Drug News

Prescription Drugs – Canada
Addiction often starts in hospital – Leader-Post

Prescription drugs are suspected in the death of singer Michael Jackson. If the toxicology report from the autopsy confirms this, he joins a growing number of people falling victim to prescription-drug abuse.

Prescription Drugs – USA
More Americans taking drugs for mental illness – Leader-Post

In America, 73 percent more adults and 50 percent more children are using drugs to treat mental illness than in 1996.

Ecstasy – USA
Obama Ecstasy Pills Hit the Streets – CBS News

Police in Texas have seized a batch of Ecstasy pills that are shaped in the image of President Barack Obama (see photos). Because Ecstasy is not a prescription drug, but manufactured only illegally, it comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Alcohol – USA
NFL Seeks Limits on Tailgating to Curb Drinking – Join Together

The National Football League (NFL) would like teams to limit tailgating to 3-1/2 hours prior to kickoff, but so far only the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have adopted such a policy.

Methamphetamine – San Diego, CA
Border Officials See Increase In Seized Drugs – 10news.com

The amount methamphetamine seized by U.S. Border Patrol agents in the San Diego sector skyrocketed in fiscal 2009, while the number of illegal immigrants caught dropped 27 percent, federal officials said Wednesday.

Drugs – USA
Deputies use backhoe to find drugs in septic tank – The Boston Globe

Flushed evidence doesn’t go far if your toilet’s on a septic system. DeSoto Parish sheriff’s Lt. Toni Joe Morris said Tuesday that deputies brought in a backhoe when drug agents raided a home and business and met the owner coming out of a bathroom.

Cough Medicine – San Francisco, CA USA
Teens’ abuse of cough medications soaring – SFGate.com – San Francisco Chronicle

Teenage abuse of common cough medications has grown ominously in recent years, according to San Francisco researchers who found a fifteenfold increase in calls to poison control centers since 1999 for teens made sick by overdosing on household drugs that can cause hallucinogenic highs.

Ecstasy – UK
Ecstasy harms brain on first use, study finds – Guardian.co.uk

People who use ecstasy for the first time could suffer impaired memory and harm to their brains, a new study of the dance drug’s effects reveals.

Alcohol – World News
Cruise Liner Slammed for Introducing ‘All You can Drink’ Packages – MedIndia

A major cruise liner has come under fire for encouraging passengers to consume alcohol by introducing “all you can drink” packages.