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Daily news - 22nd January 2026

UK news

Public health evaluation of BBV opt-out testing in EDs in England, 33-month final report 2025

[From December] Data shows that over 7 million tests were undertaken for blood-borne viruses (BBV) in the 34 emergency departments over a 33-month period. There were 3,667 new Hepati-tis B (HBV) diagnoses, 831 new Hepatitis C (HCV) diagnoses and 719 new HIV diagnoses across the subset of 24 sites | UKHSA, UK

Continuing use of e-cigarettes after stopping smoking and relapse: Secondary analysis of a large randomised controlled trial

[Open access] Smokers quitting successfully with the help of e-cigarettes often continue vaping. It is not known whether this promotes or prevents relapse back to smoking. This study aimed to determine whether use of e-cigarettes after successful smoking cessation affects the probability of relapse later on | Addiction, UK

Naloxone: Public Places

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of making naloxone available in public spaces | They work for you, UK

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to decrease underage alcohol consumption rates | They work for you, UK

East Lothian and Midlothian drink and drugs support charity to close after 32 years

The charity has been working in partnership with health and social care partnerships to provide support in Midlothian and East Lothian | Edinburgh Live, UK

UK inflation rises for first time in five months - but one-off factors blamed

Higher tobacco prices and airfares pushed the UK rate of inflation higher for the first time in five months, official figures show | BBC, UK

Number of Repeat Drug Drivers Rises by a Third - video

New data from the Ministry of Justice shows an increase in re-offending by drug drivers. Rates have risen by a third in between 2022 and 2024 | BBC, UK

International news

Police arrest over 100 people in huge drugs bust linked to 20 labs across Europe

European investigators have dismantled a vast international synthetic drugs network operating from Poland, leading to the seizure of more than 9.3 tonnes of narcotics and the arrest of over 100 suspects, Polish prosecutors announced on Wednesday | Independent, UK

Mexico sends 37 accused drug gang members to the US

Mexican authorities have sent 37 inmates allegedly linked to powerful drug cartels to face trials in the US, after Trump floated the possibility of US land strikes targeting organised criminal gangs inside Mexico | BBC, UK

Snap settles social media addiction lawsuit ahead of trial

The plaintiff, a 19-year old woman identified by the initials K.G.M., alleged that the algorithmic design of the platforms left her addicted and affected her mental health | BBC, UK

[Open access] Partly, but not entirely, due to reduced drinking, setting a minimum per unit price for alcohol in Scotland meant that the Scottish population’s shopping basket included significantly less sugar | American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, USA

[Open access] Spanish regions raised the legal drinking age from 16 to 18 at different times, enabling researchers to more robustly assess impacts. Among these was a significant improvement in 15- and 16-year-olds’ competence in core academic subjects | Journal of Health Economics, USA

CFSRE's Year in Review 2025 (PDF)

This report provides cumulative up-to-date statistics about the emergence and landscape of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the United States based on data developed by the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE)’s NPS Discovery program — a premier open-access drug early warning system utilizing an evidence-based approach to disseminate information for real-time public health and safety action | CFSRE, USA

The Impact of Recreational Cannabis Legalization on Cannabis Use in U.S. Adults From 2016 to 2023: A Quasi-Experimental Study

[Open access] Although cannabis use has increased during a time of expanding cannabis legalization, there is limited evidence on how use has shifted in response to legalization across at-risk groups. This study examined the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on adult cannabis use overall and by demographic and higher-risk strata | American Journal of Preventive Medicine, USA

[Open access] While interest in the therapeutic and recreational use of hallucinogens has increased, national surveillance often reports use in aggregate, potentially masking shifting trends among pharmacologically distinct substances. This study assessed trends in specific hallucinogens from 2021 to 2023 and identified correlates of use, with particular attention to subgroup patterns in populations commonly prioritized for prevention and access-focused interventions | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, USA

Harm reduction vending machines in NYS expand access to overdose treatment, drug test strips

Two studies led by an opioid treatment program run by UB and UBMD Emergency Medicine have found that harm reduction vending machines installed across New York State are well utilized and provide critical, lifesaving services to high-risk individuals who might not otherwise have access | UBNow, USA

Comparison of Extended-Release Buprenorphine Doses for Treating High-Risk Opioid Use

[Open access] Would tripling the dose of buprenorphine injections whose effects last a month significantly improve outcomes? Across the whole of a North American sample, surprisingly not, though patients severely dependent on the potent opioid fentanyl did seem to benefit | JAMA Network Open, USA

Advisory: Evidence-Based Care for Clients with Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Eating Disorders

This report addresses the relationship between eating disorders and substance use disorders—as well as issues related to co-occurrence of the disorders. The advisory provides health care practitioners with the tools needed to implement evidence-based, integrated, person-centered care—all with the aim of helping individuals with these co-occurring disorders to attain and retain recovery | SAMHSA, USA

Up in smoke: Publisher pulls vaping paper nearly two years after complaint

MDPI has retracted a study about vaping that one expert said seemed “like a joke” almost two years after the publisher received a complaint about the flawed work | Redaction Watch, USA

In 1 decade, 170 babies, kids and teens died in NC after fentanyl encounters

Infants, children younger than 5 and teenagers aged 13 to 17 were the most likely to die after fentanyl exposure here during the past decade, according to updated data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner | Medical Xpress, USA

Psilocybin could treat depression via a non-hallucinogenic receptor

Psychedelics, psychoactive substances that alter people's perceptions, mood and thought patterns, have recently shown promise for the treatment of some mental health disorders, including depression and substance use disorders (SUDs). A psychedelic compound that has proved to be particularly promising for the treatment of depression is psilocybin, which is derived from some varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms | Medical Xpress, USA

Vape Flavor Bans Increase Cigarette Sales in Canada, Too

Ban flavored vapes and expect an increase in cigarette sales: It’s a familiar concept to experts who recognize the two as economic substitutes. Amid battles over access in the United States, tobacco harm reduction advocates can point to various research to make the case that far from being a trivial inconvenience, vape flavor bans seriously impede efforts to reduce smoking-related deaths | Filter Magazine, USA

The Lessons of My Near-Death Experience With Medetomidine

A misguided nurse coinciding with the arrival of medetomidine in the drug supply nearly proved fatal for me | Filter Magazine, USA

Blogs, comment and opinion

Everyone Gets High Off Drugs

When US President Donald Trump needed an excuse to kidnap Venezuela’s anti-American dictator Nicolas Maduro, he turned to drugs. The White House justified extra-judicial airstrikes on alleged drug boats and a military raid on Caracas to sweep-up Maduro by saying Venezuela’s leadership were involved in “narco-terrorism”. But drugs were a cover story – they weren’t the real reason the US wanted regime change in a country with the world’s largest oil reserves | Max Daly, UK

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