DrugWise Daily |
30th April 2026 |
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UK news
Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law
The next generation will be smoke-free as Tobacco and Vapes Bill is granted Royal Assent | DHSC, UK
Historic Smokefree Generation Law Will Protect 4 million Young People from Tobacco Addiction in Just 5 Years
On 29th April 2026, the UK became the first country in Europe to pass a new law to phase out the sale of tobacco to the next generation, as the Tobacco and Vapes Act received Royal Assent | ASH, UK
Sarwar accuses SNP over Scotland drugs deaths rise
The Scottish Labour leader also said it was an “insult” to families who had lost loved ones to addiction for ministers to continue blaming Westminster rather than confronting failures in Scotland’s own treatment system | Herald, UK
Nitrous Oxide: Misuse
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) police forces in tackling the misuse of nitrous oxide in public places and the associated littering of discarded canisters | They work for you, UK
Nitrous Oxide: Sales
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve enforcement against (a) people and (b) businesses supplying nitrous oxide unlawfully | They work for you, UK
Alcoholic Drinks: Delivery Services
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Licensing Reform Programme's call for evidence, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect on society of rapid alcohol delivery services | They work for you, UK
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to publish an implementation timetable for the regulations under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill | They work for you, UK
Prevalence of neurodivergence in drug and alcohol treatment services: intersecting needs and implications for practice
Monday 11th May 2026, 10am - 11am. We are delighted to offer a free webinar from our Premium Membership programme covering an important topic for the sector. This session presents findings from a collaborative research project between the University of East London, University of Roehampton, and Cranstoun Drug and Alcohol Service (Sutton and Windsor & Maidenhead) | Addiction Professionals, UK
Positive results on police-led drug diversion
The University of Sheffield and partners recently completed a large evaluation of police-led drug diversion schemes in England. The results suggest that diverting people away from punishment and towards an educative intervention reduces reoffending and costs in the criminal justice system. The findings will be presented and discussed at the National Symposium on Police-led Drug Diversion at the University of Sheffield on 18th June | University of Sheffield, UK
IAS Small Grants Scheme call for applications
We are inviting applications from researchers – especially early career researchers – to our small grants scheme. This scheme will provide funding for innovative research ideas that can help inform public policy debates on how to tackle alcohol harm. Priority will be given to proposals that align with our long-term vision to reduce alcohol harm in the UK | IAS, UK
Joining the lived experience panel
The SSA is looking for people with lived or living experience of addiction to join a new panel. If you would like to support the UK’s leading addiction science charity, apply below by 26 May | SSA, UK
Future of ABIs Summit 2026
Wednesday, May 27 • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM. In its Alcohol and Drugs Strategic Plan, the Scottish Government made clear it intends to reinvigorate the Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI) programme in Scotland. This timely summit will bring together stakeholders with an interest in ABIs to discuss the recent research and the PHS review recommendations, and what this means for the future | SHAAP, UK
Man charged in contaminated heroin investigation
A man has been charged with possessing cocaine and opiates in an investigation into a contaminated batch of heroin | BBC, UK
International news
Raise tax on alcohol and junk food to cut deaths from liver disease, experts say
Report calls for tough action to combat ‘escalating and unsustainable burden’ of liver-related problems in Europe | Guardian, UK
The patterns of relapse and abstinence: using machine learning to identify a multidimensional signature of long-term outcome after inpatient alcohol withdrawal treatment
[Open access] Factors most closely linked to post-treatment outcomes were explored by applying artificial intelligence to data from patients treated at an inpatient alcohol detoxification centre in Munich. Strongest (in this case, negative) indicator was a blood test for liver and related damage due to drinking | Frontiers in Psychiatry, UK
Nearly 13% of Americans use drugs or marijuana to fall asleep
Some 5.2 percent use prescription sleep medications, 5.7 percent use over-the-counter medications or supplements like melatonin and 3.7 percent use marijuana or CBD products, according to new reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Independent, UK
Australia’s use of methamphetamine has doubled in a decade, wastewater monitoring reveals
Consumption is at a record high along with that of cocaine, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission figures show | Guardian, UK
Spain moves to tighten sales channels for vapes and nicotine pouches
Spain’s two main political parties have reached a rare agreement to restrict where vapes and nicotine pouches can be sold, in a move aimed at tightening control over access and distribution | Clearing the air, UK
France’s Nicotine Ban Sparks EU Legal Showdown
MEPs have asked the Commission to examine whether Paris has overstepped single market rules by criminalising products legal elsewhere in the bloc | European Conservative, Belgium
EU controls nine drug precursors following first EUDA assessments
The European Commission has taken a major step to introduce EU-wide controls on nine high-risk precursor chemicals used in illicit drug production via new legislation published this week | EUDA, Portugal
New Hub Platforms Lived Experiences of Tobacco Harm Reduction
People with lived experience of using safer nicotine products for harm reduction take center stage on a new platform that aims to amplify their voices. THR Global collates real-life testimonies from individuals who have made a potentially life-saving switch. Visitors can read these accounts—organized by country, city, type of safer product used and so on—and submit their own testimonies if applicable | Filter Magazine, USA
Does vaping help people quit smoking? Maybe, findings suggest
A new review paper in Nicotine and Tobacco Research, finds that while research has previously found that vaping is associated with subsequently quitting smoking, that may not always be true. In fact, it appears studies limited to people who actually want to quit smoking are less likely to find this relationship | Medical Xpress, USA
Social media promotion, ease of access increase risk of adolescent inhalant misuse
Two new studies offer insight into the factors that coincide with adolescent inhalant use in the U.S., a dangerous pastime that can have lifelong—or life-ending—consequences | Medical Xpress, USA
Methamphetamine use linked to 1 in 6 heart attacks in California study
Methamphetamine (meth) use accounted for nearly 15% of heart attacks for a decade in a northern California study, published today in JAHA | Medical Xpress, USA
Americans support cannabis rescheduling, study finds
Most people strongly support the federal government's reclassification of cannabis, according to a new study that used AI to analyze more than 40,000 comments in the public record | Medical Xpress, USA
Necropolitics of the North: A rapid ethnography examining the effects of the closure of one of Northern Ontario’s only supervised consumption sites
[Open access] What happens when the only safer consumption venue closes in a town known for dangerous drug use? In the Canadian municipality of Sudbury the result was to "systemically expose [people who use drugs] to increased abandonment, institutional neglect, and death" | IJDP, USA
ASHES, Vol. 22(5) – Parent-child relational factors and their influence on youth vaping
This week, ASHES reviews a study by Sherri Jean Katz and colleagues that explored how the parent-child relationship influences youth vaping | CHA, USA
Report 25 of the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program
The ACIC partners with The University of Queensland and Adelaide University (formerly the University of South Australia) to deliver the program. This latest report reveals that 26.8 tonnes of methylamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA was consumed between August 2024 and August 2025. This is a 21% increase from the previous year | ACIC, Australia
Blogs, comment and opinion
A non-controversial public health policy? The UK’s gradual ban on smoking has been a PR success
The world will be watching to see how the ban for anyone born after 2009 works out. So far it’s been a win with smokers and non-smokers alike | Guardian opinion, UK
On the need and contents of a specific addiction recovery research agenda
[Open access] From arguably the two most prominent commentators and researchers on recovery from addiction, a manifesto for an expanded research agenda to explore not just short-term, narrowly defined treatment outcomes, but how people achieve long-term, stable recovery | Addiction, UK
Reclassification of marijuana opens doors for much‑needed medical research into the benefits and risks of the drug
When the U.S. Department of Justice moved to reclassify medical marijuana to a Schedule III drug on April 23, 2026, it set the stage for a vast amount of medical research that has been hobbled for decades by its more restrictive Schedule I classification | Conversation, USA
Wastewater data suggests meth use is at a record high. Here’s why we don’t need to panic
Data from Australia’s wastewater drug monitoring program suggests methamphetamine use (also known as speed, ice or crystal meth) is at a record high. Cocaine is also up. MDMA may be levelling off. Heroin is fluctuating | Conversation, Australia