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Harm Reduction
US delays menthol cigarette ban
The US Government has delayed a decision on whether to ban menthol cigarettes, amid intense lobbying from tobacco companies, shops and industry-backed groups that...
Australia bans disposable vape imports
In efforts to clamp down on nicotine addiction in children, Australia plans to ban the import of disposable vapes from January, while new laws...
FDA a step closer to banning menthol cigarettes
The US Food and Drug Administration has taken a “momentous” step toward banning menthol in cigarettes and flavoured cigars, proposing a rule that public...
Cutting back, quitting alcohol, may reverse brain shrinkage: US study
A study by American researchers has suggested that quitting or cutting back on drinking can improve brain health, and that people who reduced their...
Why alcohol-free days are important
Even drinking in moderation – one or two drinks each day over the week – is risky, and with drinkers now becoming more aware...
SA study suggests limiting pub hours will save lives, reduce harm
Restricting trading times for on-site alcohol consumption could reduce the many harmful consequences associated with drinking by South Africans, who are among the world’s...
Nuanced UCT findings on e-cigs as gateway to regular smoking
As MPs deliberate on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, a study released this week by the University of Cape Town...
Policy shift call as global drug use and deaths highest ever
Fifty years into the world “war on drugs”, the drugs are winning. Global levels of drug use and production, as well as drug-related deaths...
UK pushes vapes in world first 'swop-to-stop' campaign
British authorities will go all out to encourage about 1m smokers to swop cigarettes for vapes, with pregnant women offered financial incentives to make...
No alcohol is good for your health – Canadian analysis
Contrary to decades of studies suggesting moderate drinking is better than not drinking at all – and could even promote longevity – recent analysis of...
Nicotine vapes help smokers quit, but long-term effects still unclear – Cochrane Review
A Cochrane Review of more than 78 studies and 22 000 participants found the strongest evidence yet that e-cigarettes (vapes) work better than traditional...
Higher lung damage risk for marijuana smokers than tobacco smokers – Canadian study
Scans of the lungs of marijuana users have turned up an alarming surprise: regular smokers appear to be at greater risk of lung damage,...
Dual use of cigarettes and vaping devices worse than single use – two US studies
Two related studies show that the combination of smoking and vaping might cause even more damage – a potential red flag for those using...
Nigeria opens first needle exchange in efforts to slash infections
Nigeria’s first needle and syringe exchange programme has been launched in Oyo state, which the country hopes will reduce its mushrooming addict population’s risk...
Vaping among teens at SA’s affluent schools ‘a significant problem’
More than a quarter of matric pupils at wealthy South African high schools are vaping, and almost a quarter of those who use the...
SA now among world's top meth markets – harm reduction report
While harm reduction interventions have increased globally, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the latest Global State of Harm Reduction report shows that South Africa is...
What is the evidence on e-cigarettes helping you quit smoking?
Are e-cigarettes (vapes) actually useful for quitting smoking cigarettes? The jury appears out on this controversial question, with some schools of thought punting the...
Substance abuse higher in socially active, less supervised groups – 28-year analysis
While general substance abuse among American adolescents is dropping, there is an upward spiral in cannabis and vaping use, a Columbia University Mailman School...
Harm reduction research on tobacco/nicotine products is being ignored
While an intense battle continues globally – led by anti-smoking NGOs, some national governments, and the World Health Organization (WHO) – an increasing amount...
US health warnings on EVALI outbreak incorrectly blamed e-cigarettes
A 2019 outbreak of “e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury” (EVALI) was followed by official health warnings against use of the products, according...
Major independent evidence review: vaping ‘a small fraction’ of the risk of smoking
The UK government’s final independent evidence review on the health harms of vaping concludes that vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of...
Survey shows that Australian teenagers have ready access to illegal vaping products
Teen vaping is a topical issue, with parents and schools struggling to manage this amid fears that children are becoming addicted and harming their...
Smokers’ misconceptions regarding e-cigarettes deter harm reduction behaviours
The concept that some nicotine-delivering products – such as vapes over cigarette smoking are less harmful than others, is broadly acknowledged by the literature,...
Prenatal cannabis exposure linked to adolescent mental health issues
Cannabis exposure during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of psychopathology into adolescence, especially if exposure continued later into the pregnancy, according to...
Chronic e-cigarette users may risk pulmonary damage: small US study
E-cigarette users may incur small airway–centred fibrosis, including constrictive bronchiolitis, found a four-patient study published in the New England Journal of Medicine Evidence. The...
Vaping could save 104,000 Australian lives – modelling study
Relaxing Australia’s regulations on vaping could save the lives of 70,000 to 104,000 people by 2080, according to a modelling study published in Nicotine...
More American adults now smoke cannabis than cigarettes
For the first time on record, regular cannabis usage has surpassed cigarette use in the US, according to a new Gallup poll, which found...
Alcohol addiction cut by 83% after psilocybin therapy – NYU study
Just two doses of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, reduced heavy drinking by 83% on average among heavy drinkers when combined with...
US young adults using cannabis and hallucinogens at highest rates ever – NIH
The numbers of American 19-30-year-olds using marijuana and hallucinogens are at their highest rates ever since the research first began in 1988, while binge...
Cochrane Review: Lower toxicant exposure from HTP but uncertainty over smoking cessation
A Cochrane Review concluded that the effectiveness of heated tobacco use for smoking cessation remains uncertain. There was moderate‐certainty evidence that heated tobacco users...
Unlike cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery shows no increased risk of CVD – US study
A University of Michigan study found that while exclusive cigarette use was associated with an increased risk of self-reported incident diagnosed cardiovascular disease over...
Smoking cessation drugs may have role in also reducing alcohol use – clinical trial
A clinical trial to test whether three proven smoking cessation treatments could also reduce alcohol intake found no differences between the medications, but the...
Cannabis legalisation may reduce perceptions of cigarette smoking harm
While ordinary smoking has been declining for decades in the US, adults who use cannabis daily do not perceive smoking a pack a day...
More than five glasses of wine weekly may hasten ageing – Biobank analysis
Weekly exceeding 17 units of alcohol – roughly five large glasses of wine or five beers – damages the DNA and hastening ageing, found...
Cannabis potency linked to higher risk of addiction and psychosis – 1st systematic review
Regular users of high-strength cannabis are up to five times more likely to develop addiction and psychosis, found a systematic analysis in The Lancet...
Smokers' nasal damage not repaired by switch to e-cigarettes – small US study
The damage done to the nasal epithelium by smoking may not be repaired by switching to electronic cigarettes, found a University of California study in Toxics.
The...
Younger drinkers face more risk from alcohol, global study finds
Alcohol carries significant health risks and no benefits for young people: in fact, they face higher death risks from drinking than older adults, some...
Cannabis use significantly increases risk of ER visits and hospitalisation
Emergency room visits and hospitalisation are 22% higher among cannabis users, according to a Canadian study in BMJ Open Respiratory Research.
The large six-year retrospective...
Cannabis recreational consumption ‘not benign’ – Ontario cohort study
Cannabis is the most commonly used psychoactive drug worldwide and its use is rising but data published on the association between cannabis smoking and...
Ban flavoured vapes, says EU as as e-cigarette use rises
Flavoured heated tobacco products – like vapes – are likely to be banned after a proposal by the EU as part of its efforts...