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Daily news - 25th June 2025 |
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UK news
Scotland’s alcohol consumption continues to exceed safe levels
New data published by Public Health Scotland (PHS) reveals people in Scotland are drinking 50% above safe limits, with more deprived communities hit hardest. Despite recent improvements, Scotland continues to face a significant alcohol problem, with adults who drink alcohol consuming an average of 21.6 units per week. This is more than 50% above the Chief Medical Officers' safe drinking guidelines of 14 for both men and women | Public Health Scotland, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times
10,233 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,012 (49.0%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,845 (37.6%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,376 (13.4%) for co-dependency (problematic use of both alcohol and drugs) | Public Health Scotland, UK
Estimated numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland
In the 12-month period ending 31 December 2024 (the end of 2024/25 Q3), Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) was prescribed to an estimated minimum of 28,644 people in Scotland. In the 12 months to the end of the previous financial year quarter (2024/25 Q2) an estimated minimum of 29,126 people were prescribed OST | Public Health Scotland, UK
Ketamine crisis ‘overwhelming’ authorities as children as young as 12 becoming 'addicted' to drug
Local leaders in Cheshire are battling to keep ketamine at bay across the county, with health officials warning of the "life-changing" consequences of prolonged use of the drug that 13-year-olds are understood to be dealing | ITV, UK
Successful Worcestershire hospital stop smoking programme is changing lives and saving the NHS thousands of pounds
A Programme offering support for hospital patients in Worcestershire to stop smoking has proved a huge success helping to save lives, free up hospital bed spaces, and save the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds in treatment | Worcester Observer, UK
Service starts to help young people quit vapes [Guernsey]
QuitVape will run for an initial pilot period of six months and was available to young people aged 12-18 | BBC, UK
B3 / BSAFE Recovery Arts & Crafts Workshop
B3 is a Brent-based LERO that supports individuals affected by substance use. Through structured weekly meetings, personal development courses, and BSAFE (Brent Social Access for Everyone) – a weekend drop-in service – clients can access guidance, community, and a safe space to stay engaged in their recovery | DDN, UK
The Manifesto Sessions: #1 Why language is important - video
The first webinar of The Manifesto Sessions, kicks off by discussing why language within the substance use field is important. In this episode, Rob Barker, Barod's Campaigns and Communications Lead, discusses the process of working with people with lived and living experience of substance use that has led to the publication of the organisations new terminology guide, 'Why Language Matters' | Barod, UK
Forward Chair Tony Adams to play in charity football match in memory Emma Urquhart
Join us at 11:30am, Saturday 28 June, for the second Emma Urquhart Cup at Margate FC | Forward Trust, UK
THE DEFAD STUDY - Developing Educational Films About Drug use - call for partipants
People who use drugs are often described in negative terms by the media and other sources. We are developing an intervention which provides alternative information. The aim is to improve how people who use drugs get treated. By doing so we aim to improve their health and wellbeing. We are studying how people respond to potential content for this intervention | University of Bristol, UK
'Homeless women need their own spaces'
When Josie became separated from her children after escaping an abusive relationship, she went to a "very dark place over it". The stress of finding a new home, paired with the psychological weight of the abuse, was a "recipe for disaster", she said | BBC, UK
Man calls for tougher drugs sentences after son's death
The father of a man who killed himself after becoming addicted to cocaine, is calling for automatic custodial sentences for those caught dealing the drug | BBC, UK
International news
Tobacco exposure killed more than 7m people in 2023, study finds
Researchers say tobacco linked to about one in eight deaths worldwide and numbers rising sharply in some countries | Guardian, UK
WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2025: warning about the dangers of tobacco
The tenth WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic tracks the progress made by countries in tobacco control since 2008. The MPOWER technical package was designed to help countries adopt the demand-reduction measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The 2025 report focuses on the W measure: warn about the dangers of tobacco and shows that with 6.1 billion people protected by at least one MPOWER measure at best-practice level many countries continue to make progress in the fight against tobacco | WHO, Denmark
2025 World Drug Day: UNODC and CND must take urgent action to end unlawful use of the death penalty for drug-related offences
On the occasion of the 2025 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, also known as World Drug Day, on 26 June, 70 organizations have issued this joint statement to call on the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to unequivocally condemn the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences and take concrete steps to ensure that international human rights safeguards restricting the imposition of this cruel punishment are fully implemented, with a view to its full abolition | Amnesty International, UK
Trajectories of hospital-presenting alcohol-related disorders between early and late adulthood: Exploring the role of mortality in a prospective study of a 1953 cohort
[Open access] Alcohol-related disorders (ARDs) are associated with severe attributable harms that evolve throughout the life course, comprising distinct trajectories. Yet, how mortality affects the identification, shape and number of trajectory groups remains poorly understood. This study aimed to: (1) derive trajectories of hospital-presenting ARDs between early and late adulthood; (2) compare trajectories that include mortality information versus trajectories excluding individuals who died during follow-up; and (3) predict trajectory membership based on exposure to familial risk factors between ages 0–19 | Addiction, UK
Reframing psychedelic regulation: Tools, not treatments
Current regulation frameworks for medicines struggle to address the combination of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic elements in psychedelic therapy. We propose a more appropriate and advantageous approach may be to regulate psychedelic drugs as therapeutic tools or adjuncts to psychotherapy, rather than as treatments for specific mental disorders | Drug Science, UK
Thailand to ban recreational cannabis three years after decriminalisation
Thailand is moving to pass new legislation banning cannabis for recreational use in a major reversal, three years after the country became the first in Asia to decriminalise the drug, local media reports. On Tuesday, Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said he had signed an announcement limiting cannabis to medical use only, Bangkok news site Khaosod confirmed | ITV, UK
EUDA hosts design thinking workshop to shape future cannabis policy toolkit
This week, the EUDA is hosting a design thinking workshop in Lisbon to help shape a new European cannabis policy toolkit ‘Cannapol’ — an initiative aimed at supporting national cannabis policy design and evaluation across the EU. The two-day meeting brings together experts from several EU Member States as well as from the project partners RAND Europe and the Trimbos Instituut | EUDA, Portugal
E-Cigarette and Cannabis Social Media Posts and Adolescent Substance Use
In this survey study of 7612 adolescents, frequent exposure to cannabis posts on social media broadly was associated with solo e-cigarette use, solo cannabis use, and dual use initiation a year later, whereas platform-specific exposure to e-cigarette posts on TikTok was associated with solo cannabis and dual use initiation. Exposure to e-cigarette and cannabis posts from microinfluencers was associated with past-month cannabis use, whereas exposure to e-cigarette posts from friends was associated with past-month dual use; exposure to friends’ cannabis posts was also associated with past-month cannabis and dual use | JAMA Network Open, USA
New 'designer drugs' pose growing threat to road safety in the US
No one could claim to be unaware of the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID): drugs can increase the time needed to react, impair coordination, alertness, and cognition, and lower inhibitions, thus encouraging reckless and aggressive driving | Medical Xpress, USA
Psilocybin, Ketamine, and MDMA in Cancer Care: Next Steps in Psychedelic Research
As interest grows in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, the role of pharmacists in ensuring safe, effective, and ethically sound care is becoming increasingly important. In this interview with Pharmacy Times®, Manish Agrawal, MD, co-founder and CEO of Sunstone Therapies and a leader in psychedelic research in oncology, discusses ongoing efforts to develop standardized protocols for psilocybin and MDMA administration | Pharmacy Times, USA
Handy pen-like tool could help detect opioids from the skin
Typical screening methods for drug usage involve collection of blood, saliva or urine samples. Now, in Analytical Chemistry, researchers demonstrate a pen-like tool that can quickly and non-invasively collect molecules from the skin's surface to be screened for opioids with mass spectrometry | Medical Xpress, USA
How Can Drug Decriminalization Be Built to Last?
In public drug policy conversations, decriminalization has too often been framed as a catch-all solution to drug-related issues, from overdose and stigma to health care access and public drug use. It’s easy to see why—especially in the heat of campaigns pushing for long-overdue reform—but overpromising can be dangerous | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Empowering Consumers: The Right to Know About Alcohol and Cancer Risk
In our latest blog, Dr Catherine White explains the importance of alcohol health risk labelling and the consumers’ right to know about the links between alcohol and cancer | SHAAP blog, UK
I wish I had known more about alcohol when I started drinking
It seems a sensible move to use explicit warning labels on products. What I’m more sceptical about is the ‘No amount of alcohol is safe for you’ messaging ... | Guardian opinion, UK
Leading Forward – Mike’s monthly vlog - June
“I do think there needs to be more acknowledgment that one of the reasons why police forces would be nervous about losing those cannabis enforcement powers, but I’ve got to say, I’m not sure that this is the way we should be writing our laws.” The Forward Trust’s CEO, Mike Trace, takes a deep dive look into the newly published report findings by the London Drugs Commission, chaired by former Labour cabinet minister Lord Falconer, which makes 42 recommendations, including removing natural cannabis from the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) | Forward Trust, UK