A Manchester family is calling for urgent reform of private medical cannabis prescribing after a coroner ruled that a clinic’s prescription “probably contributed” to their son’s death. The case raises deeply uncomfortable questions about an industry that has grown at extraordinary speed with, many argue, insufficient oversight. Why Medical Cannabis Prescribing Failed Oliver Robinson Oliver...
A decade of cuts and broken promises has gutted England’s residential rehab funding. The system is now smaller, less accessible, and more inequitable than at any point in recent memory. A sweeping Freedom of Information exercise has finally put hard numbers on what many working in addiction treatment have long suspected. Phoenix Futures submitted FOI...
The relationship between private equity and addiction treatment has never been straightforward. For years, investors poured capital into substance use disorder (SUD) services, expanding clinic networks and widening access to treatment across the United States. Now that tide appears to be turning, and the consequences for people struggling with addiction could be significant. Deal flow...
Drug Trends in Australia: 30 Years of Tracking Substance Use and Shaping Policy It began as a one-year trial in Sydney in 1996. A clipboard, a set of survey questions, and a handful of people willing to talk honestly about substance use in Australia. Three decades on, the Illicit Drug Reporting System has grown into...
The number of fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States has fallen by almost half since mid-2023. A Stateline analysis of federal data confirmed the shift. Specialists say it marks a significant turning point, though they caution the improvement may not last. According to the National Vital Statistics System, 46,066 fentanyl overdose deaths were recorded...
Survivor advocates and public health organisations are calling on the newly re-elected South Australian Labor Government to move swiftly on alcohol delivery reform. They warn that further delays carry a real human cost. The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), the South Australian Network of Drug and Alcohol Services (SANDAS), and the Alcohol and...
A once-in-a-generation chance to change what we watch Every weekend, families sit down for sport on free-to-air television and find themselves swimming through alcohol promotions. Australia’s alcohol advertising regulation has long allowed this to happen, and most people assume nothing will change. Right now, something actually might. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has...
When Nickii first started using drugs, she was barely a teenager. By 18, she was a heroin addict. By 21, she was in prison. Years later, she bundled her children into a car at five in the morning, convinced she was saving them from social services. Family Drug and Alcohol Courts changed everything. Today, she...
Belgium Tightens Alcohol Advertising Rules After Government Agreement Belgium’s federal government has agreed to overhaul its alcohol advertising rules, requiring all advertisements for alcoholic beverages to carry a mandatory health warning. Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke drove the proposal forward, marking one of the most significant shifts in the country’s public health approach to drinking in...
Iowa tobacco control funding is failing the very people it was built to protect. Susan Friedl knows that better than most. She started smoking at 17. Everyone around her did it too, her mother, her sister, her friends. It felt normal. But becoming a mother herself changed everything. “I wanted to quit, but I was...