News by Subject Policy & Ethics

Police officers face well-documented risks, with more than 50,000 a year assaulted on the job in the United States. But new research has found that the use of information technology by law enforcement agencies can reduce the number of police killed or injured in the line of duty by as much as 50%.

Results of a new study suggest that over the past decade (2005-2017), the prevalence of cannabis use in the United States has increased among persons with and without depression, though the increase is significantly more rapid among those with depression. At the same time, the perception of risks associated with cannabis use have declined overall, and the decline has been more rapid among those with depression.

The composition of suspicious powders that may contain illicit drugs can be analyzed using a quick and simple method called magneto-Archimedes levitation (MagLev), according to a new study published in the journal Angewandte Chemie. A team of scientists at Harvard University, USA, has developed the MagLev method to differentiate common street drugs in dilute mixtures. The method could complement or even replace other portable drug identification techniques, the scientists suggest.

Researchers at the annual meeting of The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) present a series of studies during its Study of Violent Crime and Gun Violence symposium which contributes several new frameworks that can be used toward improving laws, civilian strategies, legislation and police response, as well as the overall study of risk in society. The Symposium will occur on Monday, Dec. 9 at 10:30 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.

Formerly incarcerated individuals with barriers to re-entry and service needs following their release are subsequently more likely to experience poor physical and mental health, according to an eye-opening new Rutgers University-Camden study.

The first analysis of WHO-recommended policies to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs) finds that implementation is slowly improving, but on average just over half get no further than being endorsed, according to results from 151 countries published in The Lancet Global Health journal. The current study is the first to analyse what progress was made in putting 18 policies into practice worldwide between 2015 and 2017.

In a new study, researchers at Boston Medical Center and Boston University have uncovered a new association between more restrictive alcohol policies and lower rates of cancer mortality.

A flotilla of Vietnamese fishing boats with crews suffering in harsh conditions is stripping Pacific coral reefs of seafood as the poaching escalates to become an international human rights and security issue.