Drug News

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
O’REILLY: Houston embraced drug life – Rapid City Journal

The media have no clue how to cover the death of Whitney Houston. That’s because she was slowly dying for years and many in the press simply averted their eyes. It was ultra-disturbing that a beautiful woman blessed with an extraordinary singing voice chose a self-destructive path in full view of the world.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Why Prescription Drug Addiction is Growing Among Teens – LiveScience

By the time Jessica McDonald was 13, she had already started drinking, smoking marijuana and using Adderall — a stimulant used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — to get high. Physically abused by her father and feeling aimless, the Corona, Calif., girl quickly became an addict, racking up five DUI convictions while high on Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. In many ways, McDonald’s story is timeless. But her drugs of choice — prescription pills — highlight an increasingly pervasive problem among U.S. teenagers, who are abusing such medications in record numbers.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Whitney Houston’s death inspires question: Why not higher alcohol taxes? – Arkansas Times

I don’t read the New York Times’ newish columnist Frank Bruni much. And I don’t know why this caught my attention this morning. In one respect, it belabors an obvious point. But that is the point, that something so obvious gets relatively little attention. He uses Whitney Houston’s death (and Amy Winehouse’s) as a takeoff on the ill effects of alcohol abuse. He notes how little public alarm and government reaction accumulate against it in comparison with tobacco corn syrup and other agents harmful to health.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
7.5 Million Children Live With Parent With Alcohol Use Disorder – WBNG

A new report shows 7.5 million children under age 18 (10.5 percent of this population) lived with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

ECSTASY – CANADA
Parents get Abbotsford Police Department ecstasy letter – Abbotsford Times

Abbotsford Police and the school district are partnering in a campaign to educate parents and students about the risks associated with street drugs after a recent spate of ecstasy deaths.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Prescription drug abuse hearings planned after Whitney Houston’s death – My Desert

Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, plans to hold a series of congressional hearings on prescription drug abuse — a problem she said was highlighted by the weekend death of singer Whitney Houston.

HEROIN – GLOBAL
Heroin production in Afghanistan has RISEN 61% – Daily Mail

Afghan drug war debacle: Blair said smashing opium trade was a major reason to invade but 10 years on heroin production is up from 185 tons a year to 5,800. Such has been the failure to combat the problem that more than 90 per cent of the heroin sold on Britain’s streets is still made using opium from Afghanistan.

COCAINE – UK
Fears scores could go free after cocaine case dropped over DNA ruling – Daily Record

Suspects accused of serious crimes could walk free after a landmark ruling on DNA testing.

ALCOHOL/DRUG ADDICTION – UK
Amy Winehouse’s death: Rising numbers of people checking into rehab – Mirror.co.uk

Soaring numbers of patients have been checking into rehab following the death of Amy Winehouse. “One woman was sobbing saying she knew she needed help and that Amy’s death has brought it all home to her.”

ALCOHOL/DRUG REHAB – USA
Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller together again – HULIQ.com

Sheen and Mueller first broke up in 2009. Reports of drug problems and rehab seemed to fuel their split. Currently Sheen is helping Mueller get through rehab and states he is also getting clean.

HEROIN – USA
35 indicted for participating in major heroin-trafficking ring – WTKR Your NewsChannel 3

Thirty-five individuals have been indicted for participating in a heroin-trafficking organization that transported several kilograms of the narcotic from New York City into the Tidewater area. Each faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

ALCOHOL – USA
Books & booze: Can Iowa schools, students put end to tragedies? – DesMoinesRegister.com

No single intervention will solve the problem,” said Ralph Hingson of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “If they think just adopting one program is going to do this, it’s not going to happen.”

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Jerome Block Jr. admits to prescription drug addiction, but won’t resign – KOB.com

Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. says he fighting an addiction to prescription drugs.

ECSTASY – USA
‘Bath Salts’ Have Effects Similar to Meth, Ecstasy – Medscape

Mephedrone is sold as “bath salts” or as other innocuous products in an effort to sidestep drug laws, DEA Special Agent Gary Boggs tells WebMD. “In order to escape law enforcement scrutiny, products are labeled ‘not for human consumption,’ but they know full well it is intended for that.”

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Methamphetamine Abuse May Raise Parkinson’s Risk – U.S. News & World Report

People who abuse methamphetamine or other stimulants are at increased risk for Parkinson’s disease, a new study warns.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
SW Virginia drug abuse cast in workforce terms – Houston Chronicle

A coalition fighting prescription drug abuse in southwest Virginia is casting its battle in economic terms, saying substance abuse has made it more difficult for employers to hire workers. “What we’ve heard, time and time again from employers, is their frustration that so many people they are trying to hire are either unwilling to take, or unable to pass, a drug test.”

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.