UK Ban Research Articles

Do the risks of khat-induced dependence and psychosis warrant the 2014 UK ban?

Khat leaves originate in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and are chewed socially for their psychoactive properties. The main constituents of khat, cathinone and cathine, are illegal substances in most of Europe, including the UK, which reclassified khat as a Class C drug in June 2014. Case reports of khat-induced psychosis and dependence are not supported with robust scientific studies, and evidence for a causal relationship is lacking. Cross-sectional population studies reveal that khat abuse is affected by a range of susceptibility factors, such as psychological trauma; this has been experienced by many khat users, due to civil war and/or migration. Most studies on animal models of khat-induced dependence or psychosis use its psychoactive ingredient, cathinone, rather than khat extract. However, the unique chewing method of khat diminishes its addictive potential due to slow and prolonged absorption. Furthermore, the effects of the other constituents present in khat leaves are not well understood. While there are multiple criteria for banning a drug, this review considers the scientific evidence regarding two frequently mentioned criteria: dependence potential and psychosis. It concludes that further investigation, which takes into account susceptibility factors, is required to justify such intervention.

Implications of Psychoactive ‘Bath Salts’ Use During Pregnancy

Psychoactive bath salts (PABS) comprise a group of highly dangerous designer drugs showing a sharp escalation in reported U.S. exposures from 2010 through 2012, following rapid spread of the drug in Europe. Since a federal ban on the major ingredients in October 2011, numbers have declined. However, evidence from the United Kingdom shows an initial decline after the UK ban in 2010 with a 400 percent increase in reports by 2012. Actual information about the effect of PABS use on pregnant women and fetuses is almost nonexistent. Clinicians should be aware of the potential maternal, fetal and neonatal effects of PABS.

Negative impacts of hunting and suction-dredging on otherwise high and stable survival rates in Curlew Numenius arquata

Capsule A stable annual survival rate of 90% was estimated for adult Curlew Numenius arquata from 1974 to 2011. Survival was reduced by mechanized cockle harvesting and hunting prior to the UK ban in 1982, but was similar for males and females. Aims To estimate annual and average survival rates for Curlew wintering in North Wales. To test the impacts of protection from hunting (effective 1982), and mechanized cockle dredging on apparent survival and longevity. Methods Thirty-six years' ringing data comprising 2636 bird records were analysed using Cormack Jolly–Seber survival models in mark. Models included variable and trending survival, plus constant-survival models (all years, pre- and post-hunting, sampling effort). The effects of protection from hunting, sampling success, cockle dredging and sex (from biometrics) were investigated, and the results compared with survival in other species and the predictions of demographic population models. Results Averaged annual survival was 89.9% with no significant difference between males and females. Estimated survival increased slightly from 86.9% (se = 0.04) to 90.5% (se = 0.01) and longevity by at least 40% after hunting was banned in 1982. Mechanized cockle harvesting in 1996 reduced apparent survival from 95% (best data estimate: se 0.07) to 81% (se 0.19) for two years, and was correlated with a published analysis showing reduced survival in Oystercatchers. Conclusion Declines observed in overwintering Curlew populations in the UK are not primarily driven by changes in adult survival, and continue despite the increase in survival to > 90% after hunting ceased in 1982. High adult survival rates cannot compensate for poor breeding productivity, and we anticipate poor turnover will lead to future impacts from senescence even in such a long-lived species.

Banning short sales and market quality: The UK’s experience

We study the effects that the ban on short sales of shares in financial firms introduced in late 2008 and removed early 2009 had on the microstructure and the quality of UK equity markets. We show that the ban did nothing to affect order flows: financial stocks were being more aggressively sold off than their peers pre-ban and this situation persisted through the ban period. Trading volume in financials was massively reduced, however. The ban decimated order book liquidity for financials. The deterioration was symmetric, affecting the limit buy and limit sell side of the order book equally. Finally we show that, through the period of the ban, markets for financial stocks were substantially less efficient and that the role of the trading process in aiding price discovery was greatly reduced. The effects identified above were largely reversed once the ban was lifted. The persistence of the deterioration in market quality and liquidity though the relatively long-lasting UK ban on short selling suggests that other major market developments such as the TARP program were not responsible since these were concentrated in the early half of the ban. We thus argue that the short selling ban was responsible for detrimental effects on the quality of UK equity markets and that, far from being stabilising, the ban exacerbated problems in valuing UK financial stocks.

A chemical analysis examining the pharmacology of novel psychoactive substances freely available over the internet and their impact on public (ill)health. Legal highs or illegal highs?

ObjectivesPublic Health England aims to improve the nation's health and acknowledges that unhealthy lifestyles, which include drug use, undermine society's health and well-being. Recreational drug use has changed to include...

An investigation into the effects of sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorship on underage drinking

Concerns about underage drinking have led to calls for a UK ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport. Such a ban would have severe financial consequences for many sports, so should not be implemented without thorough consideration of its likely effectiveness. This study investigating the alcohol consumption intentions of 14 and 15 year olds showed that boys who were involved in sport were more likely both to drink alcohol and to get drunk, with awareness of sponsorship enhancing the likelihood of these behaviours. Girls involved in sport, however, showed more negative attitudes than their peers towards alcohol. It is argued that boys involved in sport are socialised into a traditional masculine alcohol and sports culture, which is reinforced by sponsorship. Evidence from studies on tobacco sponsorship suggests that health-related marketing communications and the use of low-alcohol or non-alcohol brands for sports sponsorship could be more effective than a ban in changing the culture.

Junk Food or Junk TV: How Will the UK Ban on JUNK Food Advertising Affect Children's Programs?

The implementation of a partial junk food television advertising ban in the United Kingdom is adding to the woes of commercial broadcasters already under pressure in a fiercely competitive multi-channel environment. The UK free-to-air channel ITV1 recently announced the closure of its children's programs production unit and children's television production in the United Kingdom has been described as being ‘in meltdown’. The United Kingdom represents a crucial market for Australian producers of children's programs, who have traditionally sourced up to 80 per cent of their production budgets from UK partners. Australian cultural policy is adding to the challenges facing these producers, through the demands inherent in the ‘C’ classification. If Australia is to remain committed to the provision of dedicated children's programs, alternative sources of funding will have to be found.

Junk Food or Junk TV: How will the Uk Ban on Junk Food Advertising Affect Children's Programs?

The implementation of a partial junk food television advertising ban in the United Kingdom is adding to the woes of commercial broadcasters already under pressure in a fiercely competitive multi-channel environment. The UK free-to-air channel ITV1 recently announced the closure of its children's programs production unit and children's television production in the United Kingdom has been described as being ‘in meltdown’. The United Kingdom represents a crucial market for Australian producers of children's programs, who have traditionally sourced up to 80 per cent of their production budgets from UK partners. Australian cultural policy is adding to the challenges facing these producers, through the demands inherent in the ‘C classification. If Australia is to remain committed to the provision of dedicated children's programs, alternative sources of funding will have to be found.

Bilingual dictionaries in tests of L2 writing proficiency: do they make a difference?

Whether test takers should be allowed access to dictionaries when taking L2 tests has been the subject of debate for a good number of years. Opinions differ according to how the test construct is understood and whether the underlying value system favours process-orientated assessment for learning, with its concern to elicit the test takers' best performance, or product-focused assessment of learning, with its emphasis on the discriminatory power of the test. One key study into bilingual dictionaries and writing tests (Hurman & Tall, 1998) concluded that dictionary use improves test scores. This study was influential in a recent decision to ban dictionaries in several high-stakes L2 examinations in the UK. Research into dictionary use in reading tests has suggested, however, that dictionary availability makes no statistically significant difference to test scores. This article presents the findings of a further study into bilingual dictionary use in writing tests that also indicated no significant difference to scores. Considering this finding alongside those of studies other than Hurman and Tall's casts some doubt on whether the UK ban was fully justified.

Effects of the 2003 advertising/promotion ban in the United Kingdom on awareness of tobacco marketing: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey

Background: In February 2003, a comprehensive ban on tobacco promotion came into effect in the United Kingdom, which prohibited tobacco marketing through print and broadcast media, billboards, the internet, direct...

Expert calls for UK ban on traditional needles

Almost half of healthcare workers with a needlestick injury were not the original user

A long-term study of the effects of housing conditions on the welfare of domestic pigs

In view of the forthcoming UK ban on stall and tether housing for sows, the long-term consequences of housing pregnant pigs in alternative systems were assessed. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of two indoor group-housing systems on measures of the welfare of pregnant pigs, and to compare pigs housed in these systems with pigs housed in stalls. The study followed 63 female pigs from early life until their fourth pregnancy. A longitudinal experimental design was used to obtain information on how the pigs responded to their initial introduction to the three housing systems (during the first pregnancy), and how they adjusted to the systems over time (in the fourth pregnancy).

Are aggressiveness and social status of group housed sows predictable from observations of earlier behaviour?

The forthcoming UK ban on stall and tether housing for sows will result in an increase in the use of group housing for these animals. In group housing systems, certain individuals may be particularly aggressive or bullied by others, and this may result in injury or socially induced stress. To attempt to overcome these problems we need to know the answers to questions such as whether removal of a particularly aggressive animal from a group will result in a general decrease in aggression, or whether it will simply result in other animals becoming more aggressive. Answers to these sorts of question require a fundamental understanding of pig social behaviour and individual characteristics. For example, is aggressivness a stable individual characteristic across time and situation? This research addressed these issues by examining the cross-time consistency of individual aggressiveness and social status in groups of pigs.

FOOD SAFETY SOME CURRENT ISSUES

IRRADIATED FOODS An international conference on the acceptance, control of and trade in irradiated foods was held in Geneva at the end of 1988. A new EEC directive on irradiated food was discussed and Consumers' Association food expert, Anna Bradley claimed that the UK ban on food irradiation must stay in force until there is a test that can detect whether or not food had been so treated. She also called for more information on the effects of irradiation on food before the ban is lifted.

Discission of Secondary Cataract

<h3>Aim:</h3> This paper examines how beliefs of smokers in the UK were affected by the removal of “light” and “mild” brand descriptors, which came into effect on 30 September 2003 for Member States of the European Union (EU). <h3>Participants:</h3> The data come from the first four waves (2002–2005) of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation (ITC) Four-Country Survey, an annual cohort telephone survey of adult smokers in Canada, USA, UK and Australia (15 450 individual cases). <h3>Design:</h3> The UK ban on misleading descriptors occurred around the second wave of data collection in the ITC survey, permitting us to compare beliefs about light cigarettes among adult smokers in the UK before and after the ban, with beliefs in the three other ITC countries unaffected by the ban. <h3>Results:</h3> There was a substantial decline in reported beliefs about the benefits of light cigarettes in the UK following the policy change and an associated public information campaign, but by 2005 (ie, wave 4), these beliefs rebounded slightly and the change in beliefs was no greater than in the USA, where there was no policy change. <h3>Conclusions:</h3> The findings reveal that high levels of misperceptions about light cigarettes existed among smokers in all four countries before and after the EU ban took effect. We cannot conclude that the policy of removing some aspects of misleading labels has been effective in changing beliefs about light cigarettes. Efforts to correct decades of consumer misperceptions about light cigarettes must extend beyond simply removing “light” and “mild” brand descriptors.