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Daily news - 20th October 2025

UK news

Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2024 registrations

Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales from 1993 to 2024, by cause of death, sex, age and substances involved in the death. In England and Wales, 5,565 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2024, the equivalent of 93.9 deaths per million people, and higher than the rate recorded in 2023 (93.0 deaths per million, 5,448 deaths); the age-standardised mortality rate for deaths related to drug poisoning has risen every year since 2012 | ONS, UK

Drug overdose deaths soar to 30-year high with four-fold increase in lives lost to super-strength nitazenes

A record 5,565 people died in 2024 – the highest since 1993 – including 195 who took deadly new synthetic drugs, which are up to 100 times more potent than heroin | Independent, UK

Nitazene drug deaths rise fourfold in a year - video

The number of drug related deaths in England and Wales has soared to an all time high especially those involving synthetic opioids like nitazenes. The substances can be hundreds of times more potent than heroin – with a high risk of overdose and figures show deaths have risen fourfold compared the previous year. We have been hearing from some of those with painful, personal experience of a growing health crisis | Channel 4, UK

Matt Willis: The Recovery Project commissioned to challenge the stigma around addiction

Having battled his own addiction to drugs and alcohol, Matt Willis is on a personal journey to develop a new pilot scheme designed to help give those in recovery a second chance | BBC Media Centre, UK

Council invests £5m in drug and alcohol services

North Northamptonshire Council is going to work with two charities who will provide help for young people and adults for the next nine years. Change Grow Live (CGL) has been awarded the contract to deliver services to adults and Aquarius to young people | BBC, UK

Mother's warning after son eats 'cannabis gummies'

The 17 year-old took the illegal drugs, branded to look like Starburst sweets, in his bedroom and had to be rushed to hospital after developing chest pains | BBC, UK

'Game-changing' HIV protection jab approved in England and Wales

An injection to prevent HIV is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England and Wales for the first time, bringing the policy in line with Scotland | BBC, UK

Co-op boss says new tech avoids data storage

The head of the Channel Island Co-op has reassured shoppers its new age estimation technology does not store data from customers | BBC, UK

New home for Stoke-on-Trent's drug and alcohol recovery service

Stoke-on-Trent's drug and alcohol recovery service has marked its move to a new base with an open day and ribbon cutting ceremony. The Stoke-on-Trent Community Drug & Alcohol Service (CDAS) previously operated from Hope Street, Hanley | Stoke Sentinel, UK

Benzodiazepines/Z-drugs and Opioid Co-use: Research and Recommendations

Nov 28 · 11:00 AM GMT. Online. A presentation and discussion of research findings on understanding the lethal interaction between benzodiazepines, z-drugs and opioids | DRNS, UK

Drug user guilty of unlawfully killing dealer

A cannabis user has been convicted of unlawfully killing a drug dealer who arrived at his home armed with a knife | BBC, UK

Three men arrested over £20m cocaine seizure

Three men have been arrested and 250kg of cocaine seized in an operation by a specialist law enforcement team set up to fight organised crime. The trio, all Albanian nationals in their 30s, were arrested yesterday by officers from the London Organised Crime Partnership – a team of officers from the National Crime Agency and Metropolitan Police | NCA, UK

More drug drivers caught than motorists with excessive alcohol in blood

More people are driving under the influence of drugs than alcohol, it was revealed. The claim was made by isles chief inspector Chris Sewell at the Dogs Against Drugs annual general meeting | Shetland Times, UK

International news

“Chemical Seduction”: a narrative review of the complex impact of recreational drugs on sexual function

Humans have long used various substances to enhance sexual pleasure and performance, often at the expense of their overall health. This review investigates the sexual-related effects of recreational drugs, including amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), mephedrone, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), and ketamine. By examining anecdotal evidence, self-reports, and limited scientific data, this study aims to clarify the current understanding of these drugs’ effects on sexual function | Nature, UK

Man arrested after cocaine worth €14.2m seized

Gardaí (Irish police) have arrested a man following the seizure of cocaine worth €14.2m (£12.3m) in the Republic of Ireland on Saturday | BBC, UK

Overdose in America: analysis reveals deaths rising in some regions even as US sees national decline

Exclusive: Guardian analysis finds wide geographical disparities in fatalities linked to the public health crisis | Guardian, UK

How Chicago succeeded in reducing drug overdose deaths

The city has adopted a ‘multifactorial approach to a multifactorial problem’ and has seen a 37% reduction in deaths since the national peak of the crisis | Guardian, UK

Tenant ordered to stop smoking marijuana after neighbor wins landmark odor case

A Washington DC tenant was ordered to stop smoking marijuana after his neighbor sued him and claimed the constant weed smoke was ruining her quality of life | Mail Online, UK

Trump names his new special envoy to Iraq — a MAGA influencer who ran a chain of marijuana dispensaries

Savaya was dinged by Detroit leaders for aggressive billboards advertising ‘Come get it. Free weed.’ | Independent, UK

Portlanders mock Trump for calling their city ‘war-ravaged’. But they’re clear-eyed about its problems

Like many American cities, Portland has been struggling to combat rising unaffordability and homelessness | Guardian, UK

Plan to test Liberian schoolchildren for drugs blocked

Speaking to local media, the interim head of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Fitzgerald Biago, said school testing would help address the growing problem of drug abuse | BBC, UK

Department to be asked about recommendations on medicinal cannabis use in hospitals

Cork girl Ava Barry was given medical cannabis for treatment of seizures but her mother was the only person licensed to administer it | Irish Examiner, Ireland

One in four inmates receiving methadone for opioid addiction at Mountjoy Prison

The proportion is highest among inmates in the women’s prison at the Mountjoy campus, where 40 per cent of prisoners are receiving methadone or a similar drug for addiction to opioids such as heroin | Breaking News, Ireland

What stops prisons implementing harm-reduction measures related to drug use? This review organises the evidence from research. It finds the barriers formidable and many, but they will have to be overcome if HIV and hepatitis C are to be eradicated among the broader population | IJDP, USA

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic may slow how quickly alcohol hits the bloodstream

New research reveals that popular GLP-1 medications like Ozempic could change how quickly alcohol affects the body, offering early clues into their surprising impact on craving, intoxication, and reward | News Medical, USA

Drug Checking Quarterly Report (Q2 2025): Mid-Atlantic, USA

332 samples were analyzed between April 1 and June 30, 2025. Results include the following: Fentanyl adulteration is shifting—for alpha-2 agonists, in favor of medetomidine over xylazine, and with local anesthetics (e.g., lidocaine, procaine, tetracaine) increasing in prevalence. Novel synthetic opioids continue to appear—nitazene analogues were infrequently detected in quarter, while fentanyl analogues (e.g., carfentanil, para-fluorofentanyl) were more common | CFSRE, USA

FL Now Suspends Medical Marijuana Cards Upon Arrest for Drug Charges

Florida medical marijuana officials are actively revoking the registrations of patients and caregivers with drug-related charges | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Urgent action needed to halt continued rise in drug-related deaths

Today's announcement is a devastating reminder of the scale of the challenges we face and confirms what we've been seeing in Change Grow Live services. Over half of all drug-related deaths now involve more than one drug and the 30% increase in cocaine-related deaths we saw in 2022-23 was not an anomaly. The situation is also being exacerbated by synthetic opioids, with nitazenes deaths four times higher than 2023, confirming the harms caused by these drugs | Change Grow Live, UK

Phoenix Futures Response to the ONS 2024 Drug-related deaths figures for England and Wales

As the largest charitable provider of residential treatment in the UK, we see clearly the barriers people face trying to access this specialist form of treatment. We work with the inequity in our communities every day. We see the North-South divide in access to specialist residential treatment. Of the 12 local authority areas in the North East of England more than half didn’t fund any residential treatment for people using opiates, just 263 people in treatment for opiate use were funded, just 0.4% of the opiate users in community treatment... | Phoenix Futures, UK

Collective Voice calls on Government to prioritise reducing harm from drugs

Executive Director of Collective Voice, Dr Will Haydock, released the following statement: Every one of these deaths is a tragedy – and we should be doing more as a society to prevent them. We know that effective, evidence-based support can help people make changes and turn their lives around, benefitting not just themselves but their friends, family and the wider community. Treatment saves lives... | Collective Voice, UK

Towards a Smokefree Future: Supporting Social Housing Tenants to Quit in Sheffield

Although smoking rates are declining, smoking remains the leading cause of preventable ill-health and premature death in the UK. Around 64,000 people die each year in England from smoking and many more suffer with debilitating health conditions that harm their quality of life. The burden of smoking is not shared equally across society. Those from more deprived backgrounds typically have above-average smoking rates and as a result bear the brunt of the death and disease from smoking | ASH blog, UK

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