Daily news - 5th February 2016 |
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DS Daily are very grateful to the Norfolk Recovery Partnership for renewing their sponsorhip for another year.
UK news
Impact of the reduction in heroin supply between 2010 and 2011 (PDF)
Heroin is strongly associated with both health and social harms. Around half of clients in contact with treatment in 2014/15 were using opiates (52%)1 and 952 deaths were related to heroin and morphine use in 2014, out of a total 3,346 drug poisoning deaths. 2 Regular opiate and crack cocaine users are estimated to commit up to 45 per cent of acquisitive crime, costing almost £6bn per year | Home Office, UK
Smoking bans linked to fewer heart attacks and strokes
The ban on smoking indoors in public places "has helped save the lives of passive smokers," says the Daily Mail. The headline refers to a review of the effects of smoking bans in 21 countries, including England and Scotland. This found fewer admissions to hospitals for heart attacks andstrokes following smoking bans. However, the bans didn't appear to encourage more people to stop smoking | NHS Choices: Behind the Headlines, UK
MSPs reject move to ban alcohol ads near schools
MSPs have voted down a members bill which would have resulted in a ban on alcohol advertising within 200 metres (656ft) of schools | BBC, UK
Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs: Misuse
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2016 to Question 23621, which (a) charitable trusts and foundations, (b) institutional investors and (c) dedicated social impact funds have invested in drug and alcohol addiction | They Work for You, UK
Prisons: Dogs
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2016 to Question 21315, how many specially-trained dogs are used by his Department to detect illicit alcohol | They Work for You, UK
Did prison methadone save lives in Scotland?
Failure to find effects concentrated in the first two weeks after release persuaded analysts that widespread methadone prescribing in Scottish prisons from 2002 did not reduce the rate of drug-related deaths after release. But over 12 weeks the rate did fall substantially, and methadone treatment may have helped | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Alison Chesney and Eddie Killoran Memorial Lecture 2016
We are delighted that Harry Shapiro has accepted the invitation to deliver this year’s memorial lecture, the seventh in the series. Harry is the Director of DrugWise the international Knowledge hub, promoting evidence-based information on drugs, alcohol and tobacco | City Health 2016, UK
Dry January 2016 - Post Campaign Survey
Each year, in order to make Dry January an even greater success, we try to collect some information about the people who take part. By completing this survey you will help us understand a bit more about who has taken part in Dry January, why they took part and how they feel the campaign has affected them | Alcohol Concern, UK
Speech: Putting people in charge: future of Police & Crime Commissioners
It is now more than 12 years since Policy Exchange first proposed popular elections to improve police governance, and three and a half years since more than five million members of the public went to the polls to elect their local police and crime commissioners | Home Office and The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, UK
International news
Facebook deletes legal medical marijuana pages, patients and doctors protest
Marijuana is legal in 23 states but Facebook has taken down several pages that advertise the drug in those states | Independent, UK
US health agency's advice that millions of women should not drink is mocked
Public health communication can be a tricky art. The science needs to be sound, of course, but so does the tone | BBC, UK
Fentanyl: drug 50 times more potent than heroin ravages New Hampshire
Of 69 fatal overdose victims last year, 68% had taken the synthetic opioid, which Mexican cartels have learned to make and smuggle to interstate highways. The drug ‘is what is killing our citizens,’ says Manchester’s police chief | Guardian, UK
Leonardo DiCaprio faces vape-free Oscars
Academy will ban e-cigarettes at prize ceremony, say reports, after American Lung Association criticised star of The Revenant for vaping in public | Guardian, UK
Seven-month-old baby shot to death in gang violence becomes symbol of Mexican drug war
An image of the infant has sparked outrage at the country's escalating drugs crisis | Independent, UK
Health interventions on the dark net (Interview with Dr X) - video
The last decade has seen the emergence of new internet technologies that have acted as important facilitators of online drug markets | EMCDDA, Portugal
Is cannabis addictive? Are there treatments? Answers in new journal's roundtable discussion
What are the symptoms, risks, and health consequences of "cannabis use disorder," and what is the status of current research efforts to identify effective treatments for cannabis addiction? | MNT, USA
Ban on state funding hampers Indiana efforts to start needle exchanges
One year after spike in rural HIV cases, counties are left on their own to fund syringe programs | Aljazeera, USA
Scientists uncover neural pathway responsible for opioid withdrawal
In addition to the desire to experience a "high," one of the obstacles drug addicts encounter is the difficulty of overcoming a myriad of harsh withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, depression, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. When people learn to associate the loss of drug use with the pain of withdrawal, it can create an urge to use that is as strong as the "high" itself, making it even more difficult to quit | Medical Xpress, USA
Athlete passion linked to acceptance of performance enhancing drugs
The more of a certain kind of passion varsity athletes have for their sport, the more favourable their attitudes towards the use of performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, according to a recent study | Medical Xpress, USA
Don't drink if planning a pregnancy: avoiding fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Almost 60 per cent of pregnant women drank alcohol before realising they were expecting, Australian research has found | Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The impact of a shortage of heroin
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) reported that a small group of European countries, including the UK, appeared to have experienced a reduced supply of heroin in 2010/11. The Home Office research unit saw this change in the availability of heroin as a unique opportunity to expand the currently limited evidence base on the impacts of reduced supply | Russell Webster, UK
The 'language' of drug education
I've been thinking a lot about how to ensure choice of language is something given higher prominence in PSHEe delivery, and by association CPD for educators. In this respect, I've been particularly interested in the impact of the 'subject position' taken up by those delivering the topic | Ian Mac on PSHE, UK
Cannabis Scheduling: CLEAR To Give Evidence To APPG Inquiry
CLEAR was this week invited to submit evidence to a Short Inquiry into the case for changing the categorisation of cannabis for medicinal purposes from Schedule 1 to a more appropriate schedule | CLEAR Blog, UK
Dame Sally Davies’s advice on alcohol is driving me to drink
There are enough anxieties in life without bringing alcohol into the picture | Independent Voices, UK
Why I’m happy to be in the tender care of the 'Nanny State'
Dame Sally Davies has every right to dole out advice - I just hope she doesn't expect me, a cancer survivor, to take it | Independent Voices, UK
I had alcohol-related breast cancer. Here’s why I still drink
The chief medical officer advises women to think about cancer when having a drink. But if I did that every time I had a glass of wine, I think I’d feel the cancer had won | Guardian Opinion, UK
The painful truth about Australia's insatiable affection for opioids
New data corroborates what many in the medical community already know about opioid abuse, but a surprising saviour may be at hand | Guardian Opinion, UK
Drugs should be a priority issue for general election candidates – here’s why
Drug use, mental health and homelessness are all interrelated issues. There’s no clear-cut solution, writes Tony Duffin | Journal Opinion, Ireland
Is shame an antidote to addiction?
Letters | NY Times, USA
Framing the Debate: E-cigarettes and Children
Federal e-cigarette safety-cap legislation that recently passed both the House and the Senate, which will help save the lives of many children, is continuing a national conversation about how this product is regulated | Huffington Post Blog, USA
From “Addiction in American Life” to the Addiction Oral History Project
The Addiction Oral History Project features some life histories of self-professed addicts in recovery, treatment providers, drug court personnel, and addiction researchers (from the humanities and sciences) | Points: Blog of the alcohol and drugs history society, USA
Opinion: Would the last person in Sydney please turn the lights out?
In 1999 Sydney was at its peak. The Olympic Games were imminent and there was unbridled optimism that Sydney was about to emerge as an international city as the millennium approached | News.co,au, Australia