Public Health Approaches to Reducing Community Gun Violence

Successful public health efforts are data-driven, focused on unhealthy or unsafe environments as well as risky behaviors, and often intentional about reforming systems that are unjust and harm public safety. While laws and their enforcement can be important to advance public health and safety, including reducing gun violence, minimizing harms of exposure to the criminal justice system is also important. Research demonstrates that appropriately targeted efforts that invest in and support individuals and neighborhoods at greatest risk for involvement in gun violence can be successful in saving lives and reaping impressive return on investment.

SARS-CoV-2 Inactivation Simulation Using 14 MeV Neutron Irradiation

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is deadly, contagious, can cause COVID-19 disease, and endangers public health and safety. The development of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation technology is crucial and imminent in current pandemic period. Neutron radiation is usually used to sterilize viruses because neutron radiation is 10 times more effective than gamma-rays in inactivating viruses. In this work we established a closed SARS-CoV-2 inactivation container model by the Monte Carlo method and simulated the inactivation performance by using several different neutrons sources. To study the effects of inactivation container factors, including the reflector thickness, the type of the reflector material, the SARS-CoV-2 layer area and the distance from the radiation source on the energy deposition of a single neutron particle in SARS-CoV-2 sample, we simulated the neutron energy deposition on a SARS-CoV-2 sample. The simulation results indicate that the saturated thicknesses of reflector materials for graphite, water and paraffin are approximately 30 cm, 15 cm, and 10 cm, respectively, and the energy deposition (radiation dose) becomes larger when the SARS-CoV-2 layer area is smaller and the SARS-CoV-2 layer is placed closer to the neutron source. The calculated single-neutron energy deposition on 10 × 10 cm2 SARS-CoV-2 layer is about 3.0059 × 10−4 MeV/g with graphite as the reflection layer, when the 14 MeV neutron source intensity is 1012 n/s and the SARS-CoV-2 layer is 5 cm away from the neutron source. If the lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2 is assumed as the IAEA recommended reference dose, 25 kGy, the SARS-CoV-2 could be decontaminated in about 87 min, and the sterilization time could be less than 52s if the 14 MeV neutron intensity is increased to 1014 n/s.

An overview of select cannabis use and supply indicators pre- and post-legalization in Canada

Background Canada implemented the legalization and regulation of non-medical cannabis use, production and sale in 2018 aiming to improve public health and safety. While outcomes from legalization reforms in other jurisdictions mostly rely on US-based data have been assessed to be mixed, Canadian data are only emerging. We compiled select population-level data on key indicators to gauge initial developments from pre- to post-legalization of cannabis in Canada. Methods We examined indicators data focusing on the following topics: prevalence of cannabis use, frequency of use, methods/products of consumption, driving after cannabis use, and cannabis sourcing. Indicator data were obtained mostly from national and some provincial population surveys. Prevalence or percentages for the indicators pre- and post-legalization (e.g., 2017- 2020), including confidence intervals were reported, with changes noted, as available in and indicated by the data sources. Results Data suggested selected increases in cannabis use prevalence, mostly among mid- and older- but possibly also younger (e.g., under legal use age) users. Frequency of use and driving after cannabis use among active users do not appear to have changed. Methods of cannabis use show diversifying trends, with decreases in smoking and increases in alternatives use modes (e.g., edibles, vaping). There is a clearly increasing trend towards accessing cannabis from legal sources among adults, while under-legal-use-age youth do not appear to experience heightened barriers to obtaining cannabis in legalization contexts. Conclusions Preliminary indicators on cannabis legalization in Canada show a mixed picture, some similar to US-based developments. While some use increases are observed, these do not necessarily represent indications of increases in cannabis-related harm, also since key (e.g., hospitalization or injury) data are lacking to date. There is a gradual embracing of legal supply sources of cannabis among users, which can be expected to serve public health and safety objectives. At the same time, cannabis use and access among under-age users as a principally vulnerable group do not appear to be hindered or reduced by legalization.

COVID-19 as an Anthroponosis: Toward a Nonspeciesist Criminology of Human-to-Animal Pathogen Transmission

This paper examines a potentially fatal type of pathogen transmission, namely, the spillover of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from COVID-19-positive humans to nonhuman animals. This neglected direction of pathogen transmission (“anthroponosis”) was first publicized in March 2020, when eight large felids at a zoo in New York City were infected with SARS-CoV-2 by a COVID-19-positive employee. The paper gathers and problematizes the as-yet sparse evidence of anthroponotic transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 at sites in the animal–industrial complex where animals are held captive in zoos; appointed as human companions; used in scientific experiments; and raised and slaughtered in industrialized agriculture. The great fear is that animals infected with SARS-CoV-2 by COVID-19-positive humans will develop mutant strains of the virus, that these variants will be transmitted back to humans, and that the variants will be immune to the vaccines currently in use or in development. When we harm animals, we harm ourselves. Never has the need for a nonspeciesist approach to public health and safety been more urgent.

Urban Greening: An Alternative Mechanism to Address Public Health and Safety in Underserved Communities

Community safety is increasingly understood to be intertwined with public health and quality of life. However, health and safety are often appraised and budgeted independently, impeding the ability of local governments to identify efficient interventions to benefit communities. Urban greening is widely acknowledged to improve public health but is also a cost-effective public safety measure associated with reductions in aggression, violence, and crime. Current research suggests that the physiological and psychosocial factors that mediate the benefits of green spaces fall at the intersection of health and safety. Critically, historically marginalized, low-income, and over-policed neighborhoods are also typically those that most acutely lack urban greenery, exacerbating substandard health and safety outcomes. Investing in green spaces is therefore a promising solution to mitigate existing disparities across both public health and safety sectors. We propose that Los Angeles prioritize urban greenery in underserved neighborhoods as a public safety measure and reallocate funding from law enforcement and incarceration budgets to small-scale changes in green spaces (e.g., sidewalk planting and park maintenance). Green spaces are a promising alternative to traditional public safety methods and would improve the health and safety of disadvantaged neighborhoods, mitigate the harms of heat and pollution, and begin to counteract a history of structurally racist neighborhood policies.

Examining Impacts of COVID-19-Related Stay-At-Home Orders through a Two-Way Random Effects Model

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching impacts on public health and safety, economics, and the transportation system. To reduce the spread of this disease, federal and local governments around the world have introduced stay-at-home orders and other restrictions on travel to “non-essential” businesses to implement social distancing. Preliminary evidence suggests substantial variability in the impacts of these orders in the United States, both across states and over time. This study examines this issue using daily county-level vehicle miles traveled (VMT) data for the 48 continental U.S. states and the District of Columbia. A two-way random effects model is estimated to assess changes in VMT from March 1 to June 30, 2020 as compared with baseline January travel levels. The implementation of stay-at-home orders was associated with a 56.4 percent reduction in VMT on average. However, this effect was shown to dissipate over time, which may be attributable to “quarantine fatigue.” In the absence of full shelter-in-place orders, travel was also reduced where restrictions on select businesses were introduced. For example, restrictions on entertainment, indoor dining, and indoor recreational activities corresponded to reductions in VMT of 3 to 4 percent while restrictions on retail and personal care facilities showed 13 percent lower traffic levels. VMT was also shown to vary based on the number of COVID case reports, as well as with respect to other characteristics, including median household income, political leanings, and how rural the county was in nature.