DrugWise Daily |
29th July 2026 |
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UK news
Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) quarterly report
Drug-related harms remained at a high level in the most recent quarter, from March to May 2026. While ambulance naloxone administration incidents and suspected drug deaths were stable compared to the previous quarter, emergency department attendances increased. Cocaine was the most frequently reported drug across treatment and toxicology data. The benzodiazepine market continued to evolve, with frequent detections of novel benzodiazepines. Nitazenes were detected in 13% of deaths positive for a controlled drug | Public Health Scotland, UK
Study reveals young people’s concerns over alcohol sponsorship in sport
The study found that the young people surveyed view alcohol sponsorship as contradictory to the healthy aspirations of sport but acknowledged it had become normalised, with a majority calling for restrictions | University of Stirling, UK
Drug crisis centre warns of closure over 'aggressive' rent hikes
Scotland's only crisis centre for drug and alcohol addiction is warning that "lives could be put at risk" if it is forced to close due to a dispute over rental costs with its council-owned landlord. Turning Point Scotland has run two drug and alcohol services in Glasgow on behalf of the city council for more than 30 years, including a 16-bed residential service to help stabilise the patients | BBC, UK
Harper House awarded highest Care Inspectorate grading
Harper House, Phoenix Futures Scotland's specialist residential family service in Saltcoats, has received an Excellent (6) grading for wellbeing support following an unannounced inspection by the Care Inspectorate in June 2026. The service, which supports parents to recover from substance use while living alongside their children, was praised for delivering exceptional outcomes for families | Phoenix Futures, UK
Shropshire charity marks World Hepatitis Day with two year hepatitis C micro-elimination milestone
Shropshire Recovery Partnership - delivered by national drug and alcohol charity WithYou - has hit a major milestone: two years of sustained hepatitis C micro-elimination. This vital progress ensures Shropshire is doing its part in the national mission to eliminate the virus entirely by 2030 | WithYou, UK
Via reaches hepatitis C micro-elimination milestone in Kingston
We’re delighted to confirm that our Kingston Wellbeing Service has reached an important milestone by successfully achieving hepatitis C micro-elimination | Via, UK
The cannabis-laced gummies with fake packaging
On first glance, the bag looks like an innocent packet of Fruit Pastilles. A busy parent may not notice anything amiss. But upon closer inspection, it can be seen that the name of the sweets is spelled wrong, and there is a note on the packet claiming that it is "made with D9 distillate", a highly-potent cannabis extract, and "contains 1,000mg". The bag was seized from an 18-year-old by police in Swindon, Wiltshire, last week and is part of a growing movement of cannabis-laced gummies targeted at young people | BBC, UK
I had my first alcoholic drink at 16. By 26, I was given six months to live
Holly Dyson’s addiction led to extreme pain, hospital trips and thousands of pounds’ worth of debt. Here is how she recovered | Guardian, UK
Driving Under Influence: Drugs
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the incidence of drug driving | They work for you, UK
More than 33 million illicit cigarettes seized from UK shops in major crackdown
The haul is part of Operation CeCe, a joint initiative between National Trading Standards and HM Revenue and Customs | Independent, UK
Chairman stole £22k from junior football club to fund cocaine habit
A former junior football club chairman stole £22,491 from accounts and faked HMRC documents to feed his cocaine habit | BBC, UK
International news
Cannabis and cocaine worth €1.95m seized in Dublin
Gardaí (Irish police) have seized drugs worth an estimated €1.95m (£1.67m) and almost €144,000 in cash at Dublin Port | BBC, UK
How Mexican drug cartels have outsourced meth labs to Nigeria
The Nigerian judge was formally dressed, the lawyers maintained legal decorum and protocol was followed – but this hearing was not in the comfortable confines of a Lagos courtroom, it was inside an alleged illicit drug laboratory in the thick of a dense forest | BBC, UK
How Can Tobacco Harm Reduction Reach Marginalised Communities? #GFN26 - video
What are the fundamental principles of harm reduction and how can they be applied to many areas of human activity? How can tobacco harm reduction be integrated into mainstream practice to reduce the harms of smoking for those most at risk – illicit drug users, those with poor mental health and others marginalised through economic and legal constraints? What are the obstacles to integration and how might we address and overcome these? | GFN.TV, UK
Real-world comparative effects of slow-release oral morphine vs. methadone on healthcare use for opioid use disorder: A population-based target trial emulation
[Open access] Daily, orally ingested slow-release morphine offers an alternative to methadone, and according to this Canadian study, there are no significant differences in how well patients do as reflected in health service usage | Addiction, UK
A mixed-methods evaluation of a statewide naloxone distribution project: considerations for future implementation of opioid overdose prevention initiatives
[Open access] In the US state of Illinois, documented naloxone administrations nearly tripled between 2021 and 2024. A key factor in more widespread distribution of the overdose-reversing medication was free and simple on-line ordering for community groups and public bodies | BMC Public Health, UK
Strategies to increase attendance in substance use disorder group treatment: results from a randomized controlled trial
[Open access] In a poor and mainly black area of a US city, paying substance users $20 to attend each of eight group psycho-education sessions sharply increased attendance, but without significantly affecting substance use. Interpretation? These poor people often did just what was required to get some money and no more, a common limitation of incentives-based treatment | Harm Reduction Journal, UK
Plain Packaging and “Drab” Colors: The UK’s Latest Anti-Vape Plan
The United Kingdom could impose restrictions on nicotine vapes’ packaging, flavor descriptions and visibility in retail outlets. Government ministers frame the proposals as a “crackdown on vapes targeting kids.” But British harm reduction advocates say the measures would make it less likely that adults will switch from cigarettes to safer nicotine products | Filter Magazine, USA
Despite progress towards eliminating hepatitis in Europe, gaps in prevention measures keep 2030 targets out of reach
While Europe has made steady progress in preventing hepatitis B and C, with the prevalence of hepatitis B now at near-zero levels among children younger than 5, uneven implementation of key measures means the region is set to miss the 2030 target to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat, according to new data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on World Hepatitis Day | Medical Xpress, USA
Make smoking cool again? Pop culture reboots the vice
From beauty mogul Kylie Jenner lighting up on the cover of Vanity Fair to cigarette trays at singer Dua Lipa's wedding, the pop culture-verse has rebooted cigarettes as the accessory du jour, health risks be damned | Yahoo News, USA
Alcohol intervention is successful in humanitarian setting
The first known randomized trial of an alcohol-reduction intervention in a humanitarian setting found a significant, sustained effect in lowering alcohol use. The study, which focused on the Mantapala refugee settlement in northern Zambia, was led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in collaboration with partners across six countries | Medical Xpress, USA
STASH, Vol. 22(8) – A peer-delivered approach to preventing sexual and intimate partner violence among women in substance use treatment
The Healthy Relationships and Interpersonal Violence Education (THRIVE) program was designed to be embedded into existing substance use treatment programs and delivered by trusted peers who advocate, educate, and serve as a bridge to formal care. This week, STASH reviews a pilot trial of THRIVE led by Heidi Zinzow and colleagues | CHA, USA
Scientists Mapped Mescaline’s Effects on the Brain for the First Time
Researchers found mescaline may disrupt sensory filtering in awake rats, helping explain its psychedelic effects | VICE, USA
Results from trial show THC/CBD combination significantly reduces agitation for people with dementia at end of life
A combination of CBD and THC rapidly and significantly reduces agitation in hospice-eligible people with dementia, suggest top-line results from the phase 2 LiBBY (Life's End Benefits of cannaBidiol and tetrahYdrocannabinol) clinical trial. The findings were reported for the first time at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2026 in London and online | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
When will we stop blaming people and start looking at systems: lessons from prison recovery support
One of the most persistent challenges in tackling stigma around alcohol and other drug use is our tendency to look first at the individual and only later at the environment around them. When someone struggles to access treatment, relapses, disengages from support or experiences poor outcomes, our first instinct is often to ask: "Why didn't they engage?" Less often do we ask: "What made engagement difficult?" | AntiStigma Network, UK
Alcohol, crime and public judgements: what shapes the public’s view on punishment?
Public debate about alcohol-related offending sits at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and moral judgement. Questions about intoxication, dependence, and treatment are frequently raised in discussions of culpability and sentencing—but how the public actually weighs these factors is less well understood | IAS blog, UK