DrugWise Daily |
6th May 2026 |
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UK news
DDN May 2026
We all want to feel like we belong and for young people peer influence can be intense. This month’s cover story shows how supported accommodation – such as hostels and shared housing – can multiply risks, but also provide many opportunities. The challenge is where and how to intervene, and that’s not about trying to dismantle peer networks (unrealistic!) but about reshaping the places in which they operate – something we do have influence over. Can we create spaces where young people are not just supported to cope, but to move forward? | DDN, UK
Public Health Campaign to Raise Awareness of Drug Supply Contamination
Ethypharm has recently launched the “Gear has changed” public health campaign in April, calling for greater awareness around accidental overdoses caused by street drugs adulterated with lethal illicit substances such as nitazenes. The campaign involved several public health adverts published across Birmingham, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Glasgow and Blackpool – the five UK cities with the highest drug-related deaths per capita. These posters are targeting people actively consuming substances, new and experienced, and their friends, family and surrounding communities | Talking Drugs, UK
Is it true that … your lungs regenerate when you quit smoking?
Our lungs have evolved to heal from damage, but some smokers will suffer irreversible effects | Guardian, UK
Scotland's vape capital - what's behind the boom?
Sofy Saleem decided to shake up the stock in his Greenock hardware shop a couple of years ago. He still sells screws, nails and DIY products, but now he has a huge section dedicated to vaping. Initially, it started out as one small corner, but grew and grew. Now the majority of his sales come from vapes. It's all about "supply and demand", he said. He sees it as simply providing his customers with what they want | BBC, UK
Attempts to stop prison drone drug deliveries hampered by crumbling Victorian walls
Plans to install tougher netting and window grilles set back because walls cannot take extra weight, prison governors say | Guardian, UK
Drugs and overcrowding still significant at prison
HM Inspectorate of Prisons visited in March to follow up on concerns raised in 2025, and said leaders had taken those "seriously" but efforts to improve were hampered by "severe overcrowding, high rates of drug use, self-inflicted deaths and lack of time out of cell for many men" | BBC, UK
BT street hubs rejected amid drug-dealing fears
Middlesbrough Council rejected applications for three of the sites after police said hubs elsewhere in the town were used by people contacting drug dealers through the phone service | BBC, UK
Interweaving neurodiversity & mental health
Friday, May 15 • 9:30 AM - 12 PM. Merchant's House, Neepsend. Hosted by Montrose Heath Group as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, this panel event explores the connections between neurodivergence and mental wellbeing. Moving beyond awareness, the session highlights how different ways of thinking, such as autism and ADHD, shape lived experiences, influence mental health, and bring both strengths and challenges | Montrose Health Group, UK
International news
The Real Future of Illicit Drugs | Max Daly - video
Today we speak to journalist Max Daly. He tells us how the drugs war really works, and what's in story for the future of illicit substances... | Jake Hanrahan, UK
Belgium to ban flavored vapes from 2028
Belgium’s federal government on Thursday approved a ban on flavored vapes, with only tobacco-flavored and unflavored e-cigarettes allowed on the market from September 2028 | Politico, UK
FDA announces its first OK of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for adults in major shift under Trump
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday announced its first authorization of fruit-flavored electronic cigarettes intended for adult smokers, a major policy shift that comes after months of appeals to President Donald Trump from the vaping industry | Mail Online, UK
Single dose of magic mushroom psychedelic can cause anatomical brain changes, study finds
Participants took 25mg of psilocybin, reporting deeper psychological insight and better wellbeing a month later | Guardian, UK
Coalition accused of secretly giving big tobacco lobbyists private platform in parliament
A Senate committee considering the illegal tobacco trade in Australia hears closed-session evidence from cigarette manufacturers | Guardian, UK
Philip Morris uses secret Senate hearing to warn illegal tobacco in Australia could wipe out legal trade by 2030
Company pushes for lower excise and claims threats warrant secrecy, while critics say it has ‘no interest in public health or safety’ | Guardian, UK
Causal effect estimates of online e-cigarette marketing exposure on future e-cigarette harm perception and use
Globally, over 10 million youth use e-cigarettes; United States use, in particular, dramatically rose in the late 2010’s, exceeding year-over-year increases from any other substance in over four decades. This rise has been partially attributed to youth online e-cigarette marketing exposure, but has not been appropriately studied | DADR, USA
Effectiveness of the Components of a Digital Multiple Health Behavior Change Intervention Among Individuals Seeking Help Online (Coach): Factorial Randomized Trial
[Open access] Adults in Sweden seeking online help to improve their health were offered access to various components of a phone app on health-related behaviours, including drinking and smoking. Drinking was not significantly affected, but there were signs that simply being prompted to record your behaviour and getting feedback on these results had a positive impact. In contrast, at one follow-up "there was considerable evidence of harm from multiple combinations of components" | JMIR Publications, USA
Peer- and nurse-led outreach, financial incentives, and point-of-care testing to enhance testing and treatment for hepatitis C among people who have used drugs or experienced homelessness: The REACH_U Study
[Open access] In Lisbon the proportions of mainly homeless substance users who were tested for hepatitis C infection and initiated treatment were dramatically increased by a package including outreach medical care, payment for being tested, and peer support | IJDP, USA
STASH, Vol. 22(5) – Taking steps to reduce prenatal cannabis use
This week, STASH reviews a study by Cynthia L. Battle and colleagues that investigated the usefulness of a walking intervention to reduce cannabis use during pregnancy | CHA, USA
Buzzkill: NYC Health Department Launches Campaign To Reduce New Yorkers’ Risk of Alcohol-Related Cancers
Today, the NYC Health Department launched a new citywide education campaign warning New Yorkers that drinking alcohol increases cancer risk. Alcohol is a known carcinogen: consuming even one drink a day increases the risk for at least seven types of cancer, including breast, colorectum, esophagus, voice box, liver, mouth, and throat. While there is no safe or recommended amount of alcohol consumption, the good news is drinking less can lower the risk of cancer | NYC.gov, USA
Why risk perception matters for quitting smoking
Cigarettes are one of the deadliest products on the market—but the risks of alternatives are not always clearly understood. That disconnect came into sharp focus in 2019, when headlines warned of a mysterious and sometimes deadly lung illness linked to vaping. The coverage fueled widespread concern, and many smokers began to mistakenly view e-cigarettes as just as or more dangerous than traditional cigarettes | Medical Xpress, USA
One dose of psilocybin changes the human brain, leading to higher entropy
Researchers at UC San Francisco and Imperial College London have shown that a single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, causes likely anatomical brain changes that last for up to a month after the experience | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Bringing risk assessment to life through collaboration in BCP
Risk assessment sits at the heart of our work. It's how we understand what someone's facing, what support they need, and how to keep them safe. At WithYou, we talk a lot about what good practice looks like. But describing what "good" looks like on a slide only gets you so far. Sometimes you need to see it. That's why we've been working with BCP Council's Drug & Alcohol Commissioning Team (DACT) and Bournemouth University to develop a film that brings risk assessments to life as part of the pan Dorset drug and alcohol risk training | WithYou, UK
New study shows alcohol causes more cancers in Australia than previously thought
Our new study published in the British Journal of Cancer finds that over 7,800 cancer cases (4.6% of all cancers) in Australia were caused by alcohol use in 2024 | IAS blog, UK