Drug News

ALCOHOL – UK
Make Scotland’s Roads Safer: Reduce Drink Driving Limits – Medical News Today

BMA Scotland called on politicians from all political parties in Scotland to continue to put pressure on the UK Government to reduce drink driving limits from 80mg/100ml to 50mg, a move that could prevent as many as 65 deaths on the UK’s roads every year.

ALCOHOL – UK
Youth Alcohol Action Plan Presentation – Drug Education News

I’ve been sent the following presentation on the Youth Alcohol Action Plan by Matthew Scott, which you may find useful.

DRUGS – UK
Campaigner in warning over petrol sniffing – The Courier

In the past few weeks we have had a number of unusual solvent abuse cases from service users, ie young people, sniffing petrol and in some cases mixing it with soft drinks.

COCAINE – UK
High flyers: bees on cocaine ‘behave like humans’ – Guardian

They are highly social, adhere to a rigid class system and are intensely house-proud. And now it emerges that bees resemble human beings in one more, previously overlooked, respect: they behave just like us under the influence of cocaine.

ALCOHOL – USA
Living close to where alcohol is sold could affect teen drinking – Los Angeles Times

Peer pressure may be a key cause of teen drinking, but it might not be the only factor. A new study reveals that the closer teens live to where alcohol is sold, the greater the risk may be of binge drinking and driving under the influence.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alarming Number Of Young Drink Drivers Think They Won’t Get Caught – Medical News Today

To many young drivers think they will not get caught if they drink and drive during this Christmas holiday period, according to a report published today by Brake and Green Flag Motoring Assistance.

COCAINE – USA
Bees get buzz in cocaine study – Houston Chronicle

Scientists are hoping to better gauge the drug’s effects on humans. Cocaine repels many insects, which is why the coca plant makes the chemical in the first place.

ADDICTION – YEMEN
International Conference on Drugs Addiction Prevention to begin in Sana’a – Yemen News Agency

The International Conference on Drugs Addiction Prevention is to start next Sunday in Sana’a. The conference will be organized by the Interior ministry in collaboration with the Middle East Research Center for Human Rights and Development.

ALCOHOL – INDIA
Beer can increase liver and bowel cancer risk – The Med Guru

The risk of getting inflicted with liver and bowel cancer increases by up to 20 percent in people who drink one pint of beer everyday, as per scientists at the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Many Older Americans Dangerously Combine Drugs – AHN

Many older Americans, about one in 25, are taking prescription and over the counter drug combinations that are potentially life-threatening, according to a survey conducted by the University of Chicago.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
A prescription for problems – Courier Times

Most people know prescription drugs can be dangerous, but fever reducers, cold and flu medications and even pain relievers sold in supermarkets and drug stores can be potential killers, too.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
U.S. Seniors May Be Taking Risky Drug Combinations – Health News

Each prescription contains information provided by the manufacturer explaining the possible side effects and other information about the medication. How many people really read the information? Not enough of those taking prescription medications, particularly among the elderly.

ALCOHOL – UK
Pint of beer raises cancer risk by fifth, says expert – Guardian

Drinking one pint of beer, a large glass of wine or a couple of measures of spirits a day increases the risk of liver and bowel cancers by a fifth, a health expert warned yesterday.

ALCOHOL – UK
New power and guidance to tackle alcohol-related crime – Home Office

A new power targeting offenders who commit crime under the influence of alcohol was unveiled today.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Convincing kids that all batches are bad – Herald Sun

FACE facts - drug use on the streets of Melbourne is rife. It seems to be increasing. And the use of party drugs inside Melbourne’s pubs and clubs is commonplace.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Monitoring the Future Study: Prescription drug abuse among teens remains steady – The Flint Journal

Despite statistically significant declines in illicit drug use among teens, prescription drug abuse is holding steady according to a recently-released study of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students.

MORPHINE – USA
KV Pharmaceutical Dives After Halting Drug Shipments – Bloomberg

KV Pharmaceutical Co. lost half its value in New York trading after the drugmaker, announcing a third recall of medicines that may contain excess doses, stopped shipping prescription tablets.

HEROIN – USA
More Young People Using Heroin – Hartford Courant

As a registered nurse with 20 years in emergency nursing (most recently at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in Southington and Bristol Hospital), the reality is quite disturbing. Many of us are taking care of more and more younger people with heroin addiction.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Mixing drugs puts more older patients at risk – USA Today

Nearly one in 25 older Americans — or 2.2 million people — are at risk for serious health problems such as bleeding and muscle weakness because they take an unwise combination of drugs, and half the time, a non-prescription medication is involved, a nationwide survey suggests Wednesday.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Elderly Often Use Prescription and Nonprescription Medications Together – Medscape News

Prescription and nonprescription medications are often used together by community-dwelling older adults, putting nearly 1 in 25 individuals potentially at risk for a major drug-drug interaction, according to the results of a study reported in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Dangerous drug combos pose risk for elderly – Reuters

Older adults in the United States are popping prescription pills, over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements in record numbers, and in combinations that could be deadly, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Drug Combinations Putting Seniors at Risk – US News and World Report

As many as 4 percent of older adults in the United States combine over-the-counter medications with prescription drugs in ways that put them at risk for potentially dangerous interactions, a new survey finds.

ALCOHOL – USA
Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving This Holiday Season – Market Watch

The holiday season can be one of the deadliest and most dangerous times of the year due to an increase in impaired driving. In December 2007, 992 people nationwide were killed in crashes that involved a drunk driver or motorcycle rider (operator) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher.

ALCOHOL – USA
Snazzy holiday drinks, alcohol free – Christian Science Monitor

For some, it’s the season for cocktail parties and champagne toasts, but plenty of other holiday revelers are gleefully raising a fluted glass of sparkling pomegranate punch or ginger lemonade.

DRUGS – USA
Is an anti-energy drink company targeting children? – KVUE News

They say the drink is being sold in containers that look like children’s medicine bottles. And they fear it might convince kids to try a dangerous mixture of codeine cough syrup and soda, promoted in rap music videos.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Drug, alcohol abuse rising in Wash.; smoking down – Seattle Post Intelligencer

Abuse of drugs and alcohol is on the rise in Washington state, including one of the highest rates of non-medical use of prescription pain relievers in the nation, according to the state Department of Social and Health Services.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcohol is major cause of drug rehab admissions again – Medical Search

Alcohol has again topped harder drugs like ice and heroin as the addiction which drives the most Australians into crisis rehab. Seventy per cent of people admitted to the major not-for-profit rehab centre Odyssey House, based in Sydney, in the past financial year listed alcohol as among their reasons for seeking treatment.

ALCOHOL – USA
America’s Top 10 Alcohol-Drinking Cities—and 10 Most Sober Cities, Too – US News and World Report

With Christmas and New Year’s almost upon us, you may be raising your glass and downing the spirits more than you’re used to—along with many others. According to a nationwide poll released this year, most adults who attended work holiday parties said drunken bad behavior can often result. And insulting the boss is the least of it; nearly 60 percent of the surveyed partygoers saw a coworker drive while drunk.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol fuelled crime rises – BBC News

Police in Somerset have set up a new project to tackle the increase in drink-related sex crimes.

ALCOHOL – CANADA
Alcohol consumption by youth on increase – The Vancouver Sun

Cheaper alcohol, longer bar hours and a rash of private liquor stores have led to higher alcohol consumption and to binge-drinking among B.C. youths in the past six years, a provincial health report says.

METH – USA
Meth awareness group looking to expand membership – Northwest Arkansas News

Project Right Choice members are hosting a grant-funded membership drive next month to expand their committee.

MARIJUANA – USA
Marijuana use among Teens remains the same while Smoking lower – Top News

Annual Survey conducted by The University of Michigan researchers on U.S. teen drug use revealed that there is a downward trend in cigarette smoking and alcohol use. However, abuse of prescription drugs and marijuana remains the same.

ALCOHOL – UK
Liver disease resulting from binge drinking could become big killer – Independent

Half of Britain’s young adults first got drunk before the age of 15, according to a study which warns that liver disease could become one of the biggest killers as a result of the country’s binge drinking culture.

ALCOHOL – UK
Dummies aid binge drinking drive – BBC News

Mannequins depicting young people in a drunken state are being used in shop windows to deter binge drinking in a North East Lincolnshire town.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Don’t Turn A Night Out into A Nightmare – ANCD

Australian Government’s campaign about the harms associated with drinking to intoxication.

ALCOHOL – USA
Dane County middle schools selected for alcohol reduction pilot project – WKOW TV News

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced Monday that a pilot project aiming to reduce the number of young people that start drinking alcohol as early as their middle school years will start in 2009 in River Bluff Middle School in Stoughton and Sennett Middle School in Madison.

ALCOHOL – NEW ZEALAND
Alcohol major cause of drug rehab admissions – TVNZ

Alcohol has again topped harder drugs like ice and heroin as the addiction which drives the most Australians into crisis rehab.

METH – USA
Price of Meth increases crime rate – KXXV News

The popular drug of choice used to be cocaine. However, the supply is scarce and the price is too costly for many Americans to afford. So many drug users are turning to the abundant supply of methamphetamine. And they’ll do anything to get it.

DRUGS – USA
Tracking community-wide drug use by testing water at sewage treatment plants – PhysOrg

Scientists in Oregon and Washington State are reporting the development and successful testing of a new method for determining the extent of illicit drug use in entire communities from water flushed down toilets that enters municipal wastewater treatment plants.

HEROIN – USA
What is Heroin? Narcotics Abuse Information Center – KRDO News

Heroin is available in the state’s metropolitan and suburban areas and poses a considerable drug threat to Colorado. Mexican black tar heroin and brown powdered heroin are the most common types available. Most new heroin abusers in Colorado are young adults who smoke or snort the drug rather than inject it, mistakenly believing this practice to be safer and less likely to lead to addiction.

DRUGS – USA
Fingerprints from crime scenes will soon reveal drug abuse – Nanowerk

In order to arrest a culprit, police look for fingerprints at the scene of the crime. Magnetic powder is applied to the surfaces of objects with a magnetic brush to make these latent fingerprints visible. It may now be possible to use latent fingerprints to detect the use of drugs as well.

DRUGS – ROMANIA
US Teen Drug Use Is Constant, Despite Efforts to Reduce It – Softpedia

America’s teenagers consume a great variety of drugs, statistics show, among which the most important and dangerous are heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, ecstasy and marijuana.

ALCOHOL – USA
Successful Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment – Trans World News

There’s nothing easy about the alcohol and drug rehab process. Real healing always demands real effort, with the obvious corollary that recovering addicts need real support along the road to sobriety.

ALCOHOL – USA
Driving home a warning about alcohol for teens – KVBC News

For the seventh consecutive year, UMC Trauma Services brought area students to their Charleston Avenue facility for a demonstration of the horrors brought about by drunk drivers. News 3’s Jerry Brown reports that at times, it got emotional.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse to be topic of local summit – Huntington Herald Dispatch

Prescription drug abuse will be the topic of the third annual Cabell County drug prevention summit scheduled to take place Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.

DRUGS – USA
Fewer Teens Smoke Marijuana, Many Abuse Painkillers –

Although alcohol use among teenagers dropped, the abuse of prescription drugs increased, according to a survey released Thursday. Almost 10 percent of high school seniors said they abused Vicodin and 4.7 percent admitted to have excessively taken OxyContin. Both prescription medications are strong opioid pain killers.

METH – AUSTRALIA
Fears drug campaign cuts no ice with teens – The Age

A UNIVERSITY of Western Australia researcher has called for the scrapping of a multimillion-dollar anti-methamphetamine campaign by the Federal Government, after finding that graphic advertisements actually made the illicit drug more appealing to teenagers.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drugs Abuse Is More Common – eFlux Media

A study shows that alcohol and cigarettes are being consumed less and less by teenagers and youths and marihuana abuse has also seen a major decrease in consuming. Unfortunately, the study also has bad news, showing that more and more students are abusing prescription drugs for non-medical use. The drugs most commonly used are Vicodin and OxyContin, which are strong opioid pain killers.

ALCOHOL – UK
Fresh call for alcohol warnings – The Press Association

Drinks representatives have urged the Government to roll-out pregnancy warnings and unit information on alcohol products.

DRUGS – UK
Revellers swabbed for drug abuse – BBC News

A device which can be used to detect traces of illegal drugs on people’s hands has been used in Tayside for the first time.

HEROIN – USA
Increase in Heroin Use Leads to Proposed Laws – The New York Times

Prompted by a surge in heroin use on Long Island, county legislators have proposed laws to notify school districts and other groups about arrests for heroin possession and sales.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse still a problem among teens, report says – The Los Angeles Times

Abuse of prescription drugs continues to be a major problem among teenagers, although fewer are smoking cigarettes, the 2008 Monitoring the Future survey reported last week.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
FDA Adds Stern Warnings to Prescription Bowel Cleansers – Wired PR News

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to give the toughest labeling to prescription bowel cleansing drugs. As reported by the Associated Press, the announcement was made on Thursday that prescription drugs used for pre-colonoscopy bowel cleansing, Visicol and OsmoPrep, would be given the black-box warning to caution users of serious safety risks.

METH – UK
Study Questions Success Of Anti-Meth Ads – Medical News Today

An independent review investigating the effectiveness of a publicly funded graphic anti-methamphetamine advertising campaign has found that the campaign has been associated with many negative outcomes. The review was published in the December issue of Prevention Science, a peer reviewed journal of the Society for Prevention Research.

PRESCRIPTION – UK
Downward Trend In Teen Marijuana Use Slows; Prescription Drug Abuse Remains High – Medical News Today

There are signs that the ongoing decline in teen marijuana use in recent years has stalled; however the downward trend in cigarette and alcohol use continues, according to the 2008 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey.

DRUGS – UK
Annual Monitoring The Future Survey On Drug Abuse Shows Decline In OTC Cough Medicine Abuse – Medical News Today

The OTC medicine industry looks to the Monitoring the Future survey every year to help us understand teen behaviors towards substance abuse, including medications.

DRUGS – USA
4:40 p.m. - Teen Drug Use – KARK News

Teenage cigarette and alcohol use continues to go down, but marijuana use has stopped declining — and, a large number of kids still abuse prescription drugs.

PRESCRIPTION – UK
Many Drug Overdose Deaths Due To Non-Medical Use Of Prescription Pain Medication – Medical News Today

In an examination of unintentional overdose deaths in the state of West Virginia, a majority of these have been found to be associated with the nonmedical use and diversion of prescription drugs, especially pain relievers.

DRUGS – USA
Fewer Teens Smoke; Many Still Pop Prescription Pills – Bloomberg

The percentage of teenagers smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol fell to the lowest in almost two decades since an annual government-funded survey started interviewing kids about their habits.

DRUGS – UK
U.S. teen marijuana use decline faltering: survey – Reuters

Recent declines in marijuana use by U.S. teens appear to have stalled this year and their abuse of prescription drugs remains at worrisome levels, researchers said on Thursday.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller Overdose Deaths Rising, Study Says – Join Together

The study, which focused on accidental deaths in the state of West Virginia, also reported a pattern of “doctor shopping” for painkillers, as well as deaths from medications that were not used as prescribed.

DRUGS – USA
Youth Use of Legal Drugs Eclipses Illicit-Drug Use, Annual Survey Reports – Join Together

The War on Drugs has long been cast as a battle against illegal narcotics, but the latest federal data shows that seven of the top 10 drugs being misused by high-school seniors are legal prescription or over-the-counter medications.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Kids Abusing, Selling Prescription Drugs – WTMJ Radio News

Parents need to be locking up these medications, and understand that kids are doing this stuff without knowing what the consequences could be.

DRUGS – UK
Tracking Community-wide Drug Use By Testing Water At Sewage Treatment Plants - Environmental Science & Technology Journal – Medical News Today

Scientists in Oregon and Washington State are reporting the development and successful testing of a new method for determining the extent of illicit drug use in entire communities from water flushed down toilets that enters municipal wastewater treatment plants.

ALCOHOL – USA
Public service announcements: Talk to youths about alcohol, drugs and driving – Mansfield News Journal

December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month. Recent research underscores the continuing need for an emphasis on preventing crashes caused by impaired driving, particularly among America’s youth.

METH – USA
Methamphetamine: Graphic Montana Scare Campaign May Not Work After All, Study Finds – Drug War Chronicle

The Montana Meth Project, an anti-methamphetamine campaign based around scary images of the perils of meth use, has been widely touted as a successful public health intervention.