DrugWise Daily |
10th June 2026 |
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UK news
Illegal mini-marts to shut for up to 12 months under law change prompted by BBC
Illegal mini-marts, barbers and vape shops could be shut for up to a year under new powers announced by the government, following lengthy investigative reporting by BBC News into organised crime on British high streets | BBC, UK
#NoIDVape: A content analysis of illicit vape messaging in young people's information sources
[Open access] In recent years, the increased prevalence of youth vaping in the United Kingdom (UK) may have coincided with a proliferation in the use of ‘illicit’ (unregulated) vapes. Media or educational content about illicit vaping aimed at young people is scarce and poorly understood. This study aimed to systematically assess the content of both TikTok videos and educational resources relating to illicit vaping | Addiction, UK
Liverpool sees significant drop in young people smoking and vaping
The latest annual Youth Survey shows that regular smoking among 14–17-year-olds has fallen to an all-time low of just 1 per cent, with 93 per cent reporting they have never tried a cigarette. Vaping rates have also dropped from 38 per cent in 2023 to 20 per cent this year | Liverpool City Council, UK
National naloxone programme Scotland - Quarterly monitoring bulletin
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information on the number of take-home naloxone kits issued by the National Naloxone Programme (NNP) in Scotland (October to December 2025/26). 9,552 Take-Home Naloxone (THN) kits were issued in this period | PHS, UK
NHS stop smoking services quarterly
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) presents information from October to December 2025 on NHS Stop Smoking Services in Scotland and health boards’ progress towards their annual Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Standard. In the period October to December 2025, NHS Scotland achieved 65% (1,139 quits out of 1,757) of a quarter of the annual LDP standard | PHS, UK
Art, Recovery, and lived experience: WithYou sponsors award-winning short film, Small Hours
At WithYou, we believe that change happens in many different places, not just inside our services. Not everyone who needs support will walk through our doors, but they might watch a film, listen to a podcast, or find something that makes them feel seen or think differently about reaching out for support. That's why we're proud to announce our sponsorship of Small Hours, a short animated film that we think has the power to reach people in a way that very few projects do | WithYou, UK
What we've learnt delivering recovery services in rural Shropshire
57% of people in Shropshire live in rural areas. From the Welsh border in the west to the outskirts of the Black Country in the east, the majority of people live miles from their nearest town and its services, shops, and supermarkets. The county is also under serious financial pressure...Since 2016, WithYou has been delivering the Shropshire Recovery Partnership - staffed by people from the area who are passionate about delivering for their local communities | WithYou, UK
2026 World Cup: Find your best sub this tournament
Whether you're heading to the pub, hosting a watch party at home, or catching every game from the sofa, alcohol can often become part of the occasion. But with matches kicking off later than usual and celebrations sometimes lasting long after the final whistle, it's easy to drink more than you intended. The good news is that a few simple substitutions – your own "best subs" – can help you stay in control while still enjoying every moment of the tournament | Drinkaware, UK
Hooked by design: how social media fuels alcohol harm - podcast
On this month’s Alcohol Alert podcast, we spoke to Professor Nicholas Carah about the fast-evolving world of digital alcohol marketing - and why it matters. As debates intensify globally around social media regulation and even bans for young people, the conversation couldn’t be more timely | IAS, UK
Alcoholism: Death
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of trends in levels of alcohol-specific deaths since 2019 | They work for you, UK
Prison drugs cause 13 emergencies in one day
Prison staff at HMP High Down in Banstead, Surrey, faced 13 "code blue" incidents, where prisoners had collapsed or suffered serious breathing difficulties, in one day in 2025, with all of the cases related to drug use according to the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) | BBC, UK
Five arrested and more than £30m of cocaine recovered in at-sea smuggling bid
NCA officers struck shortly after 1300 yesterday (Monday) arresting the suspects at Eastbourne Marina and seizing 425kg of the Class A drug which has a street value of £34m | NCA, UK
International news
Sweden blocks EU pouch tax hike to protect its smoke-free status
Sweden has blocked an EU tobacco tax plan that critics warned would punish the smoke-free products behind the country’s sharp fall in smoking | Clearing the air, UK
New health risks for Europeans in a fast-moving drug market - European Drug Report 2026: highlights
Based on data from 29 countries (EU-27, Norway and Türkiye), the annual review highlights risks to public health posed by the wide availability and use of an increasingly diverse range of substances, often of high potency or purity. New cannabis products continue to appear, while the variety of opioids and stimulants sold is on the rise. Polysubstance use is also common, with people combining drugs in ways that increase risk and complicate responses | EUDA, Portugal
European Drug Report 2026: Trends and Developments
The European Drug Report 2026: Trends and Developments presents the EUDA’s latest analysis of the drug situation in Europe. Focusing on illicit drug use, related harms and drug supply, the report provides a comprehensive set of national data across these themes, as well as on specialist drug treatment and key harm reduction interventions | EUDA, Portugal
Electronic cigarette use after smoking cessation and lung cancer risk
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have gained popularity as a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes, yet their associations with lung cancer risk after smoking cessation remain uncertain. Here we evaluated 4,524,895 adults with a conventional smoking history who participated in the Korean National Health Screening Program in 2018 (baseline), with prior records from 2012–2014 | Nature Medicine, USA
A scoping review of implementation strategies to reduce stigma toward people who use substances in healthcare settings
Stigma and anticipation of stigma affect healthcare when access may involve disclosure of substance use. Researched interventions to mitigate stigma have lacked what may be the most effective strategies – promoting "reflective learning, contact-based engagement [ie, interacting with the patients concerned], or organizational change" | JSAT, USA
Why Overdose Deaths Are Falling—and It Isn’t Because of the Drug War
Washington will almost certainly try to claim credit for the decline in overdose deaths. But the evidence suggests multiple factors are at play, none of which involve enforcing drug prohibition | ACSH, USA
Single high dose of psilocybin temporarily restores lost abilities in an 80-year-old Alzheimer's patient
A recent study in Frontiers in Neuroscience set out to see whether a high dose of psilocybin could help patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease. The researchers focused on a woman in her 80s who had been living with Alzheimer's for 10 years and was given one oral dose of 5 grams of psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Soon after that single dose, she temporarily regained several abilities that had been lost years earlier because of her advanced condition | Medical Xpress, USA
Why Is It Harder for People in Rural Communities to Quit Smoking?
“I was told countless times, ‘You should stop smoking.’ But when I said I had tried, no one offered advice on what else to try,” Kim “Skip” Murray told Filter | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
What is the point of a pint without alcohol? How drinking motives can help our understanding of who is consuming no/lo drinks
For my PhD, I conducted a cross-sectional study to explore whether regular (at least monthly) consumption of no/lo drinks was associated with the reasons people drink alcohol, and whether this could help explain sociodemographic differences in no/lo consumption | IAS blog, UK