Home | Archive | Weekly | Reports

Daily news - 27th March 2025

UK news

Debate on prevention of drugs deaths

Today - A debate has been scheduled in Westminster Hall at 1.30pm on 27 March on prevention of drugs deaths. The subject for the debate has been chosen by the Backbench Business Committee, and the debate will be opened by Jim Shannon MP. Research briefing pack (PDF) now available | UK Parliament, UK

Ending the sale of tobacco will increase UK jobs

A new study, conducted by Landman Economics on behalf of Action on Smoking and Health and part-funded by the SPECTRUM research consortium, finds an additional bonus to the British economy of creating a smokefree country – supporting the Government’s growth mission | ASH, UK

NHS figures show further drop in spending on dependency-forming medicines

NHS data has shown a further fall in prescribing costs for dependency-forming medicines. A quarterly update from the NHS Business Services Authority showed that while there had been little change in the numbers of items prescribed, costs of the drugs, which include opioid pain medicine, benzodiazepines and gabapentinoids, fell by £2m in October to December 2024 | Pulse Today, UK

[Open access] This study applied a network analysis approach to the study of individual self-reported alcohol-related harms (ARHs) across four waves of data. Interventions aimed at improving the capacity to self-regulate alcohol consumption, and actively challenging the planning of drunken episodes, may be pivotal in reducing the emergence of both acute and chronic ARHs in adolescence | DAD, UK

Some children vaping in class, say teachers

A survey of members of the NASUWT teaching union found most respondents believed vaping continued to be an issue in their school | BBC, UK

Academic calls for ‘real change’ by banning smoking in homes with children

Professor Sean Semple, of Stirling University, said homes are the ‘primary environment’ where youngsters are exposed to tobacco smoke | Independent, UK

People urged to learn about anti-overdose drug

Naloxone is an antidote which can reverse the effects of overdoses of opioids, such as heroin. The Torbay Naloxone Tribe are training people how to inject the drug while also providing them with a free naloxone kit. Torbay Council member Hayley Tranter said they "want everybody in Torbay to know how to administer the medication" | BBC, UK

Lucky Saint joins the Portman Group as its first alcohol alternative member

The Portman Group is delighted to welcome Lucky Saint as an associate member, making them the first alcohol alternative member company in our history. Lucky Saint was launched in the UK in 2018 by its founder Luke Boase with a 0.5% unfiltered lager product. Since then, it’s become one of the most recognised and popular alcohol alternative brands, now featuring on draught in over 1250 pubs in the UK and expanding their range to include a 0.5% hazy IPA in January 2024 | Portman Group, UK

Showcase your innovation!

Do you have a project that’s making a real difference in the world of drug and alcohol treatment, recovery, or harm reduction? Whether it’s a bold new idea or a well-established service, Pitch to Your Peers is your chance to share it with the sector — and get valuable feedback, support, and exposure | DDN, UK

President's lectures from 2024: Comorbidity, collaboration and compassion - video

Professor Owen Bowden-Jones agreed to give a President's lecture on a report he had been leading on during 2024, which was due to be published in 2025, on substance use and co-occurring mental illness. During the lecture, Professor Bowden Jones spoke about co-morbidity and new evidence-based recommendations for clinicians and service providers. The talk included a case study on cannabis use and its link to mental illness, and was followed by a panel discussion and questions | RCPsych, UK

Pen y Fan Recovery Walk 2025

10th July 2025. We are delighted to announce that the annual national recovery walk is back for 2025. The event will be taking place on Thursday 10th July at Pen Y Fan, within the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park | Barod, UK

County lines raid sees 13 arrests and drugs seized

Lincolnshire Police and British Transport Police (BTP) carried out raids on 18 and 19 March targeting suspected criminal gangs who were moving Class A drugs via railway lines into the county | BBC, UK

International news

Less than 7% of people worldwide get effective mental health or substance abuse treatment

New study investigates the health journeys of over 55,000 people from 21 countries, finding multiple common barriers to treatment access globally | BPS, UK

Teens presenting at EDs with psychosis from legal, semi-synthentic cannabis vaping product, says leading psychiatrist

Mary Cannon says parents are bearing brunt as they see children ‘change before their eyes’ | Irish Times, Ireland

Launch: EU Drug Markets – MDMA (EUDA-Europol webinar)

27 Mar 2025, Online. This webinar provides an overview of the European MDMA market, from production and trafficking, to distribution and use. The speakers will discuss the materials, processes and players involved at different stages and levels of the market, as well as the products present on the market and how they have evolved over the last few years. Key issues will be defined and recommendations for action at EU and Member State level will be provided | EUDA, Portugal

Gold Medal awarded to EUDA Executive Director for contribution to drug policy

We extend our warmest congratulations to EUDA Executive Director Alexis Goosdeel, who has been honoured with the Gold Medal of the Order of Merit of Spain’s National Plan on Drugs (Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, PNSD). Mr Goosdeel received the prestigious award today in Madrid | EUDA, Portugal

Pain can motivate young adults to co-use alcohol and cannabis

A pair of recent articles by researchers in Binghamton University's Psychology Department shed light on this dynamic. "Pain Predicts Cannabis Initiation Among Emerging Adults: Results from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study" was recently published in Behavioral Medicine, while "Pain Predicts Past-Month Co-Use of Alcohol and Cannabis Among Emerging Adults" appeared in the journal Alcohol | News Medical, USA

Researchers identify key gene linked to heroin addiction

Opioid use disorder is associated with more than 350,000 deaths annually worldwide. Guided by the need for an increased understanding of critical neurobiological features of addiction, researchers have now found a unique molecular signature and genes in the orbitofrontal cortex associated with heroin-seeking behavior | News Medical, USA

Scotland’s Overdose Prevention Center Up and Running: Will There Be More?

In January, Scotland opened the first sanctioned overdose prevention center (OPC) in the United Kingdom. As of March 17, the facilty had reportedly received over 1,400 visits from 168 participants. Offering harm reduction resources and support, staff had supervised almost 1,000 drug injections | Filter Magazine, USA

Drug Trends output: Barriers to accessing prescription cannabis among two samples of people who regularly use drugs, nationally, 2024

This bulletin utilises data collected from the 2024 IDRS and EDRS. In 2024, participants were asked about whether they had ever attempted to obtain a cannabis prescription but were unsuccessful, and if so, where they had sought a prescription and the reasons for their lack of success | NDARC, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

WithYou responds to the latest Spring Statement 2025

Simon Phillips, CEO of drug, alcohol and mental health charity WithYou says: “Much of the commentary surrounding today’s Spring Statement from the Chancellor has focused on balancing the nation’s books and whether Rachel Reeves will stick to her self-imposed rules on spending. Last week the Government announced billions of pounds of cuts to disability benefits. The DWP’s own assessment of these cuts, published today, finds they will drive 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, into poverty."... | WithYou, UK

Ket is numbing Gen Z’s pain It's a cheap trip from reality

“If someone were to design the perfect drug for a teenager who is depressed and doesn’t have much money, this would be it…” | UnHerd, UK

The brain disease model of addiction has dominated public and scientific discourse on addiction (termed substance use disorder [SUD] in the DSM-5) over the past 3 decades. The model framed addiction as a chronic and relapsing brain disease caused by structural and functional brain alterations. The purpose of this model was purportedly dual, as both an aetiological theory and a tool to reduce stigma. Weak empirical support and concerns about the model downplaying fundamental psychosocial causes of SUDs have led to stark disagreement as to whether addiction should be conceptualised as a brain disease | Lancet Personal view, UK

Medetomidine is replacing xylazine in Philly street fentanyl − creating new hurdles for health care providers and drug users

Philadelphia’s street opioid supply – or “dope” market – is constantly changing. As health care workers and researchers who care for people who use drugs in our community, we have witnessed these shifts firsthand. New adulterants are frequently added to the mix. They bring additional and often uncertain risks for people who use drugs, and new challenges for the health care providers and systems who treat them. The latest adulterant to dominate the supply is medetomidine | Conversation, USA

Extend Studio