DDN_Dec_2024 DDN December 2024/January 2025 | Page 4

NEWS ROUND-UP

Prevention-based alcohol strategy urgently needed

There is an urgent need for a new national alcohol strategy with a ‘ strong focus on treatment and prevention ’, says a report from the Medical Council on Alcohol ( MCA ). The need for a health system response to alcohol-related harms also calls for better access to community-based alcohol services , which ‘ reach fewer than one in five people with alcohol dependence ’, as well as more funding for alcohol care teams in acute hospitals .

Integration of care pathways also needs to be improved , the document states , to make sure people with complex needs get the right support . More than 70 per cent of adults and almost half of young people entering alcohol treatment require mental health treatment , the report points out , and just under half of people who died by suicide while under the care
of mental health services in the decade to 2020 had a history of problematic alcohol use .
The last alcohol strategy was published 12 years ago . However , 2022 saw more than 10,000 deaths from alcohol specific causes registered in the UK , according to ONS figures – the highest number ever recorded ( DDN , May , page 4 ). Alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature death and illness among 15 to 49-year-olds in England , MCA points out , and ‘ disproportionately affects the most socially and economically disadvantaged , exacerbating existing health inequalities ’.
Without action , alcohol harms will be an everincreasing burden on health services , says MCA , which is an independent charity of health professionals that is ‘ not primarily a campaigning organisation ’. However , its members have been involved in
the creation of various alcoholrelated guidelines , including the NICE quality standards and the UK alcohol treatment clinical guidelines . The report ‘ reinforces what we already know – alcohol-related harm is a growing and preventable crisis ,’ said lead author and professor
‘ Now is the time to act decisively to reverse these trends , or we risk placing an even greater burden on our health system and losing more lives unnecessarily .’
PROF JULIA SINCLAIR
of addiction psychiatry at the University of Southampton , Julia Sinclair . ‘ Now is the time to act decisively to reverse these trends , or we risk placing an even greater burden on our health system and losing more lives unnecessarily .’ Report at https :// m-c-a . org . uk / policy /
blogs . bmj . com

Commons pass vapes vote

THE TOBACCO AND VAPES BILL has passed its commons vote by 415 to 47 , meaning the legislation will likely become law . The bill was reintroduced to Parliament last month following its shelving by the previous government . It includes proposals to phase out the legal sale of tobacco to anyone currently 15 or younger , along with ‘ ambitious plans to protect children from vaping ’, including restrictions on flavours , packaging and retail displays , as well as a ban on advertising and the sale of vapes in vending machines .
The bill will be backed by an additional £ 70m of support for stop smoking services , DHSC states . ‘ Ending the harms from smoking is not a party-political issue ; it is backed by voters of every political persuasion ,’ said ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman .

Afghan opium cultivation up 20 per cent in a year

OPIUM CULTIVATION IN AFGHANISTAN has increased by an estimated 19 per cent this year , according to UNODC . Cultivation now stands at 12,800 hectares , after a 95 per cent decrease in last year ’ s crop season following the Taliban ’ s April 2022 ban on poppy cultivation . However , cultivation levels remain ‘ far below ’ 2022 levels , when more than 230,000 hectares were cultivated .
Dry opium prices have now stabilised to around US $ 730 per kg , compared to a pre-ban average of just US $ 100 per kg . ‘ The high prices and dwindling opium stocks may encourage farmers to flout the ban , particularly in areas outside of traditional cultivation centres , including neighbouring countries ,’ UNODC points out .
The geographic centre of cultivation has shifted from the country ’ s south west provinces – ‘ long the heart of Afghanistan ’ s opium cultivation ’ – to the north eastern provinces , which have seen an increase of almost 400 per cent .
Although traffickers are thought to have stockpiled opium before and since the 2022 ban , drugs agencies around the world have long expressed fears that a ‘ heroin drought ’ as a result of the ban would lead to markets seeing ever-larger supplies of powerful synthetic opioids filling the gap – dramatically increasing overdose risks .
‘ Now entering its second year of enforcement , the ban continues to hold ,’ the UNODC report states . ‘ The rapid and currently sustained decline in poppy cultivation and opium production has important and wideranging implications for the country and opiate markets long supplied by product from Afghanistan .’ Opium poppy cultivation 2024 at https :// www . unodc . org /
4 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • DEC 24 – JAN 25 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM