UK research into poppers highlights problematic proposed drug policy

by University of Liverpool

Adjusted odds ratios of self-reported poppers use across gender–sexuality combinations (full sample, left; sub-sample, right). Credit: The British Journal of Criminology (2024). DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azae055

New research into the use of the drug poppers (alkyl nitrites) has highlighted inconsistencies in proposed changes to drug policy in the UK and how exemptions to the law impact on minority groups

The study, published in the British Journal of Criminology, today (Monday 23 September), is the first of its kind to examine who uses poppers in the UK and why.

Poppers provide a cheap, short lasting headrush when used for non-medical purposes and are used as a sex aid to reduce risk of injury from anal sex and as a recreational drug.

Analysis of poppers was conducted through data collected over 10 years from the independent annual English Festival Study (EFS), which includes questions on demographic characteristics, past and current alcohol and other drug use.

Statistics from the EFS highlighted that respondents who had engaged in anal sex in the last year were more than twice as likely to have taken poppers. The study showed that gay men participating in anal sex were found to be 14 times more likely to have used poppers in the past year than straight women not participating in anal sex, proving that poppers are a drug commonly used by gay men.

The legal status of poppers is currently ambiguous. This year, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended a unique exemption for poppers from the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 because they are used by gay and bisexual men to reduce risk of injury during anal sexual intercourse.

The research in the new paper has shown that poppers are more likely to be used by gay men, meaning that the proposed exemption would alleviate harm faced by this minority group.

However, the authors of the research highlight the flaws of this approach. By granting a proposed exemption for one minority group the authors state that this risks exacerbating inequalities when other drugs used by different minority groups are not given equal consideration regarding the harms resulting to them from drug controls.

The government is obliged to respond to the recommendations of AMCD reports in a timely manner, meaning that a decision will need to be made soon regarding whether or not to allow poppers to be sold as a sex aid.

Professor Fiona Measham, chair in criminology at the University of Liverpool, who led the study said, "We welcome consideration being given to how the Psychoactive Substances Act disproportionately affects groups with protected characteristics but are calling for that same logic to be applied to all affected groups, including by race, gender, age and class.

"While poppers have long been presumed to be used by gay men, this study now shows there is a clear association. To exempt poppers sales from legislative control because of an impact on gay and bisexual men contrasts with the vastly disproportionate impact of criminalization of drugs on marginalized minority ethnic groups, youth and the working class.

"We hope that the government considers the broader issue of social justice when responding to the recommendations and takes this opportunity to review current drug policy more comprehensively.

"Our research indicates that the government can be more ambitious in its approach to drug policy and reorient toward a social justice approach which addresses structural inequalities across society linked to the current outdated Misuse of Drugs Act."

Professor Mark McCormack, Professor of Sociology at Aston University, added, "It's not right that a policy of exemptions should benefit one group while ignoring the harms to other groups also with protected characteristics."

More information: Fiona Measham et al, Poppers, the Politics of Exemption and the Characteristics of Poppers Users in the annual English Festival Study, 2014–23, The British Journal of Criminology (2024). DOI: 10.1093/bjc/azae055

Provided by University of Liverpool New research backs Australian regulatory decision on poppers

Card Factory shares plummet as wage increases hit profits

Card Factory shares dropped 18.4% after revealing a 43% decline in half-year profits, pressured by rising living wage costs despite a revenue increase.

Mark Rogers
September 24, 2024


Card Factory (LSE: CARD) shares have taken a heavy hit today, plunging 18.4% to 116.60 pence after the company revealed a 43% drop in half-year profits. For the six months ending June 30, revenue ticked up 5.9% to £233.8 million, but pretax profit took a nosedive from £24.7 million to £14.0 million.

The culprit? The substantial increase in the national living wage, which has exerted pressure on margins. In April, the national living wage surged 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers aged 21 and above, a significant jump from £10.42 last year.

Despite the profit downturn, the firm declared an interim dividend of 1.20 pence, a step up from the previous year. Chief Executive Officer Darcy Willson-Rymer noted that strong performance in their expanding store estate, particularly in gifts and celebration essentials, remains a core driver of revenue growth.

Looking ahead, Card Factory is eyeing the critical Christmas trading period with an unchanged outlook for the full year. The focus remains on navigating inflationary pressures while capitalising on its robust balance sheet and strong cash flow. With a commitment to efficiency and productivity, Card Factory is determined to deliver quality and value to a broad customer base.

UNGA

Taoiseach to meet Palestinian Authority president

It will be the first meeting between Simon Harris and Mahmoud Abbas since Ireland recognised the state of Palestine in May.


Simon Harris is to hold a bilateral meeting with Mahmoud Abbas 

(Brian Lawless/PA)

PA Wire
Jonathan McCambridge

Irish premier Simon Harris is to hold a bilateral meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.


It will be the first meeting between the Taoiseach and Mr Abbas since Ireland recognised the state of Palestine in May.

They will discuss efforts for a ceasefire in the Middle East, efforts to release Israeli hostages and the urgent need for aid to flow into Gaza.

Ireland recognised the State of Palestine to help keep alive the hope of a two-state solution with Palestine and Israel living peacefully side-by-side

Simon Harris

Mr Harris said: “Ireland recognised the state of Palestine to help keep alive the hope of a two-state solution with Palestine and Israel living peacefully side-by-side.

“Today I will be asking President Abbas how we can support him and the Palestinian Authority in making that hope a reality.

“Ireland knows how important it is for a country to take its place on the global stage.”

Also on Tuesday, following the official opening of the United Nations General Assembly, the Taoiseach will hold bilateral meetings with King Abdullah of Jordan and the secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

Labour Conference 2024

Miliband pledges to lift one million renters out of fuel poverty


Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband speaks during the Labour Party Conference at the Liverpool Arena, September 23, 2024

MORNONG STAR
Monday, September 23, 2024

ED MILIBAND pledged to lift one million renters out of fuel poverty at the Labour Party conference yesterday.

The Energy Secretary said that “we all know that the poorest people in our country often live in cold, drafty homes,” calling it a “Tory legacy.”

He vowed to “end this injustice” and lift one million out of fuel poverty, boosting the minimum energy efficiency standard of all rented homes.

Currently, private homes can be rented out if they have energy performance certificate E, while social homes have no minimum standards.

Under the plans, both will need to meet a minimum rating of C by 2030.

While welcoming the news, Simon Francis from End Fuel Poverty Coalition warned that the government “shouldn’t drag its heels with more consultations.

“There is no time to waste as improvements will take months or years to be felt by tenants and the longer it takes, the more support households will need to stay warm in the winter.”

He called on the government to revoke cuts to the winter fuel payment and commit to more support for vulnerable households.

Mr Miliband also pledged to deliver “clean power” by 2030 through onshore wind, solar power, offshore wind, nuclear, tidal, hydrogen, and carbon capture.

Ahead of his speech, climate activists protested outside the conference demanding no new subsidies for the wood-burning Drax power station.

Katy Brown, from campaign group Biofuelwatch, said: “There’s no point in us saying, come 2030, we’re nearly at net zero on paper, but actually, the temperature has gone up by another degree because Drax is continuing to pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“They need to do their homework before putting investments down blind alleys, dangerous distractions, that are in some cases, going to make the climate crisis worse.”

Labour MP urges pro-Palestine protesters to keep marching as battle intensifies

Bell Ribeiro-Addy was speaking during a fringe event at the Labour conference in Liverpool.


A demonstration for Gaza (Jeff Moore/PA)

PA Wire

Rhiannon Jame

A Labour MP has urged pro-Palestine protesters to continue marching, as she was heckled at the Labour conference.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy told a fringe event called Justice for Palestine that “the conflict is intensifying, so our political lobbying must intensify as a result

During her speech in Liverpool, a heckler called on the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill to resign from Labour, before accusing the party of being “racist”.

All the marches and the lobbying must continue, all the local meetings must continue, so must the letter writing, take to your local radio station phone-in, write to your local newspaper, canvas outside your local supermarket on a Saturday morning

Bell Ribeiro-Addy

On Monday, Ms Ribeiro-Addy said: “We represent the majority, both the global majority, and the clear majority in this country – the question is how to turn that majority into action and into a change of policy.

“The conflict is intensifying, so our political lobbying must intensify as a result.

“All the marches and the lobbying must continue, all the local meetings must continue, so must the letter writing, take to your local radio station phone-in, write to your local newspaper, canvas outside your local supermarket on a Saturday morning.”

Intervening, the heckler shouted: “And resign from the Labour Party, resign.”

This was met with shouts of “shut up” and “nonsense” from other members of the audience.

Ms Riberio-Addy continued: “Horrific things have been happening since 1948, and unfortunately even this phase of the conflict looks like it will be a prolonged one. So we have to be prepared for both an intense struggle and a prolonged one.”

Bell Ribeiro-Addy (BBC/PA)PA Media

Later in the session, the heckler shouted: “The Labour Party is a racist party.”

Speakers at the event also called on the Labour Government to do more to protect Palestinians and ban arms sales to Israel.

Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, said: “If you think about what it means to continue to supply arms to Israel … last week the Gaza Ministry of Health published a list of all the Palestinian bodies, the people that had been killed that they’ve managed so far to identify – only the ones they’ve managed to identify.

“The first 14 pages were babies under the age of one.

“So a partial suspension is absolutely inadequate, it’s inconsistent with international law, and it really confirms the Government and the UK’s repeated failures to fulfil basic obligation of international law.”

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “A Labour Government should be sanctioning Israel, not promising it an enhanced trade deal.

“A Labour Government should be imposing a two-wave arms embargo on Israel, not purchasing weapons.”

Arms sales to Israel 'deepens UK’s complicity' in regional war, says British MP

‘Government continues to sell arms to Israel that deepen the UK’s complicity in this regional war & horrific violations of international law,' says Zarah Sultana

Burak Bir |23.09.2024 - 



LONDON

Labour Party lawmaker Zarah Sultana on Monday said that the arms sales to Israel "deepen the UK's complicity” in the regional war and "horrific violations of international law."

Sultana criticized the ongoing arms shipments to Israel and said that Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed many people with hundreds of wounded, including women, children, and paramedics.

"Meanwhile, the government continues to sell arms to Israel that deepen the UK’s complicity in this regional war & horrific violations of international law," she wrote on X.

At least 274 people, including 21 children, were killed and more than 1,000 others injured in massive Israeli airstrikes targeting several areas in Lebanon since Monday morning, according to the health minister.

The Israeli army said that it struck around 800 Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa region, southern Lebanon since early morning, marking the heaviest bombardment since the onset of hostilities last Oct. 8.


Tension has mounted between Hezbollah and Israel following a deadly airstrike on Friday that killed at least 45 people, including children and women, and injured dozens in Beirut’s southern suburb.


Hezbollah confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed in the Israeli strike.


The attack came two days after at least 37 people were killed and over 3,000 others injured in two waves of wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon.

Scrap law making schools serve meat, urges Labour donor

Brian Wheeler
BBC Politics
Reporting fromLabour conference, Liverpool

PA Media


Major Labour donor Dale Vince says he wants to talk to the new government about scrapping compulsory meat and dairy in school meals in England.

The green entrepreneur, who has donated more than £5m to Labour, says vegan meals are healthier and better for the environment.

He is campaigning for an end to all farming of animals, which he says is now the biggest driver of the climate crisis.

He told a fringe meeting at Labour's conference that his company, Devil's Kitchen, already supplies vegan food to "one in four" primary schools.

Farmers rebel against plant-based council plan

I’ve not lobbied Labour over Just Stop Oil - donor

But he added: "There are schools which want to go further. They don't want meat and dairy on the menu perhaps every day of the week or even at all.

"But it is the law of the land. I am hoping to have a conversation with the new government to encourage them to change the law."

Government guidance issued to schools in England says they must serve a "wide range of foods across the week".

This must include fresh fruit and vegetables, some milk and dairy and "a portion of meat or poultry on three or more days each week".

Mr Vince said it was now clear that a vegan diet was healthier than eating meat and dairy products, adding: "We shouldn't be forcing these unhealthy products on to our kids."

He told the meeting he also planned to talk to the education secretary about incorporating "climate and sustainability" into the primary school curriculum.

He denied he was against farmers, insisting that he did not want to kill the industry but allow it to be "reborn".

"[Farmers] have to be part of the move to net zero, they have to move away from agriculture, we know that the science tells us that - and they already grow grass to feed to animals."


Dale Vince is publicising his campaign to end animal farming at the Labour conference


Mr Vince has donated more than £5m to Labour through his company Ecotricity since Sir Keir Starmer became leader in 2020.

Asked after the meeting if he planned to make further donations, he said: "It's not the kind of thing I have a plan for. I just do it when I can and when I think they need it, which is usually when there is an election on."

The businessman said he had stopped funding activist group Just Stop Oil, after Sir Keir came under attack over it.

"I eventually felt it was unhelpful, which was why I stopped funding Just Stop Oil and began focusing on stopping the Tories," he said.

Rachel Reeves: a social democratic Margaret Thatcher? 

The New Statesman

We're coming to you from Liverpool where Rachel Reeves has just delivered her keynote speech at this year's Labour Party Conference. 

There were lots of smiles in the Chancellor's speech as well as the commitment to the tough economic decisions that she has to make, but has she managed to turn the page on Labour's rough beginning in government?

Hannah Barnes hears from Andrew Marr, Rachel Cunliffe, and Andy Burnham.

Activists ASSAULTED at Labour conference should report it to the cops IMMEDIATELY

 by Steve Topple
23 September 2024
THE CANARY

People are saying two activists who security forcibly ejected from the Labour conference should call the cops themselves – after the extent of their injuries were revealed.
Labour conference: don’t mention the genocide!

As the Canary previously reported, a protester from Climate Resistance disrupted chancellor Rachel Reeves’ keynote speech on the second day of the Labour conference in Liverpool, in protest against the new government’s support for polluters and arms sales to Israel.

The activists from campaign group Climate Resistance infiltrated the Labour conference audience. They unfurled a banner reading “Still backing polluters, still arming Israel – we voted for change”.

“We are still selling arms to Israel! I thought we voted for change, Rachel!” the protestor shouted.

Shockingly, security can be seen getting the guy in a chokehold in an attempt to remove him from the conference floor:

As we also revealed on X, after private security goons ejected him from the conference floor, cops arrested him and a fellow activist. They questioned them both for around 30 minutes. Afterwards, they were driven away from the venue and de-arrested.

Karen wanted to call the manager

However, footage emerged on BBC News that showed in detail how private security dealt with the two activists – with the now-widely shared chokehold incident being on top of goons throwing the other activist into a wall – and dragging the other out while telling someone else to stop filming; like these security bods are fucking cops – not jumped-up blue bibs:

Guardian journalist-turned left-wing troublemaker Owen Jones met the choke-held activist afterwards – and shared the extent of the damage security did to him:

Enter Karen to call the fucking manager:

Meanwhile, others on X were saying what we’re thinking at the Canary: that Climate Resistance should call the cops themselves:

Now, as a media outlet we would never endorse the police. However, on this occasion maybe – just maybe – Labour conference security deserve to feel the (strong-ish) arm of the law around their throats. As a minimum, as a former leader of Labour’s Scottish branch office pointed out:

Argos managers having a meeting at a Holiday Inn

Of course, all this is Starmer’s Labour all over. Authoritarian, intolerant of dissent, and with the air of an area meeting of Argos managers at a Holiday Inn in Reading. Reeves, Streeting – the lot of them – are (much like the Tories) the dregs from the scrapings of the bottom of the political barrel. Talentless, magnolia, yet obsessed with branding.

Moreover, as the donations and gifts’ revelations have shown, they’re all utterly self-serving and borderline narcissistic – to the point where anyone who exposes them for who they really are has to be quickly shut down. Just ask whipless MPs like Zarah Sultana.

Our two Labour conference agitators’ treatment was a prime example of what the party is now. But when Labour’s machinery happily glosses over genocide and war crimes – what hope for Climate Resistance?

Featured image via the Canary

Labour fascism again as objector dragged off by neck for Israel arms embargo call

BySKWAWKBOX (SW)

23/09/2024

Ugly conference scenes reminiscent of abuse of Jewish Walter Wolfgang and Starmer’s use of armed police

The fascism of Keir Starmer’s right-wing Labour has again been on show after a young man was assaulted and dragged out of the hall at the party’s conference today for calling for the UK to end its equipping of Israel’s genocide in Gaza:

A different angle of the incident – Luciana Berger, who actively campaigned against the party in 2019, is allowed in the conference and can be seen at the front



The protester and several others, including one who held up a banner that read: “Still arming Israel, still backing polluters.” were held by police for around an hour after their removal. The scenes were reminiscent of the violent removal of Jewish left-winger Walter Wolfgang during the Blair years and of Starmer’s intimidation tactic in 2021 of putting armed police at the end of each row of seats during his first conference speech.




The principled interruption came during Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s droning speech. In response to the call to stop supporting genocide, she could only must that Labour is not a ‘party of protest’

.

Marks on the protester’s neck after he was dragged out

Injuries to his wrists

Under Keir Starmer and his fellow cowards and sociopaths, it’s not a party of principle or humanity either.

What happened to man who heckled UK chancellor? #shorts

Alsobrooks presses the case for national abortion rights in critical Maryland Senate race

Democrat Angela Alsobrooks is prioritizing abortion rights in a key U.S. Senate race in Maryland against Republican Larry Hogan

ByBRIAN WITTE Associated Press
September 23, 2024


GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Angela Alsobrooks sees the erosion of reproductive freedom for women with her 19-year-old daughter in mind.

“She’s a sophomore, and she literally has fewer rights in this moment than her grandmother and mother,” Alsobrooks said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Alsobrooks' daughter, now entering her second year at Spelman College in Georgia, would have limited options under that state's new six-week abortion ban if she faced a decision about whether to end a pregnancy. Now locked in one of the nation’s toughest U.S. Senate races in Maryland, and with Democrats’ thin Senate majority on the line, Alsobrooks hopes to be able to do something to protect not just her daughter’s autonomy but that of women throughout the United States with a new federal law protecting abortion rights.

Alsobrooks' Republican opponent, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, has said he, too, favors federal legislation to restore abortion rights nationwide. But Alsobrooks says the need to protect women's freedom to make those decisions for themselves is too important to risk giving Republicans a majority by electing the popular former governor in what is typically a reliably Democratic state.

“The question is not whether or not we like Larry Hogan,” she said at a recent campaign stop in Columbia, Maryland. “That is not the question. It’s not even whether or not it’s a good idea to vote for him for governor. The question we are answering is: Who should have the 51st vote?"

Alsobrooks, now the chief executive of Prince George's County in the suburbs of the nation's capital, said Hogan showed his true feelings on the issue as governor when he vetoed legislation to expand abortion access in 2022 by ending a restriction that only physicians provide abortions. Democrats who control the Maryland General Assembly overrode Hogan’s veto.

“I think my opponent’s record is very clear where abortion care is concerned,” Alsobrooks said.

She also said she hears on the campaign trail how much abortion rights matter to voters.

“I hear it not just from women, but I’ve heard from a number of men who say that they want the freedom for their daughters and their granddaughters and that they’re very concerned about the direction we’re heading for people to make reproductive choices,” Alsobrooks said.

Abortion rights in Georgia have been front and center in the presidential election, with Vice President Kamala Harris tying the state's six-week abortion ban to the deaths of two women who were unable to get the treatment they needed there.


Both Alsobrooks and Hogan have said they would co-sponsor federal legislation to codify the standard that existed before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 into federal law. But Alsobrooks said Hogan's affiliation with his party would have a practical impact on whether that might happen.

“When we think for example about Roe and about codifying Roe, what we recognize is there will never be a vote as to whether or not we should codify Roe in federal law if the Republicans are in the majority," Alsobrooks said, “because they have made it clear, they’ve essentially declared war on reproductive freedoms, and we know that that vote would never happen.”

During his Senate campaign, Hogan has emphasized his support for abortion rights. He said he would not support a federal abortion ban and strongly supports in-vitro fertilization.

“Unlike most of the candidates or most of the people on my side of the aisle who are running, I’ve said I would co-sponsor a bill to codify Roe,” Hogan said in an interview last month.

Abortion rights will be on voters’ minds in Maryland in another sense in November. It's one of at least nine states considering ballot questions to enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. State ballot initiatives protecting abortion rights have been a winning issue even in conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky since the court turned the matter over to the states with its 2022 decision.

Hogan has won two statewide races, only the second time a Republican governor has been reelected in Maryland’s history. That gave him an advantage in statewide name recognition from the start of the Senate race.

Still, Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in Maryland, and the GOP hasn’t won a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland in more than 40 years. Hogan is also running for the first time on the same ballot as former President Donald Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maryland.

Hogan has sharply criticized Trump over the years. He’s also running with heightened attention from Democrats, due to the rarity of a critical Senate race in Maryland.

The former governor says this is “a tougher race than my two races for governor,” but Hogan says he’s finding enthusiasm for his campaign from voters who see him as a key swing voice to push back “against the extremes of both parties.”

“What I’ve said over and over again, I’m the underdog,” Hogan said. “It’s nearly impossible to do what I’m trying to do, but we’re pleased with where we are.”

But Alsobrooks brings vulnerabilities of her own to the race, including a new report from CNN that she improperly received property tax credits on two homes, which her campaign said she was unaware of and plans to repay.

She's also far less familiar to most Maryland voters than Hogan.

Alsobrooks defeated Maryland Rep. David Trone in the May Democratic primary by 10 percentage points, even after the congressman who co-founded the Total Wine and More liquor store chain spent more than $60 million of his personal fortune on his campaign.

Alsobrooks also has drawn significant audiences at campaign events, where she has expressed confidence while not underestimating Hogan.

“This one is not easy, either, in the general,” Alsobooks said in the AP interview, which took place on Friday, before the CNN report. “And the stakes are even higher, and Marylanders are very engaged and they’re going to make a decision in this race to keep the Senate blue.”

With a victory, Alsobrooks would make Maryland history by becoming the state’s first Black U.S. senator. An Alsobrooks victory would also restore female representation to the state’s congressional delegation. While Maryland has had a long history of female officeholders in the delegation from both parties, Maryland’s delegation to Washington has been all-male since former Sen. Barbara Mikulski retired in 2016 and Rep. Donna Edwards lost the primary to succeed her.

“It is a historic race, and I’m proud of that,” Alsobrooks said. “It was Sen. Barbara Mikulski who said for example that she was the first woman elected but didn’t want to be the only, and so I think that the significance of electing a woman to the Senate is there.”

While Hogan has been campaigning on crime and the economy, Alsobrooks highlights her experience as county executive, focusing on economic development, as well as her work as state’s attorney of Prince George’s County, before she became county executive.

“As I’ve mentioned when I was the elected prosecutor, I oversaw a 50% cut in violence,” Alsobrooks said. “I am also the only person in this race who has prosecuted murderers and rapists and carjackers.”

At the campaign rally in Columbia, Alsobrooks reminded voters that a loss of Senate control by Democrats could impact future nominations to the Supreme Court.

“This is a clear reason why holding the majority is going to be really important,” she said in the AP interview.