Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports

Daily news - 9th June 2025

UK news

Ketamine crisis causing A&E influx - councillor

Parts of Lancashire are in the grip of a "ketamine crisis" with the drug causing a surge in visits to A&E amongst those using it, councillors have been warned | BBC, UK

Addiction Healthcare Goals - Innovate UK - Accelerated Knowledge Transfer 4 (AKT4)

Are you an Academic or Organisation with an innovative challenge that can help address the aims of the Addiction Healthcare Goals? AKT enables UK organisations (such as companies, and NHS or voluntary sector treatment services) to accelerate innovation, working with a UK Knowledge Base (such as a university) to deliver a rapid and targeted intervention to accelerate the evaluation or development of an innovation project or concept, which has the potential for significant impact. Applications close on 2 July 2025 at 11am prompt | Office for Life Sciences, UK

[Open access] To reduce Glasgow’s poor record of drug-related harm and deaths, health services tried offering cash incentives to high-risk service users to engage them in a three-monthly set of investigations and treatments to reduce harm related to injecting | Addictive Behaviours Reports, UK

UK supermarkets exploit tax loophole to produce cider at ‘pocket-money prices’

Campaigners say ‘super-strength subsidy’ puts pressure on the NHS, as some ciders cost same as apple juice | Guardian, UK

Regional public opinion [on tobacco] - updated

A tool setting out public support and opinion on key issues in tobacco control, broken down by regions in England | ASH, UK

'I used to drink 12 pints a day, now I help others quit alcohol'

Three years ago Jimi Wilson was drinking well over ten times the weekly recommended alcohol limit every week - now he's not had a drink in over two years | BBC, UK

'I was Birmingham's most prolific shoplifter'

Previously known as "Birmingham's most prolific shoplifter", Ms Knowles had been to jail 28 times but is now 18 months clean and on a mission to give addicts hope | BBC, UK

Naloxone

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of the role of naloxone in preventing opioid-related deaths | They work for you, UK

Electronic Cigarettes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the ban on single-use vapes coming into force on 1 June 2025, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) smokers and (b) ex-smokers are aware of the need to switch to reusable vapes | They work for you, UK

Electronic Cigarettes: Children

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how many 12 to 16 year olds use vapes in (a) Hounslow (b) London | They work for you, UK

Hidden populations in household surveys on smoking prevalence with Emma Beard - podcast

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Emma Beard, a lecturer in statistics and quantitative methods at University College London. The interview covers Emma’s research report titled, ‘How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence?’ | SSA, UK

Exploring Experiences of Substance Use Stigma in LGBTQIA+ Communities - Part 1 - video

Stigma related to drug and alcohol use within LGBTQIA+ communities involves deeply layered and interconnected social, cultural, and structural issues. This webinar aims to unpack these experiences by centring the voices of people with lived and living experience. They will share their perspectives on what inclusive treatment looks like and how we can better support people at the intersection of substance use and diverse gender and sexual identities | AntiStigma Network, UK

Drugs kingpin convicted of running cannabis farms

The head of an organised crime group has been convicted of running a network of drug factories capable of producing millions of pounds worth of cannabis | BBC, UK

International news

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’

Exclusive: Melbourne team demonstrates way to make the virus visible within white blood cells, paving the way to fully clear it from the body | Guardian, UK

Proposed Republican cuts could undo opioid epidemic progress in Appalachia

Few other places in the US will see the effects of funding cuts felt more than in Appalachian communities | Guardian, UK

Plans for HSE primary care centre delayed over residents' concerns it wlll house methadone clinic

Plans for a new primary care centre in part of the former Baggot Street Hospital in Dublin have been placed on hold following an appeal by both the HSE and objection from local residents who fear the facility may include a methadone clinic | Breaking News, Ireland

DrugNet Ireland - Spring 2025

The ESHEILD project was launched in University College Cork (UCC) on 29 February 2025 at an event attended by harm reduction experts, policymakers, and student representatives. With further higher education institutions (HEIs) expected to adopt the initiative, ESHEILD marks the beginning of a coordinated national effort to reduce drug-related harms and risks among students across Ireland | HRB, Ireland

EUDA welcomes Belgian National Drug Commissioner

This week, the EUDA hosted the Belgian National Drug Commissioner, Ine Van Wymersch, during her two-day visit to Lisbon. Ms Van Wymersch was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Fabien Gerard and other members of the Belgian National Drug Commission | EUDA, Portugal

Teens who smoke or vape are more likely to use cannabis, study finds

Researchers reveal that German youth who smoke or vape are hundreds of times more likely to try cannabis, highlighting the need for early, targeted prevention in schools | News Medical, USA

Exploring Opioid Use Disorder Outcomes by Quantitative Urinalysis: Post Hoc Analysis of a Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial

[Open access] Evidence from the USA that the advantage of long-acting buprenorphine injections over daily sublingual doses may have been underestimated by urinalysis methods which detect opioid abstinence but not reduced use | Journal of Addiction Medicine, USA

Making sure crime doesn’t pay: How recovered assets from criminal activities help Mozambique to deliver public services

One of the main features of the UN Conventions against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and against Corruption (UNCAC) was the agreement to elevate the recovery of stolen assets and their management as a fundamental principle of the fight against crime. Proceeds from transnational organized crime and corruption can be seized, confiscated and recovered – even if they were transferred abroad – and returned to the country from which they had been taken or to their rightful owners | UNODC, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

How Britain fell into the K-hole

When we hear that Elon Musk was prescribed ketamine, as he admitted in 2024, what are we supposed to conclude? Is it a sign that ketamine has entered the mainstream of 21st-century culture? Is it a part of a Silicon Valley wellness vogue, or illicit drug culture? Does it connect to Musk’s nihilistic right-wing politics, or to the rainbow psychedelia of Burning Man? Is it therapy, or is ketamine itself the problem? | New Statesman, UK

The hall of mirrors: stigma at queer intersections - Q&A with Dr Mark Adley

After years of working in various settings across North East England – including prisons, community drug treatment and homelessness services – I noticed something unsettling: the invisibility of marginalised LGBTQ+ people. This led me to apply for a three-year funded PhD in which I interviewed 72 people – 39 LGBTQ+ individuals dealing with issues like homelessness, substance use, or domestic violence, and 33 professionals who work with them | AntiStigma Network blog, UK