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Daily news - 5th November 2025 |
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UK news
Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2024
Cigarette smoking habits among adults in the UK, including how many people smoke, differences between population groups, changes over time and use of e-cigarettes. Around 5.3 million people aged 18 years and over (10.6%) smoked cigarettes in the UK in 2024; this is the lowest proportion of current smokers since records began in 2011, based on our estimates from the Annual Population Survey (APS) | ONS, UK
Vapers overtake smokers for first time in Britain
For the first time in Great Britain, there are more over-16s using vapes or e-cigarettes than smoking cigarettes, according to the Office for National Statistics | BBC, UK
Official Statistics - Smoking profile: November 2025 update
An overview of the extent of tobacco use, tobacco-related harm, vaping use and the measures being taken to reduce smoking-related harms at a local level in England | OHID, UK
Drink and Drugs News - November 2025 out now
In this month’s issue we consider how gambling can be a direct contributor to suicide but our system is unwilling or unable to recognise this. Meanwhile, we all know that our treatment system is under enormous pressure right now. Not only are we battling to right the ship from a ten-year tide of under investment, but budgets haven’t been confirmed and it’s really hard to plan for the vital continuity we all need. Prison and probation are bursting at the seams, drug-related deaths continue to rise – yet tried and tested treatment is being undervalued... | DDN, UK
New funding schemes from the SSA and Office for Life Sciences
In September 2025, the UK Government announced that the SSA would lead a programme to develop the next generation of leaders in addiction science – “providing funding for academic and career development programmes tailored to the specific demands of the addiction research field”. In line with the broader Addiction Healthcare Goals programme, all funding through the flagship research leadership programme will support people and projects that drive innovative responses to addiction to illicit drugs and alcohol | SSA, UK
An introduction to the UK Wide NIHR - Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG) Career Development Awards
10 November 2025, 3:00pm to 3:45pm, Online. NIHR and the Office for Life Sciences are collaborating to support UK researchers to develop the skills to deliver innovative drug and alcohol addiction research, through UK wide NIHR-AHG career development awards. The NIHR and AHG partnership will enable health, public health and social care researchers from all professions, settings and sectors to bring valuable experience and insights into the addiction research landscape. This 45-minute webinar will give an overview of the NIHR and AHG partnership and process for applying | NIHR and Office for Life Sciences, UK
Addiction Healthcare Goals - Tackling addiction by catalysing innovation
27 November 2025. 09.30 - 16.30, London. Join us for a dynamic one-day sandpit event focused on tackling addiction through innovation and collaboration. This session will bring together experts from medtech, digital, and biochemical/pharma sectors to explore funding opportunities, share insights, and build impactful consortia to attract funding and develop enhanced drug and alcohol addiction healthcare interventions | Innovate UK and Office for Life Sciences, UK
Via’s new life-saving Naloxone Direct to Door service
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve launched an important new service at Via called Naloxone Direct to Door. In our service areas, anyone aged 18 or over can now order free naloxone kits online. Kits will arrive in plain, discreet packaging, direct to their chosen address | VIA, UK
Electronic Cigarettes
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill on the risk of vapers returning to traditional cigarettes | They work for you, UK
Pharmacy: Syringes
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacies in England provide (a) supervised needle exchange programmes and (b) other substance misuse services | They work for you, UK
Cannabis plants worth £1.2m found in city centre
A "sophisticated" cannabis farm containing almost 1,300 plants with a street value of £1.2m has been uncovered in Sheffield city centre | BBC, UK
Gang smuggled cocaine inside tropical fruit boxes
A drugs gang who smuggled more than £9m of cocaine into the UK hidden inside boxes of tropical fruit have been jailed | BBC, UK
International news
USA: Drugs
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the US has had decisions with her Department on US strategic objectives in tackling drug smuggling in (a) Venezuela and (b) the wider Caribbean | They work for you, UK
Zimbabwe's Williams sacked over 'drug addiction'
Former Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams' international career is over after he entered a rehabilitation programme to treat drug addiction, the country's cricket association has announced | BBC, UK
First stores allegedly selling illegal tobacco shut down in Sydney as officials wield new powers
Health minister Ryan Park promises the two closures are ‘just the beginning’ as NSW tries to stem sharp rise in illicit cigarettes and vapes | Guardian, UK
What we know from Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) 2008-2024: key well-being factors for children and young people (PDF)
This DCDE commissioned report provides a comprehensive overview of the risk and protective factors for the well-being of children and young people. This report aims to identify the key factors which impede or support child well-being, the extent to which these are socially patterned, and the resulting policy opportunities | DCDE, Ireland
EUDA gathers leading experts in Lisbon to address key dimensions of Europe's drug market
Leading experts from around the world are gathering in Lisbon for the annual meeting of the EUDA Reference Group on Drug Markets and Crime. The purpose of the two-day meeting is to share policy updates and foster collaboration on a range of new initiatives addressing key dimensions of the drug market | EUDA, Portugal
A New Type of Opioid Is Killing People in the US, Europe, and Australia
Nitazenes, a class of synthetic drugs 40 times more potent than fentanyl, are steadily becoming more common on both sides of the Atlantic | WIRED, USA
The rapid rise of Medetomide
A new, more powerful tranquilizer on Philly streets is causing the worst complications some doctors have seen yet among opioid users | Philadelphia Inquirer, USA
How Nursing Home Residents Got Caught in the Opioid Backlash
Since the height of the opioid epidemic, doctors have been prescribing fewer of these medications. A new study from UC San Francisco shows this trend extends to nursing home residents who may need opioids to manage chronic pain | UCSF, USA
Living near cannabis stores linked to more frequent use and less heavy drinking
A statewide study of more than 60,000 adult Oregonians shows that living near cannabis retail stores is associated with a greater tendency toward frequent cannabis use but a lower likelihood of heavy alcohol consumption | News Medical, USA
Ethical concerns and lack of data leave adolescent psychedelic therapy largely unexplored
There is a growing interest in the use of psychedelic therapies to treat conditions ranging from depression and PTSD to anxiety and eating disorders. New research published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health has found that while adolescents under 18 might also benefit from these types of treatments, they have been excluded from current clinical research in the field due to ethical, legal and regulatory concerns | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Do hobbies protect against adolescent substance misuse? Not so fast…
The history of medicine and social science is littered with the wreckage of ostensibly good ideas that were founded on the belief that an epidemiological association was causal. When interventions are developed on this basis, the intervention often disappoints. Beware assumptions regarding causality! | Mental Elf blog, UK
E-Cigarettes in Historical Context—Innovation, Risk, and Regulation
People have consumed nicotine, which stimulates the brain, for thousands of years. By the 1800s, tobacco consumption in the US was dominated by products such as pipes, cigars, and various forms of smokeless tobacco. These delivered nicotine primarily through absorption via the oral mucosa, resulting in relatively slow-onset and low-intensity psychoactive effects | JAMA Network viewpoint, USA
Vaping has slowed progress in cutting teen smoking in NZ – new study
A previous study had suggested vaping might be displacing smoking among young people in Aotearoa – and in doing so, speed up the decline in youth smoking rates. However, our recent research challenged this claim. Rather than speeding up the decline in smoking, our work showed that progress in reducing adolescent smoking rates slowed after the emergence of vaping in Aotearoa in 2010 | Conversation, New Zealand