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Daily news - 30th October 2025 |
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UK news
Thousands with undiagnosed hepatitis and HIV found in A&E testing
The UK Health Security Agency has published its evaluation report of the groundbreaking NHS emergency department (ED) opt-out testing programme – an integrated bloodborne virus (BBV) testing programme for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The evaluation findings show the programme has identified thousands of people living unknowingly with bloodborne viruses, with many now being offered life-saving treatment for the first time | UK HSA and NHS England, UK
Smoking: Northern Ireland
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on the legality of the proposed generational smoking ban in Northern Ireland | They work for you, UK
Legalising All Drugs - Are The Green Party on to Something? - audio
October's issue of Leading Forward looks at the subject of legalising drugs – always a hot political topic, but a question that raises complex issues of morality, public health, law enforcement, and social control. The complex nature of this issue is unpacked by The Forward Trust CEO, Mike Trace, picking up on the recent policy announcement by The Green Party to consider legalising drugs if they win the next General Election. As former deputy drug Czar in Tony Blair’s Labour Government, Mike's podcast urges a mature discussion of a very sensitive issue | Forward Trust, UK
139. Poppers with Adam Zmith - audio
In this episode, we speak with Adam Zmith, podcast producer, writer, and author of Deep Sniff: A History of Poppers and Queer Futures. He describes his motivation behind writing the book, all before diving into the complex history of poppers. By speaking to the policing and regulation of poppers, Zmith explores broader struggles between the queer community and the government, in addition to the necessity for greater harm reduction for poppers. Despite these struggles, he underscores the ways in which queer culture has been shaped by poppers and how, in return, poppers have been shaped by queer culture | Drug Science, UK
Leicester: Take Drugs Seriously
Nov 19 · 6:30 PM GMT. 50-54 Belvoir Street. Come along to our free event to learn about the impact of drugs in Leicester and how we can better protect our community. Hear from experts in the field, local families and stakeholders and engage in discussions on how we can address drug-related issues | J Slater, UK
Prison inspection reports drugs causing violence
It said there had been a 43% increase in positive drug tests, with a frequent smell of cannabis on the wings | BBC, UK
International news
Comparative effectiveness of digital versus face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis
[Open access] Computerised cognitive-behavioural therapy has not been found appreciably less effective than face-to-face therapy, was the conclusion of this review – one supported by a recent head-to-head comparison of the two delivery options | Cambridge University Press, UK
What If We Prepared Schools To Help Combat The Opioid Crisis?
I never imagined I would dedicate my life to changing how we address substance use disorder. After losing my 20-year-old son, Aaron, to a heroin overdose, I knew something had to change. I founded a nonprofit to make that change possible through prevention, education, harm reduction and support for families | Forbes, USA
Study reveals the role of geography in the opioid crisis
The findings point to state policies involving the presence of “pill mills” as influences on addiction over time | MIT, USA
Punitive drug laws may deter prenatal care and hospital-based delivery
The study is the first to empirically test whether fear of legal repercussions leads some people with drug-use disorders to give birth outside health care settings to avoid hospital drug testing | Medical Xpress, USA
Social media alcohol marketing: Teens exposed face 75% higher odds of recent drinking, study finds
Teens and young adults who see alcohol promotions in their social media feeds are more likely to drink and binge drink, according to a Rutgers Health review of 31 studies that tracked links between exposure to digital alcohol marketing and real-world alcohol use | Medical Xpress, USA
How dual smokers of pot and tobacco feel the burn of higher prices
People who smoke both tobacco and cannabis are more sensitive to paying more for cigarettes than those who just smoke cigarettes, according to a new UC San Francisco study | Medical Xpress, USA
High-Nicotine Pouches Help People Stay Off Cigarettes—If Available
Pouches with higher nicotine levels can make a vital contribution to tobacco harm reduction, by delivering the satisfaction people may need if they’re to avoid returning to deadly cigarettes. But they won’t perform this role if they’re not available | Filter Magazine, USA
Artificial intelligence and smartphones for predicting opioid use outcomes
Despite effective treatments for opioid use disorder, relapse and treatment dropout persist. Predicting these in advance – using real-time data from patients’ daily lives – could enable just-in-time adaptive interventions that help prevent them. This study investigates whether daily smartphone assessments, combined with artificial intelligence, can identify when someone in treatment is at risk of relapse or dropping out | Recovery Research Institute, USA
How do depression and anxiety change during treatment for alcohol use disorder?
Symptoms of depression and anxiety are commonly experienced by people with alcohol use disorder. While, in general, these symptoms usually decrease substantially in the first month of treatment, this is not the case for everyone. This study identified different subgroups of people in early abstinence receiving treatment in a community substance use treatment program based on their changes in anxiety and depression | Recovery Research Institute, USA
Original qualitative research – Perceptions of cannabis among adults aged 60 years and older in Canada: a qualitative study
Since cannabis legalization in Canada, consumption by older adults has risen more rapidly than in other age groups. There is a need to better understand patterns of consumption, motivations, access, perceptions of risks and benefits, and how legalization has changed older adults’ behaviours, especially across gender, and frequency of use | Government of Canada, Canada
Blogs, comment and opinion
The Forgotten Workforce: 1 in 5 professionals leave, as peer support is sidelined
Considering that deaths related to drug poisoning have risen every year since 2012, the drive to expand the workforce increases in urgency with every passing day. In England and Wales, 5,448 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in 2023, the highest number since records began in 1993 (ONS Deaths related to drug poisoning, released in Oct 2024). With new data showing that almost one in five (19%) staff leave the sector every year, why are we neglecting the “Forgotten Workforce”? | Rehabs UK blog, UK
Gabapentinoid linked deaths rise 35% a year, new study finds
Dr Seán Millar reports on a decade-long national study that reveals a sharp rise in prescribable drug misuse in Ireland, with women more likely than men to misuse pregabalin | HRB blog, Ireland
Exploring substance use and childhood adversity
HRB Research Officer Dr Deirdre Mongan discusses the relationship between substance use and its effects on children as they grow into young adulthood | HRB blog, Ireland
Legal highs: these new drugs are cheap, dangerous, and just a click away
Imagine a world where you can buy recreational drugs online and receive them in the post. Well, this world already exists, and not just with one or two substances, but hundreds. These drugs are known as new psychoactive substances (NPS), and their popularity shows no signs of slowing down | Conversation, Spain
Methamphetamine Use Is Growing Among Fentanyl Users
Methamphetamine use , methamphetamine-related overdoses, and methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) are national problems that cause serious illness and death.. Making matters worse, methamphetamine is frequently taken along with fentanyl. Speedballing (using an opioid depressant with a psychostimulant) is an everyday reality. From January 2021 to June 2024, nearly a third (31.2%) of all overdose deaths involved methamphetamine, and almost three-quarters (73.0%) co-involved opioids | Psychology Today blog, USA