Cannabis use falls among US teenagers but rises among everyone else – study

A new study found that cannabis use in the US has been increasing … but not among teenagers.The research, which looked at data on more than 500,000 people’s cannabis habits during different time periods from 2013 to 2022 and was published in this month’s edition of Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, also revealed that cannabis use had increased among Americans in households earning more than $75,000 a year, as well as those with a college degree.“We used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and we really just estimated the prevalence of use,” said Delvon Mattingly, a behavioral science professor at the University of Kentucky and lead author of the study.“We also examined trends in current cannabis use, which was defined as any use in the past 30 days,” as well as “prevalence patterns and trends in use by age, gender, race and ethnicity, educational attainment and total annual family income”.Mattingly said he was surprised to learn that teen cannabis use had remained stagnant during this period – he had expected to see an increase

We can’t lock up ‘everyone we’re cross with’, says ex-justice secretary

The former Conservative justice secretary Alex Chalk has said judges should stop locking up “everyone we’re cross with” and instead focus on keeping the criminals “we’re most scared of” behind bars.Chalk’s remarks came after official figures published on Friday showed that the prison population had reached a record high, with 88,521 people behind bars in England and Wales.Next week, about 1,500 people are due to be released from prison early under an emergency measure to free up space.Chalk told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “There are some people who deserve very long sentences. We think of the Wayne Couzens, [the] Sarah Everard case, Levi Bellfield and so on

Ministers dismiss claim UK government may rent prison space in Estonia

Ministers have dismissed claims that Labour is considering sending criminals convicted in England and Wales to Estonia to serve their prison sentences.The Telegraph reported that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) was investigating “all viable options” to increase capacity after the Baltic state said it had offered to rent out spare capacity to other countries.Citing government sources, the newspaper said the solution was “on the table” after men’s prisons in England and Wales almost ran out of cells last month with 83 spare spaces.On Friday afternoon, a spokesperson for the MoJ, which oversees the prison estate, said that the plan was assessed by the last government and carries “considerable” and “significant” costs.“The new government inherited a justice system in crisis, with prisons on the point of collapse,” a statement said

Where’s British pride in our contribution to science and the Enlightenment? | Letters

You report that the British Social Attitudes survey asked the public to indicate their degree of pride in the UK’s achievements in the arts and literature, sport, history, democracy, political influence and economic achievements (‘Somewhat more critical’: pride in Britain’s history falls sharply in survey, 3 September). It is appalling, but unsurprising, that science was not in this list.The UK has an astounding record of scientific excellence – by many measures the best in the world. It excels in both the fundamental science that wins Nobel prizes and in the practical use of it for the benefit of mankind. And often with investment that is far below the international competition

Now is the time to start building a fund for public sector pensions | Letter

Your article highlights a report from the Fabian Society that suggests a number of tax changes in order to redistribute pension tax relief towards lower earners (Reeves could raise £10bn a year by reducing pension tax relief, report says, 26 August)As attractive as these proposals may be to a government seeking some funding liquidity, they do not address the much bigger structural problem the UK faces with respect to pensions – which is the growing deficit attached to defined benefit pensions for the public sector.According to figures from HM Treasury, in 2021 the UK net deficit stood at £3.8tn, of which more than £2.6tn was due to net public sector pension liability, having grown from £1tn in 2011/12.A sustainable and fair pension system is essential for an ageing population, and surely that has to be underpinned with funding, rather than relying on tax receipts from future generations

Sue Jones obituary

My friend Sue Jones, who has died of cancer aged 67, did enormous good for the people of Harlow in Essex as a welfare rights adviser. Although she was not from Harlow originally, over a period of 40 years she came to imbue the town’s spirit, and became a champion for it.Sue arrived there in the mid-1980s to work as a benefits and employment adviser in the Welfare Rights and Advice Service, which at the time was run by the local council. She eventually rose to be the service’s chief executive when it floated away from local authority control.I worked with Sue when I became a local councillor and then when I was elected as Harlow’s MP