Consideration of the novel psychoactive substances (‘legal highs’)

Original report can be found at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/ Crown Copyright, the Advisory Council/ The Home Office. This work is published under an open government license.The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) committed to providing the Government with advice on novel psychoactive substances (often colloquially termed „legal highs‟). This is a relatively recent phenomenon, exemplified by the drug known as mephedrone. The actions by the ACMD and subsequently by the Government on this drug have gone some way to reducing the potential harms caused by this substance. However, there is more that can be done. The advent of novel psychoactive substances has changed the face of the drug scene remarkably and with rapidity. The range of substances now available, their lack of consistency and the potential harms users are exposed to are now complex and multi-faceted. In light of this we have pleasure in enclosing the Council‟s report. This report provides advice on high level issues that ACMD believe the Government should give careful consideration to in addressing legally available psychoactive substances. The report does not purport to provide a single solution to the problem, but rather a number of practicable options that, in combination, seek to tackle the on-going sale, supply and consequential harms. It is important that the Government recognises that each and every department, that has a locus of responsibility in drug issues should both take personal ownership and share collective responsibility of the recommendations in this report. Tackling the issues that are raised by novel psychoactive substances requires a co-ordination of efforts that can only be realised by a strategic and co-operative approach. The ACMD has identified lead departments for each of the recommendations that should assist and guide the Government in this aim. The ACMD provides key recommendations in this report on legislation, public health, education and research. The key legislative measures are primarily concerned with tightening the enforcement of existing legislation and moving the responsibility for the supply of novel psychoactive substances to the vendors, such that the burden of proof falls to them. The ACMD believe it is for vendors to prove that such substances are neither analogues of current medicines nor products harmful to consumers in their intended form. The ACMD also makes key recommendations around public awareness from local to international initiatives.Final Published versio

Prescription Drugs Online

Presents findings from a survey conducted in May and June 2004. Looks at issues of convenience and trust in purchasing prescriptions online, drug-related spam, and future implications

Novel applications of COX-2 inhibitors, metformin, and statins for the primary chemoprevention of breast cancer

Recent evidence shows that commonly prescribed drugs, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), metformin, and statins, may have beneficial roles in the primary chemoprevention of breast cancer. Therefore, these drugs could potentially be used in addition to the hormonal drugs currently used for this purpose (namely, selective estrogen receptor modulators and aromatase inhibitors) due to their alternative mechanisms of action.peer-reviewe

Pharmacogenetics of analgesic drugs

• Individual variability in pain perception and differences in the efficacy of analgesic drugs are complex phenomena and are partly genetically predetermined. • Analgesics act in various ways on the peripheral and central pain pathways and are regarded as one of the most valuable but equally dangerous groups of medications. • While pharmacokinetic properties of drugs, metabolism in particular, have been scrutinised by genotype–phenotype correlation studies, the clinical significance of inherited variants in genes governing pharmacodynamics of analgesics remains largely unexplored (apart from the µ-opioid receptor). • Lack of replication of the findings from one study to another makes meaningful personalised analgesic regime still a distant future. • This narrative review will focus on findings related to pharmacogenetics of commonly used analgesic medications and highlight authors’ views on future clinical implications of pharmacogenetics in the context of pharmacological treatment of chronic pain

Loci specific epigenetic drug sensitivity.

Therapeutic targeting of epigenetic modulators offers a novel approach to the treatment of multiple diseases. The cellular consequences of chemical compounds that target epigenetic regulators (epi-drugs) are complex. Epi-drugs affect global cellular phenotypes and cause local changes to gene expression due to alteration of a gene chromatin environment. Despite increasing use in the clinic, the mechanisms responsible for cellular changes are unclear. Specifically, to what degree the effects are a result of cell-wide changes or disease related locus specific effects is unknown. Here we developed a platform to systematically and simultaneously investigate the sensitivity of epi-drugs at hundreds of genomic locations by combining DNA barcoding, unique split-pool encoding, and single cell expression measurements. Internal controls are used to isolate locus specific effects separately from any global consequences these drugs have. Using this platform we discovered wide-spread loci specific sensitivities to epi-drugs for three distinct epi-drugs that target histone deacetylase, DNA methylation and bromodomain proteins. By leveraging ENCODE data on chromatin modification, we identified features of chromatin environments that are most likely to be affected by epi-drugs. The measurements of loci specific epi-drugs sensitivities will pave the way to the development of targeted therapy for personalized medicine