Exclusive: Research in England shows people a third less likely to reoffend under decriminalisation-style schemes

Drug diversion schemes led by police that steer people away from the criminal justice system and into treatment and education services are significantly more effective in reducing reoffending than prosecution, according to a new analysis.

Researchers examined outcomes across 13 English police forces and more than 62,000 criminal incidents over the past four years, finding that people whose cases were dealt with through decriminalisation-style diversion schemes were a third less likely to reoffend than similar individuals prosecuted for drug possession.

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© Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Regulator approval means patients who meet criteria will be able to purchase tablets with private prescription

Patients in the UK will soon be able to buy the Wegovy weight-loss pill, the medicines regulator announced on Thursday.

It is the first GLP-1 receptor agonist tablet for weight-loss to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), making the UK the third country to authorise the pills, behind the US and the United Arab Emirates.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The biotech billionaire who wants to rebuild your body and blow your mind.

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Research suggests households that include a GLP-1 user collectively spent £780m less on grocery bills

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Weight-loss drugs are saving users’ households more than £400 a year on grocery bills, according to a survey, which found use of GLP-1s has nearly tripled in the past two years to 1.9 million adults.

More than 6.3% of households in Great Britain now include at least one GLP-1 user, according to the research by Worldpanel by Numerator. This marks a sharp rise from 4.1% of households in 2025 and 2.3% in 2024.

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© Photograph: Ashok Saxena/Alamy

© Photograph: Ashok Saxena/Alamy

© Photograph: Ashok Saxena/Alamy

Portugal is among the European countries that process the most cocaine; in 2024, four laboratories in Portugal were dismantled and 23 tonnes of the drug seized – the sixth-largest quantity

The post Portugal among European countries that process most cocaine appeared first on Portugal Resident.

The alcohol industry has criticized the research, which found that even light drinking increases the risk of premature death.

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