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Daily news - 12th November 2025

UK news

‘Success is shutting them down’: Met police in fight against illegal vape and phone shops

Products that fail fire safety checks, are counterfeit and breach laws protecting children targeted in raids in London | Guardian, UK

Takeaways, vape shops and massage parlours raided

Chinese takeaways, vape shops and massage parlours are among businesses raided in Herefordshire and Worcestershire as police and other enforcers investigate money laundering, illegal workers and the sale of illicit goods | BBC, UK

Council 'one step ahead' on illicit goods

The team has been working with West Midlands Police to crack down on traders selling illicit vapes, tobacco and nitrous oxide, identified by intelligence from local residents | BBC, UK

Heroin addicts who also use deadly "Benzo" pills to be targeted in new clinical trial

Major clinical trial will prescribe stable dose of diazepam to drug users most at risk of overdose from street supply | Daily Record, UK

Smoking cessation after referral from hospital to community stop smoking services: an observational study

[Open access] In England, acute National Health Service (NHS) hospitals routinely ask patients about smoking status on admission, offering in-hospital treatment for tobacco dependence and support for quitting postdischarge. Referring patients to community stop smoking services (CSSS), which offer behavioural and pharmacological support postdischarge, is a key strategy for this continued support. This study investigated patient flows from hospital to CSSS and the subsequent quitting outcomes | BMJ Public Health, UK

‘I'd rather have worse gums than worse lungs’: Young people's views of nicotine pouches in the UK

[Open access] Nicotine pouches entered the UK market in 2019. Although research has shown that young people's prevalence of use has been low, it has been reported to be increasing. This paper reports the findings of the first qualitative study in the UK to explore the views of 14–16 year olds' knowledge, awareness of, access to and use of nicotine pouches, augmented by the views of school staff, as part of a study investigating the marketing and use of new nicotine products in Scotland | Addiction, UK

Drug and alcohol support service praised by CQC

New Vision Bradford received the highest rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following its first ever inspection in July | BBC, UK

Why Did "Magic Mushrooms" Evolve To Be Hallucinogenic – What's In It For The Mushrooms?

Psilocybin must be useful in some way to the fungi. In fact, it may be so useful that it has evolved this mind-altering compound several times | IFLScience, UK

International news

UK pauses intelligence-sharing with US on suspected drug vessels in Caribbean

Rare rupture between military allies comes as concerns grow over Trump administration’s lethal sinking of boats | Guardian, UK

Nigeria, US and UK to investigate cartel behind $235 million cocaine seizure at Lagos port

The significant seizure represents one of the largest in the country's history | Independent, UK

The nicotine lobby's secret expert

Greek cardiologist Konstantinos Farsalinos, an influential nicotine researcher, received thousands of euros from the vaping industry via an offshore company, according to documents seen by Le Monde | Le Monde, France

EU4MD II Project Advisory Committee welcomes civil society partners in Athens

The theme of this year’s meeting — Strengthening cooperation with civil society to enhance preparedness across the ENP region — reflects the priorities of the new EUDA International Cooperation Framework (ICF) and the agency’s expanded mandate to promote global partnerships and inclusive, evidence-based drug policies | EUDA, Portugal

[Open access] Concludes that in both prevention and treatment contexts, “harmful substance use can be reduced by providing access to healthy substance-free alternative rewards” | DADR, USA

New discovery suggests opium use in ancient cultures, from Xerxes to King Tut

A new Yale study finds chemical traces of opium ancient Egyptian alabaster vase, suggesting that opiate use was more common in ancient Egyptian culture than previously thought | Yale News, USA

Drug Trends output: Availability of nitazenes for purchase in Australia and internationally via cryptomarkets, September 2021 - August 2025

Drug Trends has identified, crawled (or ‘scraped’), extracted, categorised and analysed drug listings on cryptomarkets on a regular basis since 1st February 2014. This bulletin extends on our previous monitoring of nitazene availability on cryptomarkets, aiming to describe listing trends and identify the most frequently listed compounds from September 2021 to August 2025 | NDARC, Australia

Coonawarra wine association apologises for 'disappointing' T-shirts

A wine association based in one of Australia's most internationally celebrated wine regions has apologised after it posted photos of members wearing T-shirts reading "drink more, die younger" | abc.net.au, Australia

Blogs, comment and opinion

Zero tolerance for 0%? How should clinicians and other practitioners respond to the use of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products in higher risk groups

Alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks (no/lo drinks) are now widely available and popular with consumers in high-income countries; however, it is unclear whether clinicians and others working to prevent or treat severe alcohol-related health problems should take a zero-tolerance approach to these products or encourage patients to try them. We argue that no/lo drinks may have an important role to play for people who drink at high-risk levels and those with alcohol use disorders (AUD) or alcohol-related liver disease | Addiction Opinion and Debate, UK

What’s the point in a Generational Smoking Ban?

With the Tobacco and Vapes Bill travelling through the House of Lords, I think it’s high time we looked at the data justifying this almost unprecedented assault on liberty. Public health lobbyists and their politicians argue that without the incoming Generational Smoking Ban, smoking would continue to be prevalent amongst young people (16-24), which is when the vast majority of smokers initiate their lifetime habit | Spectator, UK

Two decades of global tobacco control: time for a rethink

Two decades after the adoption of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the introduction of its MPOWER implementation package, global declines in smoking prevalence have slowed, casting doubt on the adequacy of current tobacco control strategies. This Points of View article considers the effectiveness of MPOWER and questions the feasibility of nicotine eradication as a public health goal | Internal & Emergency Medicine, UK

Taxing tobacco is a win-win for health services under pressure. So why aren’t governments demanding more?

Anti-tobacco researchers have produced an index looking at the industry which they say shows how companies are succeeding in influencing governments to ensure taxes remain flat or stubbornly low | Guardian, UK

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