Smart party pill law makes tobacco & alcohol regulation look pathetic

Tuesday, September 24th, 2013 | Kate Sloane | 1 Comment

Professor Richard Edwards

Party pills now have stringent government-promulgated rules and processes. All but one MP voted for the new law. The irony is that tobacco – and for that matter alcohol – with orders of magnitude more harm gets the wet bus ticket regulatory treatment. The promise is that if such a wide parliamentary consensus can be achieved on party pills, proportionate action on tobacco should see it sorted out by lunch time.

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New Zealand E-cigarette trial in Lancet – keeping it in perspective

Monday, September 9th, 2013 | TONY BLAKELY | 9 Comments

Professor Tony Blakely

A New Zealand randomized trial of e-cigarettes just published in the prestigious Lancet journal has been touted in the media as showing how good e-cigarettes are for people wanting to quit smoking.  This is overstating the study findings. And to be fair to the authors, overstating their conclusions too.

So what did the study find?  No statistically significant difference in abstinence at 6 months.

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The High Burden from Mental Health Disorders – but also an Opportunity for Cost-Effective Interventions

Thursday, August 29th, 2013 | Nick Wilson | No Comments

Assoc Prof Nick Wilson

Two new studies published today in the Lancet, highlight that mental and substance use disorders are the leading cause of non-fatal illness worldwide (Whiteford et al; Degenhardt et al). These two studies are a valuable contribution to knowledge about health problems and come from a massive international research project. The results should help guide policymakers around the world in taking the cost-effective steps needed to prevent and treat the high health burden from mental and substance use disorders.

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