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Weekly news - 3rd November 2023

In date order, Monday to Friday

Webchat ‘first port of call’ for people struggling with drugs, alcohol or mental health

A webchat run by WithYou is breaking down barriers for groups less likely to seek traditional support – with more than two-thirds of all users never before accessing professional help. See new report - Accessing support in the digital age:The impact of WithYou’s webchat service. | DDN, UK

Almost Half of Brits Impacted by Addiction, Yet Stigma Continues to Silence The Nation

New research by The Forward Trust reveals that 45% of UK adults aged 18-75 have either experienced addiction or dependency to alcohol, drugs, medication, gambling or sex, themselves, or know someone close to them that has. Despite this being equivalent to 22 million UK adults aged 18-75, the stigma that surrounds the condition is stopping or making it difficult for half of those experiencing their own or other people’s addictions from speaking out, with negative judgement (46%) and shame (39%) ruled as top concerns | Forward Trust, UK

Lifesaving overdose-reversal scheme

Access to potentially life-saving naloxone kits, which reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, is being expanded to community pharmacies across Scotland. All community pharmacies will now hold at least two naloxone kits - either a nasal spray or injectable | Scottish Government, UK

Policy briefing: alcohol

The briefing sets out the range of evidence-based actions that could be taken to prevent and reduce harm from alcohol, building on the progress that has been made through minimum unit pricing. We expect these actions, taken together, could reverse current trends in terms of harm from alcohol, and would reduce the burden that alcohol-related conditions place on our health and social care services | Public Health Scotland, UK

Cannabis used by brain tumour patients, says Cardiff doctor

Patients with the most aggressive brain tumours have routinely asked whether cannabis can help, a cancer specialist has said | BBC, UK

Most deprived death rates twice as high

Death rates are almost twice as high in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived, according to a new report from National Records of Scotland. Scotland’s Population report for 2022 also finds the gap is much wider for some causes, including drug misuse deaths | National Records of Scotland, UK

Community pharmacies provided with overdose reversal drug Naloxone

All community pharmacies in Scotland will be given two Naloxone kits in the fight to curb drug deaths | STV News, UK

RADAR local: A guide to drug early warning systems - latest release

The Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) local guide provides areas with guidance on how to develop and operate their own local drugs early warning system (LEWS) to support effective response to reduce drug-related harms | Public Health Scotland, UK

Press release: Barrier to employment lifted for thousands of ex-offenders

Over 120,000 former offenders will find it easier to get work and turn their lives away from crime following a change in the law. The government has announced reforms to give the lowest risk, and first-time offenders, the greatest chance to turn their lives around. By legislating that there should be a presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months, these offenders will be punished in the community, repaying their debt to society by cleaning up our neighbourhoods and scrubbing graffiti off walls. This will help these offenders stay in work, connected to their families and better access the drug rehab and mental healthcare needed to properly addresses the root causes of their offending | Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, and The Rt Hon Alex Chalk KC MP, UK

Wastewater analysis for new psychoactive substances and cocaine and cannabis in a Northern Ireland Prison

[Open access] The global drug market has been significantly impacted by the emergence of new psychoactive substances, leading to challenges in creating effective legislative controls and their use within recreational drug consumption. This research explores the prevalence of new psychoactive substances and non-medicinal and medicinal compounds within a prison facility in Northern Ireland | Nature, UK

Senior Met officer Julian Bennett faces sack for refusing drug test

A senior Met Police officer who drew up the force's anti-drug strategy could be sacked for refusing to provide a urine sample for cannabis testing | BBC, UK

Covid pandemic ‘had lasting impact’ on brain health of people aged 50 or over

The acceleration in cognitive decline has been exacerbated by a number of factors since the arrival of Covid, the researchers said. These included an increase in loneliness and depression, a fall in exercise and higher alcohol consumption, as well as the effects of the disease itself | Guardian, UK

Hard-hitting quit smoking campaign launches in Greater Manchester aiming to create a smokefree city-region

A new hard-hitting quit smoking campaign launches from Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, as part of wider ambitions to become a smokefree city-region by 2030 | Greater Manchester Integrated Care, UK

National Collaborative Call for Evidence – Analysis Report (PDF)

The National Collaborative is a project that not only aims to empower people affected by substance use but will also set out how the rights to be included in the forthcoming Human Rights Bill can be effectively implemented. It will do this by applying a human-rights based approach to co-design a Charter of Rights. As part of this process, a Call for Evidence was launched to gather views from around Scotland about people’s experiences of substance use and human rights. This brought together people affected by substance use, their families and people working across a wide range of services and ran between May and August 2023 | Alliance Scotland, UK

First Steps Good Practice Guide

This guide is about how people with their own lived experience of substance use can make that outreach more effective. The guide is published in both English and Welsh | Alcohol Change UK, UK

Naloxone reporting short life working group: Final report

This short report describes the purpose, process and meetings of the Naloxone Reporting Short Life Working Group (SLWG). This report also describes the recommendations of the SLWG and outlines the next stage in this change process, where organisations will review these findings and respond to them | Public Health Scotland, UK

The ease of online drug purchase and the emergence of the dark web have created new avenues for the growth of NPS. Despite the global nature of this issue, limited research has examined motivations of use. These include perceived safety or convenience, an interest in novel pharmacology and self-exploration. Recent evidence has suggested individuals may be self-medicating with NPS, however this phenomenon has yet to be thoroughly explored. This study aims to investigate the occurrence of NPS self-medication, identify the specific NPS involved, and understand the motivations behind their use | IJDP, UK

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