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Daily news - 21st October 2025

UK news

Half of young adults now choosing ‘no and low’ alcohol drinks, study says

Figures from charity Drinkaware reveal the uptake of alcohol-free drinks among risky drinkers – those who drink above the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines of 14 units per week – has more than tripled, rising from 7 per cent in 2018 to 23 per cent in 2025 | Independent, UK

Singer Matt Willis to front series on addiction recovery

The three-part documentary follows the Busted co-founder as he develops a new pilot scheme to help people in recovery rebuild their lives through work and help from the local community | BBC, UK

Drinkaware partners with X-on Health

Drinkaware is delighted to announce a new partnership with X-on Health, one of the UK’s leading providers of digital front door solutions for primary care | Drinkaware, UK

PiP wins national award for outstanding contribution to community

PiP café and community hub, on The Great Field Poundbury is absolutely thrilled to have been awarded The Kings Foundation Building a Legacy outstanding contribution to community award for 2025. The award recognises one organisation a year that has been created in a new development and has brought cohesion, bonding and created a place where people feel welcomed and want to be | Talk About Trust, UK

'I will die as Gazza': Paul Gascoigne admits he will ‘never’ stop drinking

Paul Gascoigne says he will “never stop drinking”, admitting he would rather “die as Gazza” than give up alcohol completely | ITV, UK

How to get shortlisted for a PhD studentship

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:00 - 11:00 GMT. Online. This webinar will guide you through the process of developing a strong PhD studentship application | SSA, UK

Alcohol-Free Childhood Campaign Webinar

Thursday, November 6 · 2 - 3pm GMT. Online. Join us for a webinar exploring alcohol marketing in Scotland and its impact on children and young people! | Alcohol Focus Scotland, UK

Street Drugs Discussions: Drug Death Statistics

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:00 - 14:00 GMT. A deep dive into how coroners count and categorise drug-related deaths, featuring a panel of experts on the subject | Drug Science, UK

Santa Run 2025

3-4 December 2025. Paternoster Square, London. Santa in the City is an exciting and festive fun run perfect for individuals, friends, and families looking to get into the holiday spirit! Join the festive fun on 3rd or 4th December with thousands of Santas as you jog, run or walk a 4.5 km route through the heart of London. Starting near St Paul’s Cathedral and crossing iconic landmarks like the Millennium Bridge, this is the ultimate feel-good challenge | Forward Trust, UK

Drone incidents in prisons up 1,000% in five years - video

Data examined by this programme shows the number of reported drone incursions into prisons in England and Wales has risen by more than 1000% in the last five years | Channel 4, UK

Shops using WhatsApp to evade vape raids - council

Shop owners selling illegal vapes and tobacco are using WhatsApp groups to warn each other of raids, a west London council officer has warned | BBC, UK

PC sacked over 'corrupt' drug dealer relationship

A West Yorkshire police officer has been dismissed over a relationship she had with a drug dealer who was later jailed for eight years | BBC, UK

International news

US Supreme Court to consider law barring illegal drug users from owning guns

The US Supreme Court will consider whether a law banning habitual illegal drug users from possessing guns violates the constitution | BBC, UK

Descheduling the coca leaf is overdue justice - IDPC statement to the 48th meeting of WHO's ECDD

Good morning to you all, my name is Marie Nougier, I am representing the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and my statement will relate to the critical review of the coca leaf | IDPC, UK

Drugs, Overdose, Hope, Nevada - audio

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from drug overdose since the opioid crisis began in the US more than two decades ago. It’s fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid, mass produced in Mexico, that drove the increasing number of deaths. Now narcotics-related fatalities have fallen overall in the US. But that doesn’t mean fewer people are dying everywhere. In Nevada, those mortality statistics have continued to increase. For Assignment, Linda Pressly visits Las Vegas and Reno to find out why this desert state is bucking the trend | BBC Sounds, UK

Trump ends aid to Colombia and calls country's leader a 'drug leader'

President Donald Trump said the US will no longer offer subsidies to Colombia, one of the country's closest South American allies | BBC, UK

Psychedelic Science — Past, Present & Future with Rick Doblin

In Drugreporter’s interview from Psychedelic Science 2025, Rick Doblin looks back on four decades of psychedelic activism and discusses the future after the FDA’s MDMA therapy rejection | Drug Reporter, Hungary

Ireland Is Failing at Smoking Cessation. Now It Will Tax Vapes Hard

On November 1, the Irish government will impose a tax on all vaping e-liquids, regardless of whether they contain nicotine. The country will then have the highest taxation rate, at €0.50 per milliliter, of any European Union member | Filter Magazine, USA

Brief Drug Interventions Delivered in General Medical Settings: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cannabis Use Outcomes

[Open access] They looked at several different ways patients might benefit, but reviewers could find no reliable evidence that cannabis use is moderated by briefly counselling substance users identified in primary care or other general medical settings | Prevention Science, USA

Neo-colonialism and financing for the war on drugs: a review of current policy and recommendations for countries in the global north

[Open access] Marginalised and racialised communities, including Indigenous peoples, are disproportionately targeted and affected by punitive drug policy. Power imbalances also exist at the international level, with high income countries exerting influence over drug policy in low- and middle-income countries. This paper examines that influence... | Harm Reduction Journal, USA

College students who experienced family dysfunction as children sometimes turn to alcohol to cope

At William & Mary, Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Adrian Bravo '12 expands that work. Collaborating with an international team of researchers and undergraduate students, he's teasing out the cross-national trends that might explain why certain students are more vulnerable to alcohol use disorders | Medical Xpress, USA

How tobacco retail exposure impacts smoking behavior

Studies have found that the density of tobacco retailers in a neighborhood is associated with smoking, the leading cause of preventable disease and death. But what if smokers and policymakers were able to understand the impact of this exposure not just on a population level but at the individual level? Rather than relying on longer recall periods and assumptions about how people move through their neighborhoods, as many studies do, what if researchers could follow the movements and behaviors of smokers more naturally—hour by hour? | Medical Xpress, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Rise in youth mortality fuelled by mental illness, drugs, violence and other preventable causes

Global mortality continues to fall. Life expectancy has improved to unprecedented levels and deaths in young children have plummeted. Yet for adolescents and young adults, especially those aged 15 to 24, little progress has been made according to data from the latest Global Burden of Disease study. In parts of North America and eastern Europe, mortality in those aged 15-24 has actually risen in the past decade | Conversation, UK

Inside the Thistle: Scotland’s Safer Drug Consumption Facility

In January 2025, Scotland opened the doors of The Thistle, the UK’s first sanctioned safer drug consumption facility. Last week, the Transform and Anyone’s Child team had the privilege of visiting the site in Glasgow | Transform/Anyone's child blog, UK