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Daily news - 18th March 2025

UK news

Wastewater analysis: Measuring illicit drug consumption

This report presents the findings from the Home Office Wastewater Analysis Programme, including consumption estimates for key illicit drugs in early 2023 and 2024 | Home Office, UK

Health secretary admits 'risk of disruption' in NHS overhaul

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said there is a "risk of disruption" in the NHS as he attempts to overhaul the service and reduce waste, but has promised long-term improvements | BBC, UK

New pub rule coming into force from April 1 will be 'incredibly disappointing'

The temporary licensing regulation was a lifeline for the hospitality industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but it will not be renewed when its time is up in two weeks' time | Mirror, UK

Councils unprepared for retailer licensing scheme to sell tobacco, vapes and nicotine

Research conducted by the Express found that 92% of councils had not started preparing for the new licensing scheme | Convenience Store, UK

Growing concern over number of young people vaping

A new study has sparked growing concerns over the number of young people with a nicotine addiction through vaping | BBC, UK

Children aged SEVEN are vaping warns head of UK's first clinic dedicated to getting youngsters off the smoking substitutes

The UK's first vaping cessation service aimed at children opened just two months ago at a hospital in Liverpool but has been fully booked for weeks, Rachel Isba revealed today | Mail Online, UK

£2.5m grant to tackle town drug and alcohol misuse

Work to tackle drug and alcohol addictions in Stockton is set to stepped up with a £2.5m government grant. It is the fourth year that the council has received additional funding from the "From Harm, To Hope" Home Office strategy | BBC, UK

Drag star The Vivienne died after taking ketamine, family says

James Lee Williams, better known as drag star The Vivienne, died from a cardiac arrest caused by the effects of taking ketamine, their family has said | BBC, UK

DSN Women and Alcohol Seminar: Female Offending and the Police Courts in Victorian Lancashire

Thursday 8 May 2025, online. Craig Stafford will discuss his forthcoming book, and the research behind it, in a flash talk designed to inspire conversation. His book explores the relationship between women, police and magistrates with a focus on Victorian Lancashire, using the boroughs of Salford, Rochdale and Bolton as case studies | Women and Alcohol, UK

Rise in drug taking and self-harm at women's jail

An inmate at a prison where inspectors found high levels of self harm had hurt herself 400 times in one year, a report said | BBC, UK

Three jailed over £3m crack cocaine conspiracy

Three members of a drugs gang responsible for flooding an East Yorkshire town with more than £3m worth of crack cocaine have been jailed | BBC, UK

International news

Advertising zero-alcohol drinks ‘flagrant breach’ of laws, campaign group claims

Restrictions should apply to alcohol-free versions of drinks at sports events and near schools, Alcohol Action Ireland says | Irish Times, Ireland

FDA warns of rising injuries from misuse of laughing gas

Health officials are warning about a rise in injuries linked to the misuse of nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas | Medical Xpress, USA

Patterns of Use of e-Cigarettes and Their Respiratory Effects: A Critical Umbrella Review

[Open access] E-cigarettes (ECs) are a well-established consumer product. To study their respiratory health effects, there is the issue of heterogenous patterns of use: concurrently with cigarette smoking (dual use), exclusive use after smoking cessation (exclusive use), or use initiated without any prior or current use of cigarettes (naïve use). Our primary goal was to synthesize the evidence on the respiratory effects of ECs use in adults, categorized by their pattern of use | Tobacco Use Insights, USA

Use of Wearable Transdermal Alcohol Sensors for Monitoring Alcohol Consumption After Detoxification With Contingency Management: Pilot Randomized Feasibility Trial

[Open access] Records from a wrist bracelet which continuously assessed the amount the wearer had drunk were used to determine whether detoxified patients at London alcohol services would be financially rewarded for avoiding risky drinking. While some fine-tuning was needed, the trial showed this was a viable intervention | JMIR, USA

[Open access] Observations and interviews with bartenders in mainly small, independent bars in Marseilles in France show how they manage drinking and their customers to maintain a safe and pleasant environment. Possible legal repercussions were a minor consideration | SSM, USA

Perceived impacts of North Americas first de-medicalized safer supply program

[Open access] Defying legal restrictions, in 2022 a club opened a shopfront in Vancouver to sell users of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine at high risk of overdose drugs tested for quality and in limited amounts. Already known was that non-fatal overdoses more than halved. A new report documents further wide-ranging benefits seen by the users | Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, USA

Alcohol-related harms continue to be common and deadly in patients treated for other primary drug problems

Despite the many risks related to alcohol in addiction patients, treatment providers may overlook it if patients enter treatment with a different primary substance, like opioids or stimulants. This study examined how self-reported alcohol use at treatment entry among patients entering treatment for another drug use disorder predicted long-term health risks and mortality, highlighting the urgent need for more comprehensive alcohol screening and broader intervention | Recovery Research Institute, USA

HALT Fentanyl Act Clears Senate, Poised to Become Law

On March 14, the Senate passed legislation that would permanently ban fentanyl-related substances (FRS) under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. S. 331, better known as the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act, would escalate the mass incarceration crisis by fast-tracking prosecution of cases involving any substance with a chemical structure similar to fentanyl, even if the substance is inert | Filter Magazine, USA

Alcohol treatment in Australia: Client characteristics and patterns of service use, 2013–14 to 2022–23

Clients accessing alcohol and other drug treatment services often receive multiple episodes of treatment over a number of years. This report describes the characteristics and patterns of service use for 3 client cohorts between 2013–14 and 2022–23 where alcohol was a principal drug of concern (either alcohol only or alcohol and another principal drug of concern (PDOC)). | AIHW, Australia

National consensus statement on opioid agonist treatment in custodial settings

[Open access] Recommendations on methadone and buprenorphine treatment in prison and on release from an expert panel of clinical, consumer and public health stakeholders representing all Australian jurisdictions | MJA, Australia

Drug Trends output: The use of nicotine pouches among people in Australia who regularly consume illicit substances, 2024

There are concerns that nicotine pouches have gained popularity due to their lower cost, ease of concealability, as well as recent laws introducing restrictions to the access of e-cigarettes, however literature on use remains scarce. In 2024, questions on past 6-month use of nicotine pouches, and source of obtainment, were included in the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS) and the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS). This bulletin aims to examine patterns of use and sourcing of nicotine pouches among these two samples of people who regularly use illicit substances | NDARC, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Decentering alcohol: Non-drug pleasure and reinforcement as an alternative target

Though pleasure from alcohol is oft underemphasized, we suggest that public health messaging only needs to acknowledge (rather than emphasize) the pleasures of alcohol, to broadly accept the human propensity for pleasure, and to intentionally leverage these empirical findings by emphasizing and increasing the availability of non-drug alternatives | Addiction commentary, UK

Let's talk about pleasure: Bridging the sociology and public health divide

Sociological research shows that pleasure is key to decisions around drinking, while pleasure is rarely acknowledged in public health research. Sociology and public health must work together on this topic because insights from interdisciplinary research on alcohol and pleasure have the potential to progress public health and improve population wellbeing | Addiction commentary, UK

Beyond International Women’s Day – Enhancing opportunities for women at Forward

In this new blog, Rosie Watson, Forward’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Coordinator, talks about the important changes we’re implementing across the organisation to improve support for women at Forward, inspire future leaders, and enhance the overall accessibility of our services and support provision for our female clients | Forward Trust blog, UK

Fewer deaths, new substances and evolving treatments in Philly’s opioid epidemic − 4 essential reads

In Philadelphia, fatal overdoses are the No. 3 cause of death after heart disease and cancer. That’s been the case each year since 2016, except in 2020 and 2021 when COVID-19 deaths outpaced overdose deaths. The vast majority of fatal overdoses in Philly involve the synthetic opioid fentanyl | Conversation, USA

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