High profit, high price: The hidden costs of America’s marijuana revolution
Marijuana in the USA is undergoing a period of almost nationwide decriminalisation. There are numerous reasons for this recent transformation in American states’ drugs policies, including some powerful grassroots movements, but money appears to be the most important motivating factor....
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UNSILENCING CANCER
One view of ‘patient engagement’ is that it is about people taking greater responsibility for their health. This take on patient engagement coincides with the rise in a blame narrative in which people are increasingly told that their health is...
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Secrets and Disclosures
When it comes to the ethics of identity and confession, theatrical performers and social researchers live in very different places. Over the last few months I have seen a lot of performance art. The kind of thing that often involves a...
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What is the point of hospitals?
In the London Review of Books, Paul Farmer argues the case for building hospitals as a necessity, not a luxury, for poor countries and rich countries alike. Farmer points to the hypocrisy of a ‘basic minimum package’ for ‘resource poor...
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Weight stigma, neoliberalism and questions of blame
Blame and assertions of bad lifestyle choice are key components of weight stigma that people experience.
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A sense of an ending?
By the time this blog is published on the morning of Friday 8th May, we may be a step closer to knowing what the next UK government is going to look like. Having said that, we may be further away...
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HIV : How will things change with the arrival of do-it-yourself home-testing kits?
According to official estimates, there are more than 25,000 people in the UK who are currently unaware that they are HIV positive. From a Public Health point of view, this is not a good position for the country to be...
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Sharing not caring? On Social Media and Health Campaigns
Social media is a powerful tool in health related campaigning and the latest high profile campaign to gain momentum on the twittersphere involves celebrity Gwyneth Paltrow. She is taking part in the New York food challenge organised by chef Mario...
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The Paradox of Stigma in Mental Health: Germanwings Flight 9525
On the 24th March 2015 Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps killing all 150 passengers and flight staff. Amidst the shock of this tragedy French Police and Air Crash Investigators began to piece together the details of the...
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Taking a break: a note on the sociology of snacking
I was at the dentist a couple of weeks ago and he managed to surprise me. For more than a decade now these encounters have been pretty predictable. Moralising about sugar, followed by mild disapproval about the state of my...
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Money, Death, Pain and Politics
Who’s who and what’s what in the war over cancer drugs Over the last few days a very nice man from Ipswich called Tim Mason has been appearing in the local media where I live. Tim has an illness called...
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Care v Cash: co-payment in NHS dentistry