News and Notes
Compiled by John Witton and Jean O'Reilly
US Food and Drug Administration Removes Black Box Warning on Chantix
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved dropping the black box warning regarding possible serious neuropsychiatric side effects with Pfizer's smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix, Champix). This follows extensive evidence showing no connection between the drug and side effects such as suicide and aggression, culminating in the EAGLES randomised controlled trial reported in the Lancet earlier this year. The FDA will also allow claims that Chantix/Champix has superior efficacy to the nicotine transdermal patch.
Sources: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/873437
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30272-0/abstract
US Surgeon General Report on E-cigarettes and Young People
The US Surgeon General calls e-cigarette use among young people a major public health concern in the preface to his report, E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. While acknowledging that there is a need for more research on e-cigarettes, Surgeon General Vivik Murthy said: “My concern is e-cigarettes have the potential to create a whole new generation of kids who are addicted to nicotine,” adding “If that leads to the use of other tobacco-related products, then we are going to be moving backward instead of forward.” In The Guardian Kevin Fenton of Public Health England (PHE) responded to the report, saying the PHE's review of the evidence “found e-cigarette use carries a fraction of the risk of smoking, a conclusion reiterated by the Royal College of Physicians earlier this year. No new evidence has been published to contradict this, however we are closely monitoring any emerging evidence.”
Sources: http://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/documents/2016_SGR_Full_Report_non-508.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/health/e-cigarettes-united-states.html?_r=0
Government Funding for OST Programmes in Ukraine
The government of Ukraine has announced that in 2017 it will fully finance the national opioid substitution therapy (OST) programme from the national budget. Approximately US$500,000 will be allocated to enable 8000 people to continue to access OST in 2017. OST has been available in Ukraine for the last 12 years, receiving financial support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and technical support from UNAIDS.
Sources: http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2016/november/20161103_ukraine
More Deaths in Drug War in the Philippines
6,180 people have been killed in the first six months of the national drug war introduced by the country's President, Rodrigo Duterte, according to the Filipino social media site Rappler. Drawing on an analysis of police and media reports by Aljazeera, Rappler says two-thirds of the deaths were the result of extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings. Aljazeera reports that children and an anti-drugs advocate were among the dead. President Duterte dismissed the international condemnation of his policy as a violation of human rights by US President Obama, Amnesty and UN special rapporteurs among others.
Sources: http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/rich-media/rodrigo-duterte-war-on-drugs-2016
http://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/asia/2016/12/duterte-drug-war-death-toll-6000-161213132427022.html
European Commission Rebuked for Secretive Tobacco Lobby Contacts
In 2015 the European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly upheld a complaint by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) against the European Commission's failure to comply with the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC is intended to protect decision-making “from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.” Under this article, governments are obliged to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and ensure the transparency of interactions that do occur. In May 2014, CEO submitted a complaint about the Commission's failure properly to implement these rules. The Ombudsman's investigation found that a top official from the Commission's legal service had declared no meetings with tobacco industry representatives despite having meetings with a lawyer working for Philip Morris. But the European Commission rejected the Ombudsman's subsequent recommendation for greater transparency on tobacco lobbying across the institution. The Ombudsman closed her enquiry in December 2016 with a final ruling that rebuked the Commission for maladministration over its violation of the WHO FCTC.
Sources: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/cases/decision.faces/en/73774/html.bookmark
Cocaine Use on the Rise in the US
InSight Crime reports that cocaine use and availability is on the rise in the United States for the first time in nearly a decade. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) report, 2016 National Drug Threat Assessment, using data from seizures and overdose deaths, suggests that the amount of cocaine reaching the US increased from 2014 to 2015, the first such rise since 2007. The DEA claim that an estimated 67 percent increase in cocaine production in Colombia is the reason for the rise. Cocaine from Colombia dominates the US market, with DEA testing of seized shipments showing that 90.2 percent of the cocaine that reached the United States between 2014 and 2015 originated in Colombia.
Sources: http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/impact-colombia-cocaine-boom-hits-the-us-dea
https://www.dea.gov/resource-center/2016%20NDTA%20Summary.pdf
Naloxone Made Available in Moscow
In July 2016, drug treatment centres in Moscow began distributing naloxone to people who use heroin and other opiates, according to the online TalkingDrugs. Russia's chief drug specialist, Evgeny Brun, told a news website that the government will evaluate the initiative in spring 2017. However, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF), a grassroots harm reduction group in Russia, said that there has been no effort to provide naloxone to those who are not engaged in treatment. With opioid substitution therapy banned in Russia and people reluctant to come forward for treatment, TalkingDrugs raises the questions of how many people the initiative will reach and whether it will be effective.
Source: http://www.talkingdrugs.org/government-rolls-out-naloxone-in-moscow-but-is-it-enough
BMJ Says the War on Drugs has Failed
A British Medical Journal (BMJ) editorial written by Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief, and Richard Hurley, Features and Debates Editor of the BMJ, argues that current drug laws have failed to curb either supply or demand, reduce addiction, cut violence or reduce profits for organised crime. Citing recent calls for drug policy reform, the editorial suggests that prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco provide lessons to inform potential models of drug regulation. The editorial concludes that “Change is coming, and doctors should use their authority to lead calls for pragmatic reform informed by science and ethics.”
Sources: http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/355/bmj.i6067.full.pdf
Conferences and Events
Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) 23rd Annual Meeting, 7–11 March 2017, Florence, Italy. Website: http://www.srnt.org/page/2017meeting
American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) 2017 Annual Meeting, 15–18 March 2017, Washington DC, USA. Website: http://www.ascpt.org/ASCPT-2017-Annual-Meeting
American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) Annual Meeting, 16–19 March 2017, Orlando, Florida, USA. Website: http://www.painmed.org/annualmeeting/
5th International Congress on Dual Disorders, 23–26 March 2017, Madrid, Spain. Website: http://www.icdd-congress.com/
International Medicine in Addiction Conference (IMiA) 2017, 24–26 March 2017, Sydney, Australia. Website: http://www.imia17.com.au/
Addiction Medicine 2017 Conference, 24–26 March 2017, Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Website: http://governorsinstitute.org/addiction-medicine/
Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) 38th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, 29 March – 1 April 2017, San Diego, California, USA. Website: http://www.sbm.org/meetings/2017
American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Annual Conference, 6–9 April 2017, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Website: http://www.asam.org/education/live-online-cme/the-asam-annual-conference
National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, 17–20 April 2017, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Website: https://vendome.swoogo.com/2017-rx-summit/
UK and European Symposium on Addictive Disorders (UKESAD) Annual Meeting, 1–3 May 2017, London, UK. Website: http://www.ukesad.com/
McLean Conferences: Addiction 2017, 5–6 May 2017, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Website: http://mcleanhospital.org/education-training/mclean-conferences
Society for Clinical Trials (SCT) 38th Annual Meeting, 7–10 May 2017, Liverpool, UK. Website: http://www.sctweb.org/public/meetings/2017/home.cfm
25th Harm Reduction International Conference, 14–17 May 2017, Montréal, Canada. Website: https://www.hri.global/?no-splash=true
The Australian and New Zealand Addiction Conference, 15–17 May 2017, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Website: http://addictionaustralia.org.au/
International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) Conference, 17–19 May 2017, Aarhus, Denmark. Website: http://www.issdp.org/
IOTOD 2017 (Improving Outcomes in the Treatment of Opioid Dependence), 18–19 May 2017, Berlin, Germany. Website: http://iotodmeeting.com/
2cd International Conference and Exhibition on Dual Diagnosis, 18–20 May 2017, Munich, Germany. Website: http://dualdiagnosis.conferenceseries.com/
American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting, 20–24 May 2017, San Diego, California, USA. Website: https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/meetings/annual-meeting
Kettil Bruun Society (KBS) 43rd Annual Meeting, 5–9 June 2017, Sheffield, UK. Website: http://www.kettilbruun.org/kbs-annual-meeting/
2017 International Conference on Opioids, 11–13 June 2017, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Website: http://www.opioidconference.org/
2017 NIDA International Forum (National Institute on Drug Abuse), 16–19 June 2017, Montreal, Canada. Website: https://www.drugabuse.gov/international/international-forum
College on Problems of Drug Dependence 2017 (CPDD), 17–22 June 2017, Montreal, Canada. Website: http://cpdd.org/meetings/2017-meeting-information/
NAATP National Addiction Leadership Conference, 21–23 June 2017, Austin, Texas, USA. Website: https://www.naatp.org/training/national-addiction-leadership-conference
27th Annual International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) Symposium on the Cannabinoids, 22–27 June 2017, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Website: http://www.icrs2017.org/
The International Narcotics Research Conference (INRC) 2017, 9–14 July 2017, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Website: http://www.inrcworld.org/2017/2017mtg.htm
International Society of Addiction Journal Editors (ISAJE) Annual Meeting, 12–14 July 2017, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Website: http://www.parint.org/isajewebsite/meetings2017.htm
9th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Science, 23–26 July 2017, Paris, France. Website: http://www.ias2017.org/
National Conference on Addiction Disorders, 16–20 August 2017, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Website: https://vendome.swoogo.com/ncad-2017/home
30th ECNP Congress (European College of Neuropsychopharmacology), 2–5 September 2017, Paris, France. Website: http://www.ecnp-congress.eu/sitecore/content/Congress2017/ECNPcongress.aspx?sc_lang=en
2017 International Peer Review Congress, 10–12 September 2017, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Website: http://www.peerreviewcongress.org/index.html
INEBRIA 2017 (International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol & Other Drugs), 14–15 September 2017, New York, New York, USA. Website: http://inebria.net/
Global Addiction 2017, 2–4 October 2017, Venice, Italy. Website: http://www.globaladdiction.org/
Global Alcohol Policy Conference (GAPC), 4–6 October 2017, Melbourne, Australia. Website: http://www.gapc2017.org.au/
16th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ESBRA), 8–11 October 2017, Heraklion, Crete. Website: http://esbra2017.com/welcome/
IntNSA (International Nurses Society on Addiction) 41st Annual Educational Conference, 18–21 October 2017, Orlando, Florida, USA. Website: http://www.intnsa.org/conference
Lisbon Addictions 2017, 24–26 October 2017, Lisbon, Portugal. Website: http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7661463396b2fc9d763392225&id=159e02a17f
16th European AIDS Conference, 25–27 October 2017, Milan, Italy. Website: http://www.eacs-conference2017.com/
International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) 2017, 26–29 October 2017, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Website: http://www.isamweb.org/home/
13th AIDSImpact Conference, 13–15 November 2017, Cape Town, South Africa. Website: http://www.aidsimpact.com/
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) Annual Meeting, 7–10 December 2017, San Diego, California, USA. Website: http://www.aaap.org/annual-meeting/upcoming-annual-meeting-dates/
News and Notes welcomes contributions from its readers. Send your material to John Witton, News and Notes Editor, Addiction, National Addiction Centre PO48, 4 Windsor Walk, London SE5 8AF. Fax +44 (0)20 7848 5966; e-mail [email protected]
Conference entries should be sent to Jean O′Reilly at [email protected]. Subject to editorial review, we will be glad to print, free of charge, details of your conference or event, up to 75 words and one entry only. Please send your notification three months before you wish the entry to appear.
