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Josie Ford Art

Make a living will if you want to decide how your life will end

10 July 2019

For our own sakes, and for those we leave behind, we need to think about how we want to die. Otherwise someone else will decides what happens to you at the end


Memorial to Alfie Evans

We must all work to avoid disputes over the care of very ill children

17 April 2019

New advice will help reduce conflict between medical professionals and the parents of desperately sick children, says Mike Linney


Cannabis plant

Half-hearted cannabis legalisation move leaves patients in limbo

16 October 2018

Medical cannabis is to be available in the UK from November, but tight restrictions will drive patients to alternative sources, says Henry Fisher


The vapour from vaping emerges onto a street

Here's why the ban on vaping on trains and buses should stay for now

23 August 2018

You can't use e-cigarettes on public transport or in most workplaces in the UK but there is a fresh call to lift this ban. It's a non-starter, says Lara Williams


message board

The death of 9-year-old girl may be a tipping point for air pollution

18 July 2018

The family of Ella Kissi-Debrah want an inquest to rule air pollution as the cause of her death, while other legal cases are challenging government inaction on dirty air


Cannabis Protest

UK government to review medicinal cannabis laws

20 June 2018

Following the case of Billy Caldwell, whose cannabis oil epilepsy medication was confiscated last week, the Home Secretary has announced laws will be reviewed


Cannabis Protestor

The case of Billy Caldwell shows UK drug laws are out of date

20 June 2018

The announcement of an urgent review into the legal status of medicinal cannabis is to be welcomed, but the UK government should go further


Drug Testing Tent

Party drugs are here to stay, but they don't have to be killers

6 June 2018

Crack downs on psychedelic substances are failing to protect people from harm. Drug tests at festivals and nightclubs to check they are legit could be a better way


pregnant woman

Down's syndrome has become the newest front in the abortion wars

21 March 2018

Abortions on the basis of disability are back in the spotlight thanks to a new test for Down's syndrome during pregnancy and law changes around the world


A restraining bed for an execution

Copycat justice has turned US counties into execution hotspots

15 January 2018

Criminals assigned the death penalty are five times more likely to be executed in some US counties than in others – a trend that some argue is unconstitutional


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