Jump to content
Sign up to our newsletters
Independent
US election
More
Best
Climate
TV

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Ian Hamilton

@ian_hamilton_

Ian Hamilton is a senior lecturer in addiction and mental health at the University of York

<p>Having failed to prevent the widespread use of cocaine in the UK, the time has come to rethink our policy approach to this and other drugs</p>
Voices

Cocaine helped fuel the riots – but there’s more to the story

<p>Ellen Mercer died in February last year</p>
Voices

Our laughing gas problem and the truth about decriminalising drugs

<p>Beyond the health risks that nitrous oxide poses, there is the more visible and widespread problem of littering by discarded canisters</p>
Voices

How banning laughing gas will just make things worse

<p>Nitrous oxide is widely used and is second only to cannabis in its popularity</p>
Voices

The debate around nitrous oxide abuse is no laughing matter

<p>We have an ageing population with a range of health problems that will need nurses </p>
Voices

Talking down nursing is dangerous – this proves it

<p>As with most issues, there isn’t one single factor that led to this mass resignation by the over-50s</p>
Voices

Over-50s have abandoned the workforce – here’s how to bring them back

<p>Sadly, we are leaving millions of people without the support they deserve</p>
Voices

Feeling ‘emotionally numb’? There could be a reason for that

<p>No amount of reorganisation will solve the shortage in funding that the NHS faces</p>
Voices

There’s one fatal flaw in how this government sees the NHS

<p>Paradoxically, part of the attraction of illegal drugs is their forbidden status, something that Prince Harry admits</p>
Voices

What Harry said about drug use and the psychological reason behind it

<p>UK drugs policy is caught in a time warp</p>
Voices

Will the UK finally decriminalise cannabis in 2023?

<p>It isn’t something for anyone dependent on alcohol, physically or psychologically</p>
Voices

Who is ‘dry January’ for, exactly?

<p>This new intelligence has implications for how we choose certain food types over others</p>
Voices

Love a burger but can’t stand coriander? There’s science behind that

<p>People are more likely to be successful at quitting smoking when there are as few obstacles as possible</p>
Voices

Why isn’t everyone enjoying the benefits of quitting smoking?

Voices

Why isn’t everyone enjoying the benefits of quitting smoking?

<p>People are more likely to be successful at quitting smoking when there are as few obstacles as possible</p>
<p>We can’t blame people for thinking that cannabis products will treat pain, given the information they are exposed to</p>
Voices

We need to talk about cannabis and pain relief

<p>None of this would be necessary if we managed to break the taboo around men’s health – and their sexual health in particular</p>
Voices

Erection problems? Don’t just reach for the Viagra

<p>For many fans, this ban on alcohol won’t matter</p>
Voices

Should we copy Qatar and ban alcohol at football matches?

<p>A rise in temperature can lead to difficulty in sleeping</p>
Voices

Sleeping badly? Feeling low? I bet I know the culprit

<p>A rise in temperature can lead to difficulty in sleeping</p>
Voices

Sleeping badly? Feeling low? I bet I know the culprit

<p>The solution is not complex. It costs money – but so does human misery</p>
Voices

How being cold could affect your mental health this winter

<p>Not only are most nurses earning modest salaries, there is also little hope of this changing even with the current threat of industrial action</p>
Voices

Why has the gender pay gap grown over the last two years?

<p>Swearing has something of an image problem</p>
Voices

Could swearing actually be good for you?

<p>Jeremy Hunt did little to push for a long-term workforce plan as health secretary, but this could change now he is chancellor</p>
Voices

What will Jeremy Hunt as chancellor mean for the NHS?

<p>Following the results of the inquest into her death, he urged other parents to speak directly to their children</p>
Voices

How to talk to your child about suicide

<p>Starving the NHS of funds will accelerate inequality further</p>
Voices

What will austerity 2.0 mean for the NHS?

<p>The new home secretary, Suella Braverman, has told senior police leaders what she expects them to do </p>
Voices

Getting ‘tough’ on drugs is an outdated policy – it reeks of bigotry

<p>Coffey has already identified her priorities using the acronym of ABCD: Ambulances, Backlog, Care and Doctors/Dentists</p>
Voices

How exactly does the new health secretary propose to ‘fix’ the NHS?

<p>Starving the NHS of funds will accelerate inequality further</p>
Voices

What will austerity 2.0 mean for the NHS?

<p>The new home secretary, Suella Braverman, has told senior police leaders what she expects them to do </p>
Voices

Getting ‘tough’ on drugs is an outdated policy – it reeks of bigotry

<p>Coffey has already identified her priorities using the acronym of ABCD: Ambulances, Backlog, Care and Doctors/Dentists</p>
Voices

How exactly does the new health secretary propose to ‘fix’ the NHS?

<p>What women were doing in practice was forming bubbles before they were officially sanctioned</p>
Voices

Women were more likely to break Covid rules – and we all know why

Voices

Women were more likely to break Covid rules – and we all know why

<p>What women were doing in practice was forming bubbles before they were officially sanctioned</p>
<p>While vaping is safer than smoking, we still don’t know how much harm it may cause in the long term</p>
Voices

Are fears about the impact of vaping on young people justified?

<p>We are still learning about the latest infection threat</p>
Voices

It’s time to bust some of the myths surrounding monkeypox

<p>Vilifying people like Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister, sends a clear signal that our collective attitude to drugs is still infantile</p>
Voices

How do you know if you have a problem with drugs?

<p>What all this reminds me of is the considerable sacrifice that people make when complying with antidepressant treatment</p>
Voices

Depression kills sexual desire – are new antidepressants the answer?

<p>What all this reminds me of is the considerable sacrifice that people make when complying with antidepressant treatment</p>
Voices

Depression kills sexual desire – are new antidepressants the answer?

<p>As with drugs, the ‘choice’ that many people have about whether to eat healthy or unhealthy foods is not a real choice</p>
Voices

We’re eating ourselves to death – food addiction is real

<p>The name and concept for ‘The Wombles’ was born out of an accident rather than design, said creator Elisabeth Beresford </p>
Opinion

If we had listened to the Wombles in the 1970s, we’d be better off now

<p>A new women’s health strategy says medics should be given lessons on women’s health issues </p>
Voices

Why has it taken England until 2022 to prioritise women’s health?

<p>Consecutive Conservative prime ministers have prioritised reducing the amount spent on social security</p>
Voices

Penny Mordaunt’s catchphrase is a coded attack on the vulnerable

<p>It is right to seek help if you have a problem with alcohol, but it shouldn’t be used as an excuse for predatory sexual behaviour</p>
Voices

We’re told alcohol explains Chris Pincher’s behaviour – it doesn’t

<p>There is a logic to being wary of trying to negotiate with someone who is insane</p>
Voices

Calling Putin ‘mad’ only makes him more dangerous

<p>Not for the first time have women been overlooked when a virus emerges</p>
Voices

Why is the monkeypox vaccine only being offered to men?

<p>The journey through the menopause is not a universal or standardised experience</p>
Voices

Is too much medical treatment harming our health?

<p>A very small proportion of drinkers consume a significant share of all the alcohol produced and sold</p>
Voices

Is it right to raise prices for booze during a cost of living crisis?

<p>There is also a darker side to AA that is rarely mentioned, namely how members can be exploited</p>
Voices

Does Alcoholics Anonymous actually work?

<p>Most university staff in contact with students will want to do the right thing and ensure support is available</p>
Voices

The tragic death of Natasha Abrahart should be a wake-up call

Voices

The tragic death of Natasha Abrahart should be a wake-up call

<p>Most university staff in contact with students will want to do the right thing and ensure support is available</p>
<p>Stigmatising people can do harmful collateral damage</p>
Voices

Cocaine isn’t the reason for violence at football matches

<p>But a positive mental attitude can only take us so far</p>
Voices

Can you think yourself to better mental health?

<p>The data is overwhelming and depressing</p>
Voices

Depp v Heard talks about drugs – but do they really cause violence?

<p>This aspect of equality is no less important than any other</p>
Voices

Women are being short-changed when it comes to orgasms

<p>This aspect of equality is no less important than any other</p>
Voices

Women are being short-changed when it comes to orgasms

<p>Many patients fear even beginning a conversation with their doctor about coming off medicines</p>
Voices

We are repeating mistakes from the 1970s on antidepressants

<p>A team from Imperial College, London, carried out <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01744-z">a trial</a> with the psychedelic compound psilocybin to see if it could treat people with severe depression</p>
Voices

Psychedelics could help treat depression – we need more research

<p>I have worked with people in residential drug detox, and what struck me is how their lives evolved as they recovered from addiction</p>
Voices

In order to beat addiction, we must study those who don’t suffer

<p>The brutal irony is that drugs and alcohol are often used to numb poverty and stress</p>
Voices

Poorer people are dying earlier – our class divide is very much alive

<p>Wealth buys privacy, something most people need to experience pleasure</p>
Voices

This is how the cost-of-living crisis could affect your sex life

<p>Women’s health is still not treated on a par to men’s health</p>
Voices

Pregnant women who drink alcohol deserve compassion – not judgement

<p>Cannabis use is not a niche activity: an estimated 200 million people use the drug across the world</p>
Health and Wellbeing

What do we really know about the link between cannabis and psychosis?

<p>For those with drug problems who are unable to leave Ukraine, the future looks increasingly bleak</p>
Voices

Is Britain ready to welcome Ukrainians with drug problems?

<p>Sex workers aren’t an alien species – they are someone’s daughter, son, mother, partner or friend</p>
Voices

Why it might be time to decriminalise sex work

<p>Does Disney have a duty to reflect a better gender balance? </p>
Voices

How Disney’s skewed gender balance shapes our world

<p>‘Severing the link between the gambling industry and treatment is welcome but should never have been in place to begin with’ </p>
Voices

It’s not only betting firms funding the NHS – health hypocrisy is rife

Voices

It’s not only betting firms funding the NHS – health hypocrisy is rife

<p>‘Severing the link between the gambling industry and treatment is welcome but should never have been in place to begin with’ </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation estimates that one in three women will experience some form of domestic abuse during their adult life</p>
Voices

Murder rates are down – but not for women killed by their partners

<p>Common health problems are being dismissed on the basis that women should be able to cope and not make a fuss</p>
Voices

Ingrained sexism in healthcare means women are suffering in silence

<p>It is evident that alcohol played a significant role in the day-to-day business of Downing Street</p>
Voices

Booze lubricated Partygate – let’s confront that inconvenient truth

<p>It would have an immediate effect on the number of people taking tests</p>
Voices

It will never be the right time to charge for tests during a pandemic

<p>It would have an immediate effect on the number of people taking tests</p>
Voices

It will never be the right time to charge for tests during a pandemic

<p>Mayor of London Sadiq Khan </p>
Voices

A drugs-related criminal record is often more harmful than the drug

<p>The real test for the government is whether this is a genuine attempt to keep people ‘safe’ or just another headline grabbing stunt in their renewed ambition to get tough on drugs</p>
Voices

Random drug swabbing by Met officers isn’t going to keep people safe

<p>Drugs don’t distinguish between rich and poor but the impact they have on these bookends of society differ radically</p>
Voices

Think drug addiction is ‘self-inflicted’? You’re part of the problem

<p>‘No matter how well-intentioned you are about your new year resolution, unfortunately most of us won’t make it into February’ </p>
Voices

How to help achieve your new year resolutions

<p>Most of the medicines we rely on today for a range of health problems were developed without being tested on women</p>
Voices

Science still says women’s health is not as important as men’s

<p>Find another way to unwind, like meditation, instead of reaching for booze. </p>
Voices

Maximising your chance of success this Dry January

<p>While drugs claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 last year, this is dwarfed by the lives cut short by alcohol at 8,974 in 2020</p>
Voices

Alcohol is deadly – why doesn’t the war on drugs target it?

<p>‘People have found their own solutions to improving how they feel and think during the pandemic’ </p>
Voices

‘Microdosing’ has risen since Covid – people need a safe environment

<p>Is the lack of coordinated messaging more deliberate than accidental? </p>
Voices

The government is stoking division over Christmas parties

<p>12-year-old Ava White died after she was stabbed following an argument in Liverpool city centre </p>
Voices

We must address the root causes of knife crime

<p>Health Secretary Sajid Javid </p>
Voices

Racial bias in medical equipment is a red herring – and Javid knows it

<p>‘As the strength of ecstasy pills has incrementally increased in recent years, so have reports of adulterants, adding to the case for providing drug testing to users’ </p>
Voices

Letting people test their drugs will reduce needless deaths

<p> A shortage of nurses means agencies are sometimes used to fill staffing shortfalls</p>
Voices

Private agencies are exploiting the NHS nurse shortage

<p>‘It is not clear if the health secretary will advise NHS employers to sack any staff who refuse the vaccine ... the NHS is already carrying 93,000 staff vacancies’ </p>
Voices

We can’t afford to lose NHS staff over vaccine mandates

<p>Research shows that those who experienced stress during the pandemic increased the amount of alcohol they drank and how often</p>
Health

How the pandemic created a generation of ‘grey area’ drinkers

<p>The ACMD recommended against making nitrous oxide possession illegal in 2015</p>
Voices

Get a grip, Priti Patel – laughing gas isn’t a major threat to society

<p>‘It is not clear if the health secretary will advise NHS employers to sack any staff who refuse the vaccine ... the NHS is already carrying 93,000 staff vacancies’ </p>
Voices

We can’t afford to lose NHS staff over vaccine mandates

<p>Research shows that those who experienced stress during the pandemic increased the amount of alcohol they drank and how often</p>
Health

How the pandemic created a generation of ‘grey area’ drinkers

<p>The ACMD recommended against making nitrous oxide possession illegal in 2015</p>
Voices

Get a grip, Priti Patel – laughing gas isn’t a major threat to society

<p>A patient undergoes ‘smell training’ as part of her recovery from Covid-19</p>
Voices

Losing your sense of smell with Covid can ruin your sex life

<p>Anyone caught in possession of a class A drug like heroin or crack-cocaine will be given a warning rather than face prosecution in Scotland. </p>
Voices

Scotland is right – punishing drug users won’t help, they need care

<p>‘A new report has found that 20 per cent of all hospital admissions in those aged over 65 are due to the adverse effects of prescribing medicines’ </p>
Voices

Overprescribing medicine is due to social problems, not health issues

<p>There has been a 40 per cent rise in the use of opiates like tramadol, codeine and dihydrocodeine compared to pre-pandemic levels </p>
Voices

Long NHS waiting lists have led to a dangerous explosion in opiate use

<p>Boris Johnson has announced a UK-wide 'health and social care levy' to address funding</p>
Voices

The ‘levelling up’ agenda must address regional inequality

<p>‘Research found 2.1 per cent of children aged 12 and under admitted to sending a sext’ </p>
Voices

We must confront the reality that children under 12 are ‘sexting’

<p>The stress of Covid-19 has fuelled Britain’s nicotine habit</p>
Voices

The rise in young people smoking is down to more than just stress

<p>Afghan farmers harvest opium sap from a poppy field in the Gereshk district of Helmand province</p>
Voices

We will soon feel the impact of bumper opium production in Afghanistan

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in