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Weekly news - 16th June 2023

In date order, Monday to Friday

Correspondence: Scheduling and lawful access to nitrous oxide: letter to the ACMD

The government has written to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for advice on the scheduling and lawful access to nitrous oxide | Home Office and The Rt Hon Chris Philp MP, UK

Instagram influencers advertising nicotine products to young people, charity warns

Highly addictive nicotine products are being advertised to young people by influencers on social media, a charity has warned | Guardian, UK

Drugs, pesticides and medicine found in south coast seawater

Researchers from Brunel and Portsmouth universities analysed nearly 300 samples from Langstone and Chichester harbours, in Hampshire and West Sussex | BBC, UK

Mum whose son, 21, died after taking magic mushrooms calls for change in law

A Mirror investigation has shed light on a 'grey area', that means firms which sell grow your own magic mushrooms kits for as little as £13 cannot be prosecuted | Mirror, UK

Individual cigarettes 'should be printed with health warnings'

The Scottish Government is being asked to follow Canada in the move with labels including 'poison in every puff' | STV, UK

Guidance: Continuity of care from prison to community: self-assessment tool

A tool to help local areas carry out a self-assessment to improve the continuity of care for people leaving prison who need alcohol and drug treatment | Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and HM Prison and Probation Service, UK

North Yorkshire parents warned of suspension risk for vaping pupils

A group of North Yorkshire headteachers have written to parents warning pupils face suspension if they are in possession of an e-cigarette | BBC, UK

Price plan to curb heavy drinking ‘has not worked’

[Free one month subscription may be required] Ministers are to face renewed pressure to drop Scotland’s minimum pricing scheme for alcohol after a new report found it has failed to reduce consumption among the heaviest drinkers | The Times, UK

Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: January to March 2023

This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland | Scottish Government, UK

The child vaping crisis: ‘From what my daughter says, 90% of her year do it’

Last week, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said disposable vapes should be banned because of their popularity among children – with many parents now feeling they are fighting a losing battle | Guardian, UK

Home Office U-turn on festival drug tests ‘puts people at risk’

Exclusive: Festival organisers say onerous new licence rules for onsite drug testing could endanger lives | Guardian, UK

Basildon: Police issue warning after two suspected drug deaths

Police investigating two deaths they believe to be drug-related have issued a warning after identifying a harmful synthetic opioid at the scene | BBC, UK

[Open access] Approximately 30–50% of people with serious mental illness have co-existing drug or alcohol problems (COSMHAD) associated with adverse health and social care outcomes. UK guidelines advocate both co-occurring needs being met within mental health services, but uncertainty remains about how to operationalise this. A realist synthesis was done to identify, test, and refine programme theories of how context shapes the mechanisms through which UK service models for COSMHAD work, for whom, and in what circumstances | Lancet, UK

Welsh Government's alcohol policy dubbed a failure by the Welsh Conservatives

Wales' minimum alcohol unit pricing policy has failed with the number of people dying from alcohol related deaths increasing since it was brought in, the Welsh Conservatives claim | ITV, UK

Medical cannabis on prescription appg appoints a new secretariat and with bold strategy and vision

Volteface and The Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society (MCCS) have been successfully elected as the new secretariat for the medical cannabis on prescription APPG – bringing new bold strategy and commitment to working collaboratively with parliament, the industry and patients to improve the UK landscape | Volteface, UK

Under-tens in hospital 15 times for 'vape-related disorders' over past year

Meanwhile, others aged between 10 and 19 were taken to hospital 25 times. Admissions of under 20s have quadrupled since 2020 | ITV, UK

Support. Don't Punish - A global advocacy campaign calling for drug policies based on health and human rights

June 26, 2023. Support. Don’t Punish is a global grassroots-centred initiative in support of harm reduction and drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights. The campaign seeks to put harm reduction on the political agenda by strengthening the mobilisation capacity of communities targeted by the “war on drugs” and their allies, opening dialogue with policy makers, and raising awareness among the media and the public. The campaign’s yearly high point is the Global Day of Action, which takes place on, or around, 26th June | IDPC, UK

57 million prescriptions for opioids issued to UK patients last year, report finds

A report, created by Sapphire Cannabis Clinics, has found that 57 million prescriptions for opioids, the equivalent of 108 prescriptions every minute, were issued last year in the UK | Leafie, UK

UK patient secures first NHS reimbursement for cannabis flowers

A patient at Zerenia Clinics UK has made history as the first to secure NHS reimbursement for prescribed cannabis flowers | Cannabis Health, UK

Why Psychedelics Work Differently for People on Antidepressants

Experts tell us how your meds are messing with your ket, shroom, LSD and MDMA high | VICE, UK

Launch event: European Drug Report 2023 - TODAY

16 June 2023 at 12.00 (Lisbon), 13.00 CET (Brussels). How many new drugs were detected in Europe over the last year? What are the latest trends in drug production and trafficking? What substances are causing the most concern today? Find out more when the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) launches its European Drug Report 2023: Trends and Developments in a press conference in Brussels on 16 June | EMCDDA, Portugal

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