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Daily news - 29th October 2025 |
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UK news
Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report
Drug-related harms were higher between June and August 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, but lower than in 2023. Most harms involved multiple drugs, reflecting continued polysubstance use. Significant market shifts were observed: detections of nitazene-type opioids in deaths reached their highest level to date; cocaine was the most frequently reported drug across treatment and toxicology data; and a new street benzodiazepine, ethylbromazolam, emerged | Public Health Scotland, UK
WEDINOS: Philtre April 2024 – March 2025 (PDF)
A total of 8,032 samples have been analysed, revealing 211 distinct psychoactive substances either individually or in combination. For the sixth consecutive year, benzodiazepines remain the most frequently identified group, with 22 different benzodiazepines detected—an increase from 20 in 2021/22. Cocaine was the most commonly detected psychoactive substance overall, strongly influenced by high submissions from the Night Time Economy | WEDINOS, UK
Evaluation of the Scottish Government Residential Rehabilitation programme
A total of 15 Scottish residential rehab providers, covering 19 different Scottish rehab centres, submitted data for the detailed client-level data collection exercise. Detailed client-level data were submitted for 870 individuals for calendar year 2023 | Public Health Scotland, UK
Gen Z drinking less, or just drinking differently? New data challenges assumptions
The long-running story that Gen Z are turning their backs on alcohol is losing strength. New research from Lumina Intelligence and CGA by NIQ shows younger adults are still drinking, socialising and spending in pubs and bars, just in different ways | Morning Advertiser, UK
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill – why we need to be careful with international comparisons
As the Tobacco and Vapes Bill continues to make its way through Parliament, the UK is on course to end all legal sale of tobacco products to those born after 2009. Britta K Matthes, Janet Hoek, Coral Gartner, Cheneal Puljevic, and Lisa Lennartsdotter Ermann critically examine how international comparisons have been used in UK parliamentary debates on the Bill and argue that accuracy is critical for effective public health policymaking | LSE, UK
The future of one of Scotland’s oldest rehab charities is secured
The future of one of Scotland’s oldest residential rehabilitation charities has been secured, allowing it to continue its important work reducing drug-related deaths | DDN, UK
Smuggling gangs likely to capitalise on tobacco bill, experts say
As the Lords debate Labour’s tobacco and vapes Bill, experts have warned it could hand a major victory to the same organised criminal gangs behind illegal smuggling | City AM, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Advertising
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the role of industry advertising in reducing the rate of alcohol harms | They work for you, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish a timeline for strengthening voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling | They work for you, UK
Licensing Laws
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of his proposed licensing reforms on local authorities’ ability to refuse harmful alcohol licenses | They work for you, UK
‘Drinking was big!’ Pub landlords – one gen Z, one 66 – discuss how they stay open in an age of sobriety
Last year, more than 400 pubs closed in England and Wales, as rising costs kept customers at home and drinking rates among young people declined. Can any remain afloat? Two landlords from different generations discuss the problems and possibilities | Guardian, UK
Let’s talk e-cigarettes, October 2025, episode 46
In the October 2025 podcast Justin Strickland talks about his work on e-cigarette withdrawal syndrome presented at the 13th Annual Vermont Center on Behavior and Health Conference, held in Vermont, USA. Justin is a behavioural pharmacologist working with substance use and substance use disorder. His research applies behavioural economic methods to evaluate choice and decision-making mechanisms that may underlie substance use and identify targets for their reduction | University of Oxford, UK
Naloxone Click & Deliver Service
Please note this service is only applicable to those that live in Wales. To order your naloxone kits, please fill out the form. You will receive one kit, along with a variety of harm reduction related resources, which will arrive at the address provided in plain packaging | Barod, UK
Police target barbers and vape shops in organised crime raids
Police are raiding more than 150 high street businesses in Scotland as part of a major operation against organised crime | BBC, UK
International news
Bella Culley's sentence reduced to two years
The family of a "heavily pregnant" British teenager who is on trial for drug smuggling in Georgia has paid £137,000 to reduce her sentence to two years, as part of a plea bargain | BBC, UK
Man arrested after €8m cocaine seizure
Suspected cocaine worth more than €8m (£7m) has been seized by detectives in County Laois in the Republic of Ireland | BBC, UK
US kills 14 in strikes on four alleged drug boats in Pacific
Mexico's navy says it is still searching for a lone survivor approximately 400 miles (643km) from the Pacific coastal city of Acapulco | BBC, UK
Drug use prevalence in Ireland: Findings from recent population studies and estimates of problematic use (PDF)
Problematic opioid use is a significant problem in Ireland and across the world. However, measuring the prevalence of opioid use is challenging. Given the nature of this population, a simple head count is not feasible and general population surveys are known to be ineffective at capturing this ‘hidden’ population | HRB, Ireland
Cigarette filter ban – The last puff for smoking?
EU states clash with Commission over how far tobacco rules should go | Euractiv, Belgium
EUDA webinar: Tech-based health and social responses to drug problems
29 Oct 2025. This webinar will explore how digital innovations are enhancing health and social support for people who use drugs. Participants will gain insights into how technology can bridge gaps in access, provide timely interventions and support vulnerable populations | EUDA, Portugal
Health Service Use Among Young Adults With a History of Adolescent Cannabis Use
In this cohort study of 1591 individuals followed up to age 23 years, adolescents who initiated cannabis use before 15 years of age and used frequently had increased odds of medical care utilization for both mental and physical conditions in young adulthood, compared with adolescents without cannabis use. Adolescents with late-onset use had no increased odds for mental health care utilization but did exhibit higher odds for physical conditions | JAMA Network Open, USA
Oral nicotine pouches studied as a tool to quit smoking
In ongoing efforts to pinpoint the best evidence-based ways to quit smoking, a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health researcher has turned her attention to a tobacco-free product gaining in popularity across the country—oral nicotine pouches | Medical Xpress, USA
Resistance to the Anti-Nicotine Movement Sparked by a Betrayal
People who use nicotine have earned a reputation for pushing back against flavor bans, new taxes, registry bills and other restrictions on access. To people outside that community, the resistance seems irrational. After all, over a billion people worldwide still smoke, and up to half of them will die early from smoking-related causes. Why would anyone fight measures meant to save lives? The answer is simple: Many measures are no longer about saving lives; they are about abstinence | Filter Magazine, USA
Online discrimination fuels drinking by Hispanic college students
Hispanic college students who encounter racial or ethnic discrimination on social media are more likely to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism, according to a study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher | Medical Xpress, USA
'Colorado sober' movement ditches alcohol for cannabis, psychedelics
Everything in moderation. Including moderation. That's the idea behind the Colorado sober movement, an unofficial yet growing trend away from alcohol, and toward plant-based and psychedelic drugs | Medical Xpress, USA
MA Overdose Bills Signal Push Toward Nalmefene, Civil Commitment
Massachusetts is considering multiple proposals that, taken together, would make the landscape of overdose response increasingly hostile toward people who use drugs. In particular, one bill would clear a path for wider use of the unnecessarily risky opioid-overdose antidote nalmefene, while three others would put overdose survivors on a trajectory toward involuntary commitment | Filter Magazine, USA
Magic Mushrooms Evolved Psilocybin Not Once, but Twice
Two different types of mushroom evolved the same psychedelic compound in completely unrelated ways, a recent study finds | Smithsonian Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Autumn Budget Submission 2025 (PDF)
Raising alcohol duty is identified as one of the most effective and cost-effective policies to tackle the exorbitant health and economic harms associated with alcohol consumption.1 With alcohol deaths at a record high in the UK and alcohol duty rates having fallen significantly in real terms over the past decade, it is crucial that fiscal levers are utilised to prevent harm and protect public finances | IAS, UK
One in Ten Corner Shop Owners Considers Shutting Down if Tobacco Bill Becomes Law
One in 10 corner shop owners says they would consider closing down if the Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law, according to a survey by Merlin Strategies for retailing community C-Talk | Guido Fawks, UK
Trump’s saber-rattling in Venezuela is illegal
Trump’s threats against the country and attacks on nearby boats cannot be justified under international law | Guardian, UK