Drug News

CANNABIS – UK
Australian Medical Association Launches Publication On Health Risks Of Cannabis Use – Medical News Today

To coincide with Drug Action Week 2008, the Australian Medical Association today launched a brochure about the short and long-term effects of cannabis use.

OPIUM – KENYA
World losing battle against drug abuse: UN – Daily Nation

The world seems to be losing the battle against the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs, a UN report has warned.

PAINKILLER – USA
Painkiller Deemed Dangerous by Advocacy Group – HULIQ
Some painkillers may do more harm than good. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, is pushing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban a prescription painkiller chemically known as propoxyphene, citing the dangerous risks it poses to consumers.

CANNABIS – UK
Teenage cannabis use revealed – Scotsman

MORE than a quarter of teenagers have tried cannabis by the age of 15, Government figures have found.

CANNABIS – PAKISTAN
Cannabis — a fast emerging health problem in Pakistan – The News International

In Pakistan, the youth comprises more than 20 per cent of the population but unfortunately it is the worst target of drug abuse, as almost five per cent of adult population in the country uses drugs.

DRUGS – USA
Heroin, marijuana use on rise – Glendale News Press

Heroin and marijuana are the most commonly used drugs in Glendale and are primarily being sold to teens, according to police.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcohol is making women fat – The Daily Telegraph
As women catch up with men in the drinking stakes, their waistlines are also catching up with the beer belly, according to health experts.
DRUGS – UK
Drug Treatment Programs Influenced By State Policies – Medical News Today

State policies have a significant impact on the services performed by substance abuse treatment programs, and could play a key role in efforts to expand the use of research-based “comprehensive” treatment approaches, reports a study in the June issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol Abuse More Common In Insured Patients, Drug Abuse In Uninsured – Medical News Today
Fourteen percent of patients admitted to hospital have alcohol/drug abuse and addiction (ADAA) disorders, the costs for which have risen sharply in recent years, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

METH – USA
County’s Meth Task Force continuing efforts – Hudson Hub-Times

The Summit County Methamphetamine Property Awareness Task Force has agreed on a form to help coordinate the documentation of discovered meth labs on a county-wide level.

METH – USA
False positives are common in drug tests on new moms – Los Angeles Daily News

Hospitals’ initial urine- screening drug tests on pregnant women can produce a high rate of false positives - particularly for methamphetamine and opiates - because they are technically complex and interpretation of the results can be difficult, some experts say.

ALCOHOL – USA
Anheuser to Stop Selling Alcoholic Energy Drinks – Wall Street Journal

Anheuser-Busch Cos. will stop making and selling caffeinated alcoholic drinks as part of a settlement with 11 state attorneys general, the attorneys general said Thursday.

ALCOHOL – CHINA
Some 50 pilots in India fail alcohol tests yearly – China Daily

Around 50 pilots each year in India are grounded for consuming alcohol before taking a flight, foreign media reported Thursday.

METH – USA
Wyoming Meth Project launches statewide campaign – The Torrington Telegram

On June 16, the Wyoming Meth Project advisory board kicked off a campaign that is patterned after a program started in Montana two years ago.

ALCOHOL – USA
Drug, alcohol abuse study measures the high cost of under-treated addiction – The Los Angeles Times

DRUG AND alcohol abuse sets people on a path toward heart disease, cancer and other chronic illnesses. A study in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment reports that hospital costs for this medical fallout can be substantial.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcoholic-energy drinks: The ups and the downs – Kansas City Star

It’s not a problem of labeling; it’s a problem with the product. Alcoholic-energy drinks, like Anheuser-Busch’s Tilt, pose dangers to more than just teenagers.

ALCOHOL – USA
Student alcohol use at 45% - MLive

The number of Jackson County minors who have consumed alcohol is in line with national averages listed in a federal report released this week.

ADDICTION – INDIA
Cops alert parents on addiction signs – Calcutta Telegraph

When your gangly teenaged son suddenly takes to smelling boot-polish, it’s a cause for worry. For the round tin box may just contain the first signs of more destructive and expensive addictions.

METH – USA
Madigan announces anti-meth program – The Southern

Meth makers in Southern Illinois soon will have one less tactic in getting the materials they need to make the drug.

DRUGS – U
How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime – RWJF
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that more than 1 million youths, ages 12 to 17, needed treatment for an illicit drug problem in 2003, but only one in 10 actually received help.

DRUGS – UK
Human Rights Take Centre Stage on ‘International Day Against Drug Abuse’ – International Harm Reduction Agency
The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has used the UN-sponsored International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to focus on the rights of people who use drugs and people in prison for drug offences, declaring that “No one should be stigmatised or discriminated against because of their dependence on drugs”.

ALCOHOL – USA
Anheuser-Busch ends sales of alcoholic energy drinks – Central Valley Business Times

Anheuser-Busch Inc. is ending sales of its alcoholic energy drinks, including Tilt and Bud Extra, and says it will not produce any caffeinated alcohol beverages in the future.

DRUGS – UK
The 26th Of June International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking – Medical News Today

The 26th of June International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was established by the United Nations in 1987. In its 2006 edition, the UNODC launched an anti-drugs campaign entitled “Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs.”

OPIUM – UK
Opium, cocaine threaten Africa and Europe - UNODC – Summary – Earth Times

The surge in opium and cocaine cultivation last year has negative effects on the drug control situation in Africa and Europe, the head of the UN drug agency said

CANNABIS – UK
28% of pupils admit trying cannabis – The Press Association

More than a quarter of teenagers have tried cannabis by the age of 15, Government figures show. Nearly a fifth of 13-year-olds have been in a fight, while 12% admit to having shoplifted, the study said.

ALCOHOL – USA
Anheuser-Busch will stop alcoholic ‘energy’ drinks – CNN News

Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. will reformulate its alcoholic energy drinks to remove caffeine and other stimulants they contain as part of a nationwide legal settlement.

PAINKILLER – USA
FDA sued over failure to ban painkiller – Fierce Healthcare

A consumer group has sued the FDA over its failure to remove a prescription painkiller from the market, arguing that it’s too dangerous to stay on the market.

DRUGS – UK
Teens Who Abuse Alcohol Or Drugs Are More Likely To Die Young, Pitt Study Finds – Medical News Today

Teens who abuse alcohol or drugs are more likely to die in early adulthood, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh.

METH – USA
Be On The Lookout for Meth Contaminated Propane Tanks – KIMT News

Propane tanks are not just for grilling but some are using the tanks to make meth. With meth labs on the rise in our area be on the lookout for corroded propane tanks.

ALCOHOL – USA
Survey Finds Wales Has Huge Underage Drinking Problem – Join Together

A new health survey conducted in 40 countries finds that Welsh children were the most likely to have been drunk multiple times before reaching the age of 13.

ALCOHOL – UK
Booze plans enough to drive you to drink – Scotsman

IF ever there was an example of why the SNP would make Scotland a confused, sad, mad and bad place to live, it must be its toxic brew of seemingly-attractive authoritarian ideas to change the drinking habits of Scotland’s youth.

ALCOHOL – UK
Shocking adverts in blitz on binge drinking – Times Online

The Home Office is out to quench students’ thirsts for alcohol with a multi-million pound, multi-media campaign, designed to shock.

ALCOHOL – NEW ZEALAND
Binge rules could drive you to drink – The New Zealand Herald

A report published this month in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found that the number of women aged 18 to 24 who had to go to hospital after binge drinking had more than doubled in less than a decade.
PAINKILLER – USA
Group sues FDA for inaction over its petition to ban risky painkiller – Food Consumer

A prominent consumer group Thursday filed lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration over the agency’s delay in response to its early petition to pull a prescription painkiller off from the marker.

ADDICTION – USA
Catching addiction before it starts: The five stages of drug use – Delta County Independent

Every minute of every day, around the clock, five people try an illicit drug for the first time. That adds up to nearly three million people per year. Tragically, more than half of these initiates are under 18.

ADDERALL – USA
Doctors may soon prescribe addictive drugs online – Forbes

The concern is that patients are more likely to abuse these treatments, and their prescriptions should be monitored more closely.

ALCOHOL – UK
‘Hazardous Drinking’ May Be A New ‘Check Stop’ On The Way To Alcohol Dependence – Medical News Today

Current diagnostic guides divide alcohol-use disorders into two categories: alcohol abuse/harmful use and alcohol dependence.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Are You Taking Too Many Medications? – Forbes
The next time you take a peek in your friend’s or neighbor’s medicine cabinet, don’t be surprised if it’s a little crowded.

ALCOHOL – UK
Are British Youth Drinking And Bingeing More? – Medical News Today

The UK Youth Alcohol Action plan was released in June - targeting alcohol use by underage drinkers. The report cites encouraging evidence.

ALCOHOL – UK
How To Save $1 Billion And 800 Lives In Canada – Medical News Today

The economic burden of alcohol abuse costs each Canadian $463 per year. In fact, the direct health care costs for alcohol abuse in Canada exceed those of cancer.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription Drug Proposal Expands – WEEK TV

It’s one class project that’s stretching way beyond school grounds. Students at Pontiac Township High School developed the Prescription Drug Disposal Program about five months ago.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Prescription drug abuse rising among youth – Union Democrat

Alcohol has long been the cornerstone of youthful experimentation. More and more, teens and young adults are tapping into those child-safe orange bottles as an additional means to a high.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
5 Ways to Avoid Prescription Drugs – Stop Aging Now

Before you get that prescription filled, consider what lifestyle changes you could make, first. Just these five changes can make a big difference in your condition or your risk.

METH – USA
Report: Valley teens’ attitudes about meth are changing – ABC TV News

It’s hard not to notice the billboards around the Valley. You know, the ones showing methamphetamine addicts in all their glory, sores on the mouths, rotted out teeth and skin aged beyond their years.

METH – USA
Acoma hosts meth awareness meeting – Cibola County Beacon

It isn’t here in full force, but it will be. It is methamphetamine and it will not let you go once it takes hold.

MARIJUANA – USA
Marijuana more potent than ever – Los Angeles Times

Marijuana is more potent than at any time since scientific analysis of the drug began in the 1970s, according to a report from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project.

MARIJUANA – UK
US report says Marijuana strength increasing – Telegraph

Marijuana strength has increased to its highest levels in more than 30 years, according to a report by scientists.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says – The New York Times
From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.

ALCOHOL – USA
Most Binge Drinking Takes Place in Public, Involves Beer – Join Together

About half of all binge drinking takes place in public and in large groups, increasing the risk of injury, according to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

DRUGS – USA
Students Get the ‘Dirt’ on Drugs – Join Together

A Boston based actor and comedian who performs an irreverent one-man show on drugs and making good choices has become a hit with young audiences.

ADDICTION – USA
More research planned into whether exercise can help prevent addiction – WDBJ News
Studies in both humans and animals suggest that exercise may help prevent drug or alcohol addiction. The government is pumping more money into research to find out.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Popular prescriptions can cause dependence – Whittier Daily News

Physicians prefer the term “dependence” because it describes withdrawal symptoms rather than depravity. Problems with withdrawal don’t occur only with drugs of abuse. Many prescription medications can cause unpleasant symptoms if they are stopped suddenly.

DRUGS – USA
Arlington officials identify drug found in drinking water – KDBC News

Drinking water in Arlington, Texas, tested positive for trace concentrations of the anti-anxiety medication meprobamate. That’s what city officials revealed today in response to a series of public records requests.

METH – USA
Prosecutor Warns About Propane Tanks Used For Meth – WLWT TV News

The Hamilton County prosecutor is asking the public to keep an eye on any propane tanks they buy for their grill this summer.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Binge-drinking linked to increase in harm – News.com.au
BINGE drinking is being blamed for a dramatic increase in alcohol-related harm among young people.

ALCOHOL – UK
Brain protein cuts excessive alcohol drinking – Telegraph

The new approach is remarkable because it prevented relapse - the common tendency found in sober alcoholics to easily return to heavy drinking after just one glass.

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 – UK
Shock Cost Of Drug Addiction – Daily Record

THE cost of Scotland’s drug addicts is alarming, incredible and disgraceful at the same time. Every addict costs the country £50,000 a year. That amounts to £2.6billion - almost 10 per cent of the Scottish government’s annual £30billion budget.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol ban comes into force – This is Hertfordshire

Boris Johnson’s alcohol ban on the capital’s Tubes and buses will come into force this weekend. Drinking from and carrying open containers of alcohol will be prohibited from Sunday.

ALCOHOL – UK
Alcohol ban plan to cut problems – BBC News

Drinkers who cause trouble in Pitlochry could find themselves banned from buying alcohol practically everywhere in the town.

ALCOHOL – USA
Driving home the dangerous mix of teens and alcohol – Foster’s Daily Democrat

The forum was co-sponsored by the Portsmouth School Department and Police Department in response to the recently released Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the ever-increasing number of arrests for underage drinking and parties.

ADDICTION – CANADA
An irrational and stupid drug policy – Ottawa Citizen

The government’s handling of drug policy is so ignorant and foolish it is a challenge to explain why in a newspaper column. To expound on stupidity of this magnitude requires a very long book.

DRUGS – UK
National Institute On Drug Abuse To Highlight Latest Drug Abuse Research At Cincinnati Conference – Medical News Today

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, will convene a 2-day conference to explore how the latest scientific findings in drug abuse can fill the current gap between research and clinical treatment practices.

METH – USA
Burnt by Ice – The Star

Crystal methamphetamin is currectly a popular drug among youths. WHEN May had her first puff of Ice, she never thought that she would be addicted to the substance, which looks exactly like table salt.

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.