Daily news - 24th November 2017 |
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UK news
Drug Addiction — [Mike Gapes in the Chair]
I beg to move, That this House has considered the human and financial costs of drug addiction | They work for you, UK
Drugsland - BBC iPlayer
Episode 2. This episode follows the lives of a couple united in love and a shared heroin habit. Jo and Rich live and sleep in a multistorey car park in central Bristol. They make up to a thousand pounds a week begging, but they spend virtually all of it on feeding their voracious drug habits | BBC, UK
Increased or minimum tobacco price 'could cut number of smokers'
Increasing the cost of tobacco or setting a minimum price could be used as part of a campaign to drive down the number of smokers in Scotland | BBC, UK
Government to introduce £1000 fine for smokers who spark-up on NHS grounds
An Advertiser investigation found smoking to be rife within the confines of Monklands Hospital, but Holyrood plan on changing that | Daily Record, UK
It pays to incentivise screening among patients with schizophrenia
UK study of how Quality and Outcomes Framework incentives for primary care boosted alcohol screening among patients with severe mental illness shows what could have happened had the incentives been extended across the entire primary care caseload | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Are Drug Consumption Rooms Viable in The UK?
Back Yard, Volteface’s new report on drug consumption rooms, launches Tuesday the 28th of November | Volte face, UK
Peter Rice: Families will suffer after decision to freeze alcohol duty
Today’s Budget showed the many Scottish organisations who developed and supported the policy of minimum unit pricing for alcohol were right not to look to the UK government for meaningful, substantial action on the price of alcohol | Scotsman, UK
Autumn budget 2017 freezes duty bar white cider plans; Scotland's MUP timetabled
The Chancellor has frozen alcohol duties in the autumn budget 2017, winning praise from various alcohol industry groups. However a new duty band for still cider within 6.9% to 7.5% ABV will be introduced to target white ciders, though not until 2019 | Alcohol Policy UK, UK
Cannabis: Licensing
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's criteria are for the granting of a greater than 0.2 per cent THC cannabis growing licence; and what her Department's criteria are in determining the notice period provided to a licence holder on removal of a greater than 0.2 per cent THC cannabis growing licence | They work for you, UK
Challenge stigma and save lives – Government urged
Addaction has called on Government to challenge the stigma faced by people affected by mental health, drug or alcohol issues | Addaction, UK
Drinker diagnosed with brain damage from alcohol
The family of a man diagnosed with alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) say they spotted his symptoms but were unaware of the condition | BBC, UK
December 1 – Alcohol and Young People Training [Scotland]
This free training day for practitioners will explore alcohol issues and trends for young people in Scotland. The training will explore issues for young people around risk taking, trauma and attachment, as well as introduce interactive resources which can be used to engage young people | Mentor, UK
Spotlight on Science - Can Cannabis really help in the fight against cancer...
Free event. £oth November, London. Dr Wai Liu - Experts will explore the use of cannabis and its extracts as a possible treatment for types of cancer. What does research tell us about the role cannabis may have in the treatment of patients with life threatening diseases? | St George's, University of London
100 Years of Public Health Marketing
Exhibition. Enduring public health challenges and revolutions in communication | PHE, UK
Rangi Chase: Widnes Vikings half-back given two-year ban for positive drugs test
Widnes Vikings and former England half-back Rangi Chase has been banned from all sport for two years after testing positive for cocaine | BBC, UK
Gangland killer caught with heroin in his cell
James McDonald was found to have the Class A drug by guards at HMP Edinburgh in April | BBC, UK
Man jailed for plot to transport drug money to England
A father-of-three who was involved in transporting more than £229,00 of drugs money has been jailed - three years after he fled Scotland | BBC, UK
Lords debates challenges facing online gamblers
Members of the Lords, including a former chairman of Action on Addiction and a former shadow secretary of state in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, will debate the challenges of online gambling and the Multi-Operator Self Exclusion Scheme, in the House of Lords on Thursday 23 November | Parliament.uk, UK
International news
From drug addict to world champion
How South Africa's Luvo Manyonga overcame drug addiction to become long-jump world champion | BBC, UK
Prison inmate dies after 'meth-laden kiss' with visiting girlfriend
Anthony Powell passes away after clinch with Melissa Ann Blair in which she passed seven tiny balloons filled with the drug into his mouth, two of which subsequently ruptured in his stomach | Independent, UK
Alcohol Action Ireland highlights the clear link between alcohol and seven cancers
This week (20-24 November) marks the fifth year of European Awareness Week on Alcohol Related Harm (AWARH). The 2017 AWARH aims to galzanise EU and national policy makers into action to address alcohol related harm in Europe. The 2017 theme is “Alcohol and Cancer” and the focus is on highlighting the avoidable risk alcohol consumption poses with regards to cancer... | Alcohol Action Ireland
Systematic review on active case finding of communicable diseases in prison settings
A higher prevalence of communicable diseases among people in prison compared with the general public is recognised as a public health issue as well as a major concern for the people affected, as the majority of incarcerated people return to their communities. Active case finding is a key prevention measure to promote early diagnosis, treatment and to prevent further disease transmission. The objective of this report is to systematically review the evidence on active case finding in prison settings, with a focus on the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) region | EMCDDA, Portugal
Commissioner Avramopoulos and Heads of EU Justice and Home Affairs agencies meet in Lisbon to support EU Agendas on Migration and Security
Dimitris Avramopoulos, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship will be in Lisbon on 28 November to meet the directors of the nine EU agencies working in the area of Justice and Home Affairs | EMCDDA, Portugal
‘World fails miserably to stop opium threat’: RT reports from drug factory Afghanistan
Opiate production in Afghanistan has increased markedly since the US-led invasion in 2001, leading addiction rates to skyrocket. Meanwhile, the UN said this week that opioids are the world’s “most harmful drug type.” RT investigated the problem in Kabul | RT, Russia
For opiate addiction, study finds drug-assisted treatment is more effective than detox
New research suggests you can do it the way most treatment-seeking addicts in the state do - by undergoing a medically supervised "detoxification" that's difficult, expensive and highly prone to failure | Medical Xpress, USA
Game Changing Opioid Treatment Drug Inches Closer To FDA Approval
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is inching closer to approving a new drug to treat opioid addiction that eliminates the need to take a daily pill | Daily Caller, USA
New York officially bans e-cigarette use, vaping indoors
The state Health Department announced Wednesday that a law signed by Gov. Cuomo in October placing new restrictions on the indoor use of e-cigarettes is now in effect | New York Post, USA
U.S. strikes on Taliban opium labs won't work, say Afghan farmers
As U.S. and Afghan forces pound Taliban drug factories this week, farmers in the country’s largest opium producing-province and narcotics experts say the strategy just repeats previous failed efforts to stamp out the trade | Reuters, USA
Fentanyl crisis: Figures show 1,800% rise in overdose deaths from potent killer
Deaths from the potent prescription drug fentanyl are rapidly increasing in Australia, with a senior doctor calling the trend a national emergency | abc.net.au, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Why minimum unit pricing is not a tax on the poor
This Tuesday, Shona Robison, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, announced that a Minimum Unit Price for alcohol (MUP) will be implemented in Scotland from 1st May 2018. This policy has been widely hailed by public health bodies as an innovative approach to reducing alcohol-related harm, however not everyone is convinced. Several commentators, particularly those of a libertarian bent, have accused the policy of being ‘a tax on the poor’. So, is it? | IAS Blog, UK
LA used to be fun – dope has just made it dull
Los Angeles stinks. Not just of the usual things: sex, money, suntan oil, hipster food, surfer wax — odours that I like. There’s a new whiff in town, and it’s a bad one. Weed | Spectator, USA
Weekly Dose: Champix’s effectiveness is questionable and safety record is concerning
Champix was developed by drug company Pfizer as a smoking cessation treatment in 1997. Its active ingredient, varenicline, can block the effects of nicotine and reduce craving. It was approved for use in Australia in 2007 | Conversation, Australia