DrugWise Daily |
16th April 2026 |
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UK news
Women’s Health Strategy: a welcome step forward
The Women's Health Strategy (PDF) is a welcome step forward but the most vulnerable continue to be at risk of being left behind: Change Grow Live responds to the renewed Women’s Health Strategy – April 2026 | Change Grow Live, UK
‘I was peeing blood constantly’: my ketamine hell – and what made me stop
Thomas Delaney’s addiction issues started when he was a teen and worsened through his 20s. Eventually, an argument with his mother led him to change everything | Guardian, UK
Drug and Alcohol Related Deaths - Where Is the Outrage?
In this latest Leading Forward Podcast release, our CEO Mike Trace, explores the shocking reality of drug and alcohol related deaths not getting the coverage it deserves | Forward Trust, UK
Drinkaware and Budweiser Brewing Group work with Blackpool FC to inspire matchday moderation
Blackpool FC, together with leading alcohol charity Drinkaware and Budweiser Brewing Group (BBG), delivered its first major awareness raising activation on Saturday 11 April, inviting fans to explore no or low alcohol options as part of their matchday experience | Drinkaware, UK
When It Matters Most Allyship, Power & Who Gets Heard With Paul Townlsey, CEO of Waythrough - audio
Featuring Paul Townsley, CEO of Waythrough, this conversation unpacks the real dynamics at play in leadership spaces, who gets heard, how authority is perceived, and what happens when support is needed most. From moments of missed intervention to reflections on power, bias, and workplace culture, this episode offers an honest look at the gap between intention and action | Maynard Leigh Associates, UK
Vaping left black holes in my teeth, says woman with £120-a-month habit
A former dental nurse whose £120-a-month vape addiction left her with two "black" front teeth is warning about the dangers | BBC, UK
Substance Misuse Court
Mr Dunne asked the Minister of Justice for an update on the evaluation of the Substance Misuse Court, due for completion by the end of March 2026 | They work for you, UK
Baby died after exposure to drugs, inquest told
A 10-week-old baby who died after being exposed to heroin and cocaine was found to be "unkempt and smelly" when she was taken to hospital, an inquest has heard | BBC, UK
International news
The Opioid Safety Toolkit: An interactive prescription opioid safety toolkit to increase opioid safety literacy and behaviours among people prescribed opioids for pain—a randomised controlled trial
[Open access] Prescription opioid-related harm remains a significant public health concern. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Opioid Safety Toolkit, a co-designed, interactive online resource, in increasing naloxone uptake and healthcare provider discussions among adults prescribed opioids for pain | Addiction, UK
Trump’s “Narco-Terrorism” Operations in Ecuador: A New Phase of the Donroe Doctrine?
On 3 March 2026, US Southern Command, the military unit overseeing operations in Central and South America, announced via X that “decisive action” had been taken against “domestic terror organisations” in Ecuador to combat “illicit drug trafficking”. Ecuador’s defence ministry said details were classified | Talking Drugs, UK
Sweden Is Now the World’s First “Smoke-Free” Country
Sweden has become the world’s first “smoke-free” country, with an astonishingly low daily smoking rate of just 3.7 percent—well below the internationally accepted threshold of 5 percent. That’s according to the country’s leading public health research institute, the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN), which issued data for 2025 in a report released on April 1 | Filter Magazine, USA
Primary Care Follow-Up After Mental Health and Substance Use Emergency Department Visits in Medicaid
In this cohort study of 859 043 Medicaid ED visit claims for 367 245 beneficiaries in Washington, fewer than 15% had condition-concordant primary care follow-up after ED visits for MH conditions, SUDs, or AUD. Rates were markedly lower among non-Hispanic Black individuals and people experiencing homelessness | JAMA Netrwork Open, USA
Why psychedelic mental health trials may be less reliable than they appear
Drug trials generally involve comparing a treatment with a nonactive, placebo version, an approach called "blinding" because patients must be "blind" as to which they've received for the trial to work. Canadian researchers say this is a huge issue for studies of psychedelic therapies because it's fairly obvious to patients whether they've been given a psychedelic or a placebo | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
The cost of punitive drug legislation
On March 10, at the 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNAIDS, the UN Development Programme, and the International Network of People who Use Drugs launched a joint guidance note: Decriminalization of drug use in the context of HIV. The document sets out an evidence-based, public-health-led approach to drug legislation focused on human rights and positive health outcomes. The potential for gains in combating HIV among the key population of drug users is enormous, and this forms a core argument in the guidance note | Lancet editorial, UK
Why is alcohol use declining in Canada?
Lately, there has been a lot of news about declining alcohol sales in North America, and speculation as to why that might be. As director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria, I consider this an important development and a topic worth exploring given its implications for health and society more broadly | Conversation, Canada