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Weekly news - 22nd December 2023

In date order, Monday to Friday

Government response to the ACMD's drug misuse prevention review

The government responds to advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on preventing drug misuse among vulnerable groups of people | Rt Hon Chris Philp MP. Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, UK

MAT standards informed response to benzodiazepine harm reduction interim guidance

This guidance encourages flexible and individualised high-intensity care, to support staff working in specialist treatment services who are regularly engaging with people using street benzodiazepines as well as opioids. Included is information on immediate changes you can make and action you can take to actively reduce harms by forming therapeutic relationships which consider the prescribing of benzodiazepines and the safe and effective delivery of appropriate psychosocial interventions | Public Health Scotland, UK

Addendum to ACMD's report on the use and harms of 2-benzyl benzimidazole ('nitazenes') and piperidine benzimidazolone ('brorphine-like') opioids, 15 December 2023 (accessible)

The ACMD recommends that a consultation should be undertaken with stakeholders, including academia and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries on the introduction of a generic control on 2- benzyl benzimidazole variants, as new examples may be encountered and could present a serious risk of harm | ACMD, UK

Hospital admissions due to smoking up nearly 5% last year, NHS data shows

Smoking-related hospital admissions in England increased by nearly 5% in 2022-23, compared to the previous year, but remain lower than before the Covid pandemic. Latest statistics from NHS England show that in 2022-23 there were an estimated 408,700 hospital admissions due to smoking, a rise from 389,800 in 2021-22 (an increase of 4.8%). The newly published figures in NHS England’s Statistics on Public Health, 2023 report also cover 2020-21, when there were 314,100 admissions attributed to smoking, which was consistent with fewer hospital admissions overall that year | NHS England, UK

“It would really support the wider harm reduction agenda across the board”: A qualitative study of the potential impacts of drug checking service delivery in Scotland

Drug checking services (DCS) enable individuals to voluntarily submit a small amount of a substance for analysis, providing information about the content of the substance along with tailored harm reduction support and advice. There is some evidence suggesting that DCS may lead to behaviour and system change, with impacts for people who use drugs, staff and services, and public health structures. This paper reports on qualitative interviews with forty-three participants across three Scottish cities where the implementation of community-based DCS is being planned | PLOS One, UK

This briefing looks at case reviews published between 2022 and 2023, where parental substance use problems were a key factor. Many of the learning and recommendations contained in the serious case reviews repeat lessons from numerous other reviews. Reviews emphasise that professionals need to conduct child-centred assessments and continue to reassess the potential risks that children face in households experiencing problems with substance use | NSPCC Learning, UK

Call for greater drug use surveillance

Council chiefs have called for greater regulation and surveillance of the use of illegal drugs in response to what they have called ‘worrying new trends’. | Local Gov, UK

Working with the police service and homeless services in North West England to reduce alcohol harms: A feasibility study of a tailored Blue Light approach

Deaths caused by alcohol are increasing in England and 80 % of people with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are not in treatment. The Blue Light approach (Alcohol Change UK) is an initiative to support people with AUDs who are not in treatment. This study aimed to tailor the Blue Light approach (combined with alcohol identification and alcohol brief interventions [ABI] training) for police officers and homeless service staff in North West England, and to qualitatively evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the training | JSAT, UK

Migrants and drugs — need to scale up specialised drug services in Europe

Health and social responses for migrants who use drugs are explored in a new EMCDDA miniguide launched to mark International Migrants Day. The resource is one of a series of miniguides making up the agency's latest overview of actions and interventions to respond to the consequences of illicit drug use. Presenting key issues related to migrants and drug use, the miniguide reveals gaps in service provision and limited knowledge on the extent and nature of drug problems in this group | EMCDDA, Portugal

Drug consumption rooms

A main aim of this report is to inform discussions on drug consumption rooms (DCRs) by examining the available evidence, as well as reviewing the various models being adopted and their characteristics. The report is based on a mixed-methods approach, including a review of documents published by EMCDDA and C-EHRN up to 2020, together with a structured literature search for new peer-reviewed (MEDLINE) and grey publications, including relevant health and public-order outcomes of drug consumption rooms and covering the most recent years (2020 and 2021) | EMCDDA, Portugal

Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2022 registrations

In England and Wales, 4,907 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2022, equivalent to a rate of 84.4 deaths per million people, this is similar to the rate recorded in 2021 (84.0 deaths per million, 4,859 deaths); the age-standardised mortality rate for deaths related to drug poisoning has risen every year since 2012 | ONS, UK

Highest ever drug death total for England and Wales

The age-standardised mortality rate for deaths related to drug poisoning has risen every year for a decade, says ONS, with the rate of drug-poisoning deaths now more than 80 per cent higher than in 2012 – at 84.4 deaths per million people compared to 46.5 per million | DDN, UK

National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times

This 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 2023. 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: Placements approved by Alcohol and Drug Partnerships between 1 April 2021 and 30 September 2023

This is the eighth report on residential rehabilitation within the Monitoring and Evaluation Programme led by Public Health Scotland (PHS). 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 2023 | Public Health Scotland, UK

Scottish Public Health Observatory update: Estimated quarterly numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland (12-month period)

In the 12-month period ending 30 June 2023 (the end of 2023/24 Q1), Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) was prescribed to an estimated minimum of 30,133 people in Scotland. In the 12-month period to the end of the previous financial year quarter (2022/23 Q4) an estimated minimum of 29,962 people were prescribed OST | Public Health Scotland, UK

Update on new synthetic drugs

The latest data from the Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) early warning system, led by Public Health Scotland (PHS), shows that nitazenes have been detected in 25 deaths in Scotland since 2022 (up until 30 September 2023), based on post-mortem toxicology testing. There can be little doubt nitazenes are circulating in Scotland and pose a serious harm to health | Public Health Scotland, UK

Open call for evidence: ACMD internet-facilitated drug markets review

Updated closing date to 26 January 2024. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs call for evidence, collecting written evidence to better understand internet-facilitated drug markets (IFDMs) | ACMD, UK

Trip-killers: a concerning practice associated with psychedelic drug use

The use of potentially harmful 'trip-killers' to cut short 'bad drug trips' after taking psychedelics, such as LSD or magic mushrooms, is an emerging concern, warn doctors | BMJ Emergency Medicine Journal, UK

Drugs UK: Cities taking radical approach to addiction and recovery - video

Middlesbrough is the UK’s first member of the Inclusive Recovery Cities programme… an approach which emphasises the positive value that people in recovery have to wider society - and, crucially, to remove the shame and stigma around addiction | Channel 4 News, UK

Nitazenes: Teesside addict speaks as street drugs spiked

Linked to dozens of recent deaths, super-strength synthetic opiates are many times more potent than the hardest street drugs. Authorities are warning drug users to "be prepared" for the potentially fatal impact of nitazenes as addicts - and those who help them - say this drug scare is the most frightening they've experienced | BBC, UK

ON ALERT: New opioids and benzos in Scotland’s drugs supply (SDF Webinar)

ON ALERT: New opioids and benzos in Scotland’s drugs supply – Why we are concerned and what we need to do | SDF, UK

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