Public health
fromwww.amny.com
1 day agoOp-Ed | Governor's Hochul's tobacco tax will reduce teen nicotine addiction | amNewYork
Governor Hochul's proposed tobacco tax aims to reduce teen vape use and protect youth from nicotine addiction.
Ali's store, Fly Vape, is located in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, an area that has become a surprising hub for the vaping industry, housing over 50 outlets specializing in vaping products.
The status quo is not an option. We have to ban it here in Boston. Kratom refers to both a tree native to southeast Asia and products derived from its leaves. There is particular concern among officials and experts about 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a potent compound found in kratom. In recent years, products that contain synthetically enhanced amounts of 7-OH have proliferated in smoke shops and convenience stores around the country.
Last year, he and a partner, Matt Stang, purchased High Times, a fifty-plus-year-old cannabis culture brand that had fallen into receivership, for three and a half million dollars. They are in the process of reviving the High Times print magazine, which once published Charles Bukowski and William S. Burroughs, as a quarterly. The relaunch issue, featuring the rapper Rick Ross on the cover, is out this month.
In early February, Canadian researchers reported that rates of severe mental illness among young people have risen alongside increased access to high-potency cannabis (Callaghan, et al., 2022). Around the same time, a new book, A Killing in Cannabis (Kohn, 2024), revisited a 2019 California murder and highlighted how violence tied to the marijuana trade has persisted even after legalization. On February 9, 2024, an opinion piece from the New York Times editorial board
Fresh research from the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) shows nearly a quarter of Dutch adults, 24%, believe people around them see gambling as normal behavior. Men were significantly more likely than women to share that view. The regulator surveyed 1,000 residents and found that when gambling comes up casually in conversations with friends or family, people are more likely to join in themselves.
The day I turned 16, I picked up two things - my driver's license and a $1.98 pack of Kool 100 Milds from a gas station I knew would sell to me. It was 1995, and I still remember the freedom and rebellion alive in my heart while my hair blew in the wind. From the window of her mom's LeBaron convertible, my friend and I flicked our cigarettes and seemingly our adolescent troubles with them.
Between the two of us, we smoke one joint after 7 p.m. about four days a week. We also enjoy it on special occasions like holidays and birthdays. Lately, when our adult child has been over to visit and we step away to share a joint, they'll comment, I thought you only smoked on certain days or something to that effect. I feel like they're keeping tabs on us, or even judging us by saying OK in a disapproving way.
No longer is gambling confined to Las Vegas casinos. A 2018 landmark ruling by the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting, opening the doors to new types of online gambling and games of chance. 'Young boys are largely being pulled into this universe online by algorithmically sent messages,' said Steyer of online games that include chances to open loot boxes and 'win' a prize. 'It seems so innocent, but in fact, it's no different than going into a casino and putting down five or $20 on a hand of blackjack.'
Some experts have mischaracterized smoking fentanyl as "safer" than injecting, seeking to reduce risks among users. Narrowly considered, the statement is accurate, as inhalation avoids needle-sharing, reducing risks for HIV, hepatitis C, bacteremia, abscess formation, and infective endocarditis among users. However, there's no clinical-trial-level evidence (randomized trials with real patients) showing smoking illicit fentanyl is safer than injecting it. It isn't, and that conclusion is unsupported by toxicology, environmental exposure science, or emerging data.
A law banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born after 2009 could see smoking in young people drop below 5 per cent decades earlier than expected. The government plans to introduce the smoke-free generation" law as part of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would progressively raise the age of sale so that anyone born in 2009 or later can never legally be sold tobacco, starting from 2027.
"Second-hand smoke increases the risk of heart disease and lung cancer and we want to protect children and the sick from harm," he said. "Prevention is better than cure, so this government is taking pressure off the NHS and building a healthier Britain where everyone lives well for longer."
Last month, Australia banned social media for kids under 16, becoming the first country in the world to enforce a nationwide social media ban for children. Lawmakers framed the policy as a reset, citing fewer risks, fewer pressures, and fewer kids online before they were ready. Notably, the ban places responsibility on social media platforms rather than parents. Companies are required to verify users' ages and limit access to major services, including YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram, and Discord.
The Gambling Authority of Ireland (GRAI) has found that problem gambling is much more likely amongst people who were exposed to gambling as children. The study, which was conducted by the ESRI's Behavioural Research Unit, found that rates of problem gambling are significantly higher among people who gambled as children, whose parents gambled, or whose parents had positive attitudes towards gambling.
Dilated pupils, high on camera and often alone. On TikTok, more and more young people are publicly filming their drug use. The videos reach millions, often under a single hashtag: #Pingtok. The trend reflects a new visibility of drug use on social media. What once happened behind closed doors is now filmed, aestheticized and shared publicly sometimes with life-threatening consequences, and often unnoticed by parents.
A bill that would have banned smoking on casino gaming floors in Iowa didn't go anywhere this week, after a Senate subcommittee voted to shelve the proposal indefinitely. The legislation, Senate File 2051, was introduced as "An Act relating to the elimination of the exemption of gaming floors from the prohibitions of the smokefree air Act." The bill proposed a change to state law by amending Iowa Code section 142D.4 "by striking the subsection" that currently allows smoking on certain gaming floors.