Focus
Up in smoke – Are we wrong about the dangers of vaping?
November 24th, 2019 Since vaping became a popular alternative to smoking, the big tobacco companies have been moving into the market. But do we know enough about the risks? Simon Usborne of The Guardian explores the science, history, on-the-ground realities...
Rising problematic use in US states where marijuana is legal
November 24th, 2019 Problematic use of marijuana among adolescents and adults increased after legalisation of recreational marijuana use, according to a study from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Columbia University Mailman...
UK takes action on ‘addictive’ computer games and technologies
October 15th, 2019 A hard-hitting UK parliamentary report into immersive and addictive technologies has proposed that the games industry take responsibility for protecting players against potentials harms. This week the NHS opened England’s first specialist clinic...
Calls for doctor action as vaping deaths, lung injuries escalate
October 15th, 2019 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been preparing guidance for doctors on vaping, as an outbreak of injury linked to e-cigarettes escalates. By the first week of October there had been 26 deaths and nearly 1,300 cases of serious...
Confusing science, disparate international responses to e-cigarettes
October 15th, 2019 While America clamps down on vaping, India bans e-cigarettes and Juul vanishes from online Chinese stores, Europehas been more positive about vaping and Britain has embraced it in the fight against...
Prescription drug poses new threat to South African youths
August 29th, 2019 South African learners turn to anti-anxiety medication to manage stress but punishment remains the state’s primary intervention, writes Mark Hunter for the social justice publication New Frame. In July and August, he spoke with 39 groups of...
The African opioid epidemic you haven’t heard about
August 29th, 2019 Weakly regulated painkillers are causing untold damage in West Africa, but stricter controls could have dire consequences for patients with chronic pain. Laura Salm-Reifferscheidt unpicks an opioid crisis that is even more complex than...
‘Profound’ growth in South Africa’s heroin market fuels drug crisis
April 28th, 2019 James Mashakeni, 22, began smoking nyaope, a heroin-based narcotic, after a blowout fight with his dad nine years ago, writes Krista Mahr for the Los Angeles Times. When his father burned his clothes and schoolbooks, friends offered him the street...
Opioid addiction crisis lawsuits target billionaire family and Purdue Pharma
April 28th, 2019 Five states have sued super-rich members of the family that controls Purdue Pharma. Together they are accused of encouraging an opioid addiction epidemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans in two decades. Recently a coalition of more than...
Marijuana’s decriminalisation in America and South Africa – Implications
April 28th, 2019 Every year on 20 April marijuana advocates from Johannesburg to California celebrate cannabis culture, writes The Conversation. The publication ran a serious of articles on that date, ranging from a look at statistical evidence on the legalisation...
Tough cannabis policies do not deter young people – Study
March 11th, 2019 There is no evidence that tough policies deter young people from using cannabis, writes Mattha Busby for The Guardian. Analysing data about cannabis use among more than 100,000 teenagers in 38 countries – including the UK, US, Russia, France,...
Smokers misunderstand risks of smokeless tobacco product snus
March 11th, 2019 American smokers mistakenly think that using snus – a moist snuff smokeless tobacco product popular in Scandinavia but newer to the United States – is as dangerous as smoking tobacco, according to a Rutgers University study published in the...
Truth telling about tobacco and nicotine in an e-cigarette era
March 11th, 2019 Debate among public health professionals over approaches to tobacco and nicotine regulation has intensified with the rise of vaping. Researchers at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation explore the contours of the debate and the need to...
How safe are e-cigarettes? The debate continues
March 11th, 2019 A clinical review from the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland recently summarised the latest evidence concerning the use of e-cigarettes, writes Dr Catharine Paddock for Medical News Today. But with research on e-cigarettes in its infancy, it...
Is marijuana as safe as we think?
February 11th, 2019 Permitting pot is one thing, promoting its use is another, writes Malcolm Gladwell for The New Yorker. Especially since a cloud of mystery surrounds cannabis – including its medicinal value, its possible relationship to mental illness and...