DrugWise Daily |
22nd June 2026 |
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UK news
Stop smoking support helps nearly 2,000 babies avoid premature birth or low birthweight as maternal smoking reaches record low
New analysis by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) estimates that since 2020, accelerated declines in maternal smoking have helped prevent nearly 2,000 babies from being born preterm or with low birthweight, as well as 70 cases of stillbirth, neonatal death and sudden infant death | ASH, UK
Fruit-flavoured vapes lead UK stop-smoking services as quit rates beat other support
The research, published in Cureus, used Freedom of Information requests to examine how Stop Smoking Services are providing vaping products to smokers trying to quit. The findings show that vapes are no longer a fringe option in smoking cessation. In the study’s detailed results, 27 out of 28 local authorities said their services provided vaping products to support smokers. None reported supplying disposable vapes | Clearing the air, UK
Can real-world scaling up HCV treatment in people who inject drugs be cost-saving: an economic modelling study in the UK
[Open access] In four English regions, continuing to treat the proportions of injectors infected with hepatitis C reached in 2023/24 versus reverting to lower pre-2016 levels will not just save lives, but (depending on the cost of the treatment) also save money for English health services | IJDP, UK
Facing addiction while pursuing music nearly cost me it all - audio
Janet Devlin from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland rose to fame on the UK’s staple Saturday night television singing competition The X Factor at just 16 years old. She did extremely well, though coming back to ‘normal’ life wasn’t quite as successful. Told that three out of four people in the UK would now recognise her, for her own safety she withdrew from the outside world, and started using alcohol as a coping mechanism while in isolation | BBC Sounds, UK
7,300 offenders get high-tech ankle tags in World Cup drinking crackdown
Around 5,000 offenders, either released from prison or serving community sentences, had alcohol-sensitive tags fitted before the tournament, with 2,300 more expected to receive them | iPaper, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Children
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what role her Department has had in the Department for Health and Social Care’s consideration of banning the sale of low and no alcohol products to under 18s | They work for you, UK
Steroid Drugs: Young People
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to WPQs 2849, 2850 and 2851 answered on 9 June 2026 about Steroid Drugs: Young People, if he will ensure that issues surrounding Anabolic Steroids, IPEDs and SARMs are included in work to improve men's health literacy, as set out in the Men’s Health Strategy | They work for you, UK
A vape battery explosion burned the skin off my leg
Gavin Sutherland had the spare lithium battery in his pocket while he was working in a jewellery workshop in Orkney. "I heard a hiss and slight movement in my pocket," he said. "Then it went off like a firework - the blast searing into my thigh." | BBC, UK
International news
France bans alcohol at music festival events under red heatwave alert
France has banned alcohol at some events at a massive national music festival on Sunday as a heatwave pushes temperatures towards record levels | BBC, UK
Drug use related problems in Ethiopia with Tesfa Yimer - audio
In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Tesfa Yimer, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, The University of Queensland, Australia. The interview covers Tesfa’s research article taking a regional perspective on substance use related problems in Ethiopia | SSA, UK
Police uncover Australia’s largest ever cocaine haul during underground bunker search
Police estimate the cocaine had a street value of 816 million Australian dollars ($572 million) | Independent, UK
EUDA webinar: Conceptualising drug market-related violence - video
In this webinar, we will also devote attention to the various ways in which drug market-related violence can be measured at local, national and international level. We showcase and highlight the value of using granular geographical data for understanding where drug market-related violence concentrates and how it evolves over time | EUDA, Portugal
EUDA and DEVIDA launch first international targeted policy analysis on cocaine and the environment
Cocaine markets have the potential to generate environmental harms that extend far beyond deforestation to include air, water and soil contamination and biodiversity loss across multiple regions and cocaine-related activities. This is according to a new report published today by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and Peru’s Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo y Vida sin Drogas (DEVIDA),which explores how these impacts can be better understood and measured | EUDA, Portugal
“Chill packs” self-administered olanzapine as psychiatric harm reduction for methamphetamine-induced psychosis: a narrative review of the existing evidence base
[Open access] So-called 'chill packs' consist of several low-dose olanzapine (an antipsychotic medication) tablets which can be self-administered in the event of methamphetamine-induced insomnia, anxiety, paranoia, delusions, or other dysphoric symptoms. The aim is to prevent progression to a psychotic episode requiring emergency care | Harm Reduction Journal, USA
Growing Calls to Integrate Tobacco Harm Reduction Into Drug Services
“It’s time drug treatment and harm reduction services got involved with tobacco harm reduction,” Gerry Stimson told the audience. Stimson, a public health social scientist and emeritus professor at Imperial College London, was speaking at the Global Forum on Nicotine (GFN) in Warsaw, Poland, in early June. He emphasized the extremely high prevalence of tobacco smoking, and related harms, among people who use banned drugs | Filter Magazine, USA
FDA approves another over-the-counter naloxone nasal spray
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved another over-the-counter intranasal naloxone product, Rextovy (naloxone hydrochloride), for the emergency treatment of opioid overdose. The nonprescription approval was granted to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals | Medical Xpress, USA
Use of Weighted Blankets as Adjunct Therapy for Symptom Reduction Among Emergency Department Patients Receiving Buprenorphine for Opioid Withdrawal
[Open access] The mild pressure exerted by weighted blankets can calm and reduce anxiety, but would this simple procedure help patients withdrawing from opioids? Just six tried it in a US emergency department, and all but one found it helpful | AEM, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Smoking in pregnancy has fallen to a record low. Here's what the rest of the health system can learn
New NHS data shows that smoking during pregnancy has fallen to a record low in England. The latest NHS data show that smoking at the time of delivery has fallen to 4.2% in 2025/26, down from 9.6% in 2020/21. Behind the statistics are thousands of women and babies experiencing better outcomes | ASH blog, UK
The Guardian view on nicotine: we shouldn’t buy the idea of addiction without harm
The UN is set to review the legal status of nicotine. An outright ban would go too far, but there is no case for its easy availability | Guardian opinion, UK
Drug Consumption Room Proposal: Could Edinburgh Follow Glasgow in Saving Lives?
It’s been 18 months since Scotland took the initiative to open the UK’s first Drug Consumption Room (DCR) in Glasgow, having first opened in January 2025. A year and a half later, and the public and political debate still thrives under a culture of stigma; but what can we glean from the early phase of the centre’s operations, and does it justify opening up a further site in Edinburgh? | Talking Drugs, UK
'Addiction is proof there is a devil. Recovery is proof there is a God’: Irish rockers Bleech 9:3 on struggle, sobriety and their stunning debut
After two friends sponsored each other in Alcoholics Anonymous, they started making music. As they gear up for a summer of 40 festivals, the band tell their harrowing yet uplifting story | Guardian, UK
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic could work for addiction too – and we finally know how
For many people, the thought of a tasty burger or a cold pint of beer conjures up a vivid mental image and drives behaviour. This link between thinking and doing serves a clear function – it motivates us to get the necessities for life. But for some, this process can malfunction. Preoccupation with these rewarding stimuli can lead to disorders of substance overuse, including overeating to the point of obesity and alcohol abuse. Studies going back to the 1970s have linked vivid mental imagery with drug abuse | Conversation, New Zealand