Drug News

METHADONE – USA
Methadone abuse continues to grow – Herald Net
It’s the “easy-to-get” nature of the drug that has led to the spike in methadone deaths, according to government officials.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise – News Max
When you think of drug abuse, you might imagine a frantic crack addict handing over cash to dealer in a seedy part of town. What about this portrait of drug abuse? A middle-class person walks up to a pharmacist and hands over a forged prescription for some pain killers.

PAINKILLERS – USA
Daily painkiller raises heart attack risk – The Age
THE safety of popular over-the-counter painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs has been questioned after a huge Harvard study found prolonged use can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

PAINKILLERS – USA
Painkiller Risk: High Blood Pressure – Health Sentinel
The most widely used medicines in the world — over-the-counter pain drugs — raise a person’s risk of high blood pressure.

METH – USA
War on Drugs no help as meth epidemic worsens in the U.S. – Trans World News
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive psychostimulant drug that can have horrifying side effects, but perhaps the most shocking thing about this drug is that the FDA and Big Business may be contributing to its spread in pursuit of profits.

MARIJUANA – USA
Driving While Young: Teens and Marijuana – ABC Local News
With so many tragedies involving young drivers, our Eyewitness News special project “DWY: Driving While Young” looks at the dangers teens face behind the wheel.

MARIJUANA – USA
Lawmakers target marijuana-flavored candy – AJC Capitol Updates
A bill that would ban the sale of marijuana-flavored candy to children in Georgia won approval from a legislative committee this morning, advancing the proposal toward a vote in the House of Representatives.

METH – USA
Boys & Girls Club takes meth program to schools – The Verde Independent
The clubs have been presenting the nationally acclaimed MethSMART program in West Sedona and Big Park elementary schools in Sedona and Mingus High School in Cottonwood over five weeks.

OPIUM – THIALAND
The war that won’t go away – Bangkok Post
Like most wars, the society problem often labelled as the ”war on drugs” is a matter of many small battles. This war has had many ups and downs. It should not be surprising that drug trafficking and usage are increasing once again.

OPIUM – USA
Opium eradication starts in Afghanistan – Houston Chronicle
Anguish creased the weathered face of the opium farmer as a U.S.-trained eradication team swept through his farm fields in this southern Afghan village.

DRUGS – USA
Discontinuing Buprenorphine (Suboxone) Detox or Maintenance – Addiction helpBlog
Treatment using Buprenorphine (Suboxone) may be stopped or discontinued by a physician for many reasons.

METHADONE – USA
Methadone Abuse is Our Fastest-Growing Drug Problem – Treatment Online
Initially developed as a drug to treat patients suffering from the often extreme elements of opiate withdrawal, methadone has become one of the most widely abused drugs in the world.

ALCOHOL – UK
‘I drank so that I felt as if I belonged’ - Telegraph
Alcohol-related deaths are soaring among young girls. Here, one former binge-drinker gives Michael Shelden a brutally honest insight into the highs and lows of excess.

PRESCRIPTION - USA
Survey Finds Teens and Parents Think Abuse of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medicines is Safer Than Illicit Drug Use – Drug Free America
A new study released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America® and the MetLife Foundation found that more than a third of teens (40 percent) and parents (37 percent) think teen abuse of prescription pain killers is safer than abuse of illicit street drugs.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Drink risks don’t stop boys – The Australian
TEENAGE boys ignore the risks of binge drinking despite knowing they are three times more likely to kill themselves than girls who drink.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Binge booze takes one young life each week – Australia’s News Network
YOUNG Victorians are dying of alcohol-induced violence and accidents at the rate of one a week with regional youth at greater risk than city counterparts.

ALCOHOL – Australia
Alcohol Prevention More Difficult For Young Men To Swallow – UNSW
Young men are three times more likely to die from alcohol-related injuries than females. To make matters worse, new research released today shows that they do not respond to school-based drug education as well as their female counterparts.

ALCOHOL – USA
Study Finds Reduced Brain Growth In Alcoholics With Family Drinking History – Medical News Today
The brains of alcohol-dependent individuals are affected not only by their own heavy drinking, but also by genetic or environmental factors associated with their parents’ drinking.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Officials Warn Parents About Prescription Drugs – KMBC-TV
Federal officials said nearly one in five teens has abused prescription drugs — and many are getting them right from home.

METH – USA
New Ads Tackle Meth With A Touch Of Horror – Press Release Newswire
Wyoming Department of Health’s Meth Campaign Strikes Fear In Wyoming Residents: Difficult to watch, the ads resemble scenes from horror movies.

METHADONE – USA
Methadone emerges as new killer – Baltimore Sun
Methadone, a potent opiate once used almost exclusively to treat heroin addicts, is increasingly being prescribed by doctors as a pain medication and abused by drug users searching for a cheap, easy way to get high.

METH – USA
Senator Cogdill Fights To Remove Methamphetamine Problems – My Mother Lode News
Senator Dave Cogdill is pushing hard to remove the problem of methamphetamine out of the Central Valley and rural California.

METH – USA
Personal horrors aid meth fight – Kansas City Star
The camera draws in on a young woman’s face. Her teeth are blackened with decay. Her neck is covered with red sores - the work of a manic methamphetamine addict who can’t stop clawing at her own skin.

COCAINE – SOUTH AFRICA
Teens plan ‘cocaine parties’ via cellphone – IOL
Port Elizabeth high school girls are organising “cocaine parties” via their cellphones, according to media reports.

METH – USA
UCD study: Meth can lead to fatal form of heart disease – Daily Democrat
Young people who use methamphetamine, an addictive, illegal stimulant also known as meth, crank, crystal and speed, more than triple their risk of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle.

ADDICTION – USA
Middle East’s Opium Addiction – Epoch Times International
Thriving drug addiction is one such problem that remains neglected. After the collapse of the Taliban, opium use more than doubled in Afghanistan.

METHADONE – USA
Anna Nicoles family tragedy not atypical – HARMD - Blogger News Network
‘Don’t make us laugh’ respond HARMD (Helping America Reduce Methadone Deaths) - a large lobbyist group formed by families of methadone victims. ‘That hackneyed promo phrase is a bit off, given over 4000 deaths or one for every 50 addiction patients are occurring yearly now’.

ALCOHOL – USA
Turning the tables around on alcohol education in schools – Clanton Advertiser
We all know the best way not to abuse alcohol is not to start, but if you do drink, then you should at least know how to do it safely.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol is killing us … it’s time to show some spirit and fight back – Sunday Herald
LENT BEGAN last Wednesday, an annual opportunity to give up chocolate and to walk to work instead of taking the bus. This year we should forget about the jokey little sacrifices and skip to a big one; if there’s one thing Scots could do with giving up permanently it’s the booze.

OPIUM – THAILAND
Officials: Drug use on the rise in Thailand – Bangkok Post
The use of illicit recreational and hard drugs is growing again, especially among young people, after a lull during the deadly war on drugs by the former administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, according to officials.

METHADONE – UK
Addicts offered a sporting chance – Sunday Herald
A NEW “abstinence” programme which helps drug and alcohol abusers escape their addictions by promoting a healthy lifestyle is set to be introduced across Scotland.

ALCOHOL – USA
PREGNANCY, ALCOHOL BAD MIX – Monterey Herald
Your unborn child eats what you eat and drinks what you drink, and drinking alcohol is no less than feeding your unborn child poison, say a growing number of health-care experts who believe it is time to sound an alarm.

OPIUM – THAILAND
Drugs a rising problem in Thailand – The Nation
The area under opium cultivation has risen 10 per cent to 1,075 rai, while the amount of narcotics smuggled into the country through the northern border has also risen.

METH – USA
‘Life’s Great, Don’t Meth It Up’ – KDBC News
Kids and drugs — It’s a connection parents, teachers and even students have fought for years. Now U.S. Congressman Stevan Pearce is getting involved.

METH – USA
Meth presentation focuses on ways to help – The News Review
Since taping the video years ago that played Thursday night at Umpqua Community College, Dr. Jack Stump — who has lectured about meth for 14 years — has used it and others like it to show the drastic effects the drug has on people.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Growing trend of prescription drug thefts – WRDW News
Investigators say they get reports of thieves taking highly addictive painkillers from the people who need them every week. In some cases, they say the drugs are sold on the streets.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
This country’s biggest drug problem is alcohol – The Australian
TODAY about 175 Australians will go into hospital because of a major drugs problem. After tobacco, it is the major drugs problem in Australia, and one that we are not adequately tackling – alcohol.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Teens’ prescription abuse up – Daily Iowan
With the introduction of online pharmacies, prescription drugs are becoming easier to obtain, and recent studies show teens are increasingly using the substances recreationally.

ALCOHOL – UK
Big rise in number of young people killed by heavy drinking – The Independent
The alcopops generation are drinking themselves to death, latest figures show.

METH – NEW ZEALAND
Tenfold increase in methamphetamine entering NZ – New Zealand Herald
Police and customs officials say the amount of pure methamphetamine (”P”) entering New Zealand has increased tenfold in the past year.

METH – USA
Local students are winning war on meth – Lake County Leader
The first-time sensation of meth is so powerful that someone dumb enough to try the drug is almost instantaneously hooked. They will never again attain that first ‘high’, but will ruin their lives in the attempt.

MARIJUANA – USA
U.S. Is Sued Over Position on Marijuana – New York Times
Frustrated by government policy and inaction, a group of advocates for medical marijuana sued two federal health agencies on Wednesday over the assertion that smoking it has no medical benefit.

ADDICTION – UK
‘We can help each other’ – The Guardian
In 1967, Mollie Craven, the mother of a heroin addict, wrote an article in the Guardian appealing to readers to start a self-help group for addicts and their families. Now, 40 years later, Addaction is Britain’s leading drug charity.

ADDICTION – UK
Kicking old habits – The Guardian
It’s a quiet morning in a quiet road just off Mare Street in Hackney, east London. Drop-in hours are not until the afternoon, but already people are arriving at the doors of Addaction Hackney Community Drug Service.

HEROIN – USA
Parents confront deadly heroin mix – KVUE
Parents and community leaders, concerned about a cheap and deadly drug that has invaded a cluster of northwest Dallas schools, demanded Wednesday that school and police officials take the problem more seriously.

CANNABIS – SWITZERLAND
‘Cannabis is not for cows’ – IOL News
Switzerland’s agriculture ministry has called on the country’s farmers to stop feeding their cows cannabis.

METH – NEW ZEALAND
People power filling gap in drug battle – New Zealand Herald
The Government strategy on methamphetamine is under attack from P campaigners who believe the approach is not working - so they are investing thousands of dollars in their own community campaigns.

ALCOHOL – USA
Students encouraged to participate in alcohol study – UW-Madison News
The University of Wisconsin System is conducting a survey of undergraduates this month to better understand the impacts of alcohol and other drug use by UW students.

ALCOHOL – USA
Surveys examine alcohol use – LHU Eagle Eye
After two consecutive Mondays and Tuesdays of surveying, the Wellness Center and Safe Haven are preparing to compile the data they gathered regarding LHU students and alcohol use.

CANNABIS – NEW ZEALAND
Testing for Cannabis may prompt Athletes to switch to P – Radio New Zealand
At least one sports official has suggested that might encourage some athletes to use P, rather than risking being caught for cannabis use.

MARIJUANA – USA
Long-Term Marijuana Use May Impair Lung Function – Washington Post
People who smoke marijuana for a long time face many of the same kinds of respiratory problems — such as phlegm, coughing and wheezing — as long-term cigarette smokers.

METH – USA
Silverton students spread the word about meth – Silverton Appeal News
Students saw images of beautiful people whose teeth had rotted, who had sores on their faces and whose weight had dwindled to barely survivable levels.

PAINKILLERS – USA
Drug-laced ‘lollipops’ found at Damascus High School – Maryland Gazette
The lollipop drugs are sold on the street for $20, even though their retail value is $9.

PESCRIPTION – USA
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ISSUES NEW GUIDELINES FOR PROPER DISPOSAL OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – New and Public Affairs
n the face of rising trends in prescription drug abuse, the Federal government today issued new guidelines for the proper disposal of unused, unneeded, or expired prescription drugs.

DRUGS – USA
Poll: 90% Support Drug Tests for Students – Pushing Back
A poll conducted by the University of South Alabama reveals strong demand for confidential random drug testing programs.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Feds Issue New Way To Curb Prescription Drug Abuse – WTOV
The federal government has issued new ways to get rid of old medicine in an effort to prevent kids from getting high on prescription drugs.

METH – USA
Strong Connection Between Identity Theft And Meth Use – Fox News
Many meth addicts can’t work because of the drug’s effect on the body. But identity theft is relatively easy and more lucrative than robbing a bank.

METH – USA
Health, safety officials address ongoing meth problem – KTUU News
Methamphetamine: It’s a drug with far-reaching side effects that go way beyond the user.

ADDICTION – USA
Drug addiction affects all of us – Guelph Mercury
Too often, drug addiction is described as something affecting “those people” or people living in “that neighbourhood.” The reality is much different.

HEROIN – UK
Calls for inquiry to settle heroin policies – The Herald
Scotland’s top social workers yesterday called for a Royal Commission to settle the row over methadone.

OPIUM – USA
Afghan envoys warns of terrorist-drug link – United Press International
Afghanistan’s ambassador to Australia has warned his country could become a terrorist-backed narco-state unles it gets help to combat drug trafficking.

OPIUM – MEXICO
Anti-drug raids hit border – The Herald
Officials also said that in the two months since intensive raids began in central and western Mexico they have destroyed almost as many opium fields as plots of marijuana, long Mexico´s principal drug crop.

MORPHINE – USA
Drug test science adapts with the times – Charleston Daily Mail
If lighting up a marijuana joint is in your evening plans, you’d better hope you’re not screened for drugs within the next 30 days.

DRUGS – UK
The terrible logic of kids, drugs and killing – Times Online
Whenever I met young drug dealers who had either shot others or themselves been shot, I wondered whether they had any real notion of death as a permanent state of oblivion.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Makers of Cough Remedies Join with Anti-Drug Coalitions to Fight Medicine Abuse – Consumer Healthcare Products Association
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) today launched a new campaign designed to educate communities about how to prevent cough medicine abuse among teenagers.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Deadly risk seen from interactions of OTC, prescription meds – Denver Post
The timing of two recent news items - a national health report and the autopsy of an R&B singer - was coincidental. But coming on the same day, they illustrated a deadly, growing problem with prescription and over-the-counter medications.

ALCOHOL – NEW ZEALAND
Alcohol review targets teens – Stuff
The Government is looking for ways to prevent underage teenagers from getting alcohol as experts point to its devastating effects.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Dope loses its cool – Herald Sun
The drug once perceived as harmless is now overwhelming viewed as dangerous, addictive and linked to a range of serious health and social problems.

CANNABIS – UK
Cannabis loses appeal for young people – ABC News Online
A new study has found a third of young Australians think using cannabis is unacceptable, and the majority believe it is a dangerous drug.

MARIJUANA – AUSTRALIA
Pot not hot: weed losing its cool – Sydney Morning Herald
SMOKING a joint is no longer cool among the young, according to a new poll, which found one in three regard it as unacceptable.

ALCOHOL – UK
Revealed: Britain’s 12-year-old alcoholics – The Independent
Children as young as 12 are being diagnosed as alcoholics amid growing concerns about binge-drinking in Britain, an investigation by The Independent on Sunday reveals today.

PESCRIPTION – USA
Teens now going for parents’ pills, not their booze – The Oakland Press
Some parents of teenagers keep their liquor cabinets locked. Should the medicine cabinet be next?

DRUGS – USA
Disrupting Brain’s Stress System Intensifies Opiate Withdrawal – Science Daily
Avoiding the severe pain, nausea, agitation, sweats and other symptoms of opiate withdrawal are among the many reasons addicts are motivated to continue taking drugs.

METH – USA
Come together to fight meth – Montrose Daily Press
The toll of methamphetamine use can be felt in all aspects of the community and at all levels. Meth is a highly addictive drug that has a devastating impact on the individual as well as their families. And no one is immune from it.

METH – USA
Candy-Looking Meth Hits Streets – WVNS-TV
Methamphetamine production and addiction is a continuing problem, especially in rural areas. Now, there’s a troubling new development. Drug dealers are now targeting children with flavored, candy-colored versions of the drug.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Report: Teens Using Prescription Drugs – Sci-Tech Today
While teen use of marijuana declined, the use of OxyContin, a painkiller, increased from 2.7 percent to 3.5 percent over the same period.

METHADONE – USA
METHADONE DEATHS – NBC Newschannel
The highly-addictive drug methadone was initially used to help heroin addicts break their addiction. A few years ago, Idaho became one of the first states to see methadone also being prescribed for chronic pain.

RITALIN – USA
Prescription Drug Use Among Students Growing – City on a Hill Press
According to the Greater Dallas Council on Alcoholic and Drug Abuse website, Ritalin ranks in the top 10 most frequently reported controlled pharmaceuticals stolen from licensed handlers.

PRESCRIPTION – CANADA
Teens Continue To Abuse Prescription Drugs – E Canada Now
Though U.S. teen use of some drugs is in decline their use of prescription drugs is going strong and increasing in certain areas.

PRESCRIPTION – CANADA
Teens Turning to Prescription Drugs
More and more US teens are turning away from marijuana in favor of prescription drugs from their own medicine cabinets.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Teen abuse of prescription drugs holds steady – MSNBC
According to an analysis of national surveys prepared by Walters’ office, 2.1 million teenagers abused prescription drugs in 2005.

DRUGS – USA
Dobbs: The war within, killing ourselves – CNN
We’re losing the War on Drugs, and we’ve been in retreat for three decades.

MARIJUANA – USA
Parents are urged to learn about today’s marijuana – Amador Ledger Dispatch
Today’s marijuana is not yesterday’s marijuana. I find this to be very interesting information for parents, teachers and anyone who has had the questions asked or will be asked: What’s so wrong with smoking marijuana? It’s not a drug? Right?

METHADONE – USA
Methadone Deaths More Common – Post Chronicle
A study finds that U.S. deaths from methadone, the prescription drug often used to treat heroin addicts, almost quadrupled between 1999 and 2004.

OPIUM – USA
Afghanistan: What the United States Has Spent – ABC News
Despite Billions Spent, and Lives Lost, Opium Trade Thrives and Fuels Insurgent Attacks.

OPIUM – USA
Losing Afghanistan to opium? – The Washington Times
The spring opium harvest will soon begin in Afghanistan. So will a murderous spring offensive by the Taliban and its allies against U.S. and coalition troops. The two events are directly related.