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Daily news - 17th September 2025

UK news

Interventions to reduce harms from cocaine

There is a trend of increasing drug deaths and cocaine harms in Scotland. The most severe consequences of cocaine use include dependence, overdose and death, but harms also include increased risk behaviours, wounds and infections as well as deteriorating mental and physical health and social exclusion. We undertook a scoping review to map published and unpublished review-level evidence to help understand what is known and not known about interventions to reduce harms associated with cocaine use | Public Health Scotland, UK

Crack cocaine warning after man dies in spate of 'drug incidents'

Glasgow's health board has warned drug users against inhaling crack cocaine following a series of suspected drug incidents. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said the drug could be very strong or cut with other dangerous substances | BBC, UK

Opioid-related deaths in past decade 55% higher than recorded

Opioid-related deaths from 2011 to 2022 are 54.7% higher than recorded, according to new research by King’s. Analysis by researchers puts the estimated number of deaths at 39,232 compared to 25,364 deaths previously reported | KCL, UK

Pioneering research reveals problem gambling quadruples the risk of suicide among young people four years later

New research has shown how harmful gambling is clearly linked to a marked and long-lasting increase in suicide attempts among young people in the UK | Bristol University, UK

St Mungo’s welcomes the new Minister for Local Government and Homelessness

This week, Sir Keir Starmer appointed Alison McGovern MP as the new Minister of State for Local Government and Homelessness | St Mungo's UK

Cocaine gang sentenced after drug raids

Six members of an organised crime group have been handed prison sentences for supplying cocaine across Hull | BBC, UK

International news

Synthetic kratom drug now blamed for at least three deaths in California

The dangerous synthetic supplement is marketed as a treatment for pain, anxiety and depression | Independent, UK

Trump decertifies Colombia as US ally in drugs war - audio

Colombia loses its certification as a US ally in the war on drugs, as Trump accuses it of failing to rein in record cocaine production. We look at what it could mean for investment in the country - and hear from Colombia’s Ambassador to the US on what comes next | BBC, UK

Prescribed opioid analgesic use in pregnancy and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children: A retrospective study in Sweden

The extent to which the documented association between prenatal prescribed opioid analgesic (POA) exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders in children is causal or due to confounding is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between dose and duration of POA exposure during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children while minimizing bias due to confounding and other sources | PLOS Medicine, USA

[Open access] “Business” in the title refers to the teaching of “entrepreneurial concepts as a framework for developing critical life skills”. It was offered at random to US teenagers in residential treatment, resulting in “significantly greater reductions in key risk factors” such as anxiety and stress and greater confidence in being able to cope with life’s difficulties | Addictive Behviors, USA

What Comes After Fentanyl? In a ‘Period of Hyper-change,’ a New Opioid Is Emerging

As efforts to fight the fentanyl trade ramp up, new synthetic opioids that are less detectable and sometimes stronger than the notorious drug are cropping up with greater frequency in the American market | TIME, USA

Targeted efforts needed to stem fentanyl crisis, study warns

A new study illuminates how some areas of the country have been hit much harder than others by the fentanyl epidemic, which took more than 70,800 lives in 2022 alone | Medical Xpress, USA

RFK Jr.'s MAHA report on children's health leaves something out: nicotine

Frances Daniels, a Baltimore mother of three, read the Trump administration's 20-page report called "Make Our Children Healthy Again," and noticed some notable words were missing from it: "Smoking" and "nicotine." | npr, USA

Corrections Departments Winning Imaginary Fight Against “K2 Exposure”

In 2021, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department published body-cam footage of a deputy who collapsed after coming into contact with fentanyl. The video quickly went viral, with the department warning repeatedly that the deputy would have died of overdose had his partner not administered Narcan | Filter Magazine, USA

Increase in alcohol outlets by neighbourhood socioeconomic status following the expansion of alcohol sales into convenience stores in Ontario, Canada

In September 2024, the province of Ontario expanded alcohol sales into convenience stores. It is important to examine differences in alcohol sales expansion by socioeconomic status (SES) as lower SES groups experience a disproportionately higher burden of alcohol-attributable harms | Canadian Journal Public Health, Canada

Blogs, comment and opinion

Welcome to Narcomania: quality journalism and hot takes about drugs and crime

This Substack is for anyone whose interested in the inside track of the world of drugs and crime and how it really works... My job here is to decode the drug world and get to the heart of crime. Narcomania will be a space where readers can imbibe at their leisure insightful, clued-up journalism which will bring together stories from all over the world, minus the fog of nonsense. I will supply you with a weekly dose of drug and crime hits, including my takes on the big stories, insights, analysis, titbits, interviews and investigations | Max Daly, UK

Alcohol industry intimidation of researchers and advocates

We know a lot about the various tactics and arguments that the tobacco industry and alcohol industry use to undermine tobacco and alcohol control. Until relatively recently, however, there was very little peer-reviewed research focusing specifically on the attacks and intimidatory behaviours experienced by researchers and advocates whose work supports the further regulation of health-harming industries | IAS blog, UK

On Drugs by Justin Smith-Ruiu review – a philosopher’s guide to psychedelics

What if Descartes had melted his brain on acid? Find out in this mind-expanding exploration of drugs and formal philosophy | Guardian, UK

Could making tobacco cheaper actually cut down smoking rates? We asked 5 experts

Australia aims to reduce rates of daily smoking to 5% or less by 2030. By 2023, we got down to 8.3%. A key tool to encourage smokers to quit has been to raise the tobacco taxes. Now a pack of 20 cigarettes costs over A$40, with the excise making up around 70% of the price. Meanwhile, illegal cigarettes have flooded the market, often costing $20 or less a pack. People who wouldn’t normally break the law are now buying cheap, illicit tobacco | Conversation, Australia

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