Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports

Daily news - 3rd July 2025

UK news

Hospital opens clinic for children on ketamine

Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool is thought to be the first in the country to run a programme aimed specifically at minors | BBC, UK

Would making ketamine Class A stop Gen Z using it?

"Upgrading ketamine to Class A just means that young people will take dirtier, unsafe drugs, the money will go to the dealers and no one wins." | BBC, UK

Alcohol advertising ban scrapped following industry backlash

The Department for Health and Social Care has significantly watered down proposals to limit alcohol-related harm | The Grocer, UK

[Open access] Understanding the motives for reducing alcohol consumption, how they differ among various population groups, and how they have evolved over time is crucial for designing effective public health interventions. This study estimated time trends in motives for attempts to reduce alcohol consumption among risky adult drinkers in England between 2017 and 2024 and explored differences by sociodemographics and alcohol consumption levels | DADR, UK

Smoking scheme extended after first year success

Swap to Stop in Wolverhampton provides free vaping kits and support around smoker's behaviour to help them give up the habit | BBC, UK

SARG researchers co-author new book exploring 'culture of caution' in youth drinking decline

A new book by an international team of experts, including researchers from the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), unpacks the complex social, cultural and economic factors driving the decline in young people's alcohol consumption | SARG, UK

Awareness Posters

A selection of alcohol awareness posters available to download for free | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK

Beyond the journal: Sharing addiction science through the media

Tuesday, July 15 · 12 - 1pm GMT+1. Discover how to share your research with integrity, impact, and confidence across traditional news outlets and contemporary media platforms | SSA, UK

Single-use vapes ban date confirmed in Jersey

The government said Minister for Infrastructure Andy Jehan signed a commencement order making it illegal to import or supply single-use vapes from 1 August, with retailers having until 1 February to sell existing stock | BBC, UK

'Reckless' ex-PC would have been sacked for drugs

A police officer has been dismissed from a force after it was found he was using unprescribed anabolic steroids | BBC, UK

Cocaine dealer who used EncroChat messaging app jailed

A drug dealer who used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to smuggle large quantities of cocaine into Northern Ireland has been jailed for eight years | BBC, UK

Two arrested after estimated £1.4m suspected cannabis plants seized

Two people have been arrested after police seized suspected cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £1.4m in the Strabane area | BBC, UK

International news

Recent Innovations to Detect and Intervene to Prevent Opioid Overdose Deaths

[Open access] Opioid overdose deaths have become a rapidly growing global health crisis, with current estimates indicating over 125,000 deaths annually worldwide. Despite the scale and urgency of this public health emergency, opioid overdose remains an area of strangely ‘undone science’. Five interconnected areas of research are examined, addressing critical gaps in our understanding and our response to opioid overdose events | Kings College London, UK

Trends in cocaine use and cocaine-related harms in Ireland: a retrospective, multi-source database study

Increased cocaine supply has coincided with increased global cocaine use. In 2019 Ireland had one of the highest last-year rates of cocaine use in Europe. However, there is a lack of data on the health-related impacts of cocaine use in European countries over time | BMC Public Health, UK

‘People pay to be told lies’: the rise and fall of the world’s first ayahuasca multinational

Alberto Varela claimed he wanted to use sacred plant medicine to free people’s minds. But as the organisation grew, his followers discovered a darker reality | Guardian, UK

Drug use in Ireland 2023: findings from the Healthy Ireland survey

Ireland’s national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery: A health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017-2025, is a health-led approach to protecting individuals, families, and communities against the harms associated with problem drug use and empowering individuals to improve their health and well-being | HRB, Ireland

Taoiseach warns of cocaine 'epidemic' as drug use surges across Ireland

Micheál Martin cites health risks and rising prevalence among youth, following €31m cocaine seizure in Cork | Irish Examiner, Ireland

HSE issues vapes alert on six e-cigarettes falsely labelled as nicotine-free

The six e-cigarettes were found to contain nicotine at concentrations as high as 30 mg/ml following analysis by the State Laboratory — far above the legal concentration level for nicotine vapes | Irish Examiner, Ireland

First anniversary: EUDA delivers key gains in strengthening Europe’s preparedness on drugs

Exactly one year ago today, we became the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and embarked on our new mission to strengthen EU preparedness on drugs. Building on the work of the EMCDDA, and with a more proactive mandate, we set off to support the EU and its Member States in addressing emerging drug issues in an ever-changing world. Our work contributes to making Europe's streets safer and to saving lives. Our motto — 'Acting today, anticipating tomorrow' | EUDA, Portugal

Support networks may be missing link for college students who seek help for excessive drinking

College students who want help overcoming high-risk drinking could benefit from a two-pronged approach that combines an individual-focused psychological theory with social network analysis | Medical Xpress, USA

Alcohol impacts decision-making in males more than females, findings suggest

Alcohol consumption is widely known to affect decision-making, but a recent study led by researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso found that the extent of that impact may have something to do with the drinker's gender | Medical Xpress, USA

Increasing contingency management incentives can help more patients recover from addiction

"During the early stages of addiction recovery there is typically not much that is positive for patients," says behavioral health counselor Carla J. Rash, Ph.D. of UConn School of Medicine. "But Contingency Management is an effective, behavioral tool bringing some early-on positivity to a patient's addiction recovery treatment plan until the positive benefits of their medication and body's natural recovery kicks in." | Medical Xpress, USA

Disparities in Treatment and Referral After an Opioid Overdose Among Emergency Department Patients

In this cohort study of 1683 patients, there was a statistically significant difference in the proportion of Black patients who received an outpatient treatment referral (5.7%) compared with White patients (9.6%) | JAMA Network Open, USA

Drug Trends output: Trends in overdose and other drug-induced deaths in Australia, 2004-2023

This report presents the most recent and in-depth data on overdose and drug-induced deaths in Australia, covering the period from 2004 to 2023. It is the most recent output in a series of annual publications on trends in drug overdose deaths issued by Drug Trends for over 20 years | NDARC, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

‘Gas station heroin’: the drug sold as a dietary supplement that’s linked to overdoses and deaths

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an urgent warning about tianeptine – a substance marketed as a dietary supplement but known on the street as “gas station heroin” | Conversation, UK

Motion sickness drug linked to cases of robbery and assault – here’s what you need to know about ‘devil’s breath’

Scopolamine, more chillingly known as “devil’s breath,” is a drug with a dual identity. In medicine, it’s used to prevent motion sickness and nausea. But in the criminal underworld, particularly in parts of South America, it has gained a dark reputation as a substance that can erase memory, strip away free will and facilitate serious crimes. Now, its presence may be sparking fresh concerns in the UK | Conversation, UK

Extend Studio