DrugWise Daily |
3rd September 2026 |
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UK news
Hundreds die of drug misuse in region - report
Local leaders are preparing to set out how they intend to tackle rising drug misuse deaths across the West Midlands. Figures show more than 600 people in the region died over a two year period, according to the West Midlands State of the Region 2026 report. It said there were 9,697 deaths from drug misuse nationally between 2022 and 2024, and 613 of these were from Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton | BBC, UK
Programme for Government 2026 to 2031: First Minister's speech - 1 September 2026
Speech to Parliament by First Minister John Swinney on 1 September 2026.... "Presiding Officer, we will treat drug use as a public health emergency. An additional investment of £250 million through our national mission on drugs will mean more residential rehabilitation beds. And, recognising the complex interplay of issues that can lead to drug abuse and addiction, we will provide additional mental health support, including new walk-in mental health hubs and expanded 24/7 support with the roll out of mental health triage cars to every region in Scotland..." | Scottish Government, UK
Nitrous Oxide: Anti-social Behaviour
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the prohibition on nitrous oxide in reducing anti-social behaviour associated with its misuse | They work for you, UK
Body Searches
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider the potential merits of publishing the search history for strip searches at the local force level disaggregated by age, gender, and ethnicity | They work for you, UK
Licensed Premises
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what statistics are collated from local authorities on the number of licensed premises under the Licensing Act 2003 | They work for you, UK
Tobacco: Smuggling
To ask the Chancellor of the exchequer, what data the Department holds on the number of retail premises suspected of selling illicit tobacco products or non-compliant nicotine products in (a) England and Wales, (b) West Sussex, and (c) Bognor Regis and Littlehampton Constituency; and how many of those premises are suspected of links to organised crime groups | They work for you, UK
Drug trafficker jailed after bank probe revealed £700,000 fortune
A drug trafficker who was caught after his bank raised concerns about the amount of money going through his account has been jailed for four years | BBC, UK
Drug dealer 'earning £500k' from prison cell
A drug dealer was making "between £400,000 and £500,000 every two months" before he was found dead in his cell at a Lancashire jail, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has said | BBC, UK
Seventh person charged in Thailand teenage drug couriers case
South Wales Police said Carrie-Anne Dreyer, 39, of Llantwit Major, had been charged with conspiring to evade a ban on importing a class B drug and four counts of conspiring to arrange travel for another person with a view to exploitation | BBC, UK
International news
Dozens arrested after fatal pre-dawn shootout in Dutch village
Police urged people in Overasselt to stay indoors after one person died and 34 were arrested | Guardian, UK
The Alberta Recovery Model: The Trojan Horse of Privatised Drug Treatment
When the United Conservative Party (UCP) government took power in the Western Canadian province of Alberta in 2019, harm reduction was, alongside prevention, law enforcement, and treatment, one of the ‘four pillars’ created to address the state’s toxic and unregulated drug market. By this time, thousands of people were dying each year from overdoses. But things were about to get a lot worse | Talking Drugs, UK
Accused Penn State drug ringleader who called himself ‘the Godfather’ granted bail
Agostino Abbatiello is accused of supplying the drug operation with cocaine that was then packaged at fraternity houses and distributed to students | Independent, UK
Coalition plan to cut tobacco excise by 80% ‘will kill people,’ Labor says amid public health alarm
Angus Taylor and Matt Canavan claim drastic cut to price of cigarettes and moves to legalise vapes will combat illicit tobacco trade | Guardian, UK
Why Dublin’s crack cocaine crisis is visible on the streets - podcast
The long-predicted crack cocaine epidemic is here and has been compared to the heroin epidemic that ravaged communities and destroyed lives in Dublin in the 1980s | Irish Times, Ireland
Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs
Drugs already reshaping diabetes and obesity care are now attracting attention in addiction medicine, as emerging trials reveal how targeting GLP-1 signaling could influence craving, reward, and substance use | News Medical, USA
Care Navigation for Methamphetamine Use Disorder
In this randomized clinical trial including 192 patients in an acute care setting, those assigned to dedicated care navigation that included contingency management were not more likely to link to treatment within 30 or 90 days but were more likely to complete the 90-day study visit | JAMA Network Open, USA
Alcohol’s harm to others among adults in Australia: Findings from the 2022–2023 national drug and health household survey
[Open access] Alcohol’s harm to others remains prevalent in Australia, with distinct risk profiles across harm types. These figures likely underestimate true prevalence, as the survey excludes populations at heightened risk such as those who are homeless or incarcerated. Verbal and physical abuse were associated with risky drinking and may be amenable to population-level alcohol policies, while fear-based harms disproportionately affecting women may require different prevention approaches | IJDP, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
We know smoking causes poverty. So why aren't we treating it like a cost-of-living issue?
Ending smoking would help to lift over a million households out of poverty, giving them desperately needed 'breathing space' in their finances. In this blog Senior Policy Officer Noah Traill explains how smoking contributes to financial hardship and how a roadmap to a smokefree country could eliminate this preventable contributor to the cost-of-living crisis | ASH blog, UK
AFS Response to Programme for Government 2026
Responding to the Programme for Government, Carolyn Lochhead, Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said:“The Scottish Government is right to describe the impact of alcohol on Scotland as a public health emergency. But this Programme for Government doesn’t back up these words with action proportionate to the scale of damage to Scotland’s health, economy and wellbeing..." | AFS, UK
The Pacific’s cocaine highway: will Australia’s $600m deal really help?
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a $600 million program to strengthen aerial and maritime surveillance across the Pacific, targeting the narco-submarines and small vessels used to move drugs through the region | Conversation, Australia