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COSTING IT OUT
A new online survey on drug prices and drug
spending has been launched by 3D Research.
British adults who’ve used cannabis or other
illegal drugs in the last year are invited to take
part, with all responses completely anonymous
and confidential.
Survey at
www.surveymonkey.com/S/UK_DrugCosts_2014
NICE NALMEFENE
NICE has published its formal guidance
recommending nalmefene, a drug that helps
reduce cravings for alcohol in heavy drinkers
(
DDN
, November, page 4). The drug, also
called Selincro, is now available on
prescription. ‘We are pleased to be able to
recommend the use of nalmefene to support
people further in their efforts to fight alcohol
dependence,’ said director of NICE’s health
technology evaluation centre, Professor
Carole Longson.
RECOVERY CASH
PHE has announced £10m of capital funding
for recovery-focused services, with providers
and local authorities invited to apply for a share
of the pot. ‘An outstanding range of exciting
and innovative recovery-focused projects
received funding last year,’ said PHE’s director
of alcohol, drugs and tobacco Rosanna
O’Connor. As
DDN
went to press PHE released
a new report,
Drug treatment in England 2013-
14
, which showed drug recovery rates were
slowing and that ‘there is a continuing need for
increasingly tailored approaches to support a
range of complex needs,’ said O’Connor.
NITROUS NOTES
New guidelines detailing the enforcement
options regarding nitrous oxide have been
issued by the Home Office. Aimed at local
authorities and police,
Guidance on restricting
the supply of nitrous oxide for recreational use
lists the uses and risks of the substance
alongside the different legislative options.
Document at www.gov.uk
SMART MOVE
Former Alcohol Research UK chair, Professor
Robin Davidson, has been appointed interim
chair of UK SMART Recovery, formerly
SMART Recovery UK. ‘I’m pleased to report
that it is business as usual,’ said Davidson
of the name change. ‘UK SMART Recovery
remains extremely grateful to the partners,
volunteers, and staff for their continued
support and commitment. People who have
benefited from the programme will continue
to benefit from unhindered access to SMART
meetings and services as this transition is
being implemented.’
There is ‘no apparent correlation’ between the
toughness of a country’s approach to drugs and levels
of use, according to a Home Office study of
international drugs policies.
Drugs: international comparators
reviewed different
approaches ‘in policymaking and on the ground’ based on
a series of fact-finding missions between May 2013 and
March this year. Ministers and Home Office officials
visited Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Japan, New
Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the
US and Uruguay, looking at issues including
decriminalisation of possession for personal use,
consumption rooms, heroin-assisted treatment, drug
courts and supply-side regulation of cannabis.
‘Without exception, every country we considered sees
drug use as undesirable,’ says the document, and while all
were ‘taking steps to disrupt, reduce, or regulate supply’
there was a ‘variety of responses to the individual user’. In
terms of the effectiveness of drug laws, researchers studied
Portugal, which removed criminal sanctions for personal
use in 2001, and the Czech Republic, where possession of
small quantities is treated as an administrative offence
punishable with a fine. They also looked at Japan, which
operates a ‘zero tolerance’ policy with possession of even
small amounts of drugs attracting lengthy prison
sentences, and Sweden, whose approach to possession
‘has grown stricter over several decades’.
‘While levels of drug use in Portugal appear to be
relatively low, reported levels of cannabis use in the
Czech Republic are among the highest in Europe,’ says
the report. ‘Indicators of levels of drug use in Sweden,
which has one of the toughest approaches we saw, point
to relatively low levels of use, but not markedly lower
than countries with different approaches.’
The report discusses evidence of ‘improved health
prospects’ for drug users in Portugal, with the caveat that
these ‘cannot be attributed to decriminalisation alone’
and adds that it is unclear whether decriminalisation
‘reduces the burden on the police’. The country has,
however, reduced the proportion of drug-related
offenders in its prison population, says the report.
The document acknowledges that ‘what works in one
country may not be appropriate in another’, with ‘the
legislative and enforcement approach’ only one strand of
a country’s response. It also stresses that there is ‘robust
evidence that drug use among adults has been on a
downward trend in England and Wales since the mid-
2000s’ and that the UK’s ‘balanced approach enables
targeted demand-reduction activity, and good availability
and quality of treatment. Indeed, while in Portugal, we
were encouraged to hear that drug treatment in the UK is
well-regarded internationally.’
In terms of supply-side regulation of cannabis the
document states that the policies in Uruguay and the US
are ‘highly experimental’, with no evidence so far to
‘indicate whether or not they will be successful’ in
reducing criminality.
‘The differences between the approach other
countries have taken illustrate the complexity of the
challenge, and demonstrate why we cannot simply
adopt another country’s approach wholesale,’ said crime
prevention minister Norman Baker. ‘The UK’s approach
on drugs remains clear: we must prevent drug use in our
communities, help dependent individuals through
treatment and wider recovery support, while ensuring
law enforcement protects society by stopping the supply
and tackling the organised crime that is associated with
the drugs trade.’ Publication of the report saw Baker
accuse Conservative colleagues of ‘suppressing’ the
document, which had been ready for a number of
months. Less than a week later he resigned, and has
been replaced by Lynne Featherstone.
The Home Office has also published the findings of its
expert panel study of new psychoactive substances (NPS),
and the government’s response which includes plans for
a blanket ban similar to that introduced in Ireland in
2010, improved training for NHS staff and new PHE
guidance for local authorities on integrating NPS into
treatment, education and prevention work.
Drugs: international comparators; New psychoactive
substances in England: a review of the evidence, and
government response at www.gov.uk
NEWS IN BRIEF
December 2014 |
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| 5
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News |
Round-up
‘Toughness’ of drug laws no
deterrent, says Home Office
Calorie labelling should be introduced for alcoholic
drinks, according to the Royal Society for Public Health
(RSPH). More than 80 per cent of the public did not
know – or incorrectly estimated – the amount of
calories in a large glass of wine, says RSPH, while for a
pint of lager the figure was almost 90 per cent.
While alcohol is currently exempt from EU food
labelling legislation, the European Commission is to
decide on whether to extend nutrition labelling,
including information on calories, to alcoholic products.
The RSPH is calling on both the EU health commissioner
and the drinks industry to introduce calorie labelling,
and says its research shows that 67 per cent of the
public would support the move.
‘Calorie labelling has been successfully introduced
for a wide range of food products and there is now a
clear public appetite for this information to be extended
to alcohol to help individuals make informed choices,’
said RSPH chief executive Shirley Cramer. ‘With two in
three adults overweight or obese, and given that adults
who drink get approximately 10 per cent of their
calories from alcohol, this move could make a major
difference to waistlines of the nation. While we
continue to back unit labelling for alcoholic drinks, we
believe that many people find calorie labelling easier to
translate into their everyday lives.’
Label calories on drinks, says health body