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Daily news - 28th May 2025

UK news

The cannabis conundrum: a way forward for London (PDF)

Our comprehensive examination of the nature and effectiveness of UK cannabis law involved taking evidence from over 200 witnesses who brought significant knowledge and lived experience. Many are well-known, experts in their fields. We also considered a substantial amount of wider data and research. Collectively, this led us to the following position and principal recommendation, with several underpinning conclusions and associated further recommendations: The current law criminalises importation, exportation, production and supply of cannabis, with the possibility of severe associated punishments. It also criminalises cannabis possession and, in this, we find it not fit for purpose. The law therefore requires some modification | London Drugs Commission, UK

Mayor backs report's call for cannabis law reform

The possession of small quantities of cannabis for personal use should be decriminalised, a report backed by the London mayor has concluded | BBC, UK

Grieving mother urges others to avoid drugs abroad

The grieving mother of a woman who died after unknowingly taking a fatal mixture of drugs in Thailand has warned people to beware of buying drugs abroad | BBC, UK

Banned by the BBC - Drugs - audio

A new series looking at iconic songs that the BBC once deemed too risky for broadcast. In this episode Declan Harvey explores the theme of drugs and Acid House with DJ Graeme Park and music journalist Sheryl Garratt | BBC Sounds, UK

Amanda Feilding – Rest in Peace

Amanda passed away at her home, Beckley Park, on the evening of Thursday, 22nd May 2025 (more precisely, and rather magically, at 20:25 22.05.2025). She died as she had lived – with courage, curiosity, compassion, and gracefulness. In her final two weeks, which she spent with her beloved sons, grandchildren, husband, and closest friends, she did not ever lose her love of life, but she did turn her attention to her next great adventure. She made clear that, far from being afraid, after a lifetime spent equally fascinated by the scientific as by the mystical, she was excited to be on the cusp of discovering the ultimate mystery | Beckley Foundation, UK

Living evidence on e-cigarettes: Cochrane reviews

We synthesise evidence on interventions involving electronic cigarettes, or vapes, and share the findings in two Cochrane living systematic reviews. In our ‘Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation’ review we explore the use of electronic cigarettes, or vapes, to help people to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes and whether they are safe to use for this purpose. In our ‘Interventions for vaping cessation’ review we bring together the best available information on methods to help people to quit using vapes | CEBM, UK

Fire warning over risks of rechargeable vapes

Disposable vapes will be illegal to buy in less than a week's time - and a fire service has issued a warning to people switching over to reusables when the ban comes in | BBC, UK

International news

Diddy took Obama-shaped ecstasy pills as part of daily drug cocktail, former assistant testifies

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-personal assistant, David James, testified Tuesday that the hip hop star took ecstasy pills shaped liked Barack Obama | Independent, UK

A pilot evaluation of managed alcohol programs operating in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

[Open access] We’re used to programmes which offer controlled doses of opioids to people dependent on illegal drugs, but on a smaller scale this is done with alcohol too, usually targeted at homeless drinkers and providing also shelter, subsistence and reintegration support. The reactions of the users are a testament to the difference these services can make | BMC Harm Reduction Journal, UK

Dispensing hope: leveraging distribution boxes to enhance low-barrier access to naloxone in healthcare settings

[Open access] In the right hands naloxone saves lives which would otherwise be lost to opioid overdose. The problem is to get kits into enough of the ‘right hands’. In the US overdose hot-spot of West Virginia, distribution was greatly aided by the siting of dispensing bins in emergency departments, offering easy, anonymous and virtually stigma-free access | BMC Harm Reduction Journal, UK

National Drug Treatment Reporting System: 2024 drug treatment demand

The latest Health Research Board figures show 13,295 cases were treated for problem drug use in 2024. This is the highest annual number recorded to date and an increase of 191 cases compared to 2023. According to Drug treatment demand in Ireland 2024, cocaine remains Ireland’s most common drug treated (excluding alcohol), accounting for 40% (5,289 cases) of all drug treatment cases in 2024, a 7% increase on 4,923 cases in 2023. Cocaine is also the main problem drug for almost half of cases who are new to treatment. However, in 2024, cocaine also accounted for one in three previously treated cases, the highest number recorded to date and an indication of the changing profile of users and how prevalent cocaine use has become in society | HRB, Ireland

EUDA launches annual activity report capturing key achievements in 2024

[Yesterday], the EUDA launches its first Consolidated Annual Activity Report, which captures its key achievements in 2024. This was a year unlike any other, which saw the official establishment of the EUDA on 2 July 2024, succeeding the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). This marked the start of a new mission to strengthen EU preparedness on drugs. The report reflects the agency’s activities in this transformational period across three core drivers: health, security and business | EUDA, Portugal

Alcohol use during recovery: A 10-year follow-up of people treated for alcohol or other drug problems

[Open access] Understanding challenges in alcohol consumption is crucial when considering recovery approaches beyond abstinence. This study investigates the narratives that people with former alcohol or other drug (AOD) problems use to describe their alcohol use during recovery, focusing on abstinence, relapse, craving, problematic and unproblematic consumption | DEPP, USA

[Open access] It ought to have helped residential rehabilitation leavers in Australia sustain their gains, but offering 12 sessions of phone-based aftercare over the next three months could not be shown to have helped in any of the many ways tested; the sole significant result was a worse outcome than without the sessions. The lesson may be to use the calls to identify high-risk individuals, not as a way to improve outcomes overall | DAD, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

For opioid addiction, treatment underdosing can lead to fentanyl overdosing – a physician explains

Imagine a patient named Rosa tells you she wakes up night after night in a drenching sweat after having very realistic dreams of smoking fentanyl. The dreams seem crazy to her. Three months ago, newly pregnant, Rosa began visualizing being a good parent. She realized it was finally time to give up her self-destructive use of street fentanyl. With tremendous effort, she started treatment with buprenorphine for her opioid use disorder | Conversation, UK

Sugary drinks, processed foods, alcohol and tobacco are big killers: why the G20 should add its weight to health taxes

By 2030, non-communicable diseases will account for 75% of all deaths annually. Eight percent of these will be in the global south. Most of these diseases are what we call silent killers: type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as certain types of cancer at increasingly younger ages | Conversation, South Africa

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