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Reports December |
Report reveals scale of alcohol’s harm to others
Lead researcher Professor Anne-Marie Laslett, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at La Trobe’s Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, said researchers had been gradually building the body of evidence through 30 publications on alcohol’s harm to others in Australia. The release of this report marks the culmination of the team’s work. Professor Laslett said the evidence underlined the need to prevent and respond to the harm seen in many aspects of Australian lives, within families and communities | La Trobe University, Australia
Adult substance misuse treatment statistics 2024 to 2025: report
There were 329,646 adults aged 18 and over in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services between April 2024 and March 2025. This is a 6% rise compared to the previous year and the highest number of adults in treatment since reporting began. The number of adults entering treatment in 2024 to 2025 was 169,542, which is higher than the previous 2 years’ figures | OHID, UK
Children's substance misuse treatment statistics 2024 to 2025: report
There were 16,212 children (aged 17 and under) in alcohol and drug treatment between April 2024 and March 2025. This is a 13% increase from the previous year (14,352). However, the number in treatment is 34% lower than the peak of 24,494 in 2008 to 2009. Cannabis remained the most common substance (86%) that children came to treatment for. Around 2 in 5 children in treatment (38%) said they had problems with alcohol use, 8% had problems with ecstasy and 6% reported problems with powder cocaine use | OHID, UK
Making Hope a Reality: Our Impact in 2025-2026
As Chief Executive of Phoenix Futures, I am proud to share our latest Impact Report. This is a reflection of the incredible work our teams, partners, and communities have achieved together. This year, we supported more than 17,000 people directly, and countless more through advocacy and outreach. Every number represents a life touched, a family supported, and a community strengthened | Phoenix Futures, UK
Minimum Unit Pricing in the UK: Who’s backing it and who’s blocking it?
Divided stakeholder opinions, opposition from key alcohol industry voices, cost implications for consumers, and wider public unpopularity are arguments often cited when UK governments have decided against MUP in England. This report collated publicly available stakeholder positions on MUP in the UK to build a clearer picture of support and opposition, major reasons why, and whether MUP is as polarising as portrayed | IAS, UK
Commission presents new EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan against drug trafficking
On 4 December, the Commission presented a new EU Drugs Strategy and an Action Plan against drug trafficking, as well as updated rules for monitoring and controlling drug precursors. Announced by President von der Leyen in the political guidelines and a key deliverable under the ProtectEU - European Internal Security Strategy, they set out a comprehensive EU response to the security, health, social and environmental challenges linked to the trafficking and use of illicit drugs | European Commission, Belgium
International Drug Users Day 2025 - report
International Drug Users Day 2025 (IDUD2025) brought together drug user-led organisations worldwide, each using the day to promote dignity, rights and visibility. From street actions and festivals to political advocacy and wellness gatherings, the campaign showed the strength of a global movement grounded in lived experience. This year, INPUD received 69 applications for IDUD2025 mini-grants from drug user-led organisations across the globe, and 10 organisations received USD 500 mini-grants to implement IDUD2025 activities | INPUD, UK
Drug misuse in England and Wales: year ending March 2025
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimated that 8.7% of people aged 16 to 59 years (around 2.9 million people) reported using any drug in the last 12 months for the year ending (YE) March 2025; there was no statistically significant change compared with YE March 2024. Drug use was higher among people aged 16 to 24 years, with 15.1% reporting any use in the last 12 months; although there was no statistically significant change compared with the previous year, there has been a general downward trend in this age group since its peak in YE December 1997 (31.8%). Around 2.0% of people were frequent drug users (more than once a month) | ONS, UK
Opiate and crack cocaine use: prevalence estimates 2022 to 2023
Estimates of the number and rates of people using opiates and/or crack cocaine (OCU) in England between April 2022 and March 2023. The estimated total number of OCU for 2022 to 2023 in England is 310,718 | DHSC and UKHSA, UK
Policy briefing: alcohol
The briefing sets out the range of evidence-based actions that could be taken to prevent and reduce harm from alcohol, building on the progress that has been made through minimum unit pricing. We expect these actions, taken together, could reverse current trends in terms of harm from alcohol, and would reduce the burden that alcohol-related conditions place on our health and social care services | Pubic Health Scotland, UK
Better Outcomes through Linked Data: Rough sleeping and substance use treatment
This report focuses on people with experiences of homelessness and rough sleeping who reported having received treatment for substance misuse in England. A linked dataset was created by matching NDTMS (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System) data to the RSQ (Rough Sleeping Questionnaire) data collection, using personal identifiers within the NDTMS and RSQ records. The aim was to assess the relationship between substance misuse treatment outcomes and participants’ history of homelessness and rough sleeping, and the role of the services | Ministry of Housing,
Communities &
Local Government, UK
Statistics from the Northern Ireland Substance misuse database: 2024/25
The report summarises information on people presenting to services with problem drug and/ or alcohol misuse and relates to the 12-month period ending 31 March 2025. In Northern Ireland in 2024/25, a total of 3,889 clients were recorded on the Substance Misuse Database as having presented to services for problem substance misuse | DoH, UK
Cocaine is now the second most common drug implicated in poisoning deaths
According to the Health Research Board’s (HRB) latest bulletin (Drug poisoning deaths in Ireland in 2022 ), 343 drug poisoning deaths were recorded in Ireland in 2022. This represents an 8% decrease on 2021 (373 deaths). It is the second consecutive year that these deaths have fallen | HRB, Ireland
Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: July to September 2025
This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. There were 898 suspected drug deaths recorded in the first nine months of 2025. This is 8% (65) greater than during the same period of 2024 (833). After following a downward trend in 2024, the rolling 12-month total of suspected drug deaths has increased over recent quarters | Scottish Government, UK
Warning over harms of opioids as they continue to be biggest cause of drugs deaths in Wales
New figures from Public Health Wales show that opioids continue to drive the majority of drug misuse deaths in Wales, prompting renewed warnings about the significant harms associated with these substances | Public Health Wales, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times [Scotland]
During the quarter ending 30 September 2025, 11,444 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,369 (46.9%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 4,409 (38.5%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,666 (14.6%) for co-dependency (problematic use of both alcohol and drugs) | Public Health Scotland, UK
Estimated numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland
During the quarter ending 30 September 2025, OST was prescribed to an estimated minimum of 26,312 people in Scotland. This was a small decrease compared to the 2024/25 Q4 estimate (26,567) and the lowest estimate in the available time series (2024/25 Q2 to 2025/26 Q1) | Public Health Scotland, UK
The right to housing and its impact on health
This publication highlights the role of adequate housing as a fundamental component of the right to health. It outlines dimensions of housing that shape health and health inequalities and provides evidence and context relevant to Scotland. The resource is intended to support policymakers, planners and practitioners, and includes peer-reviewed input from housing sector partners | Public Health Scotland, UK