DrugWise Daily |
27th October 2026 |
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UK news
More than third of deaths of ex-prisoners on probation drug related, says report
More than a third of deaths of former prisoners on probation in Wales in a year were drug related, according to a new report. (PDF) This was higher than across England and Wales combined, where just over a fifth of total deaths were drug related. The Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, which published the report, urged politicians to tackle "systematic failures" in the criminal justice system. Report author Dr Robert Jones called on the UK and Welsh governments to find a solution to the "tragic" situation | BBC, UK
‘He was like 10 men after taking cocaine‘: how Britain’s drug habit is fuelling domestic abuse
Home Office figures show nearly two-thirds of drug tests carried out on arrested abuse suspects detected use of a drug that ‘boosts confidence but increases paranoia’ | Guardian, UK
Government urged to ‘come clean’ on new alcohol tag scheme used on early release prisoners
The SCRAM alcohol monitoring bracelet had a 97 per cent success rate with offenders but is being replaced by a new model | Independent, UK
Public attitudes towards the UK alcohol duty reforms:Briefing Note - October 2026 (PDF)
This briefing note reports findings from a study evaluating alcohol pricing policies implemented in the United Kingdom. These include: 1) A 10% increase on alcohol taxes and changes to the structure of the tax system, collectively known as the alcohol duty reforms. These policies were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2023 during a cost-of-living crisis, and 2) Minimum unit pricing (MUP), which was introduced in Scotland in 2018 (and subsequently increased in 2024) and Wales in 2020 | SARG, UK
Exclusive:SNP under fire for lack of action to tackle alcohol deaths as focus on tackling drug fatalities
John Swinney has been warned grieving families "deserve the same urgency" in tackling Scotland's alcohol death crisis as the nation's drug-related fatalities amid criticism over a lack of action. Two leading charities have told The Scotsman it was "deeply disappointing" the First Minister's programme for government "contained nothing new" to tackle alcohol harm | Scotsman, UK
Smokers still getting the wrong message on vaping risks, English data shows
New English survey data highlights a persistent gap between smokers’ understanding of vaping risks and the evidence on harm and quitting | Clearing the air, UK
Why partnerships and cross-sector collaboration are crucial to tackling homelessness
Tara Moore, National Housing Development Manager at The Forward Trust, reflects on her leadership journey and the value of partnership working following a recent invitation to speak at a Homeless Link leadership event | Forward Trust, UK
Buzzballz: What's the appeal? - video
Buzzballz are one of the latest trends when it comes to alcohol and to take us through why they are so appealing, especially to young people, are Millie and James from the young person's service, Choices West | Barod, UK
Psilocybin Therapy for Opioid Use Disorder: Get To Know Our Research - webinar
30-Oct-2026. This session will introduce the PsilOpioid study, an NIHR funded, randomised controlled trial of psilocybin therapy for people with opioid use disorder at Imperial College London. The session will discuss why psychedelic therapy may be helpful in the treatment of opioid addiction, explain the study aims, eligibility criteria, and how services can learn more or signpost potentially suitable clients. There also will be a Q&A session and information about how to take part | Imperial, UK
Four million illegal cigarettes seized in Border Force crackdown
Border Force officers seized more than 4 million illegal cigarettes, worth an estimated £2.59 million, in a 4-day crackdown at Manchester Airport | Home Office and Jo White MP, UK
Police confiscate £1m from jailed drug dealers
One million pounds has been confiscated from two prisoners who were involved in supplying "bulk volumes of drugs" in a county | BBC, UK
Drug-dealing footballer made over £170K, court told
A footballer who bragged on Instagram about his drug dealing made more than £170,000 from his crimes, a court has heard | BBC, UK
International news
Trafficking in persons for the purposes of forced criminlaity (PDF)
Scam operations. Drug runs. Theft rings. Behind many of these crimes are victims of human trafficking | ICAT, Austria
Monitored, unmonitored, and solitary opioid use among overdose survivors in San Francisco and Boston
[Open access] Monitored, unmonitored, and solitary opioid use and non-fatal overdoses were common among overdose survivors. Measuring opioid use circumstances could guide context-specific overdose prevention (e.g., supervised consumption, safety hotlines, motionlessness detectors) | IJDP, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Tuesday briefing: How a journalistic hunch revealed the scale of Britain’s problematic cocaine use
In today’s newsletter: Once associated with the wealthy, the drug has become omnipresent, with new Guardian analysis revealing rising crime, record deaths and a troubling link to domestic abuse | Guardian, UK
‘Cocaine is the Gollum of drugs’ – and other things we learned from Anthony LaPaglia’s surprisingly juicy memoir
The actor opens up about almost playing Tony Soprano, why Quentin Tarantino ‘flipped out’ at him and how he’s ‘pretty much broke’ now | Guardian, UK