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Daily news - 7th April 2025

UK news

Ketamine 'stealing futures of our city's children'

Councillors in the city agreed to draw up an action plan to raise better awareness of the extreme effects the drug can have. A letter will also be sent from the council to the Secretary of State for Health calling for ketamine to be reclassified a Class A drug | BBC, UK

Drugs: Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider transferring responsibility for the misuse of drugs to the Department of Health and Social Care | They work for you, UK

'Now that I'm sober, I hope my dad can do the same'

When Megan Ross was 14 years old, she opened some letters her dad had sent her from prison. In them, Davie Clark explained why he had been absent throughout Megan's childhood. He said he was addicted to drugs and did not want her to be around his lifestyle | BBC, UK

Headliners with Nihal Arthanayake - Suggs - audio

Madness frontman, Suggs, joins Nihal for an in-depth conversation. They discuss facing up to alcoholism and communicating with his wife via walkie talkie | BBC Sounds, UK

Our Message Our Voice - video

Four personal stories of alcohol addiction and the journey to recovery with reflections on sober connection, support, and alcohol culture | Soberistas, UK

‘Reflection of culture’: large glasses of wine come off the menu for British drinkers

Servings of 250ml and 175ml are becoming rarer in restaurants and bars as customers opt for smaller tastings | Guardian, UK

'Career criminal' jailed over £1.5m heroin seizure

Alam Zeb Khan, of Bordesley Green Road, Birmingham, was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison after admitting conspiracy to supply a class A drug | BBC, UK

Aircraft drug-drop gang jailed for smuggling

The organised crime group operated on the Hertfordshire and Essex border, using a car wash business in Spellbrook as a front for the criminality, police said | BBC, UK

International news

Four decades of overdose prevention centres: lessons for the future from a realist review

Overdose prevention centres are spaces where people can consume previously obtained illicit drugs under the supervision of staff who can intervene to prevent and manage overdose. They have been provided in Europe and elsewhere for nearly 40 years, initially in response to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. We can learn from their operation history to inform future developments in harm reduction services | Harm Reduction Journal, UK

Painkillers without the addiction? The new wave of non-opioid pain relief [see also Cannabis terpenes study listed below]

Pharma firms are developing drugs that avoid the brain’s opioid receptors to minimise the risks of dependence and overdoses, but not all experts are convinced | Guardian, UK

Dose-response relationship between blood concentrations of THC and crash culpability risk: An updated meta-regression of culpability studies

A recent meta-analysis in Drug Science, Policy and Law on the risk associated with the detection of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood and crash risk indicated a 10–70% increase in crash culpability for detection of THC. However, this and previous meta-analyses did not analyse a dose-response relationship between blood concentrations of THC and risk necessary to better understand the crash risk associated with THC | Drug Science, Policy and Law, UK

Record number of people contacting HSE's Drugs and Alcohol Helpline

Almost 6,000 calls were handled by the HSE’s Drugs and Alcohol Helpline in 2023 - an annual increase of 18% | Irish Mirror, Ireland

Why Are Smoking Rates Rising in Parts of England?

Smoking rates have gone up in parts of England, according to new research—something that hadn’t been seen in almost 20 years. The country has been regarded as a tobacco harm reduction success story, so what’s going on? | Filter Magazine, USA

Advertising of zero/no and low-strength (NoLo) alcohol brands is becoming increasingly common in Ireland, but empirical research to determine their impact is lacking. Although the Public Health (Alcohol) Act (2018) prohibits advertising alcohol on or within 200 m of buses, trains, schools and playgrounds, the alcohol industry advertises NoLo products in these spaces using similar iconography and brand identifiers of parent brands. This article highlights evidence regarding the industry's roles in the frequent promotion of NoLo brands in Ireland, recommending areas for future research | IJDP, USA

An effective and humane approach to drug policies

“The so-called War on Drugs has destroyed countless lives and damaged entire communities. These policies are simply not working, and we are failing some of the most vulnerable groups in our societies,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said at a recent speech on global drug policies | OHCHR, USA

ONDCP Releases Trump Administration’s Statement of Drug Policy Priorities

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is announcing the release of the Trump Administration’s Drug Policy Priorities, a comprehensive and coordinated blueprint to reduce the devastating impact of illicit drugs on American society | The White House, USA

AI screening for opioid use disorder associated with fewer hospital readmissions

NIH-supported clinical trial shows AI tool as effective as healthcare providers in generating referrals to addiction specialists | NIDA, USA

Medicare Beneficiary Receipt of Methadone by Drive Time to Opioid Treatment Programs

In this cross-sectional study of 640 706 Medicare beneficiaries, drive time increases from 5 to 15 minutes were associated with a 54% relative reduction in the likelihood of receiving methadone, with the respective likelihoods dropping from 5.29% to 2.39%, on average. For rural residents, drive time increases from 5 to 15 minutes were associated with a 27% relative reduction in the likelihood of receiving methadone, with respective likelihoods dropping from 3.42% to 2.49%, on average | JAMA Network Open, USA

Late-starters in vaping reach high usage levels more rapidly

A new study has found that young vapers in the United States who begin using e-cigarettes after graduating from secondary/high school are likely to progress rapidly to frequent use. While US youths who start vaping during secondary/high school typically take about three years to progress to frequent use, this newly identified group of young adults who start vaping a bit later, after graduation (mean age = 20 years), tend to reach frequent use in about one year | News Medical, USA

[Open access] Drinking can be self-medication for insomnia, so not surprisingly insomnia and problem drinking often go together. A synthesis of research finds that psychosocial therapy for insomnia works, and works just as well as for the general population, though effects on drinking itself are inconsistent | Sleep Medicine Reviews, USA

Cannabis terpenes shown to prevent pain in new study

It's common knowledge that many use cannabis and natural products to treat pain symptoms, especially as the nation reckons with the deadly consequences of the opioid epidemic. But what if aromatic compounds in cannabis could treat chronic pain alone, without the side effects of THC? | Medical Xpress, USA

Medical cannabis may help reduce cravings and improve recovery outcomes

A new pilot study from UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers University examined how medically supervised cannabis use in a residential recovery home may support people in treatment for substance use challenges | News Medical, USA

Risk communication about high-dose MDMA: Impact of a hypothetical drug alert on future MDMA use

[Open access] What would people who’d used MDMA (‘ecstasy’) do if warned the pills they had were abnormally high dose and may generate serious adverse reactions? Such messages could backfire, but in Australia the great majority said they would not use or reduce the initial dose | DAR, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Deaths from drinking are at a record high: does England need a new alcohol strategy?

Bea Taylor looks at the latest trends in drinking and alcohol-related harm, and explores whether the last unified national alcohol strategy needs to be updated | Nuffield Trust blog, UK

Rehab Redefined: When Treatment No Longer Means Recovery [Linked in link]

Once upon a time, “rehab” meant something clear and unequivocal. It meant a safe, structured environment where individuals struggling with drug or alcohol addiction could begin their journey towards abstinence-based recovery. It meant detoxification, therapy, community, personal development – and most crucially, hope | Annemarie Ward, UK

Get big or die trying: social media is driving men’s use of steroids. Here’s how to mitigate the risks

Men have cared about their appearance throughout the centuries, and ideals of masculinity and “manliness” are ancient – with strong emphasis put on physical fitness and virility. In ancient Greece, the ideal male body was considered strong, symmetrical and athletic. Now, with easier access to performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) and their promotion on social media, ideals of masculinity and muscularity have taken on a whole new level | Conversation, Australia

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