Stephen Husbands
@stevehusbands.bsky.social
Prof of Medicinal Chemistry, Life Sciences, Uni of Bath. Neuropharmacology, pain, illicit drugs, harm reduction. All views my own.
Very proud to be part of the Harm Reduction team at the University of Bath and have our work recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry www.rsc.org/standards-an...
Harm Reduction
2025 Analytical Science Horizon Prize: awarded for the application of portable technologies to identify synthetic drugs with positive impact on policing and harm reduction.
rsc.org
We @libdems.org.uk have long called for the government to tackle the alarming rise in vaping among young people. While this is a positive step, far more must be done to tackle harmful spice spiked vapes, which are almost all refillable, as research by @uniofbath.bsky.social has revealed.
Disposable vapes ban: What you need to know as changes come into effect
The government is banning the sale of single-use disposable vapes in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
independent.co.uk
Difficult to give timely harm reduction advice if you don't know what you are dealing with. This will help: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Field-Portable Device for Detection of Controlled and Psychoactive Substances from e-Cigarettes
Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are novel psychoactive substances (NPS) that are highly potent and associated with a range of severe toxicities. SC use, which is common in UK prisons and homeless communi...
pubs.acs.org
Cold, damp but rather beautiful day on the banks of the Loire. At La Taudiere
Visited the wonderful Chateau de Serrant (Loire) today. They even let the dog inside 🙂 Not sure exactly why, but this horse made me laugh
Some wildlife photography in Saint Florent le Vieil, under a bridge over the Loire
Found some sun (and wind) on La Côte Sauvage Comite
Wind and rain due, so probably time to move on from Normandy
Nice spot for the night, overlooking Mont St Michel
Through the tunnel and heading west. Parked up in Saint-James for the night
www.ft.com/content/6b19... Good to see opioid deaths in the US falling, even if it's not clear why,....
Fentanyl deaths are falling. What’s behind the decline?
The evidence points to changes in the drug supply
ft.com
Enjoyed the walk up to the University of Bath today.
www.bath.ac.uk/announcement... We've become really interested in vapes/vaping after finding such a high percentage of vapes confiscated in English schools had synthetic cannabinoids in them. Really easy to pick up with the right technology.
English school children unwittingly smoking spice-spiked vapes, finds University of Bath
Testing hundreds of confiscated vapes in 38 schools in England reveals 1 in 6 (16.6%) contained spice
bath.ac.uk
It's the weekend, so a non work post of the dog, Dakin
open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/... Excellent. Harm reduction for social media.
Twitter is dead. Long live BlueSky.
The exodus is real.
open.substack.com
With lots of vapes from schools being found to contain synthetic cannabinoids and with some ketamine and MDMA turning up, how are vapes viewed in terms of #harmreduction ? Might attract more to using drugs, but perhaps safer with less chance of overdose??
Bit surprised we haven't seen more 'pure' nitazenes in the UK www.bmj.com/content/387/...
Nitazenes: toxicologists warn of rise in overdoses linked to class of synthetic opioids
Toxicologists have warned of a sharp rise in drug overdose deaths in England involving a group of potent synthetic opioids called nitazenes. Nitazenes have been found as contaminants in street heroin...
bmj.com
Better quality centres would help reduce drug use, but in the meantime better drug testing/checking www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...
Death in UK immigration removal centre is the first believed to be linked to the drug spice
Staff at Brook House had warned it was ‘only a matter of time’ before someone died as a result of taking the drug
theguardian.com
