DrugWise Daily |
10th November 2026 |
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UK news
Guidance - Rough sleeping: actions for the health and care sector
This guidance sets out how health and care organisations and their partners should support the government’s commitment to end rough sleeping. This includes working to support the Rough Sleeping Programme, which funds accommodation and support to help people move off the streets. The guidance covers the immediate winter response for 2026 to 2027 and longer-term system changes needed to prevent rough sleeping. Homelessness and rough sleeping are not just housing issues. Poor physical health, mental ill-health, drug and alcohol use, disability and unmet care and support needs can also contribute | DHSC, UK
Residential rehabilitation recommendations: SG response
The Scottish Government response to recommendations from the Future of Residential Rehabilitation Working Group (FRRWG) and Public Health Scotland (PHS) on residential rehabilitation sets out actions to improve access, quality, clinical governance and recovery support. It outlines commitments to strengthen pathways, workforce capability, evidence, monitoring and long-term recovery outcomes | Scottish Government, UK
The Loop opens Birmingham's first drug checking services (PDF)
On 14th November, The Loop Drug Checking Service will be launching drug checking in Birmingham, with services operating fortnightly in two city centre locations, free to the public and fully funded by Birmingham City Council. The Birmingham service comes as The Loop marks ten years since introducing drug checking in the UK, continuing the expansion of its harm reduction services across UK cities | The Loop, UK
Glasgow users dependent on illegal drugs can now submit samples for health advice
People who are dependent on illegal drugs can submit samples for checking and receive tailored harm-reduction advice based on the results, such as information on the substance, its strength or contaminants | Glasgow Live, UK
Press release: Alcohol-branded ice cream van found to breach industry rules over appeal to children
The complaint about 99 Liqueur, a brand owned by global alcohol company Sazerac, was submitted to the Portman Group's Independent Complaints Panel after its marketing stunt attracted media attention this summer, with concerns raised about the potential appeal to children and young people | Alcohol Change UK, UK
Drug smugglers jailed over £40m cocaine plot
Twelve members of an organised crime group have been sentenced for their role in a plot which involved 500kg of cocaine, with an estimated value of £40m, dropped at sea | BBC, UK
International news
Cocaine accounts for 42% of addiction treatment presentations in the East, Coolmine finds
Cocaine use accounted for 42% of treatment presentations Coolmine’s treatment services in the East, according to their latest trends reported. Coolmine is one of the largest groups of treatment centres in Ireland, behind the likes of Cuan Mhuire, with multiple locations around the country | Westmeath Independent, UK
Action urged on vape shops 'congregating' in towns across Cork and Kerry
Nothing to prevent this in the planning process, councillors tell regional health forum | Irish Examiner, Ireland
Cannabis use linked to higher death rates in people with alcohol-associated hepatitis
People with alcohol-associated hepatitis are more likely to die from the disease if they use cannabis. A large multinational study just published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research is the first to identify active substance use, particularly cannabis use, by patients as an independent predictor of death in patients with alcohol-associated hepatitis | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Have We Turned Types of Knowledge into Types of People? (You are not a blue dot)
Over the last decade, conversations in health and social care about co-production, inclusion and participation have increasingly recognised that knowledge comes from different places | AntiStigma Network, UK
Ireland to Introduce Health-led and Harm-reducing Drug Policy
Ireland’s National Drug Strategy 2026 claims to prioritise a health-led response as an alternative to criminal sanctions for drug use as related violence and intimidation rises, yet drug possession remains a criminal offence | University Times, Ireland
Are Pain Patients Denied Opioids Because of Addiction Fears?
New research challenges how we estimate addiction risks and benefits of opioids | Psychology Today, USA