On 18 December 2025, Kim Rivers sat alone in a Washington D.C. hotel room staring at a thick marker pen. Hours earlier, President Donald Trump had signed an executive order directing his Attorney General to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III — the most significant shift in American federal drug law in nearly...
On the morning of 8 May 1976, something quietly extraordinary took place inside a Washington, D.C. hotel ballroom. Fifty-two well-known Americans stepped forward and told the truth about their lives. Among them were astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actor Dick Van Dyke, and Senator Harold Hughes. They were in recovery from alcoholism. Many had never said so...
Two Australians. One Crisis. Worlds Apart. Australia has long prided itself on the principle of a fair go. Yet when it comes to addiction treatment, luxury rehab in Australia tells a very different story — one where wealth, not need, decides who gets help first. At one end of the spectrum sits a superyacht called...
Every year, drug and alcohol related deaths claim tens of thousands of lives across the UK. These are not abstract figures. They are parents, siblings, children, neighbours. Yet in the corridors of Westminster and across the mainstream media, the issue barely registers. That silence, according to Mike Trace, Chief Executive of Forward Trust, is nothing...
When Success Becomes a Mask for Alcohol Misuse Alcohol misuse among high-stress professionals is one of the least discussed public health challenges of our time. Doctors, lawyers and other high-performing workers often appear completely on top of things. The cases are handled. The patients are seen. The hours are worked. And yet, behind that composed...
It is often said that the walls have ears, but it turns out our sewers have far more reliable memories. While most people would prefer to forget what they send down the drain, a sophisticated network of scientists now listens to the chemical whispers of the deep. New data from the Home Office has pulled...
A landmark survey shows that nine in ten people across Scotland want the government to close the gap between the richest and poorest communities. Health inequality in Scotland is seen as urgent, and the public strongly favours poverty reduction over punishment when tackling deaths from drugs and alcohol. The findings come from the Scottish Social...
Recent data from the British Journal of Cancer offers a vital perspective on how regular drinking affects the body. This massive study followed over 225,000 participants to track long term health outcomes. Researchers found that ethanol health consequences are far more severe than many people realise. Most discussions about drinking focus on immediate safety. However,...
Therapy, Not Tablets: The Real Picture of Cannabis Addiction Treatment The most comprehensive scientific review of its kind has found that no medication works for cannabis addiction treatment, while certain talking therapies offer more meaningful promise. The findings come from the journal Addiction, published in 2026, at a time when cannabis use disorder is rising...
In late 2023, public health experts saw a rare sign of hope. National drug overdose death rates finally began a long and steady decline. This trend lasted for over 40 years and brought a sense of cautious optimism to the field. Leaders and academics called this period the great deceleration. They believed the country was...