DrugWise Daily |
17th May 2024 |
Thank you to our Premium sponsors:
|
|
|
|
Could you sponsor DrugWise Daily? Please Email Harry Shapiro to discuss |
|
UK news
Public health expert lambasts UK government as fund to tackle inequality launches
Sir Michael Marmot wants cuts reversed as fund backed by L&G and his research institute opens to support local initiatives | Guardian, UK
Vape adverts on football shirts set to be banned in bid to protect kids
Health Minister Dame Andrea Leadsom confirmed she will be bringing forward proposals to address concerns around vape advertisements as young people increasingly take up the habit | Mirror, UK
Association of time spent on social media with youth cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use in the UK: a national longitudinal study
[Open access] Social media use is associated with increased risk of cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use. There is a need for greater research on this issue as well as potential policy responses | BMJ Thorax, UK
Prison staff 'deliberately poisoned' with drug
A union has called for a "full investigation" into reports of a "deliberate poisoning" of staff with the drug spice at a men's high-security prison in Kent | BBC, UK
Systemic racism in drugs policy and legal roadblocks to harm reduction
Release is the national centre of expertise on drug laws in the UK, and campaigns for drug policies that are founded on principles of public health rather than criminal justice. The SSA’s Natalie Davies asked Release for their understanding of current UK drug laws, how the Misuse of Drugs Act accommodates the provision of sterile needles and syringes, and whether there is a legal path to rolling out drug consumption rooms | SSA, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will undertake a review of her strategy on alcohol use through a harm reduction approach | They work for you, UK
Smoking
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of hospital admissions for issues related to cigar smoking in the last (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 20 years | They work for you, UK
Street Drugs Discussions: CBD
Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:00 - 14:00 BST. Curious about cannabidiol (CBD)? Join us in this webinar for a discussion where we'll explore: The nature and uses of CBD / Harms and Benefits / Law and policy / The modern wellness industry / Future directions and policy challenges | Drug Science, UK
Teens used younger children to deal drugs
Caden Stephens, 19, of Boulmer Avenue, Kingsway, and two 17-year-old boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, used children to conduct the drug deals, controlling their actions through burner phones | BBC, UK
Delivery driver helps police find £87K cannabis farm
Cambridgeshire Police said the driver "had some concerns" about a property they had tried to deliver a parcel to in the village of Wisbech St Mary, Cambridgeshire | BBC, UK
Nineteen charged in undercover drugs investigation
An undercover investigation into heroin and cocaine dealing in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens has led to 19 people being charged | BBC, UK
Almost £30k worth of counterfeit vapes seized from shops across Tameside
Nearly 2,300 dodgy vapes and £150 of illegal tobacco were seized | Manchester Evening News, UK
International news
Biden administration reclassifies marijuana in historic shift
At President Joe Biden’s urging, the Department of Justice has officially started the process to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug than most prescription painkillers and many addictive stimulants, ending decades of policy that treated it as having no acceptable medical use | Independent, UK
Launch event: European Drug Report 2024
11 June 2024 at 10.00 WEST (Lisbon), 11.00 CEST (Brussels). How is Europe's opioid market evolving? What substances are causing the most concern today? How are countries responding to cannabis use? Find out more when the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) launches its European Drug Report 2024: Trends and Developments in a live online press conference on 11 June | EMCDDA, Portugal
Using drugs alone in single room occupancy housing: Understanding environmental drivers of overdose risk
[Open access] Across North America most overdose deaths occur in housing, largely due to individuals using drugs alone. In cities, fatalities are disproportionately concentrated in low-income housing, including single room occupancy (SRO) housing. While research has highlighted how SROs operate as risk environments for various poor outcomes, there has been little attention to specific drug use practices (i.e., using alone) associated with overdose vulnerability in these spaces. This study explores how environmental contexts of SROs shape overdose risks, with specific attention to practices of using drugs alone | IJDP, USA
Guidelines for Reasonable and Appropriate Care in the Emergency Department (GRACE-4): Alcohol use disorder and cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome management in the emergency department
[Open access] The US Society for Academic Emergency Medicine has issued guidelines for emergency departments on the management of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome and alcohol use disorder. They also cover a rare condition that leads to severe vomiting in some daily, long-term cannabis users | AEM, USA
First US trial of varenicline for e-cigarette cessation shows positive results
Researchers from Yale Cancer Center and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center published the results of their clinical trial of varenicline to help adults to stop using e-cigarettes in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on May 16 | Medical Xpress, USA
Study uses machine learning to predict opioid use disorder treatment interruptions
University of Florida researchers have developed a system designed to identify patients at high risk of discontinuing buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder | Medical Xpress, USA
Mapping a moral panic: News media narratives and medical expertise in public debates on safer supply, diversion, and youth drug use in Canada
[Open access] The ongoing overdose and drug toxicity crisis in North America has contributed momentum to the emergence of safer supply prescribing and programs in Canada as a means of providing an alternative to the highly volatile unregulated drug supply. The implementation and scale-up of safer supply have been met with a vocal reaction on the part of news media commentators, conservative politicians, recovery industry representatives, and some prominent addiction medicine physicians | IJDP, USA
The Menthols Ban: Delayed, Divisive and Far From Dead
The planned national ban on menthol cigarettes in the United States was postponed indefinitely in late April. The idea has been considered by regulators for years. It was unsuccessfully proposed by then-FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb under the Trump administration in 2018. Under the Biden administration, the plan was first announced by the FDA in 2021, but has repeatedly been pushed back since | Filter Magazine, USA
FEND Act Against Fentanyl Trafficking Could Worsen Overdose Crisis
As harm reduction efforts around the United States face intense backlash,politicians are doubling down on the notion of law enforcement as a means of curbing overdoses. A new federal law designed to thwart international trafficking organizations will likely make the US drug supply even riskier and exacerbate the crisis, experts say | Filter Magazine, USA
Nursing background showed me need for naloxone kits in schools, education minister says
Newfoundland and Labrador's education minister says her nursing background has shown her the importance of having naloxone kits in the province's schools | CBC news, Canada