Drug abuse

Roger Knaggs: ‘We need to find a balance between appropriate use and minimising harm’

Government adviser and specialist pharmacist Roger Knaggs speaks about reducing opioid dependency, non-drug alternatives for chronic pain and why we need to be cautious about medical cannabis.…

A day in the life of a school drugs educator

Pharmacist Asha Fowells describes a typical day in her role as a drugs educator for a charity.…

Have legislative changes curbed use of ‘legal highs’?

While the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 appears to have controlled circulation of novel psychoactive substances, formerly known as ‘legal highs’, on the high street, a Home Office review has proved what many experts predicted — that the legislation would drive sales onto the str…

Synthetic opioids overtake prescription opioids as leading cause of US overdose deaths

Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, were implicated in more overdose-related deaths in 2016 than prescription opioids in the United States.…

Public Health England seeks to improve opioid substitution treatment

Public Health England has launched an opioid treatment quality improvement programme, and aims to develop tools to improve the quality of treatment…

RPS Scotland provides evidence to Scottish Parliament on diabetes prevention and drug-related deaths

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland has provided evidence for two Scottish parliamentary sessions held this week…

FIP sets out how pharmacists can help cut harm from drugs of abuse

The International Pharmaceutical Federation has called for pharmacy organisations to engage with policymakers and health authorities to ensure more pharmacist involvement in drug harm reduction services…

Charity warns that ‘legal high’ ban has led to switch to other illegal drugs

The Government’s blanket ban on so-called ‘legal highs’ has prompted a rise in the use of class A drugs, a drug charity that is partly funded by the Scottish Government has warned.…

Over-simplistic view of the opioid substitution service

I read with disappointment the letter by Wai Sin Kung calling for opioid substitution services to be scrapped ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2017;299:40). The views expressed were unfounded and simplistic. The opioid substitution service does indeed help some users to stop abusing drugs, b…

Why women who misuse drugs have different needs

Two editorials published in The Lancet and Addiction highlight how little is known about women and drugs, pointing to a blind spot in our collective knowledge…