cannabis for primarily medical reasons,’ said the
group’s co-chair, Caroline Lucas MP. ‘It is totally
unacceptable that they should face the added
stress of having to break the law to access their
medicine.’ Report at www.drugpolicyreform.net
MAMBA BAN
The European Commission is proposing an EUwide ban on MDMB-CHMICA, also known as
Black Mamba. Nearly 30 deaths have been
recorded in eight member states, says
EMCDDA, with the substance – already
banned in the UK under the Psychoactive
Substances Act – also linked to incidences of
violence and aggression.
GROWING MARKET
FAMILY FAVOURITES
ADFAM’S ANNUAL FAMILY VOICES COMPETITION is now open, with
a top prize of £150 and two runner up awards of £100. Friends and
family who have lived through someone else’s substance misuse are
invited to submit an original piece of writing or poem, with the
winning entries read by a guest speaker at the charity’s carol
concert on 1 December. ‘While it is often difficult to talk about this
subject, it can be helpful to write about it, and entries are of a
consistently high standard,’ says Adfam. Send your entry (up to 500
words) to [email protected] by 31 October.
OVERDOSE ACTION
‘Our commitment to
distributing
naloxone as
widely as
possible and
to training
people on
how to use it
correctly has
resulted in
241 lives
being saved’
StaCEy Smith
CGL has issued more than 6,000 naloxone
kits and successfully trained 5,500 service
users, carers, family members and others in
how to use them since February this year,
the charity has announced. CGL is currently
the only commissioned drug service in the
UK to have a national approach to distributing the overdose-reversing substance.
‘Our commitment to distributing naloxone
as widely as possible and to training people on
how to use it correctly has resulted in 241 lives
being saved,’ said CGL’s director of nursing and
clinical practice, Stacey Smith. ‘We are
committed to reducing drug-related deaths
and naloxone plays a major role as part of an
overall preventative package of care.’
See feature, next issue.
MEDICINAL MESSAGE
A report calling for medicinal cannabis to be
legalised has been issued by the All Party
Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy Reform.
Cannabis: the evidence for medical use is based
on a seven-month inquiry, testaments from
more than 600 patients and a review of international evidence. ‘Many hundreds of thousands of people in the UK are already taking
Bodybuilders are increasingly turning to
dealing steroids to fund their own use and
‘maintain their social status in the
weightlifting community’, according to a
report from Birmingham University. ‘While
many government agencies and sport officials
have suggested that substances are sold
largely by organised crime groups for financial
gain, the findings showed that the majority of
performance and image enhancing drugs
within bodybuilding subcultures were
distributed by individuals for social reasons or
to support their own training,’ it says. Social
suppliers available at www.bcu.ac.uk
WIDER IMPACT
More than half of Welsh adults have had
negative experiences in the last year as a
result of someone else’s drinking, according to
a report from Public Health Wales. Almost one
in five had felt physically threatened, while 5
per cent had suffered actual physical violence
and the same percentage had been concerned
about a child’s wellbeing. ‘This report shows
how alcohol can harm not just the drinker but
also those around them,’ said the agency’s
director of policy, research, and international
development, Professor Mark Bellis. ‘Some of
these harms are due to drunken violence but
others result from accidents, threats or even
financial problems when too much household
income goes on one person’s drinking.’
Alcohol’s harm to others at www.wales.nhs.uk
STRATEGIC SUPPORT
A new support pack for commissioning
specialist interventions for young people
experiencing substance problems has been
issued by PHE. ‘Patterns of drug and alcohol
use by young people often change, which
means that services need to be flexible and
respond effectively to changing needs,’ says
Young people – substance misuse JSNA support
pack 2017-18. Available at
www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/jsna-support-packprompts-young-people-2017-final.pdf
TIME TO GET INVOLVED: A ‘global
campaign week’ against the
actions of Philippines president
Rodrigo Duterte is being
organised by The Asian Network
of People who Use Drugs
(ANPUD) and the International
Network of People who Use
Drugs (INPUD). Peaceful
demonstrations will begin at
Filipino embassies and
consulates around the world
from Monday 10 October, and
people are also encouraged to
help raise awareness on social
media. More 3,000 people are
estimated to have fallen victim
to Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ since
he took office in May (DDN,
September, page 4).
Full details of how to take part at
www.inpud.net. See news focus, page 8.
October 2016 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5