homeless Project, which was set up by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in October 2017 and taken on by Museum of Homelessness in April 2019, aims to document and remember every person who dies whilst homeless in the United Kingdom. Deaths related to drug and alcohol use and overdoses are the highest category [of deaths], after physical health conditions. In particular, 24 drug related and overdose deaths were of people living on the streets and who had no fixed abode | Dying Homeless Project, UK
Leeds Festival: Drug death teen's dad says event is 'on probation'
Gianpiero Celino told the BBC he would be "worrying" about those attending the festival, which gets underway later. He said that although organisers Festival Republic had outlined new safety measures for this year's event he believes they should have been put in place earlier, with two other drug-related deaths since 2016 | BBC, UK