Wednesday, August 2, 2023

What we can learn from prohibition

Plus more health news |

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What Prohibition Can Teach Us About Drug and Alcohol Policy Today
By Oliver Staley
Editor

I love when science and history collide, and a recently published paper that looks at the effect of repealing prohibition on lifelong health is a great example of how the past can inform today.

After prohibition was lifted in 1933, lots of people started drinking, including pregnant women who didn’t know the impact it would have on their babies. By comparing the causes of death for babies born in wet and dry counties between 1935 and 1941, the study’s authors found maternal drinking was linked to a 3.3% greater chance of death, mostly from heart disease or stroke, between 1990 and 2004.

The findings suggest it’s time to ramp up efforts to eliminate drinking while pregnant, which leads to about 119,000 babies born annually with fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition associated with a wide range of physical, behavioral and cognitive issues.

It also suggests policy makers should recognize there may be long-term unintended consequences of a major public policy shift that is the prohibition repeal of our era: the legalization of marijuana.

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What Else to Read
The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers: Which Is Right for You?
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4 Ways Exercise Helps Fight Aging
By Liz Seegert
Physical activity is one of the best things you can do to protect your body as it ages. Here's how it helps. (Originally published in 2021.)
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No, Coffee and Tea Aren’t Actually Dehydrating. Here’s Why
By Jamie Ducharme
Instead, it's quite the opposite. (Originally published in 2018.)
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Why You’re Grinding Your Teeth—And How to Stop
By Haley Weiss
Bruxism, or teeth-grinding, has increased during the pandemic because of stress, anxiety, and more.
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Here’s How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World
By Jeffrey Kluger
Photos of the Aug. 1 Sturgeon Supermoon—from Boston to Brazil.
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ONE LAST READ
Why everyone is talking about trauma

Why is everyone talking about their trauma these days? Thank Bessel van der Kolk, the Dutch psychiatrist who wrote the bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score—and, as covered by New York, made a once-fringe academic theory a cornerstone of modern pop psychology.

Read More »

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Today's newsletter was written by Oliver Staley and Jamie Ducharme and edited by Angela Haupt and Oliver.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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