Lockdown had little effect on drug supply says Release report
The first COVID-19
lockdown made little difference to people ’ s ability to find drugs or suppliers , according to Release . However , supply shortages did lead to difficulties sourcing drugs as the lockdown lifted , says Drugs in the time of COVID . More than one in ten purchases were made on the darknet , the document adds , many for the first time .
Release has been running an online survey to monitor how people were buying drugs since the start of the first lockdown , with the interim report based on more than 2,600 responses between April and September last year . A final report will be published this summer .
More people reported that their drug use had increased since the start of the pandemic than reduced or stayed the same , the report states . More people also reported experiencing increased withdrawal symptoms and nonfatal overdoses , as well as sharing
THE GOVERNMENT HAS PUBLISHED A WHITE PAPER setting out planned reforms to health and social care services . It includes proposals for health and social care to work more closely together , as well as tackling major public health challenges like obesity , removing bureaucracy and ensuring a system that is ‘ more accountable and responsive ’. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth , however , questioned the wisdom of reorganisation ‘ in the midst of the biggest crisis the NHS has ever faced ’. The document also contains a proposal to amend the Food Safety Act to allow strengthened labelling requirements – this would include mandatory alcohol calorie labelling , it states , something alcohol health organisations have
of injection equipment . Overall , cannabis accounted for 70 per cent of purchases , while sales of ‘ party drugs ’ like MDMA were significantly down as people ’ s opportunities to socialise were restricted . Suppliers had adhered to government socialdistancing measures in more than 60 per cent of purchases , the survey found .
‘ At the start of lockdown , many presumed that the drugs market would be severely affected by border closures across the globe and by “ stay at home ” restrictions , but in fact the majority of respondents to the survey did not report finding a supplier , or their desired drug , to be more difficult compared to before the arrival of COVID-19 ,’ said lead author Judith Aldridge . ‘ We did , however , observe increased difficulties in purchasing drugs as the first lockdown eased and was lifted – this also coincided with reports of increased prices , which would be consistent with supply shortages starting to have
Services brace for reform
Opportunity ‘ to join up alcohol treatment services that have sunk to an alltime low .'
PROFESSOR SIR IAN GILMORE
long been calling for . While obesity was on the rise ‘ it must not be forgotten that alcohol harm is also spiralling out of control and has serious consequences for individuals , families and communities across the country ’, said Alcohol Health Alliance chair Professor Sir Ian Gilmore . ‘ We are already paying much too high a price for alcohol harm and this appears to have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic .’ Tackling the fragmentation of the NHS provided an opportunity ‘ to join up alcohol treatment services that have sunk to an all-time low , while at the same time targeting prevention ’ he added .
Integration and innovation : working together to improve health and social care for all at www . gov . uk an effect on the market . Our results seem to suggest that suppliers were charging more and , in some cases , reducing deal sizes rather than sacrificing the purity of the drug they were supplying .’
‘ In addition to the findings that suppliers were adhering to social distancing measures for the majority of purchases made during lockdown , we also saw suppliers adopting measures similar to those adopted by legal markets in order to further prevent virus transmission ,’ added coauthor and Release policy lead Laura
' Many presumed that the drugs market would be severely affected by border closures across the globe and by “ stay at home ” restrictions .'
JUDITH ALDRIDGE
Garius . ‘ These measures included suppliers accepting card payments , disinfecting cash , and modifying their packaging . The additional precautions taken by suppliers to protect their buyers challenge longstanding perceptions of suppliers as “ morally bereft actors ”.’
Report at release . org . uk
Gen Z drug habits
MORE THAN 30 PER CENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE TRIED CANNABIS at least once by the age of 17 , according to research by UCL ’ s Centre for Longitudinal Studies , while 10 per cent have tried drugs such as MDMA , cocaine , LSD and amphetamines . More than half of 17-year-olds said they had engaged in binge drinking while 13 per cent reported regular drinking , defined as six or more times per month .
The study looks at ‘ engagement in substance use and antisocial behaviour ’ among Generation Z – those born between the mid 1990s and early 2010s , with researchers analysing data from the Millennium Cohort Study ( MCS ) of around 10,000 young people . UCL researchers also analysed the MCS findings according to sex , ethnicity and parents ’ educational levels , with males reporting higher rates of both drug use and binge drinking .
While young people whose parents were educated to degree level or above were more likely to have tried alcohol and experienced binge drinking , they were no more likely to have tried drugs . White teenagers were three times more likely to report binge drinking than those from BAME groups and twice as likely to have taken harder drugs .
Substance use and antisocial behaviour in adolescence at cls . ucl . ac . uk
4 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MARCH 2021
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