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Daily news - 13th May 2025 |
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UK news
New local guidance to tackle synthetic opioid threat
Communities across England will be better equipped to combat the increasing threat of dangerous synthetic drugs, following new advice issued by the Home Office | Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care and The Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP, UK
UK’s first safer drug consumption facility accessed more than 2,500 times in first four months, data show
Between January and April 2025, service data from The Thistle facility in Glasgow reported nearly 2,000 injecting episodes and 30 medical emergencies | Pharmaceutical Journal, UK
It's okay to talk about drinking - video
For many men, opening up isn't easy - and reaching for a drink can feel like the only way to cope. In fact, almost 60% of men aged 45-64 agree that alcohol is often used by men their age to cope with tough times. That’s why we’ve teamed up with football legend Chris Kamara and Andy’s Man Club to show how honest conversations about mental health and drinking can be the first step to change | Drinkaware, UK
Woman says she was 'junkie, shoplifter' - here's what turned her life around
Charlie was in and out of prison for years before court-ordered rehab treatment turned her life around. She tells Sky News why more offenders should be given the same chance, instead of being sent to prison | Sky News, UK
‘I’ve never known fear like it’: Tom Kerridge on booze, bad-boy chefs and the crisis for pubs and restaurants
The Michelin-starred chef prides himself on his ‘socialist’ business empire. But the hospitality trade is struggling – and so are his staff. What would he change if he had the power? | Guardian, UK
'Gangs recruited me as a drug mule at 13'
A teenager who was a drugs courier at the age of 13 has spoken out about being groomed and coerced by gangs, as the government looks to introduce a new law against child criminal exploitation | BBC, UK
Teacher's crystal meth use was a 'weekend problem'
Nicholas Smith, who worked at Southwark Primary School in Basford, Nottingham, used methamphetamine between 2020 and 2022 in a social group setting at weekends | BBC, UK
The online drug trade behind QR code stickers plastered on streets across the UK
A Sky News investigation has uncovered the complex gang network running a brazen cannabis home delivery operation | Sky News, UK
Taxi driver caught with cocaine in car jailed
A taxi driver caught with cocaine hidden in the car he was driving has been jailed for six years and four months | BBC, UK
International news
Effects of legal access versus illegal market cannabis on use and mental health: A randomized controlled trial
We measured the effects of public health-oriented cannabis access compared with the illegal market on cannabis use and related mental health outcomes in adult cannabis users | Addiction, UK
Macron rubbishes cocaine train claims: ‘Fake news spread by France’s enemies’
France claims Russia’s military intelligence has stepped up efforts to spread disinformation about European leaders online | Independent, UK
Effects of practice standards on opioid prescribing and chronic pain management
In an effort to curb misuse of opioids and prevent overdose deaths, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia released a legally enforceable practice standard, Safe Prescribing of Drugs with Potential for Misuse/Diversion, in 2016. This document limited prescribing of opioids for chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) with specific prescribing practices that clinicians were obligated to follow | News Medical, USA
HSE issues warning over three types of vape wrongly labelled as having no nicotine
The health service said that anyone with the affected vapes should stop using them and return them to the shop where they bought them | Journal, Ireland
Nicotine Pouch and E-Cigarette Use and Co-Use Among US Youths in 2023 and 2024
In this cross-sectional study of survey data on a nationally representative sample of 10 146 youths, nicotine pouch lifetime use (3.0% to 5.4%), use in the past 12 months (2.4% to 4.6%), and use in the past 30 days (1.3% to 2.6%) and nicotine pouch plus e-cigarette co-use significantly increased from 2023 to 2024, whereas e-cigarette use in the past 12 months declined. Pouch use was higher among 12th grade, male, rural, and non-Hispanic White youths | JAMA Network Open, USA
Lawsuits could choke off the candy flavored vape pipeline
Most convenience stores feature rows of colorful vapes promising tastes of cotton candy or iced mango, but none of them should be there | Medical Xpress, USA
Alcohol's impairment of women's working memory varies across the menstrual cycle
Alcohol's negative effect on women's working memory is somewhat mitigated when their estrogen levels are higher, a novel study suggests. The findings imply that phases of the menstrual cycle may influence women's vulnerability to the acute effects of alcohol on certain cognitive functions | Medical Xpress, USA
Optimism But Severe Harm Reduction Challenges Reflected at HR25
As the Harm Reduction International Conference (HR25) in Bogotá, Colombia, ended on April 30, delegates could reflect on some reasons for optimism, as well as severe challenges and uncertainty facing the global movement | Filter Magazine, USA
Involuntary Treatment for Severe Substance Use Disorders – Issues, Evidence and Considerations for its Use
[Open access] The experts were sceptical but argued that involuntary treatment “may be warranted for limited sub-groups … with severe [substance use disorder] and related mental health/cognitive disorders who have lost control over their lives and who are at high risk of harming themselves or others … [It] ought not to be used as a strategy to mainly remove difficult human beings from social life in the guise of care.” | Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Canada
The costs and benefits of a prison needle and syringe program in Australia, 2025–30: a modelling study
[Open access] The arguments for needle exchange in prisons are not just prisoner welfare and equity with external provision, but also economic: “Each dollar spent on a needle and syringe program in Australian prisons could save $2.60 in treatment costs for HCV and other injection-related infections.” | MJA, Australia
New Zealanders back action on preventing alcohol harm
New Zealanders are calling time on the alcohol industry’s influence and supporting stronger safeguards to protect health—especially for children. A new independent poll shows overwhelming support for tighter safeguards on how alcohol is sold and marketed. Clear majorities support firm limits on key problems such as the price of cheap alcohol, online deliveries, and industry involvement in policy making. Nearly 80% back a ban on alcohol ads seen by children | Health Coalition Aoteara, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Healing Together: The Power of Peer Support in Mental Health
For Mental Heath Awareness Week (12-18 May), Remi Bolhassani, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner at HMPS Warren Hill and Hollelesy Bay, shares her experiences of working as a wellbeing practitioner with some of the country’s most vulnerable people | Forward Trust blog, UK
Intersecting Stigmas: Women, homelessness and problem substance use
In our latest blog, Chloe talks about her experience as a nurse working with vulnerable women, the importance of inclusion health services and how she hopes her PhD work will help reduce stigma | SHAAP blog, UK
A message from Amanda
Dear friends, Some of you may know that I was undergoing immunotherapy treatment against liver cancer for the best part of last year, during which time I continued to work on the Beckley Foundation’s exciting collaborative research programmes. Unfortunately, however, the treatment has not worked and as a result I have shifted my focus to spending more precious time with my family and friends... | Beckley Foundation, UK
Fancy letting off steam with a beer before the sauna? Here’s why that might be a bad idea
Saunas have long been spaces for rest, recovery, and even the occasional business deal. Personally, though, they’re not my cup of tea: too claustrophobic, too stifling and always with that distinct sensation that my nasal hairs have been singed away by the heat | Conversation, UK
Letters: We lost our son to suicide with alcohol a contributing factor and now the review of health warnings on alcohol is a kick in the face for us
At our 19-year-old son’s inquest in 2011, the coroner determined that his death was “suicide, with alcohol a contributing factor” | Independent opinion/letters, Ireland
Nitrous oxide recreational use is linked to brain damage and sudden death − but ‘laughing gas’ is still sold all over the US
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning Americans about the ever-increasing and potentially deadly recreational use of nitrous oxide products, particularly among young people | Conversation, USA