DrugWise Daily |
16th May 2025 |
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UK news
People with more nature in their neighbourhood smoke and drink less, study finds
A new international collaboration led by the University of Exeter has found residential greenspace is associated with a significant reduction in health risk behaviours such as smoking and everyday drinking. The study found people living in the greenest neighbourhoods were 13 per cent less likely to be current smokers and 31 per cent less likely to drink alcohol every day than those in less green areas | University of Exeter, UK
Share your thoughts on making referrals to residential rehab and post-rehab support
IFF Research is conducting research on behalf of Public Health Scotland (PHS) to understand how the landscape has changed since early 2023 for professionals referring individuals experiencing difficulties with drugs and/or alcohol to residential rehabilitation and for providers of post-rehabilitation support. We conducted some baseline research in 2023 to assess the organisation, accessibility, and effectiveness of residential rehabilitation services for individuals with substance use issues across Scotland. We are now seeking to find out how organisations involved in the referral to residential rehabilitation and the delivery of post-rehab support have changed, to identify any evidence of improvements, successes and challenges faced | IFF Research, UK
Faculty of Public Health publishes call to action ahead of Scottish Parliament election
The Committee of the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland (CFPHS) has published a call to action for a healthier, fairer and more productive Scotland ahead of the May 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election | FPH, UK
Minister alarmed by ketamine use after man's death
A Home Office minister has told a coroner the government is "concerned" that harm caused by ketamine abuse "may be significantly underestimated" by users | BBC, UK
NHS in-patient addiction unit set to close
The only NHS-run inpatient drug and alcohol unit in the west is to close despite a campaign to save it. The Acer Unit, based in the grounds of Southmead Hospital in Bristol, will close its doors at the end of June this year | BBC, UK
What is popcorn lung? The serious and irreversible disease linked to vaping
Vaping is especially popular among teenagers and young adults, but fruity, candy-like flavours come with a chemical cost | Independent, UK
The Family Drug and Alcohol Court Working Group
Will the Counsel General provide an update on the work of the family drug and alcohol court working group | They work for you, UK
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder | They work for you, UK
Electronic Cigarettes: Prescriptions
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make e-cigarettes available on prescription for smoking cessation | They work for you, UK
Locals fight 24/7 booze licence on Otley Run route
It is feared that if a Nisa Local shop in Headingley, close to the notorious Otley Run, is allowed to sell alcohol after midnight it would lead to rowdy student parties and "friction" between families and the area's younger residents | BBC, UK
Driver high on nitrous oxide struck pedestrian
A teenager high on nitrous oxide knocked down a pedestrian before her car overturned and ended up on its side in the road | BBC, UK
International news
Lower taxes on Heated Tobacco Products are subsidising tobacco industry – new research
Governments which impose lower taxes on heated tobacco products in the hope of encouraging smokers away from (combustion) cigarettes are effectively subsidising the tobacco industry, missing out on much-needed tax revenues and hampering their own public health initiatives, new research from the University of Bath and Johns Hopkins University shows | University of Bath, UK
Monitoring the opioid epidemic via social media discussions
The opioid epidemic persists in the U.S., with over 80,000 deaths annually since 2021, primarily driven by synthetic opioids. Responding to this evolving epidemic requires reliable and timely information. One source of data is social media platforms. We assessed the utility of Reddit data for surveillance, covering heroin, prescription, and synthetic drugs. We built a natural language processing pipeline to identify opioid-related content and created a cohort of 1,689,039 Reddit users, each assigned to a state based on their previous Reddit activity. We measured their opioid-related posts over time and compared rates against CDC overdose and NFLIS report rates | Nature, UK
Psilocybin better preserves depressed patients' emotional response to music than standard drug, study finds
Researchers at Imperial College London's Center for Psychedelic Research recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the effects of psilocybin treatment on the processing of music and the experience of emotions, comparing them to those of escitalopram, a widely used SSRI | Medical Xpress, USA
Canadian cannabis use climbs slightly while curbing misuse under legalization
Researchers from McMaster University observed a modest increase in cannabis use frequency and a concurrent decrease in cannabis misuse among adults in Canada over five years of recreational cannabis legalization. Frequent users before legalization exhibited the largest reductions in misuse and frequency | Mediical Xpress, USA
Props for Public Drug-Checking, From Someone Who Sold MDMA in the ’90s
In 1997 I went off to college, at an East Coast Jesuit school where everyone was really into athletics. The other students liked to drink and party, but no one really cared about the rave scene except me | Filter Magazine, USA
New research highlights hidden patterns of harm associated with intimate partner violence involving alcohol and other drugs
A new study has found ambulance attendance rates for alcohol or drug-related intimate partner violence are higher in Victoria's most disadvantaged areas and regional or remote communities | Monash University, Australia
Reassuring new evidence about the safety of smoking cessation pharmacotherapies during pregnancy
A multinational cohort study led by Australian researchers finds no clear evidence that prenatal exposure to smoking cessation pharmacotherapies causes congenital malformations in babies | MJA Insight, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
The experiences of perinatal care for women who use and are in treatment for drug use
Women who use drugs during pregnancy have complex health and social needs. Stigma can be a barrier to their engagement with services. The Stepping Stones study aimed to identify way to provide care for this group of women to encourage engagement and improve health outcomes. The study was funded by the National institute for Health Research (NIHR130619) and was conducted by researchers from King’s College London and the Universities of Stirling and Huddersfield. Researchers worked with an advisory group made of health and social care practitioners, and people with lived experience of substance use treatment | Inspire the Mind blog, UK
National Children’s Day (15 May): Seeing the child in every adult and the adult in every child
This was a crucial conversation during the development of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood’s ‘Shaping Us’ Framework. It was a privilege to be part of this project. However, it also means that I need to make sure we are committed to this in our work with both children and adults at The Forward Trust | Forward Trust blog, UK