Mike Nesbitt’s ministerial statement in the Northern Ireland Assembly this week summarises work to date on efforts to introduce legislation to set a minimum price for the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor and to prohibit its sale or supply…
News Archives
‘Scottish first’ drug case to be referred to High Court
2 people faced 12 charges including production and supply of synthetic cannabinoids, MDMA, ketamine, etizolam. The prosecutor told the court it was “a rather unusual case” featuring a drug lab setup that Police Scotland had “never seen the likes” of before.…
How does the US social media lawsuit impact the UK?
In this 2:27-minute ITV News video, prime minister Keir Starmer seems to have shifted to strengthening children’s safety on social media. Parents of children who died after following social media dares share their experiences and hopes. See also the Guardian…
ASAM: new standards for adolescent SUD care
The American Society of Addiction Medicine Criteria has a new instalment, The Adolescents and Transition-Aged Youth volume which establishes dedicated treatment standards and admission criteria for youth with substance use disorder. The volume of new standards will be available digitally…
Social media addiction is a feature, not a bug
Yesterday we brought you news of Meta and Google being found liable for social media addiction. Quynh Hoang of the University of Leicester explains how the plaintiff’s lawyers won by arguing that harm arose not from what users posted, but…
Artists are speaking openly about sobriety
Previously, many artists did not discuss their addiction publicly, except to face a scandal or recovery. But today, the new generation of performers prefers being open – the substance misuse and recovery reality can be found in social media posts,…
Addiction: erratic decision-making
Addiction is linked to inconsistent decision-making – people who regularly use drugs might not be ignoring negative consequences but instead struggle to consistently act on them, according to Yale University researchers. Study participants tended to choose regardless of whether they had…
Lawsuit accuses sportsbooks of addictive technology
Hours after a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and YouTube harmed a young user by using addictive features, attorneys involved in the case filed suit against DraftKings and FanDuel and accused the sportsbooks of using technology and methods similar…
Psychotherapy and religion
There is a saying in 12-Step programmes: “Religion is for people who want to avoid hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there”. Findings from the Enhancing Practice-Based Evidence for Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapies relate to religion – and P…
Anger at move to strip upbringing info from alcohol and drug court
A move to strip family background information from New Zealand alcohol and drug reports used in court has angered some defence lawyers and counsellors. Alcohol and drug reports help inform judges whether an offender had addiction issues, could indicate the source…
