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Weekly news - 17th February 2023

 

In date order, Monday to Friday

Press release: Addiction crackdown sees huge rise in prisoners getting clean

Thousands of prisoners are getting clean thanks to a doubling of drug-free wings in jails as the government’s war on addiction steps up a gear | Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, and The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, UK

UK campaigners call for tighter regulations on vapes to match tobacco

To tackle their popularity with children, campaigners and councils want vapes to be taxed and sold in plain packaging behind counter | Guardian, UK

COA Week 2023 | Children of Alcoholics Week

12-18 February 2023. International COA Week 2023 is a campaign to raise awareness of children affected by parental alcohol problems, celebrated internationally each year during the week in which Valentine’s Day falls. In the UK, COA Week is led by the charity Nacoa UK who provide year-round support. Please join us in our 14th year in the UK. Together we can increase awareness of this hidden problem and the support available. Find out how you can help children of all ages know they are not alone | NACOA, UK

'It's going to get worse' charity warns about drug use in cost of living crisis

Staff at substance charity Kaleidoscope say they are seeing an increase in people using their services | Wales Online, UK

‘I’ve gone from one extreme to the other’: critical junctures in relationships with alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic

[Open access] The paper highlights implications for healthcare/policy including the importance of considering wider social context when seeking behavioral change. We also stress that alternative explanations – such as declining drinking rates and the growth of Temporary Abstinence Initiatives – must not be ignored when exploring people’s shifting drinking behaviors, even during periods of unprecedented social change | DEPP, UK

Celebrating Maggie

2.30pm, Friday 10th March 2023. St. George’s Bristol, BS1 5RR. BDP’s staff and trustees invite you to join us in celebrating the life of the tenacious & fabulous Maggie Telfer. The event will last approximately an hour and will be full of memories, celebration and song. Maggie loved colour and music, and there will be both | BDP, UK

Alcohol advertising ban Scotland: What is in the plans and how far do they go? Will they be accepted by the Scottish Government? How harmful is drinking alcohol?

The Scottish Government is consulting on ways it can limit the advertisement of alcohol products, to combat what it calls the nation’s “deep, long-standing and troubled relationship with alcohol” | Scotsman, UK

Charity welcomes advertising regulator’s ban on vaping firm’s claims

The advertising regulator has rebuked a vaping firm after it claimed switching to e-cigarettes could help people give up smoking | Press and Journal, UK

Press release: £421 million to boost drug and alcohol treatment across England

Local authorities across England to receive funding to combat drug and alcohol misuse, with areas of highest need prioritised | Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, and Neil O'Brien MP, UK

Guidance: Extra funding for drug and alcohol treatment: 2023 to 2025

New funding to local authorities to help them improve their drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems, from 2023 to 2025. Funding allocations by local authority are listed here | OHID, UK

Oxford study to trial cannabis-based medicine as treatment for psychosis

CBD is currently only prescribed for a small number of conditions such as rare, severe epilepsy | Guardian, UK

Realising our Rights How the Scottish Government can protect us from alcohol marketing - infographic (PDF)

The Alcohol Marketing Expert Network recommends that countries introduce comprehensive statutory restrictions on alcohol marketing to protect and fulfil people's human rights, including their right to health | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK

Nicola Bulley: Home secretary concerned by health disclosures

In a statement released on Wednesday, Lancashire Police said Ms Bulley had suffered with "some significant issues with alcohol" and "ongoing struggles with the menopause". This prompted a backlash from campaigners, MPs and legal experts, with some accusing the police of breaching her privacy | BBC, UK

Doctors Have A Brand New Approach To Tackle England's Drinking Habit

GPs are now being urged to look a little more closely into patients’ relationship with alcohol, in an effort to relieve NHS pressure further down the line | Huffington Post, UK

Government ‘condemning children of alcoholic parents to misery’ by cutting support

[Possible paywall] A £6 million funding package to help Britain’s estimated 2.6 million children of alcoholics will not be renewed | telegraph, UK

Guernsey and Alderney students vaping more - survey

The 2022 Guernsey Young People's Survey asked more than 1,300 students in years six, eight and 10 about their lives. Some of the key findings include: 1) A significant increase in the percentage of students who vape regularly (from 2% in 2019 to 10% in 2022). 2) An increase in the percentage of students who drank more alcohol than they intended in the previous year (from 22% in 2019 to 27% in 2022) | BBC, UK