HOSTILITY TO HARM REDUCTION IN SMOKING: EXPERT

An application to the TGA to increase the accessibility of nicotine for e-cigarettes to reduce tobacco smoking is unlikely to succeed, says an addiction expert, because harm minimisation strategies are rarely applied to smoking. “I expect the proposal to be strongly opposed by the majority of people in the Australian tobacco control community, for example Simon Chapman, Mike Daube, Melanie Wakefield [...]

2016-08-12
ajp.com.au

Brain chemical dopamine bounces back after quitting smoking

The brain makes less dopamine, a chemical involved in both pleasure and addiction, when people smoke but this temporary deficit may be reversed when smokers kick the habit, a small experiment suggests. “It is assumed that the brain adapts to the repeated nicotine-induced release of dopamine by producing less dopamine,” said lead study author Dr. Lena Rademacher of Lubeck University in Germany.

2016-08-12
uk.reuters.com

Is South Africa's strong stance on smoking set to cover e-cigarettes, too?

Like many other countries around the world, South Africa has a thriving e-cigarette industry. Yet, while the nation’s Health Department appear be taking a dim view, other governments are giving the green light to vaping. South African Health Minister [...] believes that there is some trickery at play among the vaping industry, claiming that - as some e-cigarettes contain nicotine, while others don’t, it is difficult to regulate.

2016-08-12
news24.com

E-cigarettes a public health breakthrough

On Aug, 4, the local heath unit’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lynn Noseworthy wrote a column for this newspaper urging caution on e-cigarettes and supporting restrictions by the Ontario government that would make it harder for smokers to switch. As someone who has spent over three decades in the forefront of national and global efforts to reduce smoking I feel a need to provide some perspective. [...]

2016-08-12
northumberlandtoday.com

If teens are going to smoke, better it be an e-cigarette

Experimentation is a normal part of adolescence and many will try e-cigarettes, mostly out of curiosity. However, it is rare for non-smoking youth to become regular e-cigarette users. In the United Kingdom, less than 0.2 per cent of youth have never smoked “vape” regularly and there is no evidence of progression from vaping to smoking. Regular e-cigarette use is almost exclusively confined to young people who already smoke.

2016-08-12
dailytelegraph.com.au

How Legalizing Marijuana Might Stave Off 'Spice' Epidemics

One of the main reasons people say they use synthetic cannabinoids is because the substances, which commonly are marketed as potpourri or incense and not for human consumption, don’t show up on most drug tests, unlike cannabis. So by ending marijuana criminalization, some people believe there wouldn’t be much incentive to use K2 at all.

2016-08-12
motherboard.vice.com