News
Internet service providers must find and remove online child pornography (Belgium)
Under new European Commission laws, Google, Meta and other online service providers will be compelled to detect and remove online child pornography. Companies who do not follow the requirements face fines of up to 6% of their annual revenue or global turnover, as determined by EU countries. The EU executive said on Wednesday that its … Read more
European Union (EU) commission proposes plan to fight child pornography (Belgium)
The EU’s executive arm unveiled a plan to require online platforms to detect and report the sharing of child sex abuse images on the internet. This would force companies operating in the EU to detect, report and remove the material. An increase in online child sex abuse has been noticed globally. Reports of internet child … Read more
Increased cardiovascular risk with cannabis consumption and partial reversal through genistein (UK)
Cannabis use increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (the psychoactive substance of cannabis) binds the CB1 receptors in blood vessels causing the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in the development of atherosclerotic plaques and cardiovascular disease. This has been showed in plasma concentrations of patients smoking cannabis, cell lines and mice models. Genistein, … Read more
Marijuana legalisation and its effect on adolescents (USA)
Legalization of marijuana for medical purposes/recreational use coincides with a decrease in perceived harmfulness of the drug and increases adolescent use. 9% of children in grade 9-12 use marijuana daily/almost every day. Marijuana exposure in adolescence is associated with use of other illicit drugs and increased emergency unit visits in the pediatric population. 17% of … Read more
Portland, Oregon Police Say Drug Legalisation Has Flooded Streets With Drugs (USA)
In November 2020, Oregon voters elected to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs, including heroin and cocaine. State-wide treatment centres would enable addiction to be handled as a healthcare, rather than a law enforcement issue. Law enforcement officers now report a drug-driven increase in criminality including assaults, possession of illegal firearms and prostitution … Read more
Fentanyl Drives Opioid Overdose Death Epidemic (USA)
In 2021 there were over 76,975 overdose deaths attributed to opioids (CDC) in the United States. Opioid deaths have increased nationwide in recent years the CDC reports that “…increases in synthetic opioid-involved deaths are being driven by increases in fentanyl-involved overdose deaths.” Fentanyl deaths are now on the rise among teens. According to a study … Read more
Legalisation of Cannabis: Use Among College Students Hits a Record High (USA)
In 2020 cannabis use among college students reached its highest level during the 21st Century. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s 2020, Monitoring the Future study, tracking substance use in adults between the ages of 19 and 22, revealed that in 2020 44% of college students used cannabis in the last year, compared with 38% in 2015. Of … Read more
Pornography is harmful and we need a new public health approach to it – as with alcohol and tobacco (UK)
Sophia Worringer, a parliamentary researcher, claims that pornography is harmful and must be treated with a public health approach. She asks the question that if pornography was not harmful as some people claim, why then did the Parish incident (Member of Parliament watching porn) spark such a public outpouring. Many women feel threatened when hearing … Read more
LGBTQ+ Friendly Policy Set for Western Cape Schools in Near Future (South Africa)
The Western Cape’s Education Department’s (WCED) contentious gender identity and sexual orientation policy will be signed and adopted before the end of this year. Ground-breaking guidelines would make schools more inclusive and supportive for LGBTQ+ pupils. It allows pupils to dress in a uniform that matches their gender identity, makes provision for a unisex bathroom, … Read more