Daily news - 4th March 2016 |
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UK news
Interesting things on drug and alcohol, March 2016
A summary of the latest drug and alcohol statistics from @andrewbrown365, including information from the recently-released 2015 Focal Point On Drugsreport from Public Health England | MEAM, UK
Effectiveness of Scotland's National Naloxone Programme for reducing opioid-related deaths: a before (2006–10) versus after (2011–13) comparison
[Open access] To assess the effectiveness for Scotland's National Naloxone Programme (NNP) by comparison between 2006–10 (before) and 2011–13 (after NNP started in January 2011) and to assess cost-effectiveness | Addiction, UK
Legal highs: Queen's University test to boost detection
The battle against so-called legal highs has been boosted following the development of a new test by Queen's University in Belfast | BBC, UK [See also - Queen’s chemists devise new approach for rapidly identifying ‘legal highs’ | Queens University, UK
E-cigarette public place ban likely to win assembly support
A ban on e-cigarettes in some public places is likely to win support from the assembly | BBC, UK
Holyrood backs ban on sale of e-cigarettes to under 18s
Legislation restricting the sale of e-cigarettes in Scotland has been passed by MSPs at Holyrood | BBC, UK
Get them early; seems to make sense, but does it work?
Early years parenting support and preschool education are major planks in British drug strategies. Whatever their other benefits, the evidence that such programmes can affect later substance use is thin, but gets more solid as we move up the age range to the first years of primary schooling | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Can LAUGHING GAS erase bad memories? Inhaling nitrous oxide stops thoughts of traumatic events 'sticking' in the brain
Giving people 'laughing gas' after a traumatic or harrowing event could stop them being haunted by any potential distressing memories. In tests, people who inhaled nitrous oxide after watching graphic scenes of extreme violence reported fewer troubling memories in the days after the film | Mail Online, UK
Findings of the Consultation on the Lifestyles Compendia Reports (PDF)
The Lifestyles Team recently carried out a user consultation on the four reports from the Statistics On … series which covers Obesity, Smoking, Alcohol and Drugs. The reports contain a mixture of new analysis from HES data as well as summarising information from other sources and including it in one report. Feedback was requested from users of these reports, so that we can make them more userfriendly and accessible | HSCIC, UK
Prescription Drugs: Concerns over abuse - BBC radio iPlayer
The BBC has learned that street prices for painkillers are 10 times more than in the UK and the death rate associated with this type of drug abuse is double than on the mainland | BBC Radio Guernsey, UK
A selection of available apps targeting addiction and recovery
Run down of apps | SSA, UK
Steps to cope
New online support website for young people who have a parent that drinks too much alcohol | Steps to Cope, UK
Current trends in alcohol and drug education practice
Free webinar. 4 Mar, 16:00 WET - 17:30 | Mentor - ADEPIS, UK
Children used as drug mules by 'modern day Fagins'
Children are being groomed to use Kinder Egg toys to hide heroin and crack cocaine inside their own bodies, a Stockport MP warned today | ITV, UK
High as a Kite (Behind Bars)
Back in July 2014 I started blogging on the subject of so-called ‘legal highs’ in prison. Since then, the issue has come to dominate media coverage of our increasingly dysfunctional prison system | Volte Face, UK
Perth man who had cannabis delivered to home address jailed
A Perth man who was caught importing cannabis from Canada after he had it sent to his home address has been jailed for 140 days | BBC, UK
Aldi launches legal attack on Dundee City Council over alcohol licence
Supermarket giant Aldi has plunged Dundee City Council into the midst of a major legal battle | Courier, UK
Breaking Bad: 'Green' crystal meth and the German politician
Long-serving German Green Party MP Volker Beck has been caught in possession of illegal drug methamphetamine, or crystal meth | IBTimes, UK
On-the-run cocaine and heroin dealer Donovan Thomas jailed
A drug dealer who was caught by police selling heroin while on the run has been jailed for six years | BBC, UK
Herbal cannabis: Police find drugs worth £500,000 outside Belfast
Police have found drugs thought to be worth more than £500,000 outside Belfast | BBC, UK
International news
Not just a party drug: no ketamine means no surgery in some developing countries
China’s desire to tighten controls on the drug threatens surgery in many developing countries where it’s the only affordable option for anaesthesia | Guardian, UK
Depressed? Your doctor might soon prescribe ketamine
New Jersey psychiatrist Steven Levine first thought of using ketamine in his practice when a patient came in whose depression could not be lifted by any commercially available antidepressants | Guardian, UK
New Jersey State Police employee may have faked thousands of drug test results
A lab technician could have faked the results of nearly 8,000 cases | Independent, UK
Frenchman extradited over escape of 'Air Cocaine' pilots
Egypt has extradited a Frenchman to the Dominican Republic for allegedly helping two French pilots sentenced in a drug case escape from the island | BBC, UK
The health and social effects of nonmedical cannabis use
Cannabis is globally the most commonly used psychoactive substance under international control. In 2013, an estimated 181.8 million people aged 15-64 years used cannabis for nonmedical purposes globally (uncertainty estimates 128.5–232.1 million) (UNODC, 2015). There is an increasing demand of treatment for cannabis use disorders and associated health conditions in high- and middle-income countries, and there has been increased attention to the public health aspects of cannabis use and related disorders in international drug policy dialogues. This publication builds on contributions from a broad range of experts and researchers from different parts of the world. It aims to present the current knowledge on the impact of nonmedical cannabis use on health | WHO, Switzerland
Cannabis use in psychotic patients linked to 50 percent higher hospital admission risk
Cannabis use among people experiencing a first episode of psychotic illness is linked to a 50 per cent heightened risk of hospital admission--including compulsory detention (sectioning)--as well as longer inpatient stay, reveals the largest study of its kind, published in the online journal BMJ Open | EurekAlert, USA
Most teens who misuse prescription stimulants say they use other people's medication
Using someone else's medication is the most common form of prescription stimulant misuse among adolescents, according to a University of Florida Health study, which found that 88 percent of teens who used the drugs non-medically in the past 30 days said they had obtained the medications from someone else | Medical Xpress, USA
Bi-partian anti-drug bill appears to vlear final hurdles
The bill, which directs federal resources to prevention, treatment and recovery programs with proven track records, is a boon to people like Senators Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Republicans who come from states with huge drug problems and who face tough re-election battles | NY Times, USA
Chemists devise new approach for rapidly identifying 'legal highs'
Chemists have developed a new approach which now allows for rapid screening and identification of ‘legal highs’ or novel psychoactive substances (NPS) | Science Daiy, USA
US Specifically Bans E-Cigarettes From Commercial Flights
The US Department of Transportation issued a final rule today that specifically bans the use of electronic cigarettes on commercial flights. The ban applies to scheduled flights within the US, as well as international flights to and from the US on both domestic and foreign airlines | Forbes, USA
Wife locks husband in room to 'sweat' out synthetic marijuana bought in Armadale
Despite the sale of synthetic marijuana being banned in Western Australia, a string of outlets in the Perth metropolitan area appear to be flouting the new laws | Age, Australia
Perth company edges closer to Cannabis nasal spray epilepsy treatment
A unique nasal spray designed to combat epileptic seizures could be one of the first medicinal cannabis products to hit Australia's healthcare market | Age, Australia
Greens call for major overhaul of drug policy including pill testing and decriminalisation
The ACT Greens have called for a major overhaul of drug policy in Australia including the removal of criminal sanctions for personal drug use | Age, Australia
Vic premier opposes pill-testing trials
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is opposed to pill testing of illicit drugs despite some federal politicians calling for trials across Australia | Daily Telegraph, Australia
New drug routes opening in Southeast Asia
The growing amount of methamphetamine being trafficked into Southeast Asia suggests crime syndicates have set up new routes within the region and are linking previously unconnected markets, the UN has warned | News.com.au, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Why new law banning all psychoactive substances will be just another ‘war on drugs’ disaster
The recent passing of a new addition to the British statute books, which will come into effect on April 6th, is the latest in a long line of poorly drafted drug laws. The new law, to act in parallel with the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, effectively bans all substances – with the exception of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine – with a “psychoactive effect” on “normal brain functioning”. The awful irony of a UK government exempting two of the most individually and socially harmful substances has not been lost on concerned commentators | Conversation, UK
Social impact bonds ‘will become the norm’ for government funding, says charities minister
Social impact bonds will shortly be the most talked about method of public funding, Rob Wilson, the minister for civil society said yesterday | Civil Society, UK
Legal marijuana is finally doing what the drug war couldn’t
Legal marijuana may be doing at least one thing that a decades-long drug war couldn't: taking a bite out of Mexican drug cartels' profits | Washington Post Blog, USA