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Daily news - 28th April 2025

UK news

Tough policies to transform health not viewed as ‘nanny-statism’, poll finds

A survey of 2,010 UK adults found the NHS was among the top concerns for the public | Independent, UK

Lucie Jones – I am a…

Lucie Jones is a clinical lead and a nurse prescriber at WithYou's community drug service in Stoke on Trent | DDN, UK

Drugs: Misuse

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people suffering from drug addiction in Romford constituency | They work for you, UK

Vaping in Schools

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding what action is being taken to reduce vaping in schools | They work for you, UK

Grow Researcher Development programme

Deadline for applications: Monday 19 May 2025, 12pm. Fully funded programme. Be part of a network of early career mental health and addiction researchers who can support each other in 2025 and beyond. Be supported to achieve your goals and develop your professional networks, skills and experience to work across sectors and disciplines and make a difference through mental health and addictions research | Mental Health Research, UK

Concern over ‘asbis’ after report finds people jailed for sleeping rough and feeding birds

Exclusive: Analysis of antisocial behaviour injunctions found 57% of people had no legal representation at breach hearings that led to imprisonment | Guardian, UK

UK claims 90% drop in mail-order cannabis from Thailand

The amount of cannabis posted to the UK from Thailand has dropped by 90% in three months thanks to cooperation with Thai Customs, the Home Office has said | BBC, UK

Men jailed for cannabis haul hidden in watermelons from Spain

Two men involved in a plot to bring over £1.5 million of cannabis to Scotland hidden in a load of watermelons have been jailed | NCA, UK

International news

Trump looks to end $56 million grant to give Narcan to first responders to help save lives during an overdose

The Trump administration is looking at plans to end a $56 million annual grant program that distributes the overdose-countering medication Narcan to first responders across the country, according to a draft proposal | Independent, UK

The UFC fighter trying to give up smoking 10 a day

Brazil's Prates, 31, has said he is "trying to smoke less to get fitter and healthier", admitting he has been smoking up to 10 cigarettes a day in the build-up to facing the Irishman at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City, Missouri | BBC, UK

Synthetic opioids linked to spate of overdose deaths found in wastewater across Australia

Detection of powerful nitazenes in samples from 60 sites a ‘red flag’ amid surging use to lace street drugs | Guardian, UK

Nasal spray similar to ketamine to be added to PBS for treatment-resistant depression

Spravato, derived from a popular club drug and also known as esketamine, offers hope to tens of thousands of Australians living with chronic mental illness | Guardian, UK

Minister Murnane O’Connor announces €1.89 million funding for community-based drugs services

The Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD, has announced an additional €1.89 million in recurring funding to further enhance community-based drug services | Gov.ie, Ireland

Community drug projects welcome Government funding of €1.9m for addiction treatment services

Community drug projects have welcomed Government funding of almost €1.9m over a three-year period to assist in the “essential life-saving” work carried out by local organisations | Irish Examiner, Ireland

[Open access] Hugely increased taxes on alcohol products implemented in Lithuania in 2017 were associated with a significant decrease in sexual assaults, supporting “the need for … strategies for mitigating violence to include alcohol control measures” | Public Health, USA

Risk of Relapse Following Discharge from Non-Hospital Residential Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: A Systematic Review of Studies Published from 2018 to 2022

[Open access] Returning to opioid use after ‘enforced’ abstinence in residential rehabilitation risks fatal overdose due to lost tolerance. In studies the proportions risking this generally ranged from a quarter to 95% | Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, USA

[Open access] This first attempt to encompass in a single review the global literature on the relationship between various forms of treatment built around the patient and how well the patients do. Included are individualised care, shared decision-making and treatment choice, therapeutic alliance, culturally-informed care, and integrated mental health and substance use treatment | IJDP, USA

State and Sociodemographic Trends in US Cigarette Smoking With Future Projections

In this cross-sectional study of US adults, the gap identified between states that had high vs low smoking prevalence in the 1990s was projected to close before 2035. The only sociodemographic subgroup with a faster decline in the high vs low prevalence states was young adults, but this was counterbalanced by slower decline among adults aged 50 years and older | JAMA Network Open, USA

Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome

We tested the hypothesis that e-cigarette aerosol is metabolized by the indigenous oral microbiome, leading to structural and functional alterations | Nature, USA

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

A new study from Walter Kraft, MD, an internist and clinical pharmacologist at Thomas Jefferson University, and his team further explored the potential of ondansetron, a medication commonly used to treat nausea and considered safe during pregnancy, to help reduce withdrawal symptoms in newborns | Medical Xpress, USA

Young women show greater increase in past-month binge drinking than men

The sex-based differences in past-month binge drinking among young adults reversed in 2021–2023 versus 2017–2019, with higher rates emerging among women, according to a research letter published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association | Medical Xpress, USA

Canada’s Election Guarantees Grim Outlook for Harm Reduction

As Canadians head to the polls in the coming days, they will be faced with few options to increase access to harm reduction while thousands of people continue to die each year from the adulterated drug supply | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Generation K: how ketamine became gen Z’s drug of choice

Talk of an epidemic may be overblown, but increased abuse reflects the habits of young people in danger of becoming generation K | Observer, UK

The ‘messy middle’ of alcohol harm - study links low level drinking with health and wellbeing impacts

Alcohol Change UK is calling for the Government to introduce better labelling on all alcoholic drinks to clearly show health risks and restrict pervasive marketing which pushes alcohol centre-stage, as it publishes a major study revealing that even ‘low risk’ drinking is impacting the nation’s health and wellbeing | Alcohol Change UK blog, UK

Shamil's story: My journey to recovery

My name is Shamil, and I am in long-term recovery from addiction. My journey has been marked by struggle, resilience, and hope. At my lowest point, I was homeless, sleeping on the streets, and battling a severe experience with addiction. I was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis and suffered multiple seizures. By the age of 35, I had been to rehab four times and I was hospitalised 11 times. My turning point came when I decided to seek help after my last drink and drug use while staying in a hostel where substance use was rampant | NHS APA blog, UK

The public health playbook

The British Medical Journal is not happy with the advertising industry. According to an investigation conducted by former Daily Mail health editor Sophie Borland, companies that own outdoor advertising space have been using the “tobacco playbook” to thwart local councils who want to ban “junk food” ads on bus shelters and billboards | The Critic, UK

Health warnings on alcohol products

Sir, – As concerned clinicians, representatives of healthcare and social organisations and advocates, we are calling on the Taoiseach and Minister for Health to ensure that the planned introduction in May 2026 of Ireland’s regulations on health information labelling of alcohol products is not derailed or delayed by alcohol industry lobbying | Irish Times opinion, Ireland

Popcorn lung: how vaping can scar your lungs for life

A US teenager was recently reported to have developed the oddly named medical condition “popcorn lung” after vaping in secret for three years. Officially known as bronchiolitis obliterans, popcorn lung is a rare but serious and irreversible disease that damages the tiny airways in the lungs, leading to persistent coughing, wheezing, fatigue and breathlessness | Conversation, Ireland

What are ‘penjamins’? Disguised cannabis vapes are gaining popularity among young people

E-cigarettes or vapes were originally designed to deliver nicotine in a smokeless form. But in recent years, vapes have been used to deliver other psychoactive substances, including cannabis concentrates and oils | Conversation, Australia

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