Round up

Citation

Goodair, C.M. (2015), "Round up", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 15 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/DAT-03-2015-0013

Round up

Article Type: Research paper From: Drugs and Alcohol Today, Volume 15, Issue 2.

Alcohol

Office for National Statistics – figures show that binge-drinking among young adults in the UK is continuing to fall (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31452735).

Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) – on Thursday (29 January) voted on a draft motion for a resolution on the EU’s alcohol strategy (http://www.euractiv.com/sections/health-consumers/meps-push-alcohol-strategy-eus-health-agenda-311708).

Drugs

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Recovery Committee. Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Dependence – more must be done to identify and understand the best approaches to substance abuse prevention, a briefing paper by the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has recommended (http://www.gov.uk/government/news/acmd-paper-highlights-substance-abuse-knowledge-gap).

Home Office New Psychoactive Substances review – report of the expert panel appointed to undertake a six-month review of available evidence on the UK’s and other countries’ approaches to the threat posed by NPS, and to advise the government on ways to enhance the UK’s response (http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-psychoactive-substances-review-report-of-the-expert-panel).

Home Office New Psychoactive Substances resource pack – aimed at educators and frontline practitioners this pack has facts and information about NPS, case studies on working with young people who use NPS, resources to help start conversations about NPS with young people and links and references to help and advice (http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-psychoactive-substances-nps-resource-pack).

Home Office – guidance for local authorities on taking action against head shops selling new psychoactive substances – highlights the range of options available for local authorities and other public bodies to address the issue of head shops in their area. Head shops are retail outlets selling NPS (also known as “legal highs”) and drug paraphernalia (http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/action-against-head-shops).

Lancet – proportion of patients in south London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high-potency cannabis: a case-control study explores the risk of individuals having adverse effects from drug use (e.g. alcohol) generally depends on the frequency of use and potency of the drug used. We aimed to investigate how frequent use of skunk-like (high-potency) cannabis in south London affected the association between cannabis and psychotic disorders (http://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/14TLP0454_Di%20Forti.pdf).

King’s College London – smoking potent cannabis was linked to 24 per cent of new psychosis cases analysed in a study (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31480234#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter).

EMCDDA – mortality among drug users in Europe: new and old challenges for public health – this paper examines the overall number of lives lost due to drug use. All-cause mortality among problem drug users is investigated by means of cohort studies, which link data from death registries to drug treatment records. Building on earlier work, the paper presents data from nine European countries not previously studied using the same methodology (http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/emcdda-papers/mortality-among-drug-users-in-europe).

EMCDDA: the internet and drug markets (fact sheet 3/2015) – a “trendspotter” study that aims to raise understanding of the current online supply of drugs and to map the range of internet markets in existence (http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/technical-reports/internet-drug-markets).

EMCDDA – new psychoactive substances in Europe. An update from the EU early warning system (March 2015) – highlights recent developments, including the growth of the NPS market over the past few years, as illustrated by seizures by law enforcement and other indicators, as well as the growing number of serious harms that are being reported as a result, with accompanying poster/wall-chart (http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/2015/new-psychoactive-substances/poster; http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/2015/new-psychoactive-substances).

Mentor – ADEPIS – a mapping of global prevention materials: celebrating good practice and identifying significant gaps – is a review of evidence-based global prevention materials that are freely available. Resources looked at included lesson plans, fact sheets, interactive games, posters, videos, guidelines and top tips (http://www://preventionhub.org/en/prevention-update/mapping-global-prevention-materials-celebrating-good-practice-and-identifying).

UK Focal Point on Drugs Report – annual report that shows a broad picture of trends drug use in the UK (http://www.nta.nhs.uk/focalpoint.aspx).

UNODC Global Smart Update March 2015 – focuses on synthetic cannabinoids and provides information on the history of synthetic cannabinoids, their current availability, challenges related to legal control, prevalence of use and the public health consequences related to their use (http://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/Global_SMART_Update_13_web.pdf).

Tobacco

Public health wales sudden unexpected death in infancy – a collaborative thematic review 2010-2012 – smoking has been singled out as posing a particular risk of sudden unexplained infant death, according to a new report (http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/888/Sudden%20Unexpected%20Deaths%20in%20Infancy%20-%20English.pdf).

WHO – plain tobacco packaging encourages more people to stop smoking and fewer to start – evidence indicating that plain tobacco packaging measures encourage more people to stop smoking and fewer to start. Findings show that consumers perceive plain packaging as ugly and dull, hence it decreases the attractiveness of tobacco products and smoking, particularly to young people and women (http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/tobacco/news/news/2015/01/plain-tobacco-packaging-encourages-more-people-to-stop-smoking-and-fewer-to-start).

Public Health England: the role of smoking in the progressive decline of the body’s major systems (PDF) – research showing that poisons in tobacco smoke break down the body’s main systems, damaging bones, muscles, brain, teeth and eyes (http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/390585/The_role_of_smoking_in_the_progressive_decline_of_the_bodys_major_systems.pdf).

Videos and web sites

Alcohol and Health in Older People – site designed to improve knowledge and understanding of alcohol and health in older people (http://www.alcoholandolderhealth.co.uk/).

The Mental Elf blog – written by mental health experts this blog provides summaries of evidence-based publications relevant to mental health practice in the UK and further afield (http://www.thementalelf.net/).

Society for the Study of Addiction – new updated web site includes series of fact sheets on substance misuse, links to web sites and other key resources, commentaries on issues of the day (http://www.addiction-ssa.org/).

Substance Misuse Management in General Practice Free Learn – naloxone saves lives – an e-learning module, on drug-related deaths and risks, and how to recognise the signs and symptoms of an overdose (http://www.smmgp-elearning.org.uk/).

UK Charity – MAC_UK film Cannabis is a Mental Health Issue: the ex-offenders using rap as therapy – award winning film and drugs education tool (http://www.theguardian.com/society/christmas-charity-appeal-2014-blog/2014/dec/29/-sp-cannabis-mental-health-issue-the-ex-offenders-using-rap-as-therapy).

Compiled by Christine M. Goodair who is Programmes Manager (Substance Misuse), at Population Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, UK.