Article

Hunter, William Ross and Rapp-Wright, Helena and Francis, William and White, Margarita and Richardson, Alexandra K and Christy, Cryshanthi and Shiels, Faye and Mellon-Kane, Ciara and O'Kane, Eugene and McElarney, Yvonne and Moore, Heather and Barron, Leon P (2025) An environmental risk assessment of contamination of lakes and rivers in Northern Ireland with pharmaceuticals, personal care products and drugs of abuse. Environmental Science. Processes & impacts , 27 , (10) , pp. 3163-3179.

Freestone, Jack and Siefried, Krista J and Peacock, Amy and Fletcher, Kathryn and Barratt, Monica J and Sutherland, Rachel and Ezard, Nadine and Doumany, Jess and MacDonald, Harriet and Kypri, S and Acheson, Liam and Clifford, Brendan (2025) From environmental disasters to emerging drugs; a framework to understand, map and assess drug-related early warning systems. International Journal of Drug Policy , 145 .

MacLean, Sarah and de Nicola, Julia and Cooper, Kimberlea and Downey, Heather and Theobald, Jacqui and de Kleyn, Lisa and Denham, Todd and Costello, Eleanor and Rickards, Lauren (2024) How does climate change impact people who use alcohol and other drugs? A scoping review of peer reviewed literature. International Journal of Drug Policy , 134 .

Ross, Amy and Alstine, J Van and Cotton, M and Middlemiss, L (2021) Deliberative democracy and environmental justice: evaluating the role of citizens’ juries in urban climate governance. The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability , 26 , (12) , pp. 1512-1531.

Report

Berg, D (2024) Substance use and the climate emergency. Ottawa: Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.

Smith, Louise and Sutherland, Nikki (2022) The environmental impact of disposable vapes. London: House of Commons Library.

Kay, Sylvia (2022) Prohibited plants: environmental justice in drug policy. Amsterdam: Transnational Institute.

Zafeiridou, Maria and Hopkinson, Nicholas and Voulvoulis, Nikolaos (2018) Cigarette smoking: an assessment of tobacco’s global environmental footprint across its entire supply chain, and policy strategies to reduce it. Geneva: World Health Organization.

McSweeney, Kendra (2015) The impact of drug policy on the environment. New York: Open Society Foundations.

FactSheet

World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. (2022) Tobacco’s threat to the environment. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.

News

[thejournal.ie] , Pepper, Diarmuid New Garda Commissioner calls out eco-conscious people who use cocaine despite environmental impact. (02 Sep 2025)

[Irish Times] , Gallagher, Conor How recreational drug use contributes to environmental damage. (15 Nov 2021)

[Irish Examiner] , Slater, Sarah Environmental group appeals with local authorities nationwide to ban smoking on beaches. (12 Nov 2019)

[World Health Organization] World No Tobacco Day 2017: Beating tobacco for health, prosperity, the environment and national development. (30 May 2017)

[thejournal.ie] Call for 50c ‘environmental levy’ on packs of 20 cigarettes. (16 Sep 2013)