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Daily news - 11th September 2025 |
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UK news
Exploited to exploiter? Preventing the unjust criminalisation of victims of child criminal exploitation in the transition to adulthood
This is the third in a series of three policy briefings on critical issues faced by young people in contact with the justice system as they transition to adulthood, as part of a project funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust. The briefing examines how current policy and practice in response to child criminal exploitation across safeguarding services, police, prosecutors, and courts is leaving young adults vulnerable to continued exploitation and criminalisation. | AYJ, UK
Academics launch new study into how people with drug or alcohol dependence can be supported in care homes
New research led by the University of Bedfordshire, in partnership with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will explore how people with drug and alcohol dependence are supported in care homes. In the last 20 years, the number of people over 50 receiving drug treatment has increased seven-fold and the number receiving alcohol treatment has increased four-fold. In 2024, nearly 90,000 over 50’s received drug or alcohol treatment, with over a quarter aged over 60 | Bedford Today, UK
Consultation outcome: Response to brand advertising exemption from advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink
This document sets out the government’s response to the consultation on draft advertising regulations, which was held between 16 July and 6 August 2025. This consultation response highlights the main themes identified through the responses to the consultation and provides an analysis of the responses to each question. It sets out the government’s response to the issues raised in the consultation, the changes made to the draft regulations and the next steps | DHSC, UK
How does the disposable vape ban work, and how harmful is vaping?
Updated 9th September. It has been illegal for businesses to sell or supply disposable vapes in the UK since June. The government said the ban would reduce environmental damage and help cut the number of children and young people vaping | BBC, UK
Strongbow and Jägermeister pull ads after watchdog probe
Strongbow and Jägermeister have withdrawn social media ads after the advertising watchdog ruled against the way the brands presented their alcoholic drinks | BBC, UK
Operation Venetic: Crime group jailed over yacht cocaine and cannabis smuggling plots
An organised crime group who hatched an audacious plan to smuggle 600 kilos of cocaine on a yacht participating in a transatlantic sailing race, and imported more than half a tonne of cannabis, have been jailed for a total of more than 111 years | NCA, UK
International news
Snapchat allows drug dealers to operate openly on platform, finds Danish study
Social media platform accused of failing to filter out obvious usernames such as ‘coke’, ‘weed’ and ‘molly’ | Guardian, UK
‘Who wouldn’t want pure cocaine?’: the radical plan to prevent overdoses with better drugs
Vancouver’s Drug User Liberation Front believes we shouldn’t blame users for the ills of capitalism: if so many people are self-medicating, why not give them the clean stuff? | Guardian, UK
Ukrainian Government adopts National Drug Policy Strategy until 2030 and approves its implementation plan
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the National Drug Policy Strategy until 2030 and its Operational Implementation Plan for 2025–2027. This document continues the state’s drug policy, which was in effect until 2020 | IDPC, UK
Health inequalities annual report 2025
This annual publication presents a comprehensive analysis of health inequality gaps between the most and least deprived areas of NI, and within health and social care (HSC) trust and local government district areas. Alcohol, smoking and drugs related indicators continue to present some of the largest health inequalities in NI. The alcohol specific death rate worsened over the analysed period in all areas and the most-least deprived inequality gap widened, with the death rate in the most deprived areas now over four and a half times the rate in the least deprived areas | Department of Health, Ireland
Chronic alcohol use halts liver cell regeneration, new study finds
Excessive alcohol consumption can disrupt the liver's unique regenerative abilities by trapping cells in limbo between their functional and regenerative states, even after a patient stops drinking, researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators at Duke University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago describe in a new study | Medical Xpress, USA
Veteran recovery programs show 41% death risk reduction through incentive system
The chance to win a few dollars every time they pass a drug test, and the possibility of bigger prizes the longer they stay off drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine, may be enough to keep veterans from dying as they navigate early recovery, a new study suggests | Medical Xpress, USA
Depression remission endures five years after psilocybin trial
Two-thirds of clinical trial participants treated with psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder were in complete remission from their depression five years later, a new study has found | Medical Xpress, USA
What New York’s Cigarette Litter Says About Tobacco Control
Welcome to New York City, the cigarette tax evasion capital of the East Coast. A new study of littered cigarette packs on the streets and sidewalks found that of 252 collected, just 17 percent had the official New York City tax stamp—down from 39.3 percent in 2011 and 23.7 percent in 2015. The findings reflect long-established truths about “carrot” versus “stick” approaches to drug use | Filter Magazine, USA
Integrated Management of Co-Occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Depression: Clinical Approaches for Concurrent Disorders
Evidence-based clinical guidelines on how to diagnose and treat (or not) both elements of the very common conjunction of heavy drinking and symptoms of depression | The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Canada
Regulation Minister David Seymour won't rule out label changes for nicotine, tobacco, alcohol
David Seymour says changes to warning labels for tobacco, nicotine and alcohol products are on the table in a labelling review by his Ministry for Regulation | RNZ, New Zealand
Blogs, comment and opinion
Harry’s blog 129: Prohibition: the lessons we never learn
As reported on the website of ALIVE, the Australian vaping advocacy movement, “Australia's ongoing battle against tobacco has led to some of the strictest regulations in the world, particularly concerning vaping and cigarette pricing. While the government has framed these policies as necessary for public health, the unintended consequences have sparked a growing crisis.” | NSP, UK
The Guardian view on public health: if Labour is serious about reducing illness, it must focus on causes
A shift to prevention will only succeed if ministers take a bold approach to regulation and lift people out of poverty | Guardian opinion, UK
7-OH Ban: Criminalising Kratom Alkaloid May Mean More Prohibition
Kratom, the psychoactive leaf that has been used for pain relief, mood elevation, and as a stimulant for hundreds of years in Southeast Asia, is now used by tens of millions of Americans every day. This plant’s effects are caused by dozens of alkaloids – nitrogen-containing molecules that induce psychoactive effects in drugs like caffeine and cocaine. The most abundant and well-studied of these alkaloids is mitragynine | Talking Drugs, UK
Can Syria Ever Leave Captagon Behind?
Before the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Syria controlled an estimated 80% of the global Captagon trade thanks to state-level production and trafficking. Since Syria’s new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham interim government under President Ahmed Al-Sharaa came to power, they have committed to completely dismantling the Captagon trade, allegedly seizing all production sites and eradicating remaining stockpiles | Talking Drugs, UK