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Weekly news - 20th June 2025

 

In date order, Monday to Friday

Sainsburys and Morrisons told to stop tobacco ads

The government has written to Sainsbury's and Morrisons asking them to stop "advertising and promoting" heated tobacco products, which it says is against the law | BBC, UK

Warning as 'high strength' MDMA pills found at Parklife

Festival goers have been warmed after dangerous "high strength" pills were found at Parklife. A drug checking charity stationed at the event say that the "Dior" pills contain three times a common adult dose of MDMA. The charity, The Loop, has told anybody planning to take MDMA to "stay hydrated" and wait at least "90 minutes before redosing." | Manchester Evening News, UK

Deaths show risks of lethal drugs, charity says

A public health warning was issued by Plymouth City Council, and officials said all three were believed to be linked to blue pills being illegally sold as Valium. Julie Howes, chief executive of Plymouth-based substance misuse charity Harbour, said the recent deaths showed how lethal counterfeit street drugs could be | BBC, UK

Put drug overdose kits in pubs, train stations and shopping centres to save homeless peoples' lives

The Salvation Army has called for overdose antidote naloxone to be more widely available in public places to prevent drug deaths on the street | Big Issue, UK

AI Meets Harm Reduction: Drugbot Launches across the UK

A new artificial intelligence chatbot has launched, providing people who use drugs with lifesaving information in what experts say is of an ever-changing and more dangerous drug market. Drugbot, delivered by the social justice charity Cranstoun, which works with thousands of people who use drugs each year, with technology partners Substancy have launched the free and confidential chat service across the UK to help to reduce the harms caused by drugs to people and communities | Cranstoun, UK

Thousands more smokers to get help to quit after cash boost of at least £80 million

The bumper funding, announced in this week’s Spending Review, will help pay for smoking cessation programmes, including local stop smoking services which provide access to patches and gum and give dedicated advice and support | Mirror, UK

Large-scale analysis of attitudes towards drugs reveals growing acceptance of psychedelics

A new study has revealed large differences in attitudes towards various types of drugs, with a growing acceptance of psychedelics and strong negative feelings towards more traditional illicit drugs. Psychology experts from the University of Nottingham analysed over 600,000 Reddit posts using Google Cloud Natural Language Infrastructure to compare how different substances were talked about online in terms of positivity versus negativity | University of Nottingham, UK

Continued improvements to drug treatment services highlighted in new benchmarking report

Public Health Scotland (PHS) has today published a benchmarking report on the progress Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADP) in Scotland have made to meet the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards in 2024/25. MAT refers to the use of medication, such as prescription opioids, together with psychological and social support, in the treatment and care of individuals who experience problems with their substance use | Public Health Scotland, UK

ASH calls for swift legislation on nicotine pouches as new data shows surge in youth awareness

New data reveals that awareness of nicotine pouches grew between 2024 and 2025 among under 18s in Great Britain, spiking from 38 percent to 43 percent. Nearly 4 percent of teens report having tried nicotine pouches. This is equivalent to 210k children | ASH, UK

Cannabis use could double risk of heart deaths, study suggests

Experts say research from University of Toulouse raises ‘serious questions’ about health risks of cannabis | Guardian, UK

Cannabis withdrawal associated with increased risk of transfer to psychiatric intensive care following admission to hospital

Cannabis users with acute mental illness admitted to psychiatric hospitals are at increased risk of being transferred to a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) as a result of cannabis withdrawal syndrome (CWS) | KCL, UK

Use of drugs and alcohol by pupils contributing to violence and disruption in schools

Nearly one in five teachers are aware of pupils using cannabis in schools, with the use of other drugs including spice, ketamine and cocaine also being abused by young people on school premises, according to new data collected by NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union | NASUWT, UK

Statistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England, Q4 2024/25

This is the last quarterly report that includes comparative data from the original  Smoking at Time of Delivery (SATOD) data collection and the Maternity Services Dataset (MSDS). This dual reporting covering the 2022-2023 to 2024-25 period has helped to determine the retirement of the SATOD data collection due to the close alignment between the two sources. Subsequent reporting will include data from MSDS only | NHS Digital, UK

Government achieves smoking in pregnancy reduction target – but progress threatened by NHS cuts

New figures show that fewer women in England are smoking during pregnancy than ever before, with 6.1% recorded as smokers in 2024/25.[1] This means that the government has achieved the national target of 6% or fewer women smoking during pregnancy – although three years later than the 2022 target | ASH, UK

Evaluating the effectiveness of the Drink Less smartphone app for reducing alcohol consumption compared with usual digital care: a comprehensive synopsis from a 6 month follow-up RCT

Digital interventions can be effective for reducing alcohol consumption. However, most digital interventions that have been evaluated are websites and there is little evidence on the effectiveness of smartphone apps, especially in a United Kingdom context. We developed an evidence- and theory-informed app, Drink Less, to help increasing-and-higher-risk drinkers (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test score ≥ 8) reduce their alcohol consumption | NIHR, UK

Drinks For Everyone Research 2025

Discover the latest UK trends in alcohol-free drinking: 48% now enjoy AF options, younger adults lead the shift, and support for mindful drinking is growing | Club Soda, UK

Spin the bottle: How the UK alcohol industry twists the facts on harm and responsibility

Alcohol deaths are at an all-time high in the UK, yet current policy is unable to tackle this crisis. The alcohol industry’s influence has been recognised as a key barrier to addressing alcohol harm. One strategy used by alcohol companies and trade groups to avoid further regulation is to present the sector as responsible and part of the solution to alcohol harm. However, as this report shows, the industry’s claims do not always match its actions, or statements made in other forums. We analysed the public communications of six major alcohol industry and industry-funded organisations in 2024 to identify and assess the credibility of such claims | IAS, UK

Model-based appraisal of the potential effects of minimum pricing for tobacco in Scotland

Minimum tobacco pricing would set a legal price floor. This study aimed to estimate how five minimum price thresholds could impact smoking behaviour, health and economic outcomes alongside tobacco tax increases in Scotland | BMJ Tobacco Control, UK