Daily news - 30th November 2021


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UK news

Home Secretary u-turns on Stop and Search decision after legal action from Liberty and Stopwatch

The Home Secretary has rowed back on a decision to ditch safeguards designed to limit discrimination in police use of stop and search powers | Liberty, UK

Report claims legal Cannabis industry could create 41,000 jobs

A new report by drug policy reform advocacy group Volteface has revealed the UK is missing out on a potential £1.2 billion medical cannabis industry and 41,000 potential jobs due to outdated licensing regimes | Politics.co.uk, UK

Effect of practitioner expectations on their client’s recovery

The Drug and Alcohol Findings ‘Old Gold’ archive contains summaries and analyses of seminal studies from the past. The latest to be carefully dissected by Editor Mike Ashton is a hidden gem from the late ’70s, which suggests that bolstering counsellors’ expectations promotes commitment to treatment and recovery among even the ‘least promising’ of clients | SSA, UK

Making Recovery Real 6 years on

To celebrate Co-production Week Scotland we present a new podcast which explores the impact of Making Recovery Real in Dundee 6 years on | Scottish Recovery Network, UK

New import fee for medicinal cannabis into Guernsey

Patients in Guernsey who get medicinal cannabis from UK pharmacies will need to pay an import fee | BBC, UK

Will Magic Mushrooms Be Legalised? with David Nutt, Crispin Blunt & Tom Eckert - video

Are the UK and US about to legalise magic mushrooms? A number of cities and states in the US have decriminalised psychedelics, and recent headlines in the UK have reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is thinking of rescheduling psilocybin | Rebel Wisdom, UK

Alcohol Health Alliance Marketing Report Launch

TODAY. Tue, 30 November 2021, 10:00 – 11:00 GMT. Join us for the launch of the Alcohol Health Alliance's marketing report - examining the evidence of how alcohol advertising affects us all | Alcohol Health Alliance, UK

Ask the Family! Family Perspectives on Whole Family Support and Family Inclusive Practice in Scotland - webinar (PDF)

14th December 2021 - The next in the successful ‘Addiction and the Family International Network (AFINet) Webinar Series’ is happening on 14th December 2021, when Justina Murray will discuss the Ask The Family project and report. The monthly webinar programme will continue throughout 2022 with details available on the AFINet website | AFINet, UK

Two arrested after cannabis with street value of £182,000 seized

Police stopped two men on the M74 near Hamilton | Independent, UK

 

International news

Decolonizing drug policy (PDF)

[Open access] This paper reviews evidence of how drug control has been used to uphold colonial power structures in select countries. It demonstrates the racist and xenophobic impact of drug control policy and proposes a path to move beyond oppressive systems and structures | Harm Reduction Journal, UK

New inspector to be appointed in drug injection centre case

An Bord Pleanála reconsidering planning application for Merchant’s Quay facility | Irish Times, Ireland

SCOPE Launches THR Online Library

SCOPE has launched a comprehensive library of online panel discussions and presentations relating to tobacco harm reduction (THR) | Tobacco Reporter, USA

Cannabidiol Cigarettes as Adjunctive Treatment for Psychotic Disorders – A Randomized, Open-Label Pilot-Study

[Open access] The main aim of the study was to clarify the antipsychotic potential of CBD used as adjunctive therapy simulating a naturalistic setting. Our trial is the first study evaluating the effects of smoked CBD-cigarettes as adjunctive therapy for psychotic symptoms | Frontiers in Psychiatry, USA

Florida Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Decriminalize All Drugs

A Florida lawmaker has introduced a bill to decriminalize all currently illicit drugs, provide avenues for relief for those with existing drug-related convictions and promote harm reduction services | Filter Magazine, USA

Tensions Mount in Fight to Open Ontario Safe Consumption Site

Harm reduction advocates are fighting to open the second safe consumption site (SCS) in Hamilton, Ontario. But some residents, including a Catholic school board, are opposing the proposal | Filter Magazine, USA

UAE eases drug laws: No more jail for those bringing in THC

The United Arab Emirates has eased some of its harsh drug laws, relaxing penalties for travelers who arrive in the country with products containing THC, the main intoxicating chemical in cannabis | abc news, USA

Canada's residential addiction programs need national standards: expert

An expert on substance use policy says there should be clearer standards for publicly funded residential addiction treatment programs in Canada | Coast Reporter, Canada

Inquiry into the Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill 2021 (PDF)

The Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill 2021 was presented in the Assembly as a Private Member’s Bill by Mr Michael Pettersson MLA on 11 February 2021. Here are the recommendations based on a wide consultation on the bill in the intervening months | Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Should doctors be prescribing nicotine e-liquids to help their patients quit smoking?

In the absence of guidance from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), authors writing in the Medical Journal of Australia have provided advice to GPs about prescribing e-liquids for e-cigarettes to smokers trying to quit tobacco cigarettes | Medical Xpress, Australia

Risk of heart attacks no higher when using quit smoking medicine varenicline instead of nicotine patches

There was no difference between smoking cessation medicine, varenicline, and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) patches in terms of risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), says a new study published in JAMA Network Open | NDARC, Australia

Women warned to quit drinking once they start trying for a baby

A 100ml glass of wine, carefully measured each week, is all Sophie drank after learning she was six weeks pregnant with her son, now aged 16 | SMH, Australia

Summer drugs: what we know, and how to be safer 

Festival season in New Zealand is about to ramp up and after the year we’ve had, everyone just wants to have a good time. But at UK festivals this year, a lot of people had drugs that weren’t what they thought they’d bought, with many people having a bad experience | The Level, New Zealand

 

Blogs, comment and opinion

Addiction is a treatable mental health condition

Karen Biggs, CEO of Phoenix Futures, a partner in the Taking Action on Addiction campaign, discuss the stigma of addiction that often is a key factor in stopping people from asking for help | Action on Addiction, UK

2021 Drug & Alcohol Treatment Figures

Annual drug & alcohol treatment figures show big rises in the number of people dying while in treatment | Russell Webster, UK

The vultures behind London’s housing crisis

The Corbett Estate is a neighbourhood of some 3,000 houses located between Hither Green and Catford in south-east London. The houses — mostly small Victorian-style terraces with generous gardens — were built by the Scottish MP, property developer and stern Presbyterian teetotaller Archibald Corbett in the late 1890s | UnHerd, UK

Gathering Ideas From Outside the Field:  Lessons from Jackson Pollock 

Back in the early 2000’s, the organization where I worked joined the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx).  For those that might not know, NIATx is a structured national effort to develop leadership in change management across the field of addiction treatment | Recovery Review blog, USA