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Harm Reduction
MRC modelling shows alcohol ban will cut trauma patients by 50,000
A two-month ban on alcohol sales could potentially see 50,000 fewer trauma patients presenting at public hospitals, freeing up desperately needed staff and beds...
Tobacco product ban – Legal rationality is not policy rationality
On 26 June, the North Gauteng High Court dismissed a challenge to the ban on the domestic sale of tobacco and related products. The...
Smoking a factor in young adult vulnerability to severe COVID-19
It has become almost common knowledge that young people are less vulnerable to severe coronavirus infections, writes Aria Bendix for Business Insider US. A...
'Strong science' claimed to be behind FDA decision to permit IQOS marketing
America’s Food and Drug Administration last week made the landmark decision to allow the marketing of the cigarette alternative IQOS Tobacco Heating System, which is...
Anti-tobacco activists now thwart vaping 'health revolution'
Many of the activists who fought against the deceptions of Big Tobacco, are the same ones who have thwarted the nascent health revolution of...
One in five people over 55 feel peer pressured into drinking more
One in five people aged over 55 years of age admit to feeling peer pressured into drinking more alcohol than they otherwise would, according...
Cannabis use in pregnancy boosts risk of child sleep problems
Use cannabis while pregnant, and your child is more likely to suffer sleep problems as much as a decade later, according to a study...
‘Pharming’ tobacco plants to produce vaccine molecules shows potential
We don’t know how long it will take to find a vaccine for COVID-19, but we do know this: if and when we find...
Cannabis use in patients with cardiovascular risk
A review in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology states that more than two million people with an underlying heart condition use...
US Food and Drug Administration authorises IQOS marketing
The US Food and Drug Administration has authorised the marketing of the Philip Morris ‘IQOS Tobacco Heating System’ as a modified risk tobacco product,...
Could the debate over SA’s alcohol sales ban have a subtext you’re missing?
No, South Africa’s alcohol ban wasn’t the only thing that helped lower hospital trauma admissions recently, but it did play a substantial role, write...
'Cautious welcome' as Drug Master Plan puts harm reduction on SA agenda
The umbrella activist organisation South African Network of People Who Use Drugs (SANPUD) has “cautiously welcomed” the government's National Drug Master Plan despite its flaws,...
People suffer from prohibitive tobacco harm reduction policies
Tobacco harm reduction advocates have warned that consumers stand to suffer from prohibitive policies imposed by authorities against smoke-free nicotine products such as electronic...
What’s the best minimum legal age for cannabis?
Researchers at Memorial University in Canada investigated whether there was a ‘best’ minimal legal age for cannabis use. They settled on 19. Instead of...
Medical cannabis may reduce behavioural problems in kids with intellectual disabilities
Cannabidiol, a type of medicinal cannabis, may reduce severe behavioural problems in children and adolescents with an intellectual disability. A pilot study, led by...