DrugWise Daily |
12th November 2026 |
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UK news
Guidance - Recovery support services and lived experience initiatives
Guidance on supporting lived experience initiatives and recovery support services to help people start and sustain recovery from problem alcohol and drug use. Updated on 11th Nov. to include 2024 to 2025 alcohol and drug treatment data (parts 1 and 2) and findings from RAND Europe's evaluation of LEROs (parts 1 and 3). It also includes Ipsos's workforce survey (parts 1 and 3), and national surveys of LEROs (parts 1, 2 and 3) and recovery housing providers (part 2). There is a new section on employment support (part 2), plus expanded guidance on co-production, asset-based approaches, recovery communities and lived experience initiatives (part 3) | DHSC, UK
‘I’d steal 10-15 times a day’: ex-offenders on the addictions driving prolific shoplifting
Former shoplifters say treatment and drug rehabilitation are essential to ending cycle of theft and imprisonment | Guardian, UK
Wales launch quit vaping app
New rules restricting the sale and promotion of vapes and nicotine products came into force in Wales on Monday, as Public Health Wales launched a free NHS app module to help people who want to stop vaping | UK Authority, UK
Met chief urges care over football match alcohol
The Met Police Commissioner has warned that any proposal to allow football fans to drink alcohol in the stands should be considered "really carefully". | BBC, UK
Touring theatre show warns children against vaping
Children as young as 11 are being targeted by a theatre production designed to prevent them from taking up smoking and vaping. Hooked, commissioned by Walsall Council Public Health, is touring up to 25 secondary schools across the borough this month and next | BBC, UK
Spotlight on Services: New Way – Supporting Our Community in Helensburgh and Lomond
Thursday 12 November is Scotland’s first ever Alcohol Action Day. Together, we’re using the day to celebrate the organisations providing alcohol support across Scotland and to raise awareness that help is available for anyone who needs it. In this Spotlight post, New Way, a community-based Scottish charity dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by alcohol and other substance use across Helensburgh and Lomond, tell us more about their service | AFS, UK
Spotlight on Services - RecoveryAyr: Connection, Community and a Warm Welcome
In this Spotlight post, RecoveryAyr, a lived and living experience-led, member-led charity supporting people affected by alcohol and drug use across South Ayrshire, tell us about how they support people with alcohol problems | AFS, UK
Open The Door To Recovery
Whether you're looking for help for yourself, supporting someone else or helping people access treatment, Open Houses is here to help you understand residential rehab, explore available services and find out where to start | Open Houses, UK
Pub ban targeting hundreds of MPs set for 1 March
Hospitality Voices has set 1 March 2027 as the launch date for a planned nationwide ban on MPs who have not publicly backed a VAT cut for the hospitality sector | Morning Advertiser, UK
Alcohol Remote Selling Services webinar
Thursday, November 26 • 1 PM - 2 PM GMT. Online. Join us for a webinar presenting 'Enabling our isolation', a new qualitative study exploring people’s experiences of alcohol direct-to-customer services | IAS, UK
Drugs running was like 'a paper round' for exploited son, mum says
A mother whose son was groomed by a gang at the age of 13 before being taken into care claims the local authority housed him "right in the centre of exploitation", despite repeated pleas for help | BBC, UK
Man caught with £2.6m of cocaine among Santa gift bags jailed
A man who was caught with £2.6m of cocaine stashed among Santa gift bags in a Glasgow flat has been jailed for more than four years | BBC, UK
International news
Changes in pregabalin use and overdose after government interventions and media coverage: retrospective observational study
[Open access] Pregabalin use and overdose in Australia have declined in recent years. Major decreases in trend corresponded with media coverage (December 2018) and prescribing and dispensing restrictions (May 2020). The third breakpoint may be a delayed impact of boxed warnings (implemented February 2021). These findings suggest that regulatory and risk communication measures may contribute to reducing pregabalin related harm | BMJ, UK
First Covid lockdowns, then alcohol to your door: rise in young Victorians with liver diseases prompts fears
While young people are drinking less across the board, one expert says a small minority are actually drinking huge and damaging amounts of alcohol | Guardian, UK
Australian states could sue tobacco companies for billions in healthcare costs under proposal
Former barrister who helped legally establish that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer argues states could seek up to $50bn in compensation | Guardian, UK
What Europeans think about drugs and drug policy: results from the first EUDA Drug Survey
12 Nov, 10.30–12.00 Lisbon time (WET); 11.30–13:00 CET. Online. Join us on 12 November as we present the results of the first EUDA Drug Survey, exploring public attitudes towards drugs and drug policy across Europe. Using the European Commission's Flash Eurobarometer methodology, the survey captures the views of the general population on drug-related problems and risks, drug availability and how society should respond | EUDA, Portugal
European Drug Alert System network meets to strengthen preparedness and response to serious drug-related risks
Experts from across Europe are meeting in Lisbon this week to strengthen how countries detect, communicate and respond to serious emerging drug-related risks. Hosted by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), the third annual meeting of the European Drug Alert System (EDAS) will review progress in implementing the system and set priorities for the future | EUDA, Portugal
Scaling Harm Reduction Interventions in Prisons: INHSU Conference 2026
From the 7th to the 10th of October, the INHSU Conference took place in Prague. Our director, Katrin Schiffer, co-chaired the session with Behzad Hajarizadeh (Kirby Institute) titled “Scaling Harm Reduction Interventions in Prisons: Opportunities, Trade-offs and Future Direction.” The session brought together three international experts presenting practical experiences with key harm reduction interventions | C-EHRN, The Netherlands
Excluding US & China, alcohol consumption grows in H1 2026
IWSR’s H1 2026 data for 21 key markets, covering 76% of global beverage alcohol consumption, reveals a growing separation in consumption between the world’s two largest markets and the rest of the world | IWSR, USA
Cannabis addiction in pregnancy linked to higher risk of postpartum psychiatric crises
Women diagnosed with cannabis use disorder during pregnancy were more likely to end up in an emergency room for a psychiatric problem in the year after giving birth, according to a study of more than 2 million California deliveries | Medical Xpress, USA
Study finds gradebook data can help predict risk of drug use in adolescents
GPA has long been a benchmark for measuring success in students. It can also do more than indicate academic accomplishment: Health studies have established a strong correlation between GPA and the risk of unhealthy behaviors in adolescents, including substance abuse | Medical Xpress, USA
Psychedelic aftereffects may offer a window into psychotic symptoms
Every night, as he fell asleep, a 25-year-old man saw an eye in his ceiling. It was huge and unblinking, and it felt as if the whole world was being sucked into it. He didn't have psychosis, and he wasn't on drugs. But he had taken psychedelics in the past, and he was worried enough to contact Max Greenwald, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Yale School of Medicine, with a question: Was he developing psychosis? | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Drug testing and child protection: Race, ethics and the production of knowledge
[Open access] The issue of drug testing - as a means of deterring or punishing drug use rather than assessing the purity of substances - remains under-researched, despite its impact in a range of policy fields...In this paper, using the example of child protection, I argue that we need a richer understanding of the ethics of drug testing beyond legalistic concerns | IJDP, UK
Expert reaction to a study looking at the effects of e-cigarette use on pulmonary function
Scientists react to a study published in Tobacco Control* looking at the effects of e-cigarette use on pulmonary function | SMC, UK
Vice Principles
The Premier League’s 2026/27 ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsors may feel like a victory for fans’ health and wellbeing. However, in the hyper-commercialised world of modern football, the move is more akin to a consolation goal. Advertising for unhealthy, and often addictive, products are everywhere. For instance, it’s now standard for clubs and competitions to have official beer and betting partners, whilst token messages urge fans to ‘drink responsibly’ and practice ‘safer gambling’ | Kicking the Habit blog, UK
30 Years, 30 Decisions – Gamma Ray
Today’s case from 2015 shines a spotlight on the explosion of craft beer onto the market, the way it transformed the traditional image of canned beers and how these developments were reflected in case precedents that still have a bearing today | Portman Group blog, UK