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Weekly news - 12th December 2025 |
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In date order, Monday to Friday
Better Outcomes through Linked Data: Rough sleeping and substance use treatment
This report focuses on people with experiences of homelessness and rough sleeping who reported having received treatment for substance misuse in England. A linked dataset was created by matching NDTMS (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System) data to the RSQ (Rough Sleeping Questionnaire) data collection, using personal identifiers within the NDTMS and RSQ records. The aim was to assess the relationship between substance misuse treatment outcomes and participants’ history of homelessness and rough sleeping, and the role of the services | Ministry of Housing,
Communities &
Local Government, UK
University secures NIHR award to map and evaluate Lived Experience Recovery Organisations
The University has been awarded £1.46 million by the NIHR to lead a landmark study exploring the role and impact of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations | University of Birmingham, UK
New Year 2025/26 Quit Smoking
A suite of social media and digital screen assets to encourage and support people to make a quit smoking attempt this New Year and beyond | DHSC, UK
Plea after girl, 13, died copying social media trend
The mother of a girl who died while copying a "horrible" social media trend is calling for children to be taught about the dangers of solvent abuse | BBC, UK
Aberdeen fans allowed to buy alcohol at Premiership match
Aberdeen fans have been allowed to buy alcohol at Pittodrie Stadium - the first trial of its kind at a Scottish Premiership match since a ban was introduced 44 years ago | BBC, UK
One Pill Doesn’t Mean One Dose
The HSE is urging people to be aware of significant changes in the MDMA market as we enter the busy Christmas and New Year period. HSE drug-checking, the only service in Ireland analysing substances submitted for harm-reduction purposes, has confirmed MDMA products ranging from 0mg to over 300mg this year, showing how unpredictable the market has become | Drugs.ie, Ireland [Audio clip here]
Researcher leads global push to cut tobacco harms in people with mental ill health
A University of York professor has called for urgent international action to tackle what he describes as an “unseen epidemic” of tobacco-related deaths among people with mental ill health | University of York, UK
The changing face of nicotine use in England: Age-specific annual trends, 2014 to 2024
[Open access] To examine age-specific trends in patterns of nicotine use in England between 2014 and 2024, including types of products used, exclusive and dual use of smoking and vaping, smoking frequency and the smoking history of those who vape | Addiction, UK
New study challenges what we know about alcohol and cancer risk
Researchers found links between some cancers and alcohol consumption, but not others | Independent, UK
Suspected drug deaths in Scotland: July to September 2025
This quarterly report presents Police Scotland management information to provide an indication of current trends in suspected drug deaths in Scotland. There were 898 suspected drug deaths recorded in the first nine months of 2025. This is 8% (65) greater than during the same period of 2024 (833). After following a downward trend in 2024, the rolling 12-month total of suspected drug deaths has increased over recent quarters | Scottish Government, UK
Warning over harms of opioids as they continue to be biggest cause of drugs deaths in Wales
New figures from Public Health Wales show that opioids continue to drive the majority of drug misuse deaths in Wales, prompting renewed warnings about the significant harms associated with these substances | Public Health Wales, UK
Gen Z behind jump in use of oral nicotine pouches across Great Britain
More than half a million people now consume products as experts link rise to ‘aggressive’ marketing and advertising | Guardian, UK
National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times [Scotland]
During the quarter ending 30 September 2025, 11,444 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,369 (46.9%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 4,409 (38.5%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,666 (14.6%) for co-dependency (problematic use of both alcohol and drugs) | Public Health Scotland, UK
Estimated numbers of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy in Scotland
During the quarter ending 30 September 2025, OST was prescribed to an estimated minimum of 26,312 people in Scotland. This was a small decrease compared to the 2024/25 Q4 estimate (26,567) and the lowest estimate in the available time series (2024/25 Q2 to 2025/26 Q1) | Public Health Scotland, UK
US designates Colombian cocaine gang a terrorist group
The US Treasury Department added the group, known as Clan del Golfo or Gulf Clan, to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs) | BBC, UK
Cocaine is now the second most common drug implicated in poisoning deaths
According to the Health Research Board’s (HRB) latest bulletin (Drug poisoning deaths in Ireland in 2022 ), 343 drug poisoning deaths were recorded in Ireland in 2022. This represents an 8% decrease on 2021 (373 deaths). It is the second consecutive year that these deaths have fallen | HRB, Ireland
Breaking new ground: Local authority stop smoking services and wider tobacco control in England, 2025
New government investment has delivered expanded stop smoking services that are working hard to reach smokers in all communities and reduce health inequalities | ASH, UK
Better Oral Health for Adults in Scotland: Drugs and Oral Health
This resource has been designed to support oral health improvement activity for people who use or have used drugs. The resource was produced in collaboration with the Dental Public Health Team at the University of Dundee and Public Health Scotland | Public Health Scotland, UK
LGA responds to Local Government Public Health Grant
“We are pleased to see the grant bring together key funding streams for services including drug and alcohol treatment and recovery, support for rough sleepers; local stop smoking services; Individual Placement and Support, helping people with severe mental illness into work; and continued investment in the Swap to Stop scheme... | LGA, UK
5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) for alcohol use disorder: An open-label, phase 2, proof-of-concept, clinical trial
[Open access] Psychedelic drugs may help treat alcohol use disorder (AUD). This study evaluated BPL-003, a novel intranasal powder formulation of 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) benzoate salt, in people with moderate–severe AUD enrolled in a standard of care, 10-week programme of relapse-prevention oriented Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) | Addiction, UK
New 'gamechanging' spike detector technology that can tell if your vape has drugs in it to be trialed by police over Christmas
Officers have deployed a one-of-a-kind portable ‘vape testing kit’ designed by academics at the University of Bath to detect dangerous psychoactive substances in vapes | Mail Online, UK
Trump signs order reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous
US President Donald Trump said Thursday he was signing an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, in one of America's biggest shifts in drug policy for years | Medical Xpress, USA