Drug News

DRUGS – USA
Huxley’s America: A Nation on Drugs – State Journal

Drug use is the driving force behind the boom in American incarceration. Some people shoot heroin. Some smoke pot. College students pop Ritalin at exam time. Elementary schools force-feed Ritalin to children just to spite parents who tune out to Pink Floyd. Doctors and pain clinics prescribe heavy-duty painkillers as if handing out Halloween candy.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin use on the rise in Utah County – ABC 4 News

‘Happy Valley’ may be getting a new nickname. Undercover agents say some people in Utah County have a liking for Heroin and they claim they have proof.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol breath tests for young ‘voluntary’ – IC Wales

Police trialling alcohol breath-tests for teenagers say the procedure will be voluntary. Officers in North Wales have launched a scheme where groups of teenagers will be breath-tested to see if they have been drinking.

ALCOHOL – UK
Britain urges pregnant women to avoid alcohol – Reuters

Women should drink no alcohol during the first three months of pregnancy, despite uncertainty over whether the odd drink could harm their baby, a British government watchdog said on Wednesday.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol problems more prevalent in hospitality industry – Wichita Business Journal

Workers in the hospitality industry, compared to other industries, suffer the most from alcohol problems, according to new research from the George Washington University Medical Center.

ALCOHOL – UK
Breath-testing for young drinkers – BBC News

Under-age drinkers in the streets and parks in Colwyn Bay could be tested by police armed with breathalyser kits.

HEOIRN – USA
‘Cheese’ Heroin Hooking Young Users in Dallas – NPR

Imagine a 9-year-old heroin junkie. In Dallas, health officials are seeing children that young being brought to hospitals with signs of heroin withdrawal.

DRUGS – USA
Prescription painkiller deaths in state surpass deaths from illegal drugs – The Seattle Times

Every day, 2,500 kids age 12-17 abuse a prescription painkiller for the first time, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Police.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Our children deserve and need a safe school environment – The Age

AT FIRST glance, the idea of drug-testing our school students may not seem palatable. But when we look more closely at the position we are now in, Australians may need to rethink how we can prevent illicit drug use among our young.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
A prescription against death; As drug overdoses overtake traffic fatalities as top killer in New Hampshire, officials left seeking answers – The Daily News of Newburyport

They kill more people in New Hampshire than car crashes. Drug overdoses claimed 168 lives in the Granite State last year. And methadone, a prescription drug, caused more deaths than any other drug.