Young people drug risks campaign (ketamine, counterfeit medicines with synthetic opioids, THC vapes)
Also: Public Drug Awareness · FRANK 2025 campaign
Department of Health and Social Care / Office for Health Improvement and Disparities campaign launched 16 October 2025 for 16- to 24-year-olds in England. Online films and social media on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat warned about ketamine bladder damage, counterfeit medicines bought online that contain nitazenes and other synthetic opioids, and 'THC vapes' that contain synthetic cannabinoids, with resources for schools and universities on FRANK.
- Years
- 2025–now
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Topic
- CannabisDrugsOpioids
- Asks people to
- Never startRecognize
- Strategy
- Fear appeal
- Channel
- SchoolSocial (paid)Website
- Audience
- Young adultsYouth16-24 year olds in England, reached through Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat; factsheets for schools, colleges and universities.
Evidence
NoneUnknown
No evaluation found.
Sponsor (who paid)
- UK Department of Health and Social Care (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) Foreign government, funder and creator
- FRANK (DHSC and Home Office drug information service) Foreign government, channel
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Sources
Research notes
Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17. No agency named. The DHSC Campaign Resource Centre lists it as 'Public Drug Awareness' (start date October 2025) with leaflets on ketamine, fake medicine and THC vapes for public health teams and education settings. Only one of three strands is opioid-related (counterfeit medicines with nitazenes). Announced alongside £310 million for drug treatment in England (that money is not the campaign budget). No YouTube executions found; the TALKTOFRANK YouTube channel holds only older (2000s) FRANK ads. FRANK itself (2003-) is a long-running drug information brand not filed as an opioid case.
Record cases/gb-eng-ohid-young-people-drugs-risks.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign