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Addiction
Sackler family faces rash of lawsuits for OxyContin crisis
Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of highly addictive opioid OxyContin, is being pursued by a mass of creditors as well as more than 40 states...
Dentist fails to have charges over patient’s death dismissed
Durban dentist Anwar Mohamed Jeewa, charged with the death of a Canadian man at his illegal drug and detoxification centre in Westville in November...
Dentist pleads not guilty to patient’s murder in ‘detox’ clinic
The trial of a Durban dentist, charged with murder after a patient died in his detox centre seven years ago, started in the High...
Alcoholics Anonymous is most effective path to alcohol abstinence
After evaluating 35 studies – involving the work of 145 scientists and the outcomes of 10,080 participants – Dr Keith Humphreys, Cochrane professor of...
American Heart Association retracts e-cigarette study
In a rare decision, the Journal of the American Heart Association announced the retraction of a widely publicised study claiming vaping increased the likelihood...
New international approaches to drug use needed – Lancet series
A new international approaches to drug use is needed, according to a landmark series of papers led by researchers from the National Drug and...
UK takes action on ‘addictive’ computer games and technologies
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....
Death and 193 lung cases linked to vaping — but expert blames THC e-liquid off streets
US health officials are reporting what could be the country’s first death linked to vaping, writes Associated Press in The Guardian. There have been 193 cases of...
Prescription drug poses new threat to South African youths
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...
The African opioid epidemic you haven’t heard about
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...
When quitting cigarettes, consider using more nicotine, not less
When delivered through cigarettes, nicotine is considered to be one of the most addictive substances on Earth. So it may seem odd to suggest that...
Tough cannabis policies do not deter young people – Study
There is no evidence that tough policies deter young people from using cannabis, writes Mattha Busby for The Guardian. Analysing data about cannabis use...
Is marijuana as safe as we think?
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...
Public Health England: Stopping smoking – What works?
Public Health England recently published Health Matters guidance focusing on the range of smoking quitting routes that are available and the evidence for their...
Workplace and Recovery – How US employers and employees handle addiction
Nearly three-quarters of US employers feel guilty about how they have handled employees’ drug or alcohol addiction-related problems, according to a survey of 737...
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While new figures show that a whopping 10.8 million Americans use e-cigarettes, there are stringent restrictions on their sale in Australia and in Canada...
MEDICALBRIEF ADDICTION – See our new monthly roundup of news, policy analysis and research in the field of Addiction
See our new monthly roundup of news, policy analysis and research in the field of Addiction
Fiery responses to SA’s draconian Tobacco Bill
SA’s Tobacco Bill has met with a barrage of criticism, among other things for proposing jail for smoking in public, outlawing designated smoking areas,...
International experts highlight ‘significant weakness’ in SA Tobacco Bill
In a last-minute submission on the SA Tobacco Bill, international academics argue that the Bill does not sufficiently differentiate between nicotine products of widely...
‘This should change everything’ – A performance standard for cigarettes
Unlike many other consumer products, no safety standards have been set for cigarettes or other tobacco products. Now a performance standard proposal has been...
Advancing tobacco regulation for public health – New FDA initiatives
Over the past year, the US Food and Drug Administration has taken important steps towards achieving its overarching goal – a world where cigarettes...
Tougher anti-smoking laws in the pipeline for SA
When South Africa introduced designated smoking areas in restaurants and bars there was vehement opposition from sections of the hospitality industry. But, writes Savera Kalideen,...
US government implements smoking ban in public housing
The Department of Housing and Urban Development in the United States has implemented a nationwide ban on smoking inside or near public housing facilities, for...
Not a ‘lost cause’: Report highlights need for addictions recovery
A Canadian report has called for better recognition of addiction recovery options and “an approach that supports the full continuum of care, from harm reduction...
Big tech's first steps to fight addiction fail to impress
New features that Silicon Valley giants are introducing to help people manage the time they spend on smartphones may do little to reduce addiction,...
Are eating disorders an addiction?
Psychologists are increasingly likening the behavioural patterns seen in eating disorders to those commonly identified with substance addiction, blogs the South African College of...
Tobacco Bill unjustified by government’s own impact assessment
An impact assessment for South Africa’s new Tobacco Bill fails to justify many of its provisions, such as the regulation of ‘electronic delivery systems’ and...
‘I am going to die if I keep living the way I am.’ She was right
Herion addict Tess Henry’s body was found in a Las Vegas dumpster on Christmas Eve. This is the story of the six years of...
Glued to our screens, and trying to get unstuck
Technology overuse has emerged as a modern disease and is beginning to be classified as such. Recently, the World Health Organisation classified gaming disorder...
Japan's pachinko industry braces for anti-addiction regulation
Like many Japanese pachinko parlours, Naomi Suzuki’s shop on the outskirts of Fukushima City was once full of energy, with the din of bouncing...
E-cigarette maker Juul targeted teens with false safety claims – Lawsuit
Three lawsuits have been initiated against US company Juul Labs, maker of the popular USB-flash-drive-sized e-cigarettes, writes Deanna Paulfrom The Washington Post. The company claims...
Tobacco and alcohol – the largest substance abuse health burdens
The largest health burden from substance use was attributable to tobacco smoking and the smallest was attributable to illicit drugs, according to a global...
Tobacco company's understanding of addiction revealed by internal documents
While Philip Morris’s public statements reinforce the idea that nicotine’s pharmacology principally drives smoking addiction, company scientists frame addiction as the result of interconnected...
Medical marijuana could increase drug use risk
A study finds that people who use medical marijuana have higher rates of medical and non-medical prescription drug use – including pain relievers.
Rather than...
Role of methadone and naltrexone in treating opioid addiction
The Catalysis and Peptide Research Unit at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has published a paper providing insights into the role of methadone and naltrexone...
Spouses have strong causal influence over alcohol abuse risk
Spouses with uncontrolled drinking problems have a 'large and rapid' CAUSAL influence on the likelihood their partner will also be diagnosed with an alcohol...
Vaping restrictions 'could be a public health disaster'
SA Health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi wants an outright ban on vaping, falsely conflating it with smoking tobacco, and equally falsely attributing its rise...
Smoking-cessation medication not beneficial in the long-term
A Tel Aviv University study finds that only eight out of 100 smokers who take smoking cessation medications will have benefited from taking them...
One cigarette a day is as bad smoking half the pack
Smoking just one cigarette a day carries a much higher risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke than expected – about half the...
Lessons for SA to be learned from US/UK tobacco regulations
A shift in the way US and UK policymakers regulate tobacco, e-cigarettes and nicotine could promote public health efforts to reduce smoking and usher...