DrugWise Daily |
19th March 2026 |
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UK news
Alert issued over surge in suspected drug-related deaths
Health officials have issued an urgent warning following a surge in suspected drug-related deaths in Dumfries and Galloway. Twelve people have died since the end of December - nine of them in Wigtownshire | BBC, UK
Safety concerns reported by coroners following fentanyl patch fatalities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 1997 and 2024
[Open access] Safety events, including poor adherence, usage and administration errors of fentanyl patches, were repeatedly identified by coroners, which mostly occurred in males aged 35–49 years. Information from coroners should be systematically monitored to inform the safety of prescribing and use of fentanyl patches, including identifying gaps in care, education and policies | BJCP, UK
WithYou keeps contract to support hundreds of men in Lincolnshire prisons
WithYou has been given a direct award by NHS England to continue providing drug and alcohol treatment services to hundreds of men in HMP & YOI Lincoln and HMP North Sea Camp. Over the last year both services have been engaging prisoners quickly with 99% of HMP & YOI Lincoln clients and 100% of HMP North Sea Camp clients going from triage to structured intervention within 21 days. At HMP & YOI Lincoln 77 clients completed treatment within custody, and 79% of HMP North Sea Camp’s discharges did not re-present to treatment within 6 months | WithYou, UK
Leeds pharmacists to supply smoking cessation medication under PGD
Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire said the service was aimed to address the lack of local access to smoking cessation drugs varenicline and cytisinicline | Pharmaceutical Journal, UK
146. Vaping in Schools with Hannah Dawes and Dr Rachael Andrews - podcast
Join us in this episode as we speak to Dr. Rachel Andrews, an addiction and harm reduction researcher at the University of Bath, and Hannah Dawes, a PSHE teacher and the creator of the podcast The Exchange. The conversation focuses on the prevalence of vaping in schools, particularly exploring the ways in which vapes have been marketed to children and the patterns of use in schools | Drug Science, UK
'I gave up drinking to be a better father'
The dad-of-two said he spent most weekends spending "stupid amounts of money" and doing "regrettable things which you would never do if you were sober" | BBC, UK
Former Tory MP charged with possession of class A drugs
Former Conservative MP Crispin Blunt has been charged with four drugs offences, prosecutors have said. The 65-year-old ex-justice minister, who represented Reigate for more than 25 years, is accused of one count of possessing a class A drug and three of possessing a class B drug | Independent, UK
Worker accused of vaping in toilets wins £22k payout
Billings denied vaping in the toilets - an incident which led to a full evacuation and the factory temporarily stopping production - but was deemed by bosses to be lying after an investigation | BBC, UK
International news
Europe’s wastewater tells a new story: sharp drop in MDMA, but ketamine and cocaine climb
The latest findings from the largest European project monitoring illicit drug use through wastewater analysis are released today in Wastewater analysis and drugs — a European multi-city study, published by the Europe-wide SCORE group, in association with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). This year’s findings highlight a marked decline in MDMA residues across the participating cities, alongside strong increases in ketamine and cocaine detections | EUDA, Portugal
Beyond Prohibition: Pavel Bém on Czechia’s Next Wave of Drug Policy Reform
We spoke with Pavel Bém, a Czech psychiatrist and former mayor of Prague in Vienna during the 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) about the country’s latest reforms—from cannabis regulation to psychedelic therapy—and what they mean for the future of drug policy in Europe | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Extending harm reduction through public health vending machines: Insights from implementation efforts in the United States
Vending machines typically offer injecting equipment and overdose prevention supplies. The experience of people involved in planning or implementing these services yield important lessons for those considering this extension to harm reduction | JSAT, USA
Identifying risk profile for adolescent e-cigarette use: A sex-stratified machine learning analysis
Recent studies show that young females now report higher e-cigarette use than males, reversing prior trends. While sex differences in use are documented, little is known about underlying risk profiles. This study applied a machine learning (ML) approach to identify and compare predictors of adolescent e-cigarette use by sex | DADR, USA
Violence Against Women Who Inject Drugs
In this mixed-methods cohort study of women who inject drugs, survey data (2008-2019) were linked with administrative health records, and qualitative interviews were conducted. A total of 431 women were included, of whom 82% experienced at least 1 assault and 38% experienced at least 1 sexual assault | JAMA Network Open, USA
Are psychedelics better than antidepressants? New study says no
Psychedelic-assisted therapy may be no more effective than traditional antidepressants when patients know what drugs they are actually taking, according to a first-of-its kind analysis that compared how well each type of drug worked for major depression | Medical Xpress, USA
Medications for alcohol use disorder reduce hospitalizations and health care costs
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains a major public health challenge in the United States, contributing to more than 170,000 deaths each year and imposing an estimated $249 billion economic burden through health care costs, lost productivity, and other impacts. Despite the availability of several effective medications, these treatments remain underutilized in routine clinical care | Medical Xpress, USA
Vaping Is Safer Than Smoking: Now It’s Official in France
France’s national health and safety agency, ANSES, has published a report concluding that vaping is substantially safer than smoking | Filter Magazine, USA
DEA Emergency Order Puts Novel Benzo Bromazolam in Schedule I
The Drug Enforcement Administration has temporarily placed bromazolam, an unregulated benzodiazepine, under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The emergency order was issued March 16 and will remain in effect until the same date in 2028. The DEA has been escalating its temporary and permanent scheduling of new synthetic drugs, which is exactly the type of enforcement that results in newer synthetic drugs | Filter Magazine, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Nicotine: the latest wellness hack
If you spend any time on social media, you may have noticed a curious trend: wellness influencers singing the praises of nicotine. Not smoking or vaping but nicotine patches and pouches, repackaged as cognitive enhancers, productivity boosters and even weight-loss aids. But does the science support this rebrand, or are we watching a familiar substance undergo a very modern makeover? | Conversation, UK
America must not learn to live with 72,000 overdose deaths a year
Why are we celebrating a death toll that exceeds total American combat fatalities in Vietnam every year? | STAT News opinion, USA