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Daily news - 1st August 2025

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UK news

Action on Alcohol - Priorities for policymakers (PDF)

Call for action. A national, cross-government Alcohol Strategy is required to commit the Government to reducing alcohol-related harm and to outline the practical steps it will take to do so. The strategy should be informed by current thinking on health inequalities, aim to strengthen family and community resilience, and foster a healthier, more informed relationship with alcohol across the UK. Crucially, it must recognise the potency of treatment and recovery in meeting the needs of people with alcohol problems, and adequately fund support | APPG Drugs, Alcohol and Justice, Waythrough, With You, Via, UK

THINK! launches summer 2025 drink drive campaign

THINK! has relaunched its drink drive campaign to remind young drivers that even a small amount of alcohol before driving can have serious consequences this summer | Road Safety GB, UK

Warning labels to be added to all alcoholic drinks in UK

The move will bring alcohol labelling in line with the existing requirements for tobacco, food and alcohol-free drinks | Express, UK

[Open access] Sales of alcohol-free and low-alcohol (no/lo) drinks are increasing rapidly but the drivers of this trend remain unclear. Reductions in alcohol consumption during January, including through temporary abstinence campaigns like Dry January, are one potential driver. This study estimates the immediate and long-term impact of changes made in January on sales of standard alcoholic and no/lo drinks in Great Britain | IJDP, UK

Judge highlights 'growing problem' of ketamine

Ketamine is "becoming a problem" on the Isle of Man and a reclassification of the drug could lead to a need for an increase in the island's prison capacity, a judge has said | BBC, UK

‘I was a shoplifter and heroin addict – now I help others like me’

After 32 years of drugs, abuse and petty crime – as well as numerous spells in prison – Charlie pledged to turn her life around. She tells Maira Butt about finally hitting her rock bottom, and why today she is proud to serve as an inspiration to people in the grip of addiction | Independent, UK

Understand - The trip - audio

During the early weeks of the pandemic, Tim Hayward spent 14 days in a coma. He remembers this time vividly – his days and nights filled with strange, incandescent visions and hallucinations. That experience is something he would never choose to revisit but, around the world, large numbers of people are deliberately seeking out powerfully altered states. In this ten-part series, Tim sets out to better understand a group of substances that induce altered states: psychedelics | BBC Sounds, UK

"We Don't Need To Struggle Alone" - Listen UP Episode 5 - Iain Lee

In Listen UP Episode 5, discover recovery strategies that saved broadcaster and presenter Iain Lee's life, and how he understood lasting sobriety is possible, even after devastating relapses and career destruction | Abbeycare Foundation, UK

Cannabis: Misuse

To ask His Majesty's Government what conclusions for their drugs policy they have drawn from the evidence about the effects of cannabis on health set out in Epidemiology of Cannabis: Genotoxicity, Neurotoxicity, Epigenomics and Aging by A.S. Reece and G.K. Hulse | They work for you, UK

Smoking: Health Services

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to implement automatic enrolment into smoking cessation programmes when people register for other NHS services or check-in to appointments | They work for you, UK

UK Government supports ACMD plan to enable research with schedule 1 medicines such as psilocybin and MDMA

Despite the resurgence of research into the clinical efficacy and mechanism of action of psychedelic drugs such as such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, and MDMA they are currently in Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs regulations 2001. This means that researchers must apply for a controlled drugs licence from the Home Office to possess, supply, or administer these substances, even when ethical and regulatory approvals are already in place. This places significant barriers to research, in terms of cost, delays, bureaucracy and stigma and some researchers in the UK will not conduct this research because of these barriers | Drug Science, UK

Modelling the effects of public policy on e-cigarette use - funding opportunity

Our Public Health Research (PHR) Programme is looking to fund research to explore what modelling can tell us about the impact of current and potential public policies on e-cigarette use. This is a two-stage funding opportunity. To apply for the first stage you should submit an outline application. If invited to the second stage, you will then need to complete a full application | NIHR, UK

Raids target 'fast parcel' drugs importation gang

Nine people have been arrested after a series of raids linked to a so-called "fast parcel" cannabis importation gang. The practice sees the drug smuggled into the UK in packages from around the world via express delivery companies, Greater Manchester Police said | BBC, UK

Closure order extended due to anti-social behaviour

Parts of a town will remain "closed" to anyone who does not live there after concerns about drug use and and anti-social behaviour (ASB). A three-month open space closure order in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, has been extended until 7 November as police work to identify those involved in the issues | BBC, UK

International news

Vodka seltzers mislabeled as energy drinks trigger product recall

Packaging mixup resulted in drinks labeled as Celsius energy drinks actually containing High Noon vodka seltzers | Guardian, UK

Kenya's sweeping alcohol control plan sparks anger

A storm is brewing in Kenya over the latest proposals to control the sale and consumption of alcohol, including raising the minimum drinking age from 18 to 21 | BBC, UK

[Open access] Naltrexone injections block the effects of opioids for a month, promoting abstinence. That effect leaves patients vulnerable to overdose if they return to opioid use following treatment. In Norway this risk was confirmed when 10 patients died from overdose the year after the treatment was forced to end | DAD, USA

System wide program shows improvement for treating opioid use disorder

Routinely offering and initiating medication-based treatment for those with opioid use disorder has the potential to save lives in health care settings throughout the country, according to the authors of a new study from The Ohio State University | Medical Xpress, USA

FDA Marks 7-OH, Kratom Compound With Opioid Effect, for CSA Schedule I

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly referred to as 7-OH, be federally scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act. The agency announced July 29 that it had initiated the review process with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has suggested that 7-OH should be classified as Schedule I | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Government's decision to delay alcohol health labelling is bowing to lobbyist influence

Rowing back on its own democratically introduced alcohol regulations shows a government in thrall to lobbyists with a clear agenda, writes Dr Sheila Gilheany, the CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland | Irish Examiner, Ireland

Colombia is producing more cocaine than ever – and more is reaching Australian shores

Imagine an area larger than the Australian Capital Territory, nearly twice the size of London and four times that of New York City covered in coca plantations. That’s the scale of Colombia’s coca cultivation, according to an estimate from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Colombia produces an estimated 2,664 metric tonnes of cocaine annually. That is enough to fill 20 Boeing 747 cargo planes per year. In the past year alone, coca crops expanded by 10% and production capacity soared more than 50%. So how did it come to this? | Conversation, Australia

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