Drug News

DRUGS – USA
U.S. has highest rates of cocaine, marijuana use – USA Today

The United States has some of the world’s toughest drug laws. It also has some of the highest rates of drug use, according to a new World Health Organization report.

DRUGS – NEW ZEALAND
NZ ranks second in cannabis, cocaine use survey – Otago Daily Times
New Zealand ranks second only to the United States in a scientific survey of illegal cocaine and cannabis use in 17 countries.

CANNABIS – INDIA
Cannabis abuse common in Indian call centres – IT Examiner

While the use of drugs such as cannabis is illegal in India, and carries a possible prison sentence, joints are still rolled every night in the high tech villages.

PAINKILLER – USA
Drug Makers Say Safety Focus Is Slowing New Medicines: Report – Therapeutics Daily
Nearly four years after Merck & Co. yanked the painkiller Vioxx off the market, beleaguered pharmaceutical-industry executives say they are facing a tough new regulatory climate that is altering the landscape of drug development.

ALCOHOL – UK
Broad Differences In Alcohol, Tobacco And Illegal Drug Use Across Countries – Medical News Today

A survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) research consortium found that the United States had among the highest lifetime rates of tobacco and alcohol use and led in the proportion of participants reporting cannabis (marijuana) or cocaine use at least once during their lifetime.

DRUGS – UK
InterventionTreatment.com Launches Suboxone Treatment Program – Medical News Today

The program will be used to increase Intervention Treatment’s Global mission of providing Intervention and Treatment resources to those affected by alcohol and drug addiction.

DRUGS – USA
U.S. is Tops in Cocaine, Marijuana Use – The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. may lag other countries in measures such as education and health, but we’re out in front on cocaine and marijuana use.

DRUGS – EUROPE
Young People and Drugs among 15-24 years old – European Commission

Analytical report May 2008. 102-page PDF

MARIJUANA – USA
New Report Finds Highest-Ever Levels of THC in U.S. Marijuana – ONDCP

Today, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, which revealed that levels of THC - the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana - have reached the highest-ever.

HEROIN – USA
Peoria PD: Heroin use on rise – WHOI News
Girls as young as 16-years-old are starting to try heroin, and Peoria police said they have seen a large increase in its use.

HEROIN – AUSTRALIA
‘Hillbilly heroin’ makes its mark on Australian streets – ABC Online News

There are any number of illegal drugs on Australian streets at any one time, but a relative newcomer, known as ‘hillbilly heroin’, is becoming more popular.

METH – USA
Omaha drug task force to educate groups about meth – Omaha World-Herald

The Omaha Metro Drug Task Force is organizing informal presentations for groups in the Omaha area about methamphetamine.

METH – MONTENEGRO
Success for Crystal Meth Drug Addict on Youtube – PR Canada

According to Narconon Trois-Rivières, Crystal methamphetamine (more commonly referred to as crystal meth) is a drug known to cause severe addiction problems. Meth is still a drug of choice for many since it is easily available to anyone and cheaper than numerous other drugs.

METH – USA
County cracks down on drug used in meth – The Chicago Tribune
State law allows the purchase of only three grams per week of certain cold medications that are used to make meth. Retailers are required to keep a log.

METH – USA
Blue Rhino Responds to Concerns Over Propane Tanks and Methamphetamine Production – Business Wire

With the 4th of July weekend on the horizon, Blue Rhino, America’s leading brand of propane tank exchange, is reassuring grillers of the safety of its tanks in light of safety concerns regarding propane tanks and the production of methamphetamine.

DRUGS – USA
Adolescent Drinkers, Drug Users Die Younger – Join Together

Adolescent substance-abuse disorders are a predictor of young-adult mortality, new research from the University of Pittsburgh concludes.

COCAINE – USA
Cocaine, Booze and Energy Drinks: What Now for Parents? – National Ledger

Many are also worried that the energy drinks are fast becoming a favorite as a mixer fro alcohol and other parents are worried that their teens are mixing drugs, alcohol and the caffeine-laden drinks to catch a high.

MARIJUANA – USA
U.S. Marijuana Capital Toughens Enforcement – Join Together

Voters in Mendocino, Calif., have voted to tighten rules on the amount of marijuana a medical user may possess, a significant step in a community known to be a hotbed for both marijuana cultivation and support of medical marijuana.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug use among Malibu youth escalates – Malibu Times

The Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station-sponsored juvenile intervention team, designed to combat drug and alcohol problems within Malibu and Conejo Valley cities, is working to curb Malibu teen substance abuse, including an increasing abuse of prescription medication.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drugs kill more people than illicit drugs – Food Consumer

The Florida Medical Examiners Commission this week released a report saying that “the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined”.

METH – USA
Announce ground-breaking anti-meth program – Little Chicago Review

The Wyoming Meth Project today announced the launch of a statewide prevention campaign aimed at significantly reducing first-time methamphetamine use among Wyoming youth.

ALCOHOL – UK
‘Stop targeting alcohol at young’ – BBC News

Children’s Commissioner for Wales Keith Towler says a World Health Organisation survey which found children and young people in Wales had been drunk more often than others in the western world is a signal to adults on their own responsibilities.

MARIJUANA – USA
Study Says Marijuana Is Now More Potent – US News and World Report

The project—which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, collected and analyzed samples of seized pot from 48 states and determined that THC levels are almost double what they were in 1983.

CANNABIS – UK
UK children ‘most likely to try cannabis’ – Guardian

Children growing up in the UK are more likely to drink, smoke and to have tried cannabis than in many other western countries, according to a study by the World Health Organisation.

METH – USA
Prevention, Treatment Could Curb Meth Problem – University of Kentucky News

Kentucky, like the rest of the U.S., is grappling with problems related to an apparent rise in methamphetamine abuse. However, the popular perception of a “meth epidemic” tends to overstate the role played by that drug in the overall picture of substance abuse in Kentucky.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Parent targeted in binge drinking TV ads – The Age

The head of a new campaign to curb excessive drinking by targeting parents’ alcohol use in front of children says it’s not about blaming mums and dads.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol Abuse Can Damage The Brain By Decreasing Insulin And Insulin-Like Growth Factor Receptors – Medical News Today

A new study using postmortem human brain tissue has found that chronic alcohol abuse can decrease levels of genes needed for brain cells to respond to insulin/IGF, leading to neurodegeneration similar to that caused by Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

ALCOHOL – UK
Ordered Drinks Can Be Larger And Have Greater Alcohol Content Than You May Think – Medical News Today

Most alcohol research tends to assume that alcoholic drinks contain the same amount of pure alcohol: 0.6 ounces or 18 milliliters. Why is this important? Because researchers need accuracy to do their job well, and consumers need to know what they’re drinking, especially if they are then going to drive

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Help needed to fight prescription drug abuse – Times-Mail

Clear realities and a big question have come from the newspaper’s six-day look at prescription drug abuse in Lawrence County. The most basic reality is this: Prescription drug abuse kills.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescriptions Killed More Floridians Than Street Drugs In 2007 – Injury Board

A report released this week by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission, concludes that prescription drugs killed more Floridians in 2007 than illegal drugs.

METH – USA
Meth Dangers to Propane – KARK TV News

Methamphetamine producers are now using propane tanks to store harmful chemicals, something experts say could have deadly consequences.

ALCOHOL – USA
Random alcohol testing proposed for Chicago police officers who fire their weapons – Chicago Tribune

On-duty Chicago police officers and any officers who shoot their weapons, on or off-duty, would be required to submit to random alcohol tests under a contract proposal sent to the union.

ALCOHOL – UK
Supermarket alcohol price cuts ‘fuelling binge drinking’ – Telegraph

Some best-selling drinks now cost 20 per cent less than they did a year ago, new figures reveal.

ALCOHOL – CANADA
Putting a price on alcohol abuse shows a simple first step – Vancouver Sun

No one doubts that alcohol abuse is a major social problem. The evidence — public disorder, drunk driving, failing health and broken homes — confronts us every day.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcopop alarm on children in country areas – Melbourne Herald Sun
Paramedics are reviving 12-year-olds passed out on the streets of rural Victoria after drinking alcopops, a Senate inquiry was told yesterday.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Doctor urges better community alcohol education – ABC News
A Bendigo health emergency specialist says better community education is needed to help curb the number of people admitted to hospital due to alcohol-related problems.

CANNABIS – NEW ZEALAND
Cannabis at highest potency in 30 years – The New Zealand Herald

Marijuana potency increased last year to its highest in more than 30 years, says a report released by the White House.

METH – USA
Two-thirds of Glenn eighth-graders know someone who uses methamphetamine – Enterprise Record
Though a survey recently completed in Glenn County shows low student methamphetamine use in the middle-school population, it also shows nearly two-thirds of those questioned know someone who uses.

METH – USA
Chinese Now Dominate ‘Ice Distribution’ In Northern Marianas – Pacific Magazine

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Claudio K. Norita and Police Sergeant Alfred Celes, in a press briefing, said Chinese nationals have pushed out the Japanese, Filipinos and locals who used to dominate the distribution of crystal methamphetamine.

COCAINE – UK
High impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine-taking – Cambridge Network

Many individuals take addictive drugs at some point in their lives – not just illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin, but also legal and commonly available substances such as alcohol and nicotine.

COCAINE – CANADA
Cocaine use rises after three years of decline – Canada Free Press

COCAINE use among young people in Britain is on the rise after three years of decline, a survey showed last week.

METH – USA
Drug measures: Success of Montana Meth project unclear – Southern Idaho Business

It’s been nearly three years since images of strung-out teens flooded Montana primetime TV as part of the statewide Montana Meth Project aimed at warning kids of the dangers of methamphetamine.

ALCOHOL – CANADA
Wine uncorks challenge to beer as alcohol drink of choice: StatsCan – CBC

Beer continues to be Canada’s top alcoholic drink, though a growing number of consumers are favouring wine, according to a Statistics Canada report released Monday.

ALCOHOL – BULGARIA
Bulgaria, Germany Rank First in Europe in Alcohol Consumption – Sofia News Agency

The Bulgarians and the Germans occupy the first place in Europe in the consumption of hard liquor.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin addiction is on the rise in New York State – am New York

Heroin addiction in New York, which ravaged city neighborhoods in the 1970s, has been creeping up again, officials said.

COCAINE – UK
Researchers Learn More About Cocaine Related Brain Damage – Medical New Today

When mothers use cocaine during pregnancy, the exposure of the developing brain to the substance can cause specific neurological and behavioral abnormalities.

ADDICTION – USA
Exercise may fight addiction – The Enquirer

New approaches for treating and preventing drug addiction range from low-tech - regular exercise - to high-tech such as experimental vaccines aimed at helping to prevent former drug users from relapsing.

ALCOHOL – UK
Online Booze Tracker Can Help Beat Cancer – Medical News Today

If you find it difficult to keep track of just how many glasses of wine you’ve consumed during the week, help is at hand thanks to Cancer Research UK.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Proper disposal of prescription medications – Battle Creek Enquirer

The Calhoun County Medicine Abuse Prevention Task Force of the Substance Abuse Council, in collaboration with the Calhoun County Public Health Department, encourages everyone to take advantage of the June 7th Hazardous Waste Collection in Marshall. In addition to old flashlight batteries, pesticides, or car cleaner, Calhoun County residents can drop off any unused prescription medication.

DRUGS – USA
Study Finds Link Between Amphetamine Abuse, Heart Attacks in Young Adults – Health News Digest

Young adults who abuse amphetamines may be at greater risk of suffering a heart attack, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

ALCOHOL – UK
TEENAGERS CAN GET ALCOHOL AS EASY AS A COKE – UK Daily Express

THE alarming state of Boozy Britain and the menace of underage drinking was yesterday laid bare by a police chief.

DRUGS – AUSTRALIA
Tearaway toddlers prescribed ADHD drugs – Mercury

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal 311 children in NSW aged five and under depend on controversial medication, including 58 four-year-olds and 13 three-year-olds.

RITALIN – AUSTRALIA
Drugs for toddlers? You must be kidding – News.com.au

SOMEWHERE between the traffic report and an erectile dysfunction advertisement, John Deeks booms over your breakfast cereal: “Does your two-year-old make careless mistakes? Do they appear to not be listening to you? Does your son crawl around or climb on things? Or is your daughter easily distracted and babbles excessively?”

DRUGS – USA
The Fatal Chemical Reaction – Tampa Tribune

The common stimulant drugs - cocaine, crystal meth, Ritalin and Adderall - are short-acting and they keep a person awake. The common narcotic drugs - oxycontin, vicodin and methadone - are long-acting and make the brain sleepy, including the part of the brain that drives the reflex to breathe.

ALCOHOL – USA
London revelers mark drink ban with subway chaos – CNN International News

London’s subway system was engulfed by thousands of revelers Saturday night, marking the introduction of an alcohol ban on the mass transit network.

ALCOHOL – UK
Parents to be told alcohol limits for children – Telegraph

Ministers will announce plans to encourage “responsible” drinking at home by youngsters under adult supervision with official advice that could set recommendations for children as young as 12.

ALCOHOL – UK
Tube alcohol party shuts six stations – Telegraph
Thousands of people boarded Circle Line trains to mark the final few hours before the start of an alcohol ban on public transport in the capital came into force on Sunday.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
A dose of honesty in prescription drug ads – Boston Globe

LAST MONTH, a congressional committee held a hearing to examine the extent to which drug companies run misleading ads about their products. The committee spotlighted TV commercials for three drugs.

METHADONE – UK
New approach to tackling drugs in Scotland – eGov monitor

The first national drugs strategy since devolution was launched today. Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing hailed it as “a new era” in Scotland’s approach to tackling drugs.

DRUGS – USA
Got unused medication? Bring it to Broward sheriff’s deputies today – Sun-Sentinel

If a teen is thinking about trying drugs for the first time, chances are he or she willhead straight for a parent’s medicine cabinet.

METH – USA
P a problem the Govt is taking seriously – Scoop

The Government takes the scourge of illegal drugs such as methamphetamine (or P) extremely seriously, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said today.

ALCOHOL – UK
WHO to Launch Campaign Against Harmful Drinking – Join Together

Saying that the “harmful use of alcohol causes serious public-health problems,” the World Health Organization (WHO) says it will devise an international plan to address issues like binge drinking and alcohol marketing.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol-Related Hospital Admissions Double in U.K. – Join Together

Twice as many people were admitted to hospitals in the U.K. with alcohol-related problems in 2006-07 than a decade earlier, according to new government research.

DRUGS – USA
Focus on recovery for Scottish drug addicts – Scotsman

SCOTLAND’S new drug strategy will focus on helping addicts into recovery rather than treatment programmes.

DRUGS – USA
Addicts turn to prescription drugs for fix – KTEN News

Police in Enid say they’re seeing an increase in drug addicts using prescription drugs. Police say prescription narcotics are the easiest drugs to get because abusers complain of symptoms that are hard to diagnose but are treated with pain medicines.

ALCOHOL – USA
Ways to calculate blood alcohol content – News Day

It’s tough to know for sure, but drivers do have tools to help determine if they’ve had too much to drink before they get behind the wheel.

ALCOHOL – USA
Police chiefs call for war on drunks – The Sydney Morning Herald

DRUNK tanks, alcohol taxes and eliminating happy hours are among measures outlined by Australian police commissioners yesterday for a nationwide campaign to combat binge drinking and alcohol-related violence in bars, pubs and clubs.

ALCOHOL – USA
New ABC campaign aims to tackle alcohol misuse by seniors – WSLS News

In conjunction with May’s designation as Older Americans Month, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is distributing a new educational brochure, detailing the effects of alcohol on older adults, through ABC stores statewide.

METH – USA
Life After Meth – KOAM TV News

Methamphetamine is a drug running rampant in the Four States, breaking apart families and ruining lives.

ADDICTION – USA
Newly Released Narconon Website Challenges Inevitability of Relapse – e-Media Wire

Decades of producing stably drug-free lives for its graduates has prompted Narconon to launch a new website — www.drugfreelives.org — testifying that addiction need not be considered a relapsing disease. Stable recovery is possible, it presents. Even to be expected.

METHADONE – USA
Methadone deaths rise in N.C. – Asheville Citizen-Time

The problem has become particularly severe in North Carolina, where methadone overdose deaths soared from 48 in 1999 to 354 in 2006, a more than 600 percent increase, according to state records.

COCAINE – THAILAND
Cocaine overdose cases at UK hospitals increase four fold – The Thaindian

The number of drug users in Britain being admitted to hospital with cocaine overdoses is four times higher than what it was eight years ago, new figures reveal.

HEROIN – SPAIN
Heroin the main cause of death among Barcelona youngsters – Typically Spanish

A total of 90 people died from heroin overdoses in Barcelona last year, and according to Público newspaper that makes the drug the largest cause of death among the young in the city, greater than those to die in traffic accidents or in suicides.

ALCOHOL – INDIA
Oct 2nd to be ‘World No Alcohol Day’? – Times of India

Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary could soon be a dry day globally. India has officially proposed at the ongoing World Health Assembly in Geneva that October 2 be declared ‘World No Alcohol Day’.

ADDICTION – INDIA
Students taking Alzheimer’s, ADHD medicines – Herald Publications

Performance pressure is driving children to take drugs that they believe improve brain functioning during examinations.

ALCOHOl – UK
Health and beauty – Manchester Evening News

The north west has one of the biggest alcohol abuse problems in the UK, with one in three adults drinking amounts hazardous to their health.

ADDERALL – USA
Higher education – Augusta Chronicle

For some teens hoping to get an A, inspiration comes from a pill starting with the same letter — Adderall.

COCAINE – UK
Government launches cocaine crackdown – Home Office

The government is launching a new crackdown on cocaine, Drugs Minister Vernon Coaker announced today.

ALCOHOL – IRELAND
HSE launches new Alcohol Awareness Campaign – Drugs.ie

The Health Service Executive has launched a new alcohol awareness campaign aimed at delaying the age at which young people start to drink.

DRUGS – UK
Tackling drugs – Welsh Assembly Government

Prevention, support and enforcement are the three pillars of reducing the harm caused by illicit drug use, says Minister for Social Justice and Local Government Dr Brian Gibbons.

ALCOHOL – IRELAND
HSE plans shock tactics to scare teenagers off alcohol – Irish Independent

The figures were revealed as the Health Service Executive (HSE) prepares to launch a new alcohol awareness campaign today aimed at delaying the age at which young people start to drink.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Internet Called ‘Biggest Culprit’ in Prescription Drug Abuse – Join Together

Prescription drug abuse is being fueled by easy access to pharmaceuticals on the Internet, often facilitated by shady doctors and pharmacies.

ALCOHOL – UK
21st Birthday Binge Drinking Extremely Common; Can Pose Serious Health Hazards – Medical News Today

The “21 for 21″ ritual, where 21st birthday revelers attempt to down 21 alcoholic drinks, is highly prevalent among college students, according to new research. In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the University of Missouri determined that many college students drink to excess on their 21st birthdays and potentially jeopardize their health.

DRUGS – USA
FACTBOX: Recent developments in Mexico’s drugs war – Reuters

Here are some of the latest developments in Mexico’s war with violent drug cartels, which produce and transport drugs across the border into the United States.
METH – USA
Fighting ‘a new smallpox’ – Indian Country Today

With drums and singing from Gathering of Nations Powwow in the distance, the National Congress of American Indians, in conjunction with other federal and Native organizations, launched an anti-methamphetamine print and radio campaign to specifically target American Indian and Native Alaskan audiences.

RITALIN – AUSTRALIA
Brain-boosting drugs ‘will be misused’ – News.com.au

MEDICAL experts are warning that school and university students could soon be tested for “performance enhancing drugs” after exams.

RITALIN – UK
Boffins sound exam cheat warning on brain enhancing pills – The Register

A group of leading medical scientists has called on the government to investigate what effects the use of brain performance-enhancing drugs by healthy people could have on society, education and the workplace.

RITALIN – UK
Smart drugs for students – Channel 4 News

If performance enhancing drugs for your brain are now a reality, should students face the same kind of restrictions as athletes?

ADDICTION – USA
New Drug Addiction and Alcohol Drug Treatment – PR-USA

The combination of Palm Springs Recovery’s affordability and its magnificent setting in the shadows of the San Jacinto Mountains has already made it a very popular treatment destination and rooms are filling quickly.