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Daily news - 10th September 2025

UK news

Consensus approach on prevention of substance use harm among children and young people

Public Health Scotland set out to establish consensus and describe the key themes that contribute to a national approach to substance use harm prevention among children and young people in Scotland | Public Health Scotland, UK

FASD Month: Balance supports proposals for mandatory health warning labels

Balance, the North East alcohol programme, is marking Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Month by supporting proposals nationally for the introduction of mandatory alcohol health labels, which include warnings around the risks of drinking during pregnancy | Balance, UK

What can Boomtown 2025 teach us about responding to drug use?

In 2013 Wendy Teasdill’s daughter, Ellie Rowe, died at Boomtown festival as a result of taking a combination of ketamine and alcohol. Neither were taken in excess but the combination was fatal. She did not know what she was doing. Wendy has always contended that, had the drug checking services of The Loop been available at Boomtown in 2013, as they were in 2017 and 2018, she would be alive today | Drug Science, UK

Internalizing symptoms are indirectly associated with simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use through specific motives for simultaneous use: A longitudinal study of young adults

[Open access] Young adults may combine cannabis with heavy episodic drinking more frequently during periods when they experience elevations in internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) mediated by a desire to achieve the positive/enhancing effects of simultaneous use. Findings may inform alcohol and cannabis harm reduction interventions tailored for young adults with internalizing symptoms | ACER, UK

Voucher scheme helps pregnant women quit smoking

A national scheme which gives pregnant women shopping vouchers if they quit smoking has been an "unbelievable" success in Barnsley, a midwife has said | BBC, UK

Smoking: Health Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report by Action on Smoking and Health entitled At risk? Tobacco dependence treatment in the NHS, published on 28 August 2025 | They work for you, UK

Graveyard visitors told not to leave alcohol tributes

A council has asked cemetery visitors not to leave alcoholic drinks as memorials on gravestones after reports of children removing the bottles and drinking from them | BBC, UK

Vape shop owner calls for refundable scheme

The owner of a Shrewsbury vape shop has suggested the need for a refundable deposit scheme to stop people throwing vapes into incorrect bins | BBC, UK

International news

The Manifesto Sessions: #3 Drug Overdose Good Samaritan Act - video

The third webinar of The Manifesto Sessions, discusses the Drug Overdose Good Samaritan Act. Such legislation has been implemented across Canada, and in many states in the US, and can provide legal protection for individuals who experience or witness a suspected drug-related overdose. In this episode, we are joined by Peredur Owen Griffiths, a Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd and Cory Ranger, Director of Harm Reduction Nurses Association in Canada | Barod, UK

Spanish government moves to ban smoking on bar terraces

Tobacco law would also prohibit minors from using vapes and stop sale of single-use electronic cigarettes | Guardian, UK

Oral and injectable opioid agonist treatments for people who use street opioids: a systematic literature review and network meta-analysis

[Open access] Do injectors of illegally obtained opioids who do not benefit from non-injectable substitutes do better if prescribed injectables? It’s an issue addressed before, but this new review’s methodology enables assessment of the relative effectiveness of medications which have never been directly compared | BMC Public Health, UK

US drug dealer afforded clemency by Trump found guilty of parole violation

Jonathan Braun of New York faces up to five years after he was arrested and charged in connection to recent crimes | Guardian, UK

Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Ireland: wellbeing, living experience, and the need for change (PDF)

The report provides the first integrated account of the lived experience of individuals with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in Ireland, framed within a review of national and international policy, public awareness and diagnostic practice. It was compiled using surveys, focus groups and an international review | RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ireland

Fathers' drinking plays role in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, study shows

It's a well-known fact that fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in children is caused by mothers who drink during pregnancy. But it turns out that the father's drinking habits could also affect a child's growth and development | Medical Xpress, USA

Patterns of Nicotine Pouch Use Among Adults in the US, 2022-2023

Nicotine pouches are one of the only growing segments in a declining US tobacco market. When the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the first nicotine pouch in January 2025, it signaled that pouches may have population-level benefits, underscoring the need for study. Research points to low use among youths and adults overall, but suggests that nicotine pouches may appeal to users of other tobacco and nicotine products, including those interested in quitting. This study seeks to better understand nicotine pouch use among adults | JAMA Network Open, USA

[Open access] The certainty of effects on neurodevelopmental outcomes resulting from perinatal cannabis exposure is yet to be established. This review synthesizes current clinical and preclinical evidence on neurodevelopment and related functional outcomes in offspring exposed to cannabis during pregnancy or early childhood. Additionally, gaps in the literature and suggestions to bridge these gaps are provided | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

A Florida area may crack down on kratom: What to know about the designer drug

Manatee could become the second county in Florida to ban kratom and other designer drugs. Sarasota County approved a ban in 2014. While kratom was already restricted to adults over 21, an emergency statewide order last month banned one of the chemical compounds found in kratom | Medical Xpress, USA

Researchers address gap in substance use disorder treatment

A team of researchers from Michigan State University and community partners has conducted critical research to address gaps in treatment of substance use disorder in Michigan's St. Clair County and the city of Port Huron. This research, culminating in support resources, comes in time for September: National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month | Medical Xpress, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Denial, Blackouts and the Law

A discussion of how alcohol memory lapses and distortions cause problems for litigants, lawyers and others in the courts. This paper is aimed at lawyers and other people working in the legal profession and the courts system. As well as giving them an introduction to the subject it may help them to think about other possible policy issues | IAS blog, UK

Will China’s Nitazenes Ban Work?

This is the second part in a two-part series on China’s new generic ban on the chemical class of nitazene analogues. The first part covers the two previous times China has introduced generic bans in their attempt to crack down on the novel psychoactive substances market, analysing their effects and evaluating their efficacy. This second part will explore what we can expect of the recently implemented nitazenes ban and how it may play out in the coming years | Talking Drugs, UK

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