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Daily news - 13th August 2025 |
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UK news
RADAR alert issued on nitazenes and contamination of the drugs supply
PHS has published a new RADAR alert on nitazenes to respond to increasing harms and availability in the drugs supply. Nitazene-type drugs are potent, synthetic opioids that are now widely detected in all parts of Scotland. They pose a substantial risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death. In Scotland, nitazenes are most commonly detected as a contaminant in drugs sold as heroin, benzodiazepines and oxycodone. The alert has been issued by Rapid Actions Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR), led by Public Health Scotland. Data within the latest RADAR report indicates that nitazene type opioids are increasingly identified in hospital and post – mortem toxicology in Scotland. Between January and March 2025, nitazenes were detected in 38 deaths | PHS, UK
Newsnight - Section on Nitazenes - video
Watch from 20:25. Vicki Markiewicz, Exec Director of Change Grow Live, spoke about the catastrophic effects of nitazenes & how the drug treatment sector is responding | BBC, UK
New focus on drugs and alcohol harm in Brighton
Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) said the strategy [See item below] aimed to reduce harm, save lives and change attitudes. This would be achieved by shifting demand for drugs and alcohol, improving treatment and recovery services, and reducing the availability of drugs, it added | BBC, UK
Brighton & Hove's new strategy to reduce drug and alcohol harms
We've launched our new Drugs & Alcohol Strategy 2024 to 2030, outlining a city-wide plan to reduce harms, save lives and change attitudes towards substance use | Brighton and Hove City Council, UK
Advice on healthier choices offered at free event
Fit4Life will take place at Scunthorpe General Hospital's Robert Holme Hall, in Church Lane, Scunthorpe, on 18 August from 11:00 to 14:00 BST. Those who attend will be able to learn more about how their diet, alcohol and smoking can affect their health, and will be offered cancer screening and vaccinations | BBC, UK
Vape sellers to pay disposal costs under plans to end UK’s ‘throwaway culture’
Ministers say online vendors of electrical goods such as microwaves will also have to contribute to recycling fees | Guardian, UK
Microdosing Study 2.0
Imperial College's Centre for Psychedelic Research is seeking participants for the second round of its self-blinding microdose project. You are invited to participate if you microdose or are planning to microdose to help with a depression, anxiety, or mood problem | Imperial College, UK
Cocaine-in-cheese smuggler jailed
A woman who tried to smuggle crack cocaine worth £800k into the UK, hidden inside a parmesan cheese wheel, has been jailed for five years and three months | NCA, UK
Boy, 15, one of 20 charged after drugs raids
Twenty people have been charged with conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin, the youngest being a 15-year-old boy from Leyland and the oldest being a 73-year-old man from Blackpool | BBC, UK
International news
What would Trump’s reclassifying of cannabis mean?
Trump is weighing the pros and cons of a marijuana policy change, noting it's a “very complicated subject” | Independent, UK
Mexico expels 26 cartel figures wanted by US officials in deal with White House
High-ranking figures extradited to US as Trump officials ratchet pressure on networks sending drugs across border | Guardian, UK
Alcohol is highest addiction in Kerry according to latest statistics
Alcohol remains one of the highest addictions in Kerry for the first half of 2025 according to latest southwest figures from the Coolmine Therapeutic Community. The drug and alcohol treatment service shows that 63 per cent of people seeking assistance in the county so far this year is related to alcohol consumption | Independent, Ireland
Kratom faces increasing scrutiny from states and the feds
At least 7 states have considered bills to tighten regulations of the herbal supplement this year | Stateline, USA
A roadmap to resources for reporting on drugs
Creating a guide to help journalists shift from drug war framing to a health-centered approach | Missouri School of Journalism, USA
Flavoured Vaping Products in Tobacco Harm Reduction: A Regulatory Perspective
Reducing the harms associated with cigarette smoking is a global public health priority. Both the individual and population level health impacts of smoking can be reduced by novel products which deliver nicotine, but the use of which decreases user exposure to the harmful chemical toxicants responsible for smoking related disease | Cureus, USA
OU researchers explore how cannabis use affects recovery after head and neck cancer surgery
University of Oklahoma researchers are conducting a first-of-its-kind study to determine whether cannabis use affects recovery from the wounds associated with head and neck cancer surgery. The outcomes may have implications for other types of surgery and conditions | News Medical, USA
Drug Trends output: Pharmacotherapy doses amongst a sample of people who inject illicit drugs in Australia, 2024
The Illicit Drugs Reporting System (IDRS) is a national drug monitoring system that has been conducted annually since 2000. Its purpose is to identify emerging trends of local and national concern in illicit drug use, markets and harms. This bulletin explores pharmacotherapy dose characteristics and takeaway dose access among participants recruited through the 2024 IDRS project, with a focus on differences by jurisdiction, age and gender | NDARC, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
Growing up with alcohol harm at home: the difference a trusted adult can make
Growing up with parents who have alcohol problems can increase the risk of difficult and immediate childhood experiences that are directly linked to alcohol use—such as being exposed to violence or other forms of maltreatment (Haugland et al, 2025; Laslett et al., 2020). | IAS blog, UK