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Harm Reduction
Time to screen for older patients' cannabis use?
Cannabis use more than doubled over the past decade among Americans of 50 years and over, with nearly one in 10 now reporting usage...
Alcohol may have immediate effect on atrial fibrillation risk, events
Alcohol appears to have an immediate – or near-immediate – effect on heart rhythm, significantly increasing the chance that an episode of atrial fibrillation...
Complete (not partial) alcohol bans can help SA hospitals – New study
Bans on alcohol could be a sensible policy to help South Africa through new health crises, suggests a study published this week in the...
Improving smoking and blood pressure outcomes in medical practices
Primary care medical practices should improve smoking cessation counselling and blood pressure quality metrics in order to make meaningful gains in cardiovascular disease care,...
Alcohol problems severely undertreated in US – University of Washington
Although the vast majority of people in the United States with alcohol use disorder see their doctors regularly for a range of issues, fewer...
Cannabis vaping skyrockets among high school students in the US
As reports in the United States of severe lung illnesses related to vaping began to make headlines in 2019, rates of cannabis vaping among...
Five things to know about anti-craving medication for alcohol abuse
Anti-craving medications can play an effective role in overcoming moderate to severe alcohol use disorder and can be prescribed by primary care physicians, write...
Is the FDA's cigarette ban just smoke and menthols? – MedPage Today op-ed
Dr Kenneth Warner of the University of Michigan School of Public Health argues in a MedPage Today op-ed that a ban on menthol cigarettes...
Starter e-cigarette packs to be offered by hospitals to help smokers quit – UK study
A new trial from the University of East Anglia will see smokers attending emergency departments in five hospitals across the United Kingdom given e-cigarette...
Internet-based self-help intervention helped reduce cannabis use, disorder
An internet-based self-help intervention with an impersonal service team “significantly reduced cannabis use, cannabis-use disorder, dependence severity and general anxiety symptoms” among people wanting...
E-cigarettes: What we know and what we don’t – Cancer Research UK
There are mixed messages when it comes to e-cigarettes, with many headlines proclaiming that vaping is just as bad or worse than smoking, reports...
Age verification crackdown at vape stores in bid to prevent underage sales
The next time you visit a vape store in South Africa, make sure you have your ID. Retailers that sell electronic cigarette and combustible...
Law enforcement and drunk driving — how to curb SA’s road crash epidemic
If consumers of alcohol can be fairly certain that if they get behind the steering wheel of a vehicle, they will be stopped and...
New Zealand, United States ponder cutting nicotine levels in cigarettes
New Zealand has proposed anti-smoking policies that include reducing nicotine in cigarettes and outlawing their sale to anyone born after 2004. Meanwhile in America,...
Lesotho grower is Africa’s first to sell medicinal cannabis flower to EU
A Lesotho-based cannabis cultivator has been approved as the first manufacturer in Africa to export the medicinal cannabis flower as an active pharmaceutical ingredient to...
Doctors still reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis – Canadian study
Doctors in Ontario in Canada are still hesitant to prescribe medical cannabis to patients suffering long-term pain – 20 years after it was first...
Smoke-free worksite laws curb vaping? Yale finds mixed results
Yale University research published in the journal Addiction indicates that both cigarette and e-cigarette use decline under smoke-free workplace laws – but, interestingly, smoke-free...
Vaping causes ‘much less’ DNA damage in cells than cigarettes – Imperial research
Laboratory research from Imperial Brands, published in the journal Mutagenesis, shows that “undiluted vape e-liquids and their aerosol extracts exhibited entirely absent or vastly reduced...
SA medical and recreational cannabis industry poised to take off
With a cannabis bill before the National Assembly and a master plan being developed by the government, the medical and recreational cannabis sector in...
Early cannabis use linked to heart disease – Canadian research
Using cannabis when young may increase the risk of developing heart disease later, according to a study from the University of Guelph in Canada,...
Teenage brains may be especially vulnerable to marijuana and other drugs
Adolescents and teenagers who experiment with marijuana and prescription drugs are more likely to get hooked on them than young people who try these...
Many e-cigarette users want to quit — US survey
Research published in JAMA Network Open indicates that most adults in the United States who use e-cigarettes would like to stop, and that former...
Safe driving: Cannabis intoxication not reliably measured by field tests, THC levels
United States researchers investigated how marijuana affects safe driving skills and found that biofluid levels of THC did not correlate with field sobriety test...
The six best apps to help recovery from alcohol addiction
A medically reviewed Insider article that draws on three addiction experts describes six of the best apps dedicated to helping people who are recovering...
Did COVID-19 stress and uncertainty stall anti-smoking push?
A year after COVID-19 upended life for millions of Americans, there are troubling signs that the coronavirus may have also slowed progress against another...
Stricter tobacco controls in Europe could avert 1.65m lung cancer cases in 20 years
More stringent tobacco control policies in Europe could result in 1.65 million fewer lung cancer cases over 20 years, according to an international population-based...
Restricting alcohol ads for SA public health – A justifiable rights infringement?
Introducing regulation to reduce alcohol-related harm in South Africa is fully consistent with human rights protection, particularly for children, write Adam Bertscher of the...
SAMRC to implement South Africa’s First Global Tobacco Adult Survey
The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) will soon implement the Global Adult Tobacco Survey – a first for South Africa.
The Global Adult Tobacco...
'Misguided' push to outlaw vaping in developing nations
In nations where vaping is endorsed by health authorities, such as the United Kingdom, there have been real reductions in smoking. Elsewhere, billionaire Michael...
Daily e-cigarette use shows 'clear benefit' in helping smokers to quit – UK study
A study from King’s College London, published in the journal Addiction, highlights the “clear benefit” of using e-cigarettes daily in order to quit smoking....
Tens of millions of smokers have switched to less risky nicotine products
Research provides evidence that large numbers of smokers are switching to devices that deliver nicotine from tobacco through heat – rather than burn –...
Emergency attendance for COPD dropped during SA lockdown, tobacco ban
While the tobacco sales ban had detrimental effects on the economy in South Africa in 2020, research shows that one benefit was a sharp...
US advises CT scans for younger and lighter smokers in drive against lung cancer
New guidelines from medical experts will nearly double the number of people in the United States who are advised to have yearly CT scans...
Vaping cannabis tied to more lung damage symptoms than cigarettes, nicotine
Adolescents who vape cannabis are at greater risk of respiratory symptoms indicative of lung injury than teens who smoke cigarettes or marijuana, or vape...
WHO versus Public Health England over e-cigarettes
Controversy over the World Health Organization’s publication in January of negative information on e-cigarettes, has been followed by a new Public Health England report...
Cannabis tied to rebound headaches in chronic migraine patients – Stanford study
Migraine patients who used cannabis were more likely to develop ‘rebound’ or medication overuse headaches than those who did not use cannabis, a single-centre...
Drinking, smoking, drug use linked to premature heart disease in the young
Recreational drinking, smoking and drug use is linked to premature heart disease in young people, particularly younger women, according to research published online by...
Certain jobs associated with higher rates of heavy drinking – UK study
Skilled tradespeople in the United Kingdom are most likely to be associated with heavy drinking, reports research published in the open access journal BMC...
Results from world’s first MDMA – aka ‘ecstasy’ – alcohol use disorder trial
The world’s first trial investigating the role of MDMA therapy for the treatment of alcohol use disorder has shown positive results, reports Health Europa....
Tobacco harm reduction product controls 'insane' – Global expert
Public interest consultant and former United Kingdom government advisor Clive Bates has accused policymakers and anti-tobacco lobbyists of ‘insanely’ turning their big guns on...