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Daily news - 6th August 2025 |
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UK news
Open call for evidence- Ketamine harms assessment
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is calling for evidence on ketamine use, harms and interventions. This call for evidence closes at
midday on 19 August 2025 | ACMD, UK
Inside Health - Can we reverse rising drug deaths? - audio
Drug-related deaths are at their highest levels in England and Wales since records began 30 years ago. Scotland has had the highest number of drug deaths in Europe for at least seven years. And the UK has even seen opioid-related deaths surpass the number of people dying in road traffic accidents. So today on Inside Health we’re asking, what's the real story behind these numbers? Who is dying of a drug overdose and why - and how can we tackle this issue? | BBC Sounds, UK
Coroner concerned with festival's 'open' drug trade
A coroner has highlighted concerns over an "unchecked, open and free trade" of drugs at a festival after the death of a 22-year-old man. Benjamin Buckfield died after he took MDMA he had bought at Boomtown festival near Winchester in August last year, an inquest found. Coroner Nicholas Walker has called on Boomtown and Hampshire police to take action to prevent more deaths at the event, which starts on Wednesday | BBC, UK
Boardmasters drug warning as thousands set to attend
Sniffer dogs and increased police patrols will be deployed on roads as up to 58,000 people descend on the area for a five-day festival | BBC, UK
Wes Streeting warned alcohol measures ‘are not sufficient’ to stop harm
The Government has recently set out its 10-year plan to improve the health of the nation | Independent, UK
Many retailers 'not aware of disposable vape ban'
Trading Standards officers in Derbyshire have seized almost 2,500 disposable vapes since a nationwide ban came into force on 1 June. The ban applies to all retailers, including online stores, and prohibits the sale of both nicotine and non-nicotine disposable vapes, with the primary aim of reducing environmental damage and addressing addiction in young people. Officers working across Derbyshire said they have come across retailers who said they "did not know" the ban was in place | BBC, UK
How can we end smoking in the UK?
What would it take to end smoking in 20 years? asks Hazel Cheeseman, CEO of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) | Open Access Government, UK
Vape ban winners and losers
When legal sales of disposable vapes were stubbed out on 1 June, Scotland took a hard hit, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to prosper. Our exclusive data from Talysis highlights exactly how the Scottish convenience market has been impacted and where the opportunities lie going forwards | SLR Mag, UK
Experts express concern for future of Health Survey for England
Study is not being stood down but will no longer be run by NHS England, government says | Guardian, UK
Beer giant’s advert that implied alcohol could cure boredom banned
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received one complaint about the advert | Independent, UK
Dealer who supplied fatal drug to girl, 16, jailed
Tilly Wooler took the drug with friends in a park in Todmorden after buying £40 of Class A MDMA from Michael Shaw in July 2024. She became unwell and collapsed and, despite hospital treatment, never regained consciousness | BBC, UK
International news
A systematic review of reviews on comprehensive community initiatives to prevent or reduce alcohol and other drug harms
[Open access] Reviewers synthesised the findings of 87 reviews of studies of multi-pronged, community-wide attempts to prevent substance-related harms. The evidence was “largely inconsistent”, but enough to recommend supplementing school-based education with parenting-related activities plus media campaigns to extend their preventive reach beyond schools | Addiction, UK
Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction - photo library
Featuring over 900 free-to-use images of safer nicotine products and tobacco harm reduction photography These images are free for you to use in your projects, just remember to credit GSTHR! | Flickr, UK
Sydney man arrested for allegedly selling vapes ‘supercharged’ with dangerous synthetic opioid
Sam Al Roubaye, 20, first person in Australia to be arrested for allegedly running vape network distributing ‘incredibly potent’ drug nitazene | Guardian, UK
EUDA webinar: Novel strategies to promote health and social responses to drug use — e-prevention and e-harm reduction - video
This webinar explored how digital initiatives can support public health and social responses to drug use. With a focus on e-prevention and e-harm reduction, the discussion will highlight how these strategies have a potential to break geographical and social barriers to reach individuals in need through online platforms | EUDA, Portugal
FDA requires stronger safety labels for opioid medications
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it will now be requiring updated safety labels for all opioid pain medications to better highlight the risks of long-term use, including misuse, addiction, and overdose | Medical Xpress, USA
Cannabis use disorder triples five-year risk of oral cancer
New research links heavy, problematic cannabis use to a worrying rise in oral cancer cases, raising urgent questions about the health impacts of legalization | News Medical, USA
Cannabis products at unlicensed shops lack safety labels and use packaging appealing to kids
A new study led by researchers at Columbia University reveals that cannabis products sold in unlicensed retail shops in New York state often lack required health and safety labels and many feature colorful, cartoon-like packaging attractive to youth | Medical Xpress, USA
Hidden Costs of Ban the Box Laws: Unraveling the Effects on Drug-Related Deaths
States and cities across the USA have adopted laws to prevent employers conducting criminal background on applicants until they have had a chance to show they are good candidate – an attempt to mitigate discrimination against ex-offenders. But according to this analysis, one effect has been to exacerbate discrimination against black and Hispanic men and thereby increase their risk of drug overdose death | Health Economics, USA
Fight Over Claimed Ownership of Drug-Checking Technology
People have always had to fight for the right to test their drugs, to get information about whether they’re likely to cause a horrendously intense trip, or death. But now, two suppliers of drug-testing kits are embroiled in an acrimonious row over ownership of the technology behind certain potentially life-saving products, highlighting the difficult relationship between harm reduction and profit | Filter Magazine, USA
‘This Drug is Evil’: Synthetic Kush Use Ravages West African Communities
A man in Freetown, Sierra Leone, inhaled from a kush cigarette, a synthetic drug that looks like marijuana but can be 25 times more powerful than fentanyl. He was one of dozens of people smoking the drug under a bridge, where trash and blankets are strewn in the dirt | ADF, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
“We’re managing the chaos”: Why Alcohol Care Teams matter more than ever
In this month’s Alcohol Alert podcast, we spoke to Professor Julia Sinclair and Arlene Copland about the crucial role of Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) in acute hospitals – and the growing threat they face | IAS blog, UK