NEWS ROUND-UP
‘ Cuckooing ’ to become a specific criminal offence
The act of seizing control of a vulnerable person ’ s home in order to deal drugs , known as ‘ cuckooing ’, is to become a specific criminal offence under the Crime and Policing Bill , the Home Office has announced . The offence will carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison . The bill will also create another new offence of using a child to commit criminal activity . The standalone child criminal exploitation ( CCE ) offence will target adults who ‘ unscrupulously groom and exploit children into criminal activity ’ – such as county lines gangs – says the Home Office , and carry a maximum ten-year prison term . The new offence will also help to identify more children at risk , the government states . While current estimates show that around 14,500 |
children were identified as involved in – or at risk of – CCE in 2023-24 , this is likely to be an underestimate as many exploited children will ‘ not be known to the authorities ’, it says .
A 2022 study by criminal justice consultancy Crest Advisory warned that agencies were frequently missing opportunities to respond to the ‘ red flags ’ indicating that young people were at risk of CCE ( DDN , October 2022 , page 4 ) and called for better joint working and improved police training . A disturbing report from the University of Nottingham the previous year also found that county lines activity was becoming increasingly categorised by extreme violence and sexual exploitation of both boys and girls ( DDN , July / August 2021 , page 5 ).
‘ This new offence is a vital
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step forward that we have been campaigning for over the years ,’ said Children ’ s Society chief executive Mark Russell . ‘ A standalone crime of child criminal exploitation ( CCE ) will finally shift the focus onto perpetrators , not victims . For too long , adults who groom children into criminal activity – forcing them to hold drugs or launder money or commit theft – have evaded accountability . Charges such as drug possession ignore the core truth ; these are child abusers exploiting vulnerable young people . To protect the 14,500 children identified at risk last year – and the thousands more unseen – these measures must be backed by three pillars ; strong enforcement , training for safeguarding professionals and a statutory definition of CCE to help end the postcode lottery in victim support .’ |
‘ A standalone crime of child criminal exploitation will finally shift the focus onto perpetrators , not victims .’
MARK RUSSELL
cypnow . co . uk
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Government boosts HIV testing
THE GOVERNMENT is to make available more than 20,000 HIV self-testing and self-sampling kits to help end HIV transmissions by the end of this decade . The packs are backed by £ 1.5m in funding , which alongside increasing testing rates will also ‘ reduce stigma , tackle health disparities and raise awareness ’, it says .
A recent YouGov poll on behalf of the Terrence Higgins Trust found that more than 80 per cent of people were unaware that it was possible to test for HIV at home , with almost half of respondents saying that home testing would be their preference .
‘ Since the introduction of self-testing kits , home testing has increased in popularity , especially among women and some ethnic minorities who are less likely to test through their local sexual health services ,’ the government states .
NHS England expanded its opt-out emergency department BBV testing in areas with high HIV prevalence in 2023 , with the government stating that the UK was on course to meet its 2030 target for ending new transmissions ( DDN , July / August 2023 , page 4 ).
Misinformation deterring young people from switch to vaping
MANY YOUNG ADULTS ‘ inaccurately believe that vaping is as bad for you or worse than smoking ’ according to a study led by Brighton and Sussex Medical School . Young people were more likely to give up smoking and switch to vaping instead if they properly understood the reduced harm of vaping , says the report in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research .
Using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children , the researchers found that a perception of vaping as less harmful among smokers aged 23-24 was associated with switching to vaping six years later .
‘ To the best of our knowledge , this is the first study among young adults in England to assess whether vaping harm perceptions are longitudinally associated with vaping and smoking behaviours ,’ says the report . The findings highlight the need for interventions to tackle the ‘ pervasive misperceptions ’ about vaping , the researchers stress .
While repeated studies have shown e-cigarettes to be an effective quitting tool for smokers , media reports on vaping frequently repeat ‘ misconceptions as conventional wisdom ’, and present ‘ opinions as facts ’, anti-smoking charity ASH warned in 2023 .
‘ In England in 2024 , 85 per cent of adults who smoked inaccurately perceived that vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking or did not know the relative harms ,’ said Brighton and Sussex Medical School ’ s Dr Katherine East – ‘ an increase from 59 per cent ten years before .’
Perceived harm of vaping relative to smoking and associations with subsequent smoking and vaping behaviors among young adults available at https :// academic . oup . com /
4 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MARCH 2025 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM