Drink and Drugs News DDN Nov2017 | Page 4

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WELSH GOVERNMENT MOVES TO INTRODUCE MINIMUM PRICING

A NEW WELSH GOVERNMENT BILL aims to establish a minimum unit price for alcohol and make it an offence for any alcohol to be supplied below it . The Public Health ( Minimum Price for Alcohol ) ( Wales ) Bill , which has been introduced before the National Assembly for Wales by public health minister Rebecca Evans , will address ‘ longstanding and specific concerns ’ around excess drinking , the government says .

The annual number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in Wales is estimated at 50,000 , at a cost to the NHS of £ 120m . If a 50p minimum price were to be introduced , reductions in alcohol-related ill health , crime and lost productivity would be worth £ 882m to the country ’ s economy over the next 20 years , the government claims , and there would be 1,400 fewer annual hospital admissions .

Plans by the Scottish Government to introduce minimum pricing have been mired in legal difficulties since the start of the decade , however . Although the Alcohol Minimum Pricing Bill was passed 18 months after a previous alcohol bill had its provisions for minimum pricing removed ( DDN , June 2012 , page 4 ), still-unresolved legal challenges from drinks industry bodies mean the legislation is yet to be implemented ( DDN , December 2016 , page 4 ). David Cameron ’ s coalition government , meanwhile , shelved its plans to introduce minimum pricing on the grounds that there was ‘ insufficient evidence ’ that it would reduce harm without penalising moderate drinkers ( DDN , August 2013 , page 4 ).

The impact on moderate consumers in Wales would be small , the country ’ s chief medical officer , Dr Frank Atherton , has stated , with the most impact falling on ‘ harmful and hazardous ’ drinkers .

‘ Alcohol-related harm is a significant public health problem in Wales ,’ said Rebecca Evans . ‘ The 463 alcoholattributable deaths in 2015 were all avoidable , and each of these deaths would have had a devastating effect on the person ’ s family and friends . Alcohol-related harm also

WASTED CHANCES

PRISONERS ARE EXPERIENCING A ‘ CLIFF EDGE ’ of little or no professional support in the weeks before and after release , says a report from the University of York , with many also housed in ‘ inappropriate ’ accommodation where drugs and prostitution are rife . Although some pilot drug recovery wings offer ‘ promising approaches ’, the efforts of dedicated staff are likely to ‘ come to naught ’ on release , warns Evaluation of the drug recovery wing pilots . ‘ We have to ask ourselves whether any of us could make any radical changes to our lives if we were forced to live in the type of environments many of our ex-prisoner interviewees had to live in on release ,’ said principal investigator Charlie Lloyd . Report at www . york . ac . uk has a big impact on public services such as the NHS . There is a very clear and direct link between levels of excessive drinking and the availability of cheap alcohol . So we need to take decisive action now to address the affordability of alcohol , as part of wider efforts to tackle alcohol-related harm .’ The bill would put prevention and early intervention at the heart of efforts to reduce harm , she continued . ‘ This will undoubtedly help save lives .’

Following the bill ’ s introduction a letter signed by representatives of leading health organisations ‘ unequivocally ’ endorsing it – and calling for the UK government to follow suit – was published in the Guardian . Implementing minimum pricing would ‘ save lives , relieve pressure on our NHS and fulfil [ the government ’ s ] commitment to even out life chances ’, it said . Among the signatories were representatives of the royal colleges of nursing , psychiatrists and general practitioners , the BMA , the Faculty of Public Health and the Royal Society for Public Health .

POLICE PULLBACK

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE has removed the country ’ s police force from its lead role in his violent crackdown on drugs , the Philippine government has announced . The lead body will now be the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency ( PDEA ), with the police , armed forces and ‘ ad hoc anti-drug task forces ’ instructed to leave it as the sole agency in all anti-drug operations . Duterte previously suspended the crackdown in order to address problems of police corruption after a Korean businessman was allegedly murdered on police premises ( DDN , February , page 5 ), and there were widespread protests this summer , as well as condemnation by the country ’ s powerful Catholic Church , after an unarmed 17-year-old student was shot dead by police .

‘ There is a very clear and direct link between levels of excessive drinking and the availability of cheap alcohol ’

Rebecca evans

STRATEGY SESSIONS

A SERIES OF EVENTS to ‘ promote the opportunities ’ of the 2017 drug strategy and revised clinical guidelines ( DDN , September , page 17 ) has been organised by the Home Office , Collective Voice and the NHS Substance Misuse Provider Alliance . The sessions , which will be held in Halifax , Birmingham and London in the second half of November , will also cover mental health and substance misuse as well as drug-related deaths . Email alison @ collectivevoice . org . uk

DARK DAYS

THE UK IS RESPONSIBLE for almost 10 per cent of global ‘ darknet ’ sales of fentanyl – making it the largest seller in Europe – according to the Oxford Internet Institute ’ s ‘ darknet mapping project ’. The US accounts for almost 40 per cent of global trade , followed by Canada and Australia at 15 and 12 per cent . While China is responsible for just 4 per cent of sales , this doesn ’ t necessarily mean that China is not the ‘ ultimate site of production ’, the researchers stress , as many western sellers are more likely to be intermediaries than producers . The UK saw more than 60 deaths related to fentanyl or its analogues in the first eight months of 2017 alone ( DDN , September , page 4 ). Project details at www . oii . ox . ac . uk / research / projects / economicgeog-darknet

NALOXONE NEWS

MARTINDALE PHARMA has notified people in receipt of Prenoxad Injection kits , as well as those involved in their supply , of a temporary change in the labelling to address an historical error . Prenoxad Injection is a prefilled syringe containing naloxone hydrochloride solution , and was the first naloxone product to be licensed for use by nonhealthcare professionals in a community setting . While the labelling now shows the strength as 0.91mg / ml rather than 1mg / ml , letters have been sent to users , professionals and nonmedical practitioners stressing that there is no difference to the amount of active ingredient and no additional safety concerns . More information at www . medicines . org . uk / emc / medicine / 27616 and www . medicines . org . uk / emc / medicine / 34154

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