Daily news - 6th October 2016 |
UK news
Cheap alcohol: the price we pay (PDF)
Research released today shows there is an abundance of high strength alcohol sold for pocket money prices in shops and supermarkets across the UK. Press Release | Alcohol Health Alliance, UK
'Pocket money' drink prices worry campaigners
Alcohol is being sold at "pocket money" prices across the UK, with products commonly bought by underage drinkers among the cheapest, research by a campaign group suggests | BBC, UK
What is the effect of licensed premises on residential areas?
Residents' associations and Citizens Advice give evidence on the tension between local residents and licensed venues in their areas. The Licensing Act 2003 sets out to provide greater freedom to the hospitality and leisure industry, as well as giving consumers more choice. At the same time the legislation was intended to grant authorities the appropriate powers to deal with misuse of these freedoms | Parliament.uk, UK
Evaluating the impact of a national naloxone programme on ambulance attendance at overdose incidents: a controlled time series analysis†
[Now open access.] It has been suggested that distributing naloxone to people who inject drugs (PWID) will lead to fewer attendances by emergency medical services at opioid-related overdose incidents if peer administration of naloxone was perceived to have successfully resuscitated the overdose victim. This study evaluated the impact of a National Naloxone Programme (NNP) on ambulance attendance at opioid-related overdose incidents throughout Scotland | Addiction, UK
Maghaberry Prison: Drugs Amnesty
Mr M Bradley asked the Minister of Justice for her views on the recent drugsamnesty at Maghaberry prison, to state what prompted the amnesty and to list the drugs that were handed in | They Work for You, UK
Spice On The Streets Reaches Crisis Point
Over the past year a disturbing trend has emerged that is destroying the lives of the country’s most vulnerable | Volte Face, UK
Proof the Tories Really Don't Bother with Evidence-Based Drug Policy
Tory MP Crispin Blunt, who was in charge of UK prisons under the coalition government, has suggested that the Conservative party has been knowingly implementing an ineffective and damaging drugs policy | VICE, UK
Scotland, Ireland & Wales: alcohol policy and harm
Alcohol Policy in Scotland and Ireland: European Trailblazers or Celtic Fringes? | Alcohol Policy UK, UK
The Recovery Awards - Open for Nominations!
This year’s Recovery Awards are now open for nomination. Each year Addaction celebrates the dedication, hard work and outstanding contribution that people in recovery have made to raising awareness and combatting stigma associated with substance use | Addaction, UK
Taking Steps is starting again
Taking Steps is a mutual aid support group for those affected by someone else's substance misuse. Join us for a coffee and a chat | Adfam, UK
Claims that coffee prevents dementia are lukewarm at best
"Coffee really can help to prevent dementia: Just two cups a day 'cuts the risk of developing it by 36 per cent','' the Mail Online reports. But if you look closely at the research behind this report, the results are of borderline significance, meaning it is likely they were influenced by chance | NHS Direct: Behind the headlines, UK
Tyson Fury set to be stripped of WBO title over ‘inactivity’ and drug claims
Tyson Fury is likely to lose one of his two remaining world heavyweight titles before the end of the month after the president of the World Boxing Organisation confirmed it will discuss the troubled fighter’s status as its champion at a meeting on 17 October | Guardian, UK
Chef Stephen Port 'drugged murder victims with GHB'
A chef murdered four men he met on gay networking sites by giving them a fatal dose of the drug GHB, a jury has heard | BBC, UK
'Fake Sheikh' Mazher Mahmood guilty over Tulisa case
Undercover journalist Mazher Mahmood, known as the Fake Sheikh, has been found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice | BBC, UK
Fury at controversial Moonlight Drinks scheme to deliver alcohol across Southampton
Moonlight Drinks has been given the green light to transport beer and spirits to customers' homes in response to orders placed by phone | Southampton Echo, UK
International news
What Happens When Drugs Become Too Powerful for Overdose Kits?
Dr. Del Dorscheid recently had what he calls a "tragic" week in the intensive care unit at St. Paul's Hospital. Situated in the epicentre of Vancouver's fentanyl crisis, the unit is often overflowing with patients who stopped breathing after overdosing—sometimes without even knowing they'd taken fentanyl, cut into other drugs such as cocaine or heroin | VICE, UK
DEA reduces opioid production in US amid painkiller addiction epidemic
The federal government’s new quotas for 2017 will cut the manufacturing of prescription painkillers by 25% as overdose deaths increase | Guardian, UK
Girl, 7, seeks bus driver's help after she finds parents dead in possible overdose
The Pennsylvania girl had tried to wake them up Monday morning to no avail, so she told the driver that she was worried about them on the bus ride home | Guardian, UK
Danish couple face 10 years in prison for selling cannabis to cancer patients
A poll in June found 88 per cent of people in Denmark support legalising cannabis for medicinal use | Independent, UK
Special report: Fears government amnesty of drug users being used to create 'kill list' in Philippines war on drugs
Three-year-old Natalie Magno stared bewildered at the crowd outside her family home in the Filipino capital, Manila, as she clung to her grandmother. Her soft brown hair still ruffled after being pulled from her bed at 2.30am, she did not yet know that her father was dead | Telegraph, UK
Prehistoric body found buried in cannabis-plant shroud at ancient Silk Road oasis
Ancient cultures on the Silk Road may have prized marijuana's psychoactive properties | Independent, UK
Plain packaging on cigarettes and tobacco due in May 2017
Plain packaging on cigarette and tobacco products will come into effect in Ireland in May next year, Minister for Health Simon Harris has confirmed in the Dáil | Irish Times, Ireland
Are children from homes that experience domestic violence at increased risk for illicit drug use in adulthood?
This week, as part of our Special Series on Addiction and Domestic Violence, STASH reviews a longitudinal study by Scott Menard and colleagues that explored the effects of adolescents’ exposure to violence either, themselves or their parents, on drug use as an adult | BASIS, USA
Not just for medics: Drugs that reverse opioid overdoses are being pushed to the masses
After two decades of sending a needle exchange van around this city, officials here last year started doing something new. They wouldn’t just hand out clean syringes; they would distribute the antidote to the opioid overdoses ravaging local communities | StatNews, USA
Association between use of flavoured tobacco products and quit behaviours: findings from a cross-sectional survey of US adult tobacco users
Non-menthol characterising flavours (eg, fruit, candy) are banned in cigarettes, yet are still permitted in non-cigarette tobacco (NCT) products. This study examined associations between first use and current use of flavoured tobacco products, and current flavoured tobacco use and quit behaviours | BMJ, UK
'Breakthrough' discovery could help beat nicotine addiction
In a piece of good news for people trying to quit smoking, researchers have crystallized a protein that they hope will show what happens in the brain when a person becomes addicted to nicotine | MNT, USA
Report Highlights Explosion Risk from E-Cigarettes
Seattle burn center reports 15 cases in less than a year | Med Page Today, USA
15 Celebrities You Didn't Know Died From Drug Abuse or Overdose
The stigma of addiction and desire to protect the legacy of these celebrities has led to their stories being swept under the rug | Fix, USA
Canada faces choice on international drug treaties over legalized pot
As Canada moves forward with its plan to legalize marijuana, government officials have at least one international conundrum to sort out: what to do about the global treaties Canada has signed that prohibit making pot legal? | CBC News, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
Vaping in the home: advice for parents - by Jo Locker
As Stoptober 2016 gets underway, some smokers will be choosing to use e-cigarettes to help them through the 28-day mass quitting challenge towards a smokefree future. Smokers are encouraged to search ‘stoptober’ to find free quitting tools and information on the support available to help them through | PHE Blog, UK
Health Matters: Your questions on tobacco standard packs and smoking
We hope our latest edition of Health Matters – on the subject of tobacco standard packs and helping smokers quit will help you and other health professionals by compiling key facts, figures and evidence of effective interventions | PHE Blog, UK
Stoptober 2016: Could E-cigarettes help Stop Smoking Services beat addiction?
Today, there are many ways to combat smoking addiction, and behavioural support plus prescription medication through Stop Smoking Services remains the most effective way. But every now and then a new technology emerges that’s capable of changing the landscape. And for smokers, the most recent of these developments has been the rapid rise of the e-cigarette | Cancer Research UK Blog, UK
Fast Developing News On CBD And Medicinal Cannabis
We learned today that the MHRA is designating CBD as a medicine and that all sales of CBD products must stop within 28 days | Clear, UK
Dear Mom, This Is Why I’m Addicted: A Letter from a Lost Daughter
Elizabeth was in a halfway house in New Jersey, following a spell in state prison for drug-law violations. The return address on her letter was "10th Circle of Hell." | VICE, UK
Ivy League professor: ‘I would much rather my own children interact with drugs than with the police’
Carl L. Hart was surprised when a student in one of his classes at Columbia University wrote an essay for The Washington Post about the effect of having him speak frankly about his past and the importance of having non-white faculty members | Washington Post Opinion, USA
The Way We Talk About Drug ‘Abuse’ Is Harmful — And It Needs To Change
Substance use disorder isn’t a moral failing. Our language should reflect that | Huffington Post Blog, USA