Intoxication News and Research

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Drink spiking is not just a nightclub problem, new UK data suggest

A UK-wide analysis of Drinkaware surveys found that suspected drink spiking and needling are widely underreported, with only 7% of affected 2022 respondents reporting the incident to the police. The findings also reveal gaps in public awareness, demographic differences in reported experiences, and psychological and physical effects that some respondents said persisted for decades.

17 Aug 2026

What 38,000 trauma and incident records reveal about e-scooter safety

E-scooter riders admitted with moderate-to-severe trauma showed a distinct injury profile, with proportionally more traumatic brain, vascular, and internal organ injuries than motorcyclists and fewer fractures. Rental-scooter data also linked greater reported injury severity with younger age and female sex, while collision rates varied with area-level deprivation.

10 Aug 2026

Study links alcohol to fatal electric scooter crashes in Sweden

In almost half of all fatal electric scooter crashes in Sweden, the rider has been under the influence of alcohol.

2 Jul 2026

Florida study finds elevated traffic fatality rates during spring break

On any given U.S. holiday, traffic crashes claim more than 500 lives. But according to a new study published in Risk Analysis, the real danger lurks early in the annual calendar.

30 Jun 2026

Daily weather fluctuations affect mental health service demand in England

New research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) suggests even modest, short-term changes in weather can have a measurable impact on NHS mental health service demand across England.

29 Jun 2026

Bariatric surgery linked to higher risk of developing alcohol problems

Your body absorbs alcohol much more rapidly after bariatric surgery. Patients need to know this when they choose the kind of surgery they will have.

25 Jun 2026

One drink a day may be the new upper limit for safer alcohol guidance

A US cause-specific modeling study found no net protective health effect from low-level alcohol consumption, with lifetime alcohol-attributable mortality risk rising above 1 in 1,000 at just over 6.5 drinks per week for males and 7.0 drinks per week for females.

11 Jun 2026

Study reveals the first direct saliva biomarkers of sleep loss

Sleep loss dulls alertness and coordination, and it can produce effects similar to severe intoxication, making actions like driving incredibly risky. But there's no clinical test for determining when someone is dangerously sleep deprived.

4 Jun 2026

New research maps the biological toll of drinking

A new review published in the journal Addiction confirms drinking causes substantial harm to health. Some of those harms may be reversible if the person reduces or stops drinking.

14 May 2026

Why older adults are turning to edible cannabis for sleep, pain, and mood

Older adults in Colorado were drawn to edible cannabis mainly to manage sleep problems, pain, anxiety, or depression, often after concerns about conventional medicines or limited relief from other treatments. Most participants preferred THC-CBD combination products, but they remained uncertain about dosing, impairment, effectiveness, and how to choose the right cannabinoid ratio.

12 May 2026

Methylmercury may harm metabolism beyond its known neurological effects

Methylmercury can accumulate in water environments and enter the food chain. Human exposure is of particular concern in communities affected by contaminated rivers, industrial pollution, artisanal gold mining and environmental disasters.

7 May 2026

Combining cannabis edibles and alcohol significantly increases driving impairment

In a study supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers added to evidence that using cannabis edibles and alcohol together worsens driving impairment compared with consuming either substance alone.

4 May 2026

Young people prefer alcohol over non- and low-alcohol alternatives

Young people aged 16-25 in Great Britain are three times more likely to start drinking alcohol than non- and low-alcohol alternatives (62 per cent vs 17 per cent), while less than one in five (18 per cent) have never tried either, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.

24 Apr 2026

New fiber probe enables real-time monitoring of key biomarkers

A new fiber probe developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin delivers two major innovations in health monitoring to help both patients around the world and the clinicians who care for them.

22 Apr 2026

Mobile breathalyzers may help heavy drinkers reduce alcohol consumption

Researchers analyzed data from tens of thousands of people who used low-cost mobile breathalyzers to test their blood-alcohol concentration when drinking.

13 Apr 2026

XPANCEO unveils passive eye tracking using smart contact lenses

XPANCEO, a deep-tech company developing smart contact lens, has unveiled a passive eye-tracking system that achieves industry-level measurement precision using standard cameras.

8 Apr 2026

Acute cannabis intoxication appears to broadly disrupt most of the memory systems

Smoking cannabis can do more than blur memories. It can reshape them.

10 Mar 2026

Chimpanzee urine confirms widespread alcohol consumption in the wild

Aleksey Maro knows far more than he cares to know about the urination habits of chimpanzees. But if you want to measure the alcohol intake of chimps in a Ugandan rain forest, where a breathalyzer is impractical, collecting urine for analysis is your only choice.

24 Feb 2026

Alcohol-free drinks may reduce harm, if marketing loopholes stop

The BMJ review warns that unregulated alcohol-free drinks may widen inequalities and undermine effective alcohol control, emphasizing the need for caution.

19 Jan 2026

Specific gut bacteria found to drive alcohol production in patients with auto-brewery syndrome

Researchers at University of California San Diego, Mass General Brigham, and their colleagues have identified specific gut bacteria and metabolic pathways that drive alcohol production in patients with auto-brewery syndrome (ABS).

8 Jan 2026