Drug News

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

Concert focuses on meth problem – Appeal-Democrat

Friday Night Live is planning an all-day concert on Saturday to raise awareness of methamphetamine abuse in the Yuba-Sutter area.

METH – USA
Pharmacology of crystal meth – Eurek Alert

When smoked, crystal meth rapidly achieves high concentrations in the brain without the burdens of the intravenous route. Kish reviews the actions of methamphetamine and explains the potential role of dopamine in methamphetamine craving.

METH – USA
Concert Held in Idaho to Raise Money Against Meth – Local ABC News

This all day all age benefit concert features local bands donating their time and talent.
They held this to try to help raise awareness about the devastating impact of Meth
in Idaho.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Florida Medical Examiner’s report show prescription drugs more deadly – North Florida News Daily

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Florida Medical Examiners Commission released the state’s annual report on Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons.

RITALIN – USA
Enquirer seeks sources for substance abuse series – Battle Creek Enquier

Substance abuse among young people does not afflict just one group. Teens from all walks of life use drugs and alcohol both to tune out and to tune in.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Florida Reports Prescription Drugs Killing Far More People than Illicit Drugs – Join Together

The Florida Medical Examiners Commission says that autopsies show that prescription drugs kill three times more people in Florida than all illicit drugs combined

METH – USA
Anti-meth campaign kicks off – CBS Denver News

The Wyoming Meth Project has launched a campaign to prevent young people from trying the highly addictive drug with a campaign fueled by television, radio and print advertisements.

ALCOHOL – USA
Namibia: Festival Against Drugs and Alcohol – All Africa

The 3rd year social work students of the University of Namibia in conjunction with Bank Windhoek, Coalition on Responsible Drinking, Namibia Breweries, and the Drug Awareness Group are organizing a TADA choir festival that will take place this Saturday.

ALCOHOL – UK
Scottish Suicide And Homicide Rates Fueled By Drink And Drugs – Medical News Today

Alcohol and drug misuse mean Scots are almost twice as likely to kill or take their own life compared to people living in England and Wales, published research reveals.

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.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Capitol Hill Watch | Prescription Drug Television Ads Should Be Required To Include Toll-Free Number, Web Site for Consumers To Report Serious Side Effects to FDA, Lawmakers Say – Kaiser Network

Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Wednesday asked FDA to mandate that all prescription drug television advertisements include information for consumers to report serious side effects to the agency.

METH – USA
Montana Meth Project releases new ads – Montana Kaimin

Revealed Tuesday, the newest series of the print, radio and television campaign on behalf of the non-profit organization intends to use more stark images to reach their target demographic, which the new executive director of the Montana Meth Project, Dennis Taylor, said is working.

DRUGS – USA
Drug poisoning deaths on the rise – USA Today

Poisoning continues to be the second-leading cause of injury deaths in the USA, outstripping deaths caused by firearms for the second year in a row, a federal report says.

METH – USA
Stop meth in its tracks! – Cherokee County Herald

The Cherokee County Narcotics Unit is a division of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office, which includes the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office working in cooperation with all area law enforcement. The Unit assists other law enforcement agencies in this county where and whenever it can.
ALCOHOL – UK
Police apply litmus test to foil underage alcohol consumption – ic Sefton and West Lancs

POLICE using litmus tests have helped to confiscate more than a thousand alcoholic drinks from youngsters in Sefton. The council is heralding the success of a campaign tackling young people buying and drinking alcohol.

ALCOHOL – INDIA
Study Says “tweens” Benefit from Alcohol-prevention Programs – Med India

Early alcohol abuse prevention program for kids between 8 and 12 years of age may prove beneficial in the long run especially as many young users are taking to the spirits in a big way, a new study has revealed.

ALCOHOL – USA
Teengers say it’s easy to get alcohol – Joliet Herald News

Teens attending the meeting were taken to a separate room and asked questions by volunteer coaches. When they returned, the teens admitted that around 98 percent of teens they knew drank.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol drug of choice for teens – Sun Sentinel

Alcohol is the drug most frequently used by American teenagers. Young people drink alcohol more frequently than they use all other illicit drugs combined, and alcohol is the drug responsible for more than 6,500 deaths per year.

ALCOHOL – USA
Teen alcohol use focus of forums – The Olympian

Alcohol-awareness groups and parents gathered Wednesday to discuss changing adult drinking habits — similar to the way tobacco habits have changed — as a way to curb underage alcohol abuse.

ALCOHOL – USA
Early alcohol prevention programs for ‘tweens’ is imperative: Study – Daily India

With an increasing number of youngsters getting addicted to booze, a new study has looked at how important it is to have early alcohol preventive programs for teens, or kids between 8 to 12 years.