DrugWise Daily |
26th October 2026 |
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UK news
How cocaine conquered the UK: in pubs, festivals and workplaces the drug has become an everyday habit
Previously considered a middle-class drug, price drops have made cocaine more widely available, and created a new set of problems | Guardian, UK
Cocaine-linked crimes on the rise in Britain as consumption surges
Exclusive: Wastewater analysis in England suggests people took roughly 2.5bn lines of drug in one year | Guardian, UK
Ageing users and record deaths – the data behind Britain’s multibillion-pound cocaine habit
Sewage samples and crime statistics paint a picture of established users taking more cocaine, more often | Guardian, UK
Needle and syringe programmes - EDM (Early Day Motion)1018: tabled on 21 October 2026
Motion text - That this House welcomes the Out of Reach report (PDF), published by the Hepatitis C Trust, alerting us to the declining access to needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) and the threat to public health... | UK Parliament, UK
Ground-breaking survey shines new light on smoking rates in London’s LGBTQ+ community
Smoking rates in London’s LGBTQ+ community are being driven by social isolation and lifestyle pressures, according to the findings of a ground-breaking survey. Stress, anxiety, loneliness and the need for friendship are all cited by LGBTQ+ people as key reasons why they smoke, with nicotine use and socialising closely linked | London Post, UK
Boom in weight-loss drugs could lead to fall in beer sales, Heineken warns UK pubs
World’s second largest brewer says use of drugs such as Wegovy can reduce desire to drink alcohol | Guardian, UK
Healthcare watchdog inspectors rate Stockton drug and alcohol service as 'good'
The Stockton Recovery Service, a hub for drug and alcohol treatment run by national health and social care charity Change Grow Live in partnership with Recovery Connections, has been awarded the 'good' rating across all five key areas during an assessment by the Care Quality Commission | Teesside Live, UK
Bar's licence suspended after cocaine discoveries
A Market Rasen bar has had its licence suspended for three months after evidence of cocaine was repeatedly found there | BBC, UK
Gang jailed over £2m city drugs network
A Lincoln-based drugs gang that flooded the city with £2m worth of cocaine, ketamine and cannabis has been dismantled, with four members jailed following a major police investigation | BBC, UK
Four more charged over meth lab discovery
Four more men have been charged in connection with the alleged production of meth from a lab in rural Warwickshire after five Mexican nationals appeared in court | BBC, UK
Plumber's plot with 'The Baron' to smuggle cocaine abroad inside rope
A man living in a caravan conspired with a mysterious contact, known only as 'The Baron', to ship kilos of cocaine and ketamine hidden inside hollowed-out rope to the other side of the world | BBC, UK
International news
Caffeine pouches are trapping children in a 'vicious cycle' - and their use can be hard to detect
Beyond traditional beverages like coffee, soda, and energy drinks, a new source of caffeine is becoming popular among young consumers. Medical professionals, educators, and parents are turning their focus to a product sold in pouches rather than cans or cups | Independent, UK
New research suggests quitting alcohol changes the brain. Here’s how
Addiction researchers believe the brain changes that occur during abstinence may increase a person’s risk of relapse | Independent, UK
The cost of alcohol addiction - audio
The World Health Organization says that while most Africans do not drink alcohol, those who do can drink heavily. So are some young people turning to alcohol to cope with stress, work pressures, and mental health challenges? And are women facing a different set of pressures? | BBC Sounds, UK
Psychosocial health and hazardous alcohol use among older adults with Rose Laing - podcast
In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Rose Laing, a PhD candidate at the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. The interview covers Rose’s article on psychosocial health and hazardous alcohol use among 50- to 70-year-olds in south-east Melbourne, Australia | SSA, UK
EU nicotine tax talks face competing health priorities and Swedish uncertainty
Efforts to update European Union tobacco taxes remain caught between competing approaches to nicotine policy, with Sweden’s political uncertainty adding another obstacle to negotiations | EU Reporter, Ireland
Justice and Home Affairs agencies examine environmental impact of illicit markets
Last week, the EUDA hosted an online expert meeting examining why the environmental impacts of illicit markets require a shared response and how Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) actors can work together to address these emerging challenges | EUDA, Portugal
Inside Melbourne's supervised injecting room: A visit with Helen Clark
In 2023, during the 27th Harm Reduction International Conference in Melbourne, Drugreporter visited the North Richmond Medically Supervised Injecting Room (MSIR). We filmed a visit by Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, who praised the facility’s life-saving work and called for more services like it across Australia | Drug Reporter, Hungary
After Taliban Opium Ban, New Global Hub Emerges In Afghan Borderlands With Iran, Pakistan – Analysis
Afghanistan’s opium production has dropped under the Taliban’s 2022 ban, but cultivation has shifted into Pakistan’s Balochistan and Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan, forming a new regional production center | Eurasia Review, UK
A third of young adults turn to AI for substance-use information
More than 32% of participants in a Rutgers study reported using ChatGPT and similar chatbots for substance-use information | Medical Xpress, USA
How Helping Someone Buy Drugs Can Send You to Prison for 20 Years
Eight years ago, Scott Hancock helped a 19-year-old acquaintance, identified in court records as T.G., buy fentanyl. At her request, Hancock, who had been addicted to opioids for years, got in touch with his drug dealer, who gave him five capsules that he handed over to T.G. in exchange for $20. Then Hancock gave the money to his dealer. Because T.G. subsequently died from a fentanyl overdose, Hancock is serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in Illinois | Reason, USA
Rehab Charged With Providing Illegal Drugs to Addicts in Grim Scam
What if it’s not drug companies or dodgy dealers trying to keep you hooked, but rehab? It sounds like a twist straight from a Philip K. Dick novel, but that’s what allegedly happened with a treatment center in Southern California | Futurism, USA
Can psychedelics soothe an overactive immune system? New meta-analysis investigates
The same substances that can alter perception and shift moods are now drawing scientific interest for their potential therapeutic abilities. Researchers across the globe are investigating whether psychedelics, such as psilocybin from magic mushrooms or LSD, could help treat mental health and brain-related disorders | Medical Xpress, USA
Substance-related acute care use among birthing parents with dependent children in Ontario, Canada, 2008 to 2024
[Open access] Emergency department visits for use of substances, especially opioids, amphetamines and cannabis, by mothers with dependent children increased almost 5% a year, in contrast to an increase of almost 2% a year among females without children | CMAJ, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
Is it time for London to legalise cannabis?
A heavily regulated decriminalisation scheme in Switzerland offers guiding principles on how loosening the law on the drug could work here | Standard, UK