Drug News

DRUG ABUSE – USA
Demi Lovato Opens Up About Drug Abuse: ‘Being A Celebrity Can Be Dangerous – ‎Huffington Post

But the part-Mexican singer, who spent three-months in rehab in November 2010 … how peer pressure and loneliness led her to experiment with drugs in 2010.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse bill wins final passage – WSLS

Kentucky lawmakers have passed a measure that’s intended to curb prescription drug abuse in a state where more people are dying from overdoses than car wrecks. A compromise passed by the House and Senate would require all physicians in the state to use a prescription drug monitoring system so they can more readily spot addicts seeking painkillers.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Saint Jude Retreats Announces Length Of Stay In Drug Rehab Does Matter – PR Web
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The amount of time a guest stays in an alcohol or drug treatment center greatly impacts the outcome of the individuals success in that program.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Experts say communication key to preventing alcohol abuse among teens – Tri Cities
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Communication is the key to preventing alcohol abuse among teenagers. Many teens are exposed to the temptation of underage drinking at an early age, 40 percent of eighth-graders have tried alcohol and one in four is a binge drinker. Around 20 students, school staff and community members gathered for an evening town hall forum entitled “Start Talking, Before They Start Drinking” at Tennessee High School.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Free from drug addiction, former Menard High star returns to baseball – The Town Talk

The young man whose life on drugs careened and collapsed to such a degree that, at one time, he was homeless and nearly committed suicide, has shaken the addiction.

COCAINE – USA
Rihanna Showcases Drug Use, Refuses Rehabilitation? – Christian Post

Rihanna, 24-year-old Barbadian pop singer, recently posted pictures to her Twitter account that showed her breaking down what appeared to be drugs on the head of a man whose shoulders she was seated on in order to see above the crowd

DRUG ADDICTION TREATMENT – USA
Veterans who complete intense treatment can have court charges expunged – Post Gazette

Together there are now 80 veterans treatment courts nationwide. In Pennsylvania, recidivism among program participants is just 1 percent. The statistics are even better in Allegheny County, where Judge Zottola can brag about having no recidivism among veterans whose cases he’s heard in treatment court.

DRUG ABUSE – USA
Early-intervention program helps teens with alcohol, drug abuse – Longmont Daily Times Call
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Through the clear eyes of sobriety, John Vandegrift looks back on his drug use and sees it for what it was: a coping mechanism. The 21-year-old Littleton resident said he began smoking marijuana as a high school freshman, and two years ago he moved to heavier substances. Heroine became his drug of choice.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Teen Deaths Related to Prescription Drug Abuse Skyrocket – Madison Patch
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Although many teens might otherwise shy away from illegal street drugs, more and more teens are turning to prescription drugs and over the counter medicines to get high.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
A Timeline Of Whitney Houston’s Battle With Drug Abuse – RAPFIX.MTV

Whitney Houston was found dead at the age of 48 on Saturday (February 11) but her legacy will live on, thanks to a celebrated discography. Outside of her success, however, Houston fought a long, public battle with addiction that made her a prime target for tabloid scrutiny over the past few years.

DRUG REHAB – THAILAND
Want to be drug-free? Thai monks prescribe projectile vomiting – WorldBlog

Carrie Jeffers feared she would never kick her heroin addiction after relapsing repeatedly in her native Michigan. Then she flew to Thailand, and her life changed. The rigorous regime includes meditation and the daily ingestion of a foul-tasting herbal drink that induces projectile vomiting to cleanse the body of toxins.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Rx drugs reportedly killed Houston, but officials still probing possible drowning – Fox News

Relatives of late pop icon Whitney Houston have reportedly been told by coroner officials that the singer died from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol rather than drowning.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Alcohol abuse help unused by some students – MSU State News
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Drinking, partying and hanging with friends was the norm for psychology senior James Dodge when he first arrived at MSU. Since then, he said he’s realized there are other, healthier ways to enjoy the college experience. But for many college-aged people, seeking help might not be a priority.

HEROIN – USA
Experts share horrors of heroin addiction – Seattle Today

On a big screen at Granite City High School was the face of a mother expressing the worst fears any mom could have. “It makes you feel hopeless seeing there’s nothing you can do,” said Sharon Hosford, of Alton, during a video shown during a Feb. 1 forum about drug use.

METHAMPHETAMINE – MEXICO
Mexican army finds 15 tons of pure methamphetamine – CBS News
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The historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in western Mexico, equal to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009, feeds growing speculation that the country could become a world platform for meth production, not just a supplier to the United States.

ECSTASY – UK
Ecstasy and drink warning after Manchester clubbers taken to hospital – BBC News
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Four clubbers were taken to hospital after mixing alcohol with the illegal drug ecstasy in Manchester.

ALCOHOL – USA
Tribe suing beer companies for alcohol problems – Fox News
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An American Indian tribe sued some of the world’s largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription pills fuel crime, treatment in Maine – Portland Daily Sun

A recent string of pharmacy robberies in the Portland area has seized the attention of local law enforcement. City investigators are still working to identify the people or single individual responsible for demanding an undisclosed amount and type of pharmaceutical drug from three Portland CVS pharmacies.

HEROIN/PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Pain pills and heroin ravaging the suburbs – The Seattle Times
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“The drugs completely take over,” Stelcher said. “It was killing me. If I’d had it my way, I would have been dead.” His wife got him into rehab.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Massive cuts could close almost every state drug rehab – Northwest Cable News
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Proposed cuts from DSHS would close almost every outpatient drug treatment center, methadone clinic and detox facility in Washington.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Medical professionals deal with patients’ suffering, addiction – The Mountain Press
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“The problem is the prescription drug abuse is so out of control, we see patients who are there (in the emergency room) for the wrong reasons on an hourly basis.”

DRUG REHAB – USA
Matt Hardy Now Facing Drug Charges – Southern Pines Pilot
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On Monday, Matt Hardy (Hardy Boyz – six-time World Wrestling Entertainment World Tag Team Champions) posted a video online saying that the last two months have “definitely been the worst months of my career” and that he plans to seek treatment. “I have made the voluntary decision to go to rehab and get myself together.

ALCOHOL/DRUG ABUSE – USA
WWU has launched two campaigns to address student drinking, drug use – The News Tribune

BELLINGHAM – In the longstanding struggle to curb alcohol abuse among college students, Western Washington University launched two campaigns this year to provide students with accurate, non-judgmental information about alcohol and drugs.

DRUG REHAB – USA
Steel Magnolia’s Joshua Scott Jones enters rehab – CBS News
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Jones, the male half of duo Steel Magnolia, has entered treatment for alcohol and substance abuse.

MARIJUANA – USA
Relaxed state laws blamed for increase in marijuana use – Contra Costa Times
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“It is disturbing to see an increase among kids,” Jones said. “Society is getting to the point where (marijuana is) more and more acceptable. It’s why we’re so adamant not to allow it. We want to keep it out of the hands of kids.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Boeing arrest points to US workplace drug problems – Reuters
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The arrest of more than three dozen people on drug charges at a Boeing (BA.N) military aircraft plant highlights the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by U.S. workers, experts said on Friday.

DRUG REHAB – VIETNAM
Vietnam’s Drug Rehab Centers Under Fire – Voice of America

Rights advocates in Vietnam are criticizing a form of treatment used by the government to rehabilitate illegal drug users. The government says the work keeps addicts away from the temptations of the outside world while giving them useful jobs. Human Rights Watch says the centers are “little more than forced labor camps,” designed as profit-making machines for businesses.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Meth investigation nets unlikely dealers – Richmond Times Dispatch

Its street names include “bikers’ coffee” and “poor man’s cocaine,” but an ongoing investigation into a loosely confederated group of area meth dealers shows the drug cuts across all social lines, hooking some unlikely players. Many of the 16 defendants sentenced thus far had little or no prior criminal records and led lives far removed from the dangerous, makeshift rural meth labs and renegade biker gangs popularly associated with the drug.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
For seniors, addiction often begins with prescription drugs – Miami Herald

According to the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the phenomenon of elderly addicts has grown exponentially in the last decade and it requires doubling the number of centers of specialized treatment before 2020.

DRUG ADDICTION – THAILAND
Yingluck’s drive to ‘reduce drugs scourge by 80%’ – The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday launched a comprehensive campaign against the drug scourge called the Force of the Land, aiming to reduce the problem by 80 per cent within a year by getting state agencies to work together systematically. Yingluck said statistics showed that the country had 490,000 illegal drug users in 2007 and their population had tripled within four years. Drug abuse has spread to 60,000 of the country’s 80,000 villages.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Rowan seeks to head off alcohol abuse among students – Today’s Sunbeam

All first-year students must also take the school’s Alcohol-Wise online course before attending classes. “What we really try to do is debunk the whole Animal House image of the college experience,” said Rowan Dean of Students Richard Jones. The effort begins with orientation for incoming freshmen, Jones explained. The newbies and their parents learn about Rowan’s policy on drinking and drug use. parents’ participation in a big key, as they’re supposed to be “allies,” he said, of the university in making sure students intend to follow the straight and narrow.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
UW-Madison changes policy on alcohol citations – Chicago Tribune

University of Wisconsin-Madison is now requiring most students who get an alcohol-related citation to take a course on the risks of alcohol abuse. Now, if a student gets an underage drinking ticket, a trip to detox, or an alcohol-fueled disorderly conduct citation he or she is required to enroll in the program. Students will be flagged by UW police or referred by Madison police officers.

ECSTASY – USA
LA Coliseum, Insomniac sued by parents of dead teenager – Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and the event company Insomniac were sued Thursday by the parents of a teenage girl who died of an Ecstasy overdose after attending a Coliseum rave.

HEROIN – USA
Heroin a deadly draw in ‘Bluff’ – Atlanta Journal Constitution

He has seen a steady stream of suburban heroin users slip in and out of the neighborhood. More young Caucasians are traveling from suburban counties into the city to buy heroin. They buy a gram for about $160 and return home to abuse the drug and sell the leftovers.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Authorities raid suspected ‘prescription mills’ – Los Angeles Times

Federal and local law enforcement officials close four medical clinics in the San Fernando Valley suspected of catering to addicts seeking heroin-like painkillers and other drugs.

ALCOHOL – USA
Online Course Helps Reduce Harmful College Drinking – Kansas City infoZine

Researchers found that students who took the online course reported significantly reduced alcohol use and binge drinking during the fall semester, compared with control students. These beneficial effects, however, did not persist into the spring semester.

DRUG REHAB – RUSSIA
In Russia, Harsh Remedy for Addiction Gains Favor – New York Times
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The treatment center does not handcuff addicts to their beds anymore. But caged together on double-decker bunks with no way out, they have no choice but to endure the agonies of withdrawal, the first step in a harsh, coercive approach to drug treatment that has gained wide support in Russia.

ALCOHOL – USA
Government Sues Trucking Company for Taking Keys Away From Alcoholic Driver – FOX News

Citing a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Obama administration is suing a trucking company for taking the keys away from an Arkansas driver

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Workplace methamphetamine use is higher in West – Los Angeles Times

Overall, positive methamphetamine screens in the workplace stands at 0.10% nationally. Hawaii ranked first in the highest rates of positive screens for methamphetamine–410% greater than the national average. The rates in Arkansas and Oklahoma were also high, 280% and 240% above the national average, respectively. California’s rate was 140% above the average.

ECSTASY – USA
Ecstasy drug transported through Utah – StandardNet

OGDEN — The Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force seized 79,321 pills of the party drug Ecstasy during 2010. The total is four times the average taken off the street annually for the entire state of Utah, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription Drug User Fee Act: New Fee Agreement Led By FDA – Third Age

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act may include a new fee agreement, after the FDA agreed to work toward faster, more predictable reviews of new prescription drugs. Under the draft agreement unveiled by the agency Thursday, the FDA will, in turn, receive millions of dollars in additional fees from drugmakers.

COCAINE – USA
Oscar de la Hoya Admits to Cheating, Cocaine and Cross-Dressing – International Business Times
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Oscar de la Hoya publicly admitted to cheating on his wife, using cocaine and cross-dressing in a recent interview about his ongoing treatment for alcohol abuse and thoughts of suicide. “I am tired now of lying, of lying to the public and of lying to myself.”

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
‘Pill-mill’ doctors responsible for much prescription-drug abuse – TC Palm
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How about a “zero tolerance” policy for the pill-mill doctors? Let’s levy a fine closer to $100,000 than $10,000, permanently revoke their medical license, and deliver a mandatory prison term for homicide. In the “war against drugs,” these doctors are the worst kind of war criminal.

BATH SALTS – USA
Bath salts: America’s newest drug addiction – Examiner.com

Synthetic drugs, being sold under the facade of “bath salts,” have quickly become a cause for alarm with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) and federal authorities.

COCAINE – BRAZIL
Outrage: Rio Drug Dealers Sell Amy Winehouse Brand Cocaine‎ – Student Operated Press

Drug dealers in the Brazilian capital of Rio de Janeiro are packaging their product with pictures of Amy Winehouse in a bid to make the drug more attractive to younger users.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Campus Life 101: Staying Sober – Fox News

As a high school senior, Aaron Weir decided to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, not for any particular academic program but for the hospitality that school extends toward students in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. “I was 16 years old when I got clean and sober and I want to stay that way in college.”

HEROIN – USA
Heroin ‘lamp shades’ lead to arrest – Washington Post

Upon closer inspection, the officers noticed that the frames contained a “brown powdery substance” that tested positive for heroin. A lot of it.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Arrests won’t solve prescription drug problem, leaders say‎ – Charleston Gazette

“Law enforcement cannot arrest our way out of this problem,” Smithers said. “It’s way beyond that.” West Virginia has the nation’s highest rate of drug overdose deaths. More than 90 percent involve prescription drugs.

ALCOHOL AND DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Teens take road to addiction early in life – Times Free Press

The road to teen addiction often begins when children are still young enough to climb into their parents’ laps. The majority of alcohol and drug abuse begins right before adulthood, Columbia researchers said, but small children who see their parents smoking, drinking or pill-popping are more likely to give it a whirl during their teenage years.

HEROIN – USA
Richland man charged in 3rd heroin-related death – The News Tribune

A 35-year-old alleged drug dealer now is charged with the deaths of three Tri-Citians who overdosed after using his heroin. In the newest case filed against Brian Haney Burt, the Richland man reportedly found the victim in a poor condition but panicked and left without getting help.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Officials warn of prescription drugs in schools – WVLT

Maryville City school officials worry more kids are abusing prescription pills like Oxycontin, Percocet and Adderall.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
No shame, only hope, in fighting your child’s drug addiction – Minneapolis Star Tribune

Really, really good kids become addicted to drugs, and really, really good kids lie, cheat and steal to protect that addiction. The change doesn’t happen overnight.

DRUG ADDICTION – UK
Lib Dems to vote to decriminalise all drug use – The Independent

The proposed reform is based on legislation in Portugal, where the personal use of any controlled drug is no longer a criminal offense.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Former Judge Richard Baumgartner tells his story of drug use – WBIR-TV

Drug addiction can happen to anyone. A criminal court judge for more than a decade, Richard Baumgartner was a family face at community function focused on the prevention of crime and drugs. However, the shocking revelation of his own addiction forced him to step down from the bench.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Michael Jackson’s doctor sued for fueling his drug addiction – Star Lounge

Michael Jackson’s dermatologist Arnold Klein has been accused of fueling the pop star’s addiction to prescription drugs.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Army hiring more counselors for alcohol abuse – ‎The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The army is increasing its staff of substance abuse counselors by about 30 percent to help the rising number of troops with alcohol problems.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
What Parents Should Know About Party Schools – LifeGoesStrong

Headline-grabbing is list of top party schools put out by Princeton Review inevitably draws protests from administrators at the “winning” schools and probably lots of interest from potential students. But most parents look at this list in horror – as they should. You’re paying a fortune for your kid to get an education, not for partying.

PRESCRIPTION DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Unscrupulous pain clinic operators give good doctors a bad rap – Knoxville News Sentinel

Every month for two years, Freddie McMahan would get in his Lincoln LS and drive to a nearby pain clinic, where a doctor would prescribe him a cocktail of narcotic drugs. Initial prescriptions for codeine and Demerol to treat McMahan’s scoliosis eventually led to large amounts of OxyContin, Xanax and morphine. By the third week of his month’s supply, McMahan would run out, leaving him scrambling to get his fix somewhere else or go into withdrawal.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Our view: All must join war to put meth labs out of business – Utica Observer Dispatch

It’s time to go to war. Looking the other way is no longer an option because the losers in this fight could very well be your neighbors, your friends or even your own family. This war is against methamphetamine. Perhaps it’s being made right now in a home near yours. Methamphetamine is ugly. Users inject it, smoke it, snort it or swallow it. It affects the central nervous system, and is highly addictive. Results: Anxiety, psychotic and violent behavior, paranoia and brain damage. Addicts can die from continued use, if not before.