The UK and the European Union have formalised a new UK-EU drug cooperation deal, with the Department of Health and Social Care signing a Working Arrangement with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) on 13 July 2026. The agreement, prepared entirely in English, sets out nine sections covering everything from the scope of cooperation to...
Nearly half a million people died from drug use in 2023. The United Nations now warns that the global drug crisis is entering a more dangerous phase. In turn, synthetic substances are edging out traditional plant based drugs across major markets worldwide. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, published its World Drug...
A major global review has linked commercial cannabis legalisation to rising rates of addiction, psychiatric hospital admissions and cannabis use disorder. Researchers at the University of Bath led the study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The team tracked cannabis policy changes in dozens of countries from 2000 to 2025. One number stands out immediately: cannabis...
Every July, hundreds of thousands of Australians put down their drinks for a month. But Dry July Foundation CEO Gillian Odbert says treating it as a sobriety challenge misses the point. “We know that in July alone, about 14,000 people receive a cancer diagnosis in Australia,” Odbert says. “Medical treatment is incredibly important. But cancer...
Record Levels of Global Drug Use Alarm Public Health Experts Global drug use has reached the highest level ever recorded. That is the stark finding of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2026, published on 26 June 2026. The report paints a troubling picture of rapidly shifting illicit markets...
Nitazene Overdose Deaths: The Silent Epidemic Nobody Sees Coming Ashley Delgado had big plans. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, she dreamed of becoming a doctor and one day buying her father a Rolls-Royce. Nitazene overdose deaths were the last thing on anyone’s mind in her family. “She wanted to heal people,” said her father, James...
Europe’s drug landscape shifted rapidly in 2025. Indeed, a new report from the European Union Drugs Agency shows how fast synthetic drug threats are reshaping the picture. The agency’s Consolidated Annual Activity Report 2025 covers its first full year under an expanded mandate. Specifically, it points to a continent grappling with potent new substances entering...
The United States government has taken a firm stand against WADA anti-doping reforms it says could erode the safeguards protecting clean athletes. Sara Carter, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, published an open letter on 13 June 2026 to all WADA stakeholders. She warned the proposed changes would weaken oversight, cut transparency,...
A Quiet System With Global Reach Few people have heard of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification system. Yet it quietly shapes how nations understand their relationship with medicines. It also shapes how they understand substances that carry a risk of harm. Known simply as ATC, the system works alongside a measurement called the Defined Daily...
New research suggests public patience with the high drink drive limit in England and Wales is running out, with most people now backing tougher restrictions and stronger enforcement on the roads. When the Government recently closed its public consultation on a new Road Safety Strategy, one issue stood out clearly: the drink drive limit. Campaigners,...