Weekly news - 24th June 2016


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In date order: Monday to Friday

EU guidance on widening access to anti-overdose drug

Naloxone programmes are slowly spreading across Europe to help prevent overdoses from opioid drugs like heroin becoming fatal. Undecided countries now have this guidance and review commissioned by the European Union’s drug misuse monitoring centre to help assess the pros and cons of enabling this medication to be administered by drug users and their associates | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England - Apr 2015 to Mar 2016

Results and trends from the women's smoking status at time of delivery (SATOD) data collection in England | HSCIC, UK

Girls, 12, stable after taking 'Teddy' ecstasy in Salford

Three 12-year-old girls rushed to hospital after taking "Teddy Bear" ecstasy tablets in Salford are now in a stable condition | BBC, UK

Support for e-cigarette policies: a survey of smokers and ex-smokers in Great Britain

[Open access] Less restrictive e-cigarette policies were more likely to be supported by e-cigarette users, and respondents who perceived e-cigarettes to be less harmful than cigarettes, or knew that nicotine was not a main cause of harm to health | BMJ, UK

Cannabis Regulation & the UN Drug Treaties: Strategies for Reform

As jurisdictions enact reforms creating legal access to cannabis for purposes other than exclusively “medical and scientific,” tensions surrounding the existing UN drug treaties and evolving law and practice in Member States continue to grow. How might governments and the UN system address these growing tensions in ways that acknowledge the policy shifts underway and help to modernize the drug treaty regime itself, and thereby reinforce the UN pillars of human rights, development, peace and security, and the rule of law? | Swansea University, UK

Ecstasy pills increasingly made with child-friendly logos, says expert

Warning from government drugs adviser follows hospitalisation of three 12-year-olds in Salford after taking ‘teddy tablets’ | Guardian, UK

Mother: 'We need more dialogue around drugs'

Three 12-year-old girls who became seriously ill after taking ecstasy on Saturday are now said to be in a stable condition | BBC, UK

Schools to issue drug warnings after girls' ecstasy scare in Salford

Manchester schools will reiterate dangers of drug-taking after three 12-year-olds fell seriously ill from ‘teddy tablets’ | Guardian, UK

You and Yours: Are we giving children the right message about drugs? BBC iPlayer radio

What is the best way to warn youngsters about the dangers of drugs? Is it enough to tell them to "just say no", or are there more effective ways to protect our young people from the worst effects of drugs? What is the role of schools in teaching children about the risks? | BBC Radio 4, UK

Call to boost protection for vulnerable from legal highs

Doctors have called for the government to provide support services for deprived communities where the use of ‘designer drugs’ has soared | BMA, UK

Ban e-cigarettes in bars and restaurants, leading doctors say

E-cigarettes should be banned from public places like bars and restaurants because of the risks of "passive vaping," medics say. Senior doctors said that allowing people to vape openly normalises the habit, and could encourage children to take it up | Telegraph, UK

Drugs mule Melissa Reid back in Scotland after release from Peru jail

A Scottish woman jailed in Peru for smuggling drugs has arrived back in Glasgow after being released from jail | BBC, UK

SURE: Substance Use Recovery Evaluator

SURE is a psychometrically valid, quick and easy-to-complete outcome measure of recovery from drug and alcohol dependence. It has been developed with unprecedented input from people in recovery | Kings College London, UK

'Smart drugs' are becoming a staple of student life - why aren't universities addressing this?

It’s just gone 7pm. My brain's addled. My deadline is tomorrow and I’ve been staring at my essay for hours, nothing’s getting done and the pressure is getting to me | Telegraph, UK

Interesting drug and alcohol facts: June

Scottish prisoners, rough sleeping…and much, more | Russell Webster, UK

E-cigarettes should not be banned in public, medical experts warn

'A ban on using e-cigarettes in public places could be damaging, as it may put off smokers from using e-cigarettes to help them quit,' says Rosanna O'Connor from Public Health England | Independent, UK

People who inject drugs have other priorities ahead of PrEP

People who inject drugs have fundamental concerns about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and the manner in which it being promoted, according to a consultation conducted by the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD). With limited availability of harm reduction services, poor access to HIV treatment and little progress on legal reform, respondents suggested that people who inject drugs have more pressing needs than PrEP | NAM Aidsmap, UK

Delivering alcohol IBA in housing, probation and social work settings: opportunities and constraints (PDF)

As part of a larger study, we conducted three case studies to examine the issues that arise in attempting to introduce and sustain the delivery of IBA into everyday practice in housing, probation and social work contexts | Alcohol Research UK, DARC, Middlesex University, UK

Factsheets on 'Legal highs'

A selection of fact sheets on New Psychoactive Drugs including resource lists | EU Madness, UK

UNODC World Drug Report 2016

Around five per cent of the adult population, or nearly 250 million people between the ages of 15 and 64, used at least one drug in 2014, according to the latest World Drug Report released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) | UNODC, USA