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Daily news - 30th March 2026 |
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UK news
Why is this Yorkshire town the ketamine capital of Britain?
Barnsley is at the centre of soaring UK ketamine health problems, but nobody seems to be able to fully explain why. Fergal Kinney talked to some people with some answers | The Face, UK
‘Definitely dodgy’: how to spot a fake vape
Examining the packaging is key to avoiding illegal and potentially harmful devices, as millions are seized each year | Guardian, UK
Jack McConnell: The smoking ban made Holyrood grow up
Thursday marked 20 years since Scotland’s indoor smoking ban was brought in under Jack McConnell’s Scottish Labour government. In that time, smoking rates have plummeted by almost half while health conditions exacerbated by smoking – like strokes and asthma attacks – have come down. But the former Labour first minister wasn’t always a devotee of the policy | STV News, UK
Woman calls for tougher restrictions on food delivery apps after late sister's spending on alcohol
A woman from Lincoln is calling for tougher restrictions on delivery apps after discovering her late sister was spending up to £1,500 a month getting alcohol delivered to her door | ITV, UK
'I nearly broke trying to help my partner with addiction issues'
When Claire Harkin met her husband 11 years ago she didn't know he was hiding a secret that would tear her world apart. For years Michael Harkin's life was consumed by a cocaine and alcohol addiction and he was spiralling out of control | BBC, UK
Guvna B’s 'This Bed I Made' Premieres to Inspire Honest Conversations on Addiction and Recovery
What an incredible evening at the premiere of This Bed I Made — a powerful short film by multi award winning rapper Guvna B | Forward Trust, UK
'Deterrent' sentence imposed for ketamine importer
A Liverpool man who attempted to smuggle up to £25,000 of ketamine to the Isle of Man has been jailed for 22 months | BBC, UK
Third man charged over cocaine in banana shipment
A third man has been charged after a "massive" haul of cocaine, stashed among pallets of bananas, was seized at Southampton Docks | BBC, UK
Six men charged after suspected drug lab found
Avon and Somerset Police said suspected cocaine and mephedrone were being produced at a large industrial unit in Bath Road near Bitton, south Gloucestershire | BBC, UK
International news
UNGASS Promises Unfulfilled: Marie Nougier on the Challenges Facing Global Drug Policy
Ten years after the 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS), a new report by the International Drug Policy Consortium takes stock of progress and remaining gaps in global drug policy. We spoke with Marie Nougier about what has changed over the past decade—and what still needs to change | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Banning supermarkets from selling cigarettes resulted in 23,000 fewer smokers: study
Due to the ban on selling tobacco in supermarkets, mini-supermarkets, and night shops as of 1 July 2024, the number of smokers decreased by an estimated 23,000 by the end of that year, according to SEO Economic Research. That amounts to a decrease of approximately 1 percent of the total number of smokers in the Netherlands | NL Times, The Netherlands
Cigarette and Electronic Cigarette Use Among Adults by Urbanization Level: United States, 2024
In 2024, 9.9% of all adults used cigarettes and 7.0% used e-cigarettes. The percentage of adults who used cigarettes increased with decreasing urbanization level, from 8.0% each in large central and large fringe metropolitan counties to 15.4% in nonmetropolitan counties | CDC, USA
The use of cellphone based automated pupillometry to quantify opioid withdrawal in patients receiving treatment for opioid use disorder
[Open access] Among methadone patients a phone app which can measure pupil constriction in response to light was found to offer a convenient way to assess the severity of withdrawal, potentially aiding titration of doses | JSAT, USA
The effectiveness of psychological interventions delivered by health professionals for adult cannabis use in community settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis
[Open access] Treating cannabis use problems with talking therapies or systematic incentives has generally not been found more effective than alternative or usual approaches. There were some positive findings, but most derived from a single US study | Frontiers in Psychiatry, USA
Why does cannabis give people 'the munchies'?
A researcher explains how your body processes the THC from cannabis, resulting in "the munchies." | Live Science, UK
Safer opioid supply initiation among First Nations Peoples in Ontario, Canada, 2019 to 2023
[Open access] Indigenous-led initiatives to improve access to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment and harm reduction are helping transform care and safety for First Nations Peoples. Safer opioid supply (SOS) involves the provision of pharmaceutical-grade opioids as an alternative to the unregulated drug supply. We sought to examine trends and characteristics of First Nations Peoples initiating SOS in Ontario, Canada | IJDP, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Challenging stigma through storytelling: An interview with Stuart Falconer from The Junkie Miracles
People who use drugs are often spoken about in policy debates and the media, but rarely do their own voices take centre stage. A touring theatre production across Scotland is working to change that. The Junkie Miracles, written by Des Dillon and performed by actor and producer Stuart Falconer, brings to life the stories of four people with lived experience of drug and alcohol use | AntiStigma Network, UK
Did the Gorton & Denton Election Just Shift the UK Drug Policy Debate?
A recent local election in the UK has brought drug policy starkly into the political limelight when the Green Party of England and Wales scored a victory by winning the Gorton and Denton parliamentary seat – a constituency held by the Labour Party for over a hundred years. While it was a decisive victory for the Greens, who primarily campaigned on rising costs of living, the Labour Party abandoned its historically ambivalent position on drugs to widely and crudely criticise the Greens’ progressive approach to drugs | Talking Drugs, UK
Can I drive when taking medicinal cannabis? Is it safe?
Your doctor has just prescribed medicinal cannabis. You think it’s helping. But you rely on your car to get to work and pick up the kids | Conversation, Australia