DrugWise Daily |
23rd October 2026 |
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UK news
Stirling pubs and clubs given green light for festive opening until 4am
Pubs and clubs across Stirling will be allowed to stay open until 4am over the festive season after councillors approved extended licensing hours | Deadline News, UK
Policy tracker - Alcohol
England lacks a coherent national alcohol strategy, and Labour’s manifesto included limited commitments on alcohol-related harm. Alcohol has not been prioritised to the same extent as other risk factors to health | Health Foundation, UK
Last orders? Pub closures, policy and the future of the public house in the UK
The public house occupies a dual position in British society as both vital social infrastructure and a significant contributor to the hospitality economy. Yet the sector is experiencing a post-pandemic ‘perfect storm’, with closures accelerating despite sustained consumer demand. This critical review argues that the crisis reflects a policy paradox: government rhetoric celebrates pubs as community hubs, while fiscal and regulatory arrangements treat them primarily as alcohol-based commercial enterprises | Contemporary Social Science, UK
Hangxiety: Why some people experience anxiety after drinking alcohol - audio
After drinking alcohol, some people don’t just have a headache - they feel guilt, dread, low mood and a deep sense of embarrassment. It’s known as ‘hang-xiety’ or hangover anxiety, and science backs up that it’s a real phenomenon | BBC Sounds, UK
Holistic Approaches in Substance Settings
Wednesday, October 28 • 10 AM - 12:30 PM GMT+0. Holistic Approaches in Substance Use Settings: the ADVANCE-D model as an example of good practice and addressing gender based violence | DRNS, UK
More couriers sentenced over £13.8 million cannabis importation attempt
Five members of a drugs smuggling gang who were part of a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK via Birmingham Airport have been sentenced | NCA, UK
International news
Cannabis legalisation and cardiovascular hospitalisations in the United States: nationwide difference-in-differences analysis, 2012–2018
[Open access] Legalisation was associated with increased hospitalisations for atrial fibrillation/flutter, heart failure and myocardial infarction. Global legalisation trends may result in epidemiologically and economically important increases in cardiovascular healthcare use | BMJ Open, UK
Trauma Doesn’t Follow Funding Cycles
When funding disappears, a harm reduction programme does not simply lose a budget line. It loses people I know by name. It loses the peer worker who knows exactly whom to call when someone is too afraid to walk into a clinic alone. It loses the community organiser who has spent years building trust for a woman who uses drugs to finally disclose violence | Talking Drugs, UK
Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas is charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, DOJ says
Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats, was charged on Thursday in connection with what federal authorities alleged was a role leading a criminal enterprise that acquired and distributed large quantities of marijuana and laundered the proceeds | ITV, UK
Cara Delevingne says substance abuse left her ‘on the edge of self-hatred’
Star says personal struggles delayed her music career as she ‘wouldn’t have been able to hack it’ | Independent, UK
Drug production in Afghanistan and the region: new EUDA report highlights value of innovative monitoring and early warning to better inform drug policy
The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) has today published a report, Drug production in Afghanistan and the region: innovative monitoring to better inform policy, examining how drug production systems in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries are adapting to political change, enforcement pressure and market demand | EUDA, Portugal
Childhood adversity patterns reveal different links to hopelessness and drug or alcohol cravings
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to increase the risk of substance use problems later in life. New research from George Mason University's College of Public Health suggests that the specific types of adversity a young person faces may be associated with different vulnerabilities to those risks | Medical Xpress, USA
Understanding Connectedness: Patterns of safety, belonging, and community among clients utilizing publicly recognized overdose prevention centers in the United States
[Open access] Understanding the interpersonal and environmental dynamics that drive overdose prevention center (OPC) engagement is critical to inform OPC models in other jurisdictions. We described patterns of connectedness from the perspective of clients attending publicly recognized OPCs in the US | IJDP, USA
The Joy Hack
Scientifically speaking, joy involves activity within the brain’s reward system and the release of neurochemicals such as dopamine. Some drugs act as a “joy hack” by triggering surges of dopamine that imitate the pleasurable feeling of joy. However, they cannot recreate what gives genuine joy its meaning: the moment, the experience, and the memories attached to it | CHA, USA
Blogs,. comment and opinion
Expert reaction to study of vascular function and cardiorespiratory fitness in young adults who vape
Scientists comment on a study of vascular function and cardiorespiratory fitness in young adults who vape, as published in JAMA Cardiology | SMC, UK
Opinion: Alcohol tax rise would show real commitment to national care service
Increasing alcohol taxes in Wednesday’s UK Budget would show real intent to deliver Andy Burnham’s vision for a new state-funded National Care Service, boosting government funds while reducing future care demand | Alcohol Review opinion, UK