Drug News

ALCOHOL – SOUTH AFRICA
Alarming increase in drug, alcohol abuse – The Herald Eastern Cape

THE number of people who sought advice and treatment for alcohol and tik (methamphetamine) addiction rose by 100 per cent from April last year to March this year.

ALCOHOL – USA
If under 21, alcohol, drug offenses to be reported to parents – Knoxville News Sentinel

Some Tennessee college students may think being 18 means freedom from parent oversight. Those in state schools will need to rethink that assumption.

DRUGS – PAKISTAN
World Anti-Narcotics Day observed – The Nation

Since independence several intoxicating items have been introduced in the country, however, besides heroin, opium and chars, the injections are the newest and easily product available at medical stores, revealed by the experts while commenting on the eve of “International Anti Narcotics Day.”

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Overdose deaths jump 147% in Indiana – Indianapolis Star

The number of Hoosiers who died from drug overdoses increased 147 percent from 1999 to 2004, a trend driven by the growing abuse of prescription medications, according to a new study.

DRUGS – INDIA
‘Awareness needed to curb drug abuse among kids’ – Express India

Why do so many chemists throw caution to wind while selling Schedule-H drugs without prescription?

DRUGS – USA
Calif. Drug-Reform Initiative Approved as Addiction Groups Choose Sides – Join Together

The state of California recently gave final clearance for the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA) to appear on the November ballot, but some prominent groups in the addiction community have come out in opposition to the measure, fearing its national implications.

PAINKILLER – USA
As FDA Focuses on Safety, Fewer New Drugs Are Approved – The Wall Street Journal

Why are new drug approvals tapering off? For one, there’s the industry’s research labs, which have produced a leaky pipeline of promising products lately.

DRUGS – USA
PDFA Joins Pharma Co. to Warn Against Prescription Drug Abuse – Join Together

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) has joined with the Abbott pharmaceutical firm to sponsor a new campaign against teen prescription-drug misuse.

HEROIN – IRELAND
Children as young as 14 using heroin – Irish Examiner

CHILDREN as young as 12 years of age are abusing drugs and by the time they reach 14 many are addicted to heroin, a study of teenagers in the Dublin region has found.

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.

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.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Keep leftover meds out of teens’ hands – Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

One in five teens has abused the prescription narcotic Vicodin. One in 10 has abused OxyContin. Another one in 10 has used stimulants such as Ritalin or Adderall for the energy-boosting effect. One in 11 has admitted to getting high on cough medicine.

HEROIN – USA
Police say use of heroin by Nassau teens rising – News Day

Heroin, once the drug of choice for hopeless junkies, is becoming in vogue among an alarming number of middle-class Nassau County teenagers, police told local school officials at a meeting yesterday.

ALCOHOL – USA
Crime Rises with Alcohol Outlet Density, Study Says – Join Together

A new Australian study concludes that violence rose in Melbourne communities as the density of alcohol outlets increased.

ALCOHOL – USA
Alcohol Raises Cancer Risk in Men and Women – FOX News

Just two drinks a day for both sexes raises the risk of mouth cancer by 75 percent, according to the study from Australia’s Cancer Institute NSW.

ALCOHOL – AUSTRALIA
Alcohol increases cancer risk – NEWS

NSW Assistant Health Minister Verity Firth, who will release the report today, said the alarming links to cancer had been generally ignored in debate over alcohol consumption.

METH – USA
Keokuk Police educating kids about meth – KHQA News

The Keokuk Police Department is educating kids about the dangers of meth. Keokuk Police Chief Tom Crew put this presentation together. He takes it to area schools to show kids the short-and long-term effects of meth on your body.

ALCOHOL – USA
July Fourth alcohol ban to continue in Del Mar – Sign on San Diego

An annual ban on alcohol at Del Mar’s 2½ miles of beaches over the Fourth of July weekend will continue for a seventh summer. The City Council voted unanimously Monday to prohibit the possession of alcoholic beverages on all public property including beaches, parks, streets and sidewalks from 6 p.m. July 3 until 6 a.m. July 7, a period of 84 hours.

CANNABIS – UK
Study warns of sexual health crisis due to drug use – The Guardian

The culture of binge drinking and drug use among young people in Europe is increasing the risk of a sexual health crisis, researchers warned today.

DRUGS – USA
Young People Are Intentionally Drinking And Taking Drugs For Better Sex, European Survey Finds – Science Daily

Teenagers and young adults across Europe drink and take drugs as part of deliberate sexual strategies.

PAINKILLER – USA
Doctor’s Offices Can Help Stem Narcotic Painkiller Abuse – Newswire

They walk this tightrope every time a patient asks for a prescription for a powerful opioid narcotic painkiller, such as Oxycontin or Vicodin. These drugs have eased the pain of millions, but have also become lucrative street drugs that are used by millions of people not for pain control, but to get high.

METH – USA
42 stations, 30 minutes, 1 message about meth that you shouldn’t miss – The Arizona Republic

There is a battle our nation is losing. Child by child, family by family, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city, state by state. And we’re losing it because most people don’t even realize that we’re at war.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
Youth pain reliever abuse on the rise – The Daily Courier

Government research is overwhelming. Of all the children and adolescents abusing prescription drugs, 2.5 million are using pain relievers.

HEROIN – USA
Will we be a heroin capital, too? – The Modesto Bee

Heroin is becoming more and more popular with kids; parents need to be educated. The more information parents have, the better chance we have to fight this drug.

METH – USA
Prescott Valley to air program on meth – The Daily Courier

The town government will air an anti-methamphetamine video Tuesday on Channel 15, and invite the public to view it and attend a meeting afterward at the Civic Center.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
More teens meddling with contents of medicine box – Lancaster Eagle Gazette

They can be sold for as little or as much as the seller wants and can be obtained by, for free, from the bathroom of any American home. They’re prescription drugs and, according to local educators and law enforcement, teens are selling and using them more frequently then parents might realize.

ALCOHOL – USA
Salem speaks on dangers of alcohol – Kingman Daily Miner

Mayor-elect John Salem delivered a well-received anti-alcohol message Tuesday during a meeting of The Coalition for Successful Youth Development.

ALCOHOL – UK
Many Students Binge to Celebrate Turning 21, Study Finds – Join Together

Interviews with college students found that a shocking 34 percent of male drinkers and 24 percent of females said they had celebrated their 21st birthday by consuming 21 or more drinks

METH – UK
Methamphetamine Alters Dopamine System, Study Finds – Join Together

University of Washington researchers say that animal studies show that methamphetamine use causes lasting changes in the brain’s dopamine system, making it especially difficult for users to stop using the drug.

ALCOHOL – UK
End NCAA Alcohol Ads, College Officials Say – Join Together

In a letter to NCAA President Myles Brand, a group of more than 100 college presidents and athletic directors called for a ban on beer ads during broadcasts of NCAA basketball games, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

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.

ALCOHOL – USA
Chronic Drinking Can Lead To Severe Pneumonia After Surgery, Rodent Study Shows – Science Daily
People who drink often have immune-function problems following surgery. For example, patients who consume alcohol long-term have a two- to five-fold greater chance of post-operation infection complications.

ALCOHOL – UK
Welcome for plan to stop children’s street drinking – ic Wales

PLANS to give police new powers to confiscate alcohol from under-18s who drink in public were welcomed in Wales yesterday.

METH – USA
Police warn about methamphetamine-laced ecstasy from Canada – Boston Globe
Police say methamphetamine-laced ecstasy, a dangerous illegal drug manufactured in Canada, is turning up in Vermont.

METH – USA
Meth-laced Ecstasy pills arrive in Vt. – Rutland Herald
Vermont State Police say they are seeing the drug crop up in pockets around the state.

PRESCRIPTION – USA
How safe are prescription drugs from Mexico? – Delaware The News Journal

Now, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and her counterparts on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border have floated an idea that would scrutinize the safety of prescription drugs sold in Mexican border towns. They want to create a cross-border testing and inspection program to ensure drug safety.

DRUGS – USA
Misuse of ‘bupe’ is found to be on rise – Baltimore Sun

In a report to federal regulators, the manufacturer of buprenorphine has provided the starkest evidence to date that misuse of the drug is growing in parts of the country where it is most widely prescribed as an addiction treatment.

DRUGS – USA
Risk factors for alcohol and other drug use by healthcare professionals – Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy

Given the increasingly stressful environment due to manpower shortages in the healthcare system in general, substance induced impairment among some healthcare professions is anticipated to grow.

METH – USA
Meth problem likely to increase – Kalamazoo Gazette

Seizures of methamphetamine labs have dropped since December 2005, when a new law was enacted restricting the sale of cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine.

METH – USA
Meth use rising again – MLive
A slew of tough new laws attacking the menace of methamphetamine seemed to be working: 451 meth-lab busts in Michigan in 2005 fell to 201 in 2007.