Drug News

DRUG REHAB – USA
Treatment, Not Jail, For Low Level Drug Crimes – NPR

A pilot program in Seattle, Wash., and surrounding King County allows some low-level drug offenders to go to rehabilitation programs instead of prison. Guest host Tony Cox speaks with King County’s sheriff, a public defender and a member of the Seattle police department about the bi-partisan plan.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Black and Asian Teens Have Lowest Rates of Drug and Alcohol Use – Business Week

‎Black and Asian teenagers in the US are less likely to use alcohol or drugs than adolescents of other races, a study found.

DRUG ADDICTION – INDIA
Average age of drug addicts in Bangalore: 13 years! – NDTV

Bangalore: Drug rehabilitation centres in the city have recorded some shocking changes with regard to the number of narcotic users this year.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Alabama legislators eye prescriptions to thwart meth making – AL.COM

The drug is highly addictive, and long-term users can suffer from rotting teeth sometimes called “meth mouth,” mood disturbances, violent behavior, hallucinations and extreme weight loss.
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DRUG REHAB – USA
Narconon East US Director Urges Alcohol and Drug Rehab Admission Before the Holidays – PR WEB

Narconon East US, Executive Director urges alcohol and drug users to enroll in rehab centers before the Holidays when addiction intensifies with more pressure to drink and party.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA/CANADA
Women and Alcohol: Solutions – Toronto Star
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“The new reality is that binge drinking has been increasing, especially among young adults, in modern high-economy countries — and women are largely responsible for this trend. Alcohol use contributes causally to 7 per cent of all cancers, 4 per cent of coronary disease, 23 per cent of all injuries and 26 per cent of neuropsychiatric conditions in North America.

COCAINE ADDICTION – USA
From med school to crack addict, an ex-con works his way back to sobriety

Moore, 54, is an ex-con who has spent much of his adult life in and out of prison, paying society’s price for his cocaine addiction. He missed his mother’s funeral and nearly lost his brothers and sister. Still, while Moore’s is a cautionary tale, it is also one that — so far — is shaping up to have a happy ending. And his life may yet turn into something to be celebrated.

ECSTASY – USA
Clinic a supermarket for Oxycontin and ecstasy – Seattle Post
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“It’s a supermarket for Oxycontin and ecstasy,” he said. “And there’s a lot of money changing hands.”

DRUG REHAB – UK
Amy Winehouse’s death prompts review of drug rehab waiting times – ‎Telegraph.co.uk

It claims that in 2009/10, 94 per cent of patients waited less than three weeks for drug rehabilitation. During that period, the NTA dealt with nearly 207,000 addicts.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
With Drug Use on Rise, How Do You Protect Your Kids? – Patch.com

Experts offer tips on how parents can help their children avoid drug use, as reports of prescription drug and heroin use are on the rise.

COCAINE/CRACK – CANADA
Vancouver health authority to hand out free crack pipes – ‎News1130

Clean crack pipes will be distributed to drug addicts this fall as a means to help stop the spread of infectious diseases and guide them toward treatment.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Officials fear for infants born to prescription drug addicts – CNN

South Florida doctors and intensive care nurses report an dramatic uptick in babies born hooked on pills that their mothers abused while pregnant.

COCAINE – USA
Why cocaine addiction is ‘still going strong’ in Hollywood – Daily News & Analysis

Though the number of young adults abusing cocaine has dropped significantly, according to the 2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, but it’s use in Hollywood is still going strong.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
We have lost drug battle because we have not read history – ‎Zanesville Times Recorder

Memory loss and addiction were typified by Timothy O’Leary, the guru, … We have lost the battle against illegal drug use because we have not read history.

DRUG/ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
DC tops nation in drug, alcohol abuse – Washington Examiner

Drug and alcohol abuse rates are higher in the District than anywhere else in the country, and experts say the wide availability of drugs, high stress levels and difficulties getting abusers into treatment fuel the city’s persistently stratospheric rates.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – UK
Drinks industry grip on alcohol panel criticized – The Guardian

Anti-alcohol abuse groups say push to cut excessive drinking risks being compromised by industry’s heavy presence on panel.

DRUG ADDICTION – USA
Personal stories help parents learn to identify drug warning signs – The Daily Courier

Two-hundred parents learned recently at Prescott Mile High Middle School how easy it is for kids to get hooked on drugs, strategies to keep them drug-free and how to identify commonly used drugs and paraphernalia. Moak’s oldest son hid his addiction to marijuana and cocaine from the family for two years.

DRUG REHAB – USA
NAACP report highlights ‘misplaced priorities’ of jails over schools – Washington Post

Not only are the statistics startling in “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate,” so is the group of people rallying around the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization’s push to adopt alternatives to incarceration.

METHAMPHETAMINE – USA
Number seeking treatment for meth addiction risen steadily since mid-1990s – Southeast Missourian

Sullivan-Jones and Daugherty are two of the thousands who’ve dealt with drug addiction in Missouri. On average, 58000 Missourians are struggling with an addictive disorder every year, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Littlest victims of Rx abuse: Newborns – STLtoday.com

The mother had abused prescription painkillers like OxyContin for the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy, She got the call in the middle of the night: Her 3-day-old baby was going through opiate withdrawal in a hospital.

ALCOHOL ABUSE – USA
Alcohol Abuse in College – New York Times
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A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, “Wasting the Best and the Brightest,” found that on college campuses each year, as a result of alcohol abuse about 100000 women are sexually assaulted, 700,000 students are injured and 2,000 students die from violence and accidents.

ECSTASY – USA
Boy, 7, shares Ecstasy pills at South Texas school – Houston Chronicle

Lt. Martin Morales says it does not appear that any of the boys took the pills. The father is facing charges of possession of a controlled substance and five counts of endangering a child. Police recovered nearly 350 pills, believed to be Ecstasy,

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS – USA
Cracking Down On Prescription Drug Theft – WKBW-TV

At Tile Pharmacy in Cheektowaga, US Senator Charles Schumer announced his plan to crack down on prescription drug theft that is fueling an unprecedented spike in drug abuse in Buffalo and Western NY. In just the first three months of 2011, the Upstate New York Poison Control Center reports that there have been 121 cases of prescription drug abuse in Erie County alone.

COCAINE – USA
Dennis Quaid Admits to Past Drug Addiction – San Diego Entertainer Magazine

Quaid, star of Soul Surfer, The Big Easy, The Right Stuff, and Any Given Sunday talks about his drug addiction. “I was getting an hour of sleep a night,” he writes, “I’d wake up, snort a line, and swear I wasn’t going to do it again that day. But then 4 o’clock rolled around, and I’d be right back down the same road like a little squirrel on one of those treadmills. The lack of sleep made it so my focus wasn’t really there, which affected my acting.”

DRUG REHAB – USA
NY school officials eye drug rehab at high school – Wall Street Journal

School officials on eastern Long Island are seeking state approval to allow a drug rehab clinic to operate inside a high school.

DRUG ABUSE – UK
Why Britain tops world drug use league – Guardian

Cocaine use in Britain permeates all classes from top to bottom. Price is a factor; it’s cheaper than ever. Experts talk of “child-friendly” prices, “beginners’ offers” and “group discounts”.

DRUG ADDICTION – UK
Kelly Osbourne Blames Fat Jibes For Drug Addiction – Contact Music

Kelly Osbourne is convinced cruel taunts about her weight drove her to drug addiction. The daughter of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne has long battled problems with prescription pills and after several stints in rehab, finally kicked her bad habits last year (09).

DRUG ABUSE – US
US Effects of prenatal drug exposure and early life infections on the brain – Medical Daily

New findings released today help identify the long-term impact of the prenatal environment and early parental care on the brain. Using animals as models, researchers help explain why early inflammation and a mother’s exposure to drugs such as nicotine and high doses of pain killers have lasting consequences for children — and even future generations.

HEROIN – IRELAND
Pensioner admits selling cocaine and heroin – RTE Ireland

A 73-year-old man, who became a crack and heroin dealer after his pension was cut, has been given a four-year suspended sentence. A 73-year-old man, …

ECSTASY – US
Cow Palace bans 2 concerts in wake of overdoses – San Francisco Chronicle

Two people who attended the Pop 2010 rave in May died of ecstasy overdoses and at least six others required treatment. Two people died of overdoses at a …

METHAMPHETAMINE – US
Mother sentenced for meth lab explosion that injured child – NFW Daily News

The mother of the baby who was badly burned in a meth lab explosion last year sought mercy in a Bay County courtroom Wednesday but received little.

ALCOHOL – US
It’s Alcohol Awareness Month – The Daily Reporter

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and American Society of Addiction Medicine define alcoholism as a “primary, chronic disease …

Heroin – New York
Three arrested in Port Jervis heroin bust – recordonline.com

PORT JERVIS — City police Tuesday arrested a Monticello man they say sold heroin to undercover officers.

Alcohol Abuse – Australia
Indigenous leaders fear rise in drug, alcohol abuse – ABC | Indigenous

A Cape York leader in far north Queensland says he is concerned about the impact a High Court decision could have on substance abuse in the community.

Meth Lab – South Carolina
Meth lab discovered in Hartsville neighborhood - CarolinaLive.com

The discovery of a meth lab at a home in a Harstville community sent shock waves of alarm through the neighborhood. Those living nearby were understandably concerned because their homes weren’t the only thing in danger. There’s a school just 500 yards away.

Meth & Marijuana – Iowa
Iowa Drug Report Shows Issues With Meth, Marijuana – Action3News.com

Des Moines, IA (AP) – Iowa drug control officials have issued a new report that finds the state has an escalating synthetic drug abuse problem and there has been an increase in need for treatment for methamphetamine and marijuana users.

Cocaine – Arizona
Border officers seize $12 million in cocaine – azcentral.com

NOGALES – Border officers in the southeastern Arizona city of Nogales made three separate cocaine seizures worth a combined $12.1 million in one day.

Heroin – New York
Drug Dealers Caught on Google Street View – abcNews/Technology

Google Street View sightings tend to be more peculiar than practical — in the past year alone, the globe encompassing image service has turned up photos of a so-called two-headed man, a “dead” girl and a snake out for a walk with its owner. But the latest additions to the canon of Street View spectacles are so valuable they might be used in a court of law.

Heroin – Australia
Australian woman who hid heroin in stomach held – Thaindian News

Sydney, Nov 6 (IANS) An Australian woman has been arrested here after she was found to have swallowed 41 balloons filled with heroin, a media report said Saturday.

Meth-Related Death – UK
10-day-old girl dies in washing machine – Thaindian News

London, Nov 8 (IANS) A 10-day-old girl died in Britain when her mother put her in a washing machine with a pile of laundry, a media report said Monday.

Caffeinated Alcohol Ban – Michigan
Michigan Bans Caffeinated Alcohol Drinks – CSP

LANSING, Mich. — The state of Michigan has banned caffeinated alcoholic beverages. The Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) rescinding the approval of all “alcohol energy drinks.” The commission will notify beverage makers via a commission order about the product ban; they will have 30 days to remove these products from the state of Michigan, it said.

Drug Raid – Ohio
Holmesville meth raid ‘went really well and no one got hurt’ - The-Daily-Record.com

MILLERSBURG — Deputies donned camo and checked their weapons and gas masks, then checked them again.

Heroin Seizure – Nevada
Las Vegas heroin seizure worth $1 million – UPI.com

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 7 (UPI) — Police say the $1 million worth of heroin seized at the Las Vegas airport was the largest in the city in recent history.

Cocaine – UK
Benson Offia in court for a 3 million Pounds cocaine haul – Thaindian News

London, Nov 8 (THAINDIAN NEWS) British Officers will take a man accused of possessing one of the highest quantities of cocaine in the country to court today. The street value of the drug that was seized from the man is estimated to be worth £3 million. He is charged with possessing Class A drug with the intent to sell.

Heroin – Colorado
Students found using heroin at AAHS – Coloradoconnection.com

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Academy District 20 officials said they found students using heroin and other substances at Air Academy High School, and one student has been arrested.

Cocaine – Florida
‘Candy’ cocaine leads to drug arrest – UPI.com

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) — A Puerto Rico man is charged with attempting to smuggle 21 pounds of cocaine into Florida disguised in bags of candy, authorities said.

Probation – USA Celebrity
Lil Wayne Can’t Drink For Three Years Under Probation – MTV NEWS

Lil Wayne isn’t allowed to drink alcohol for three years, according to Arizona probation documents obtained by TMZ.

Meth – Wyoming
Wyo. cops lose box of drugs that says ‘METH’ on it – ctpost.com

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — Officials in Wyoming want people to be on the lookout for a black box with white lettering that says “METH,” after a deputy lost a stash used to train police dogs. Teton County sheriff’s Sgt. Lloyd Funk said the deputy accidentally left the box on a bumper after a canine training exercise Oct. 27. It contained nearly an ounce of methamphetamine.

Marijuana – Nebraska
State Patrol: Pot Found Stashed In Spare Tire – KETV.com

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska State Patrol said a Las Vegas man is in jail after marijuana was found stashed in the spare tire of his pickup truck.

Alcohol Abuse – Ireland
President of UCC issues alcohol warning – IrishExaminer.com

HEALTH problems and Ireland’s image abroad will worsen significantly unless rising alcohol abuse by young people is reversed, the head of one of the country’s biggest colleges has warned.

Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages – Washington
Caffeinated Booze Four Loko, Not Drugs, Sickened Students at Party – abc NEWS / Health

A highly caffeinated, but legal alcoholic drink was responsible for sickening dozens and sent nine Central Washington students to the hospital and led to an investigation of whether the party-goers had been drugged, police said today.

Drug Abuse – USA Study
Teens, Parents Both Underreport Drug Use, Study Finds – FoxNews.com

Teenagers aren’t the only ones who skirt the truth in admitting drug use: Their parents do it too, a new study suggests.

Drug Sniffing Dogs – USA
Could Your Kids be On Drugs? New Biz Sends Search Dogs to Sniff Out Their Rooms – abc News / U.S.

Maryland Non-Profit’s Dogs Can Detect Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin and Meth

Drug-Related Violence
Three killed in Chicago suburb shooting – Thaindian News

Washington, Oct 25 (IANS) A 28-year-old woman, her 9-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old boy were shot dead overnight in Chicago in apparent drug-related killings, police said Monday.

Past Drug Use Preventing Job – USA Celebrity
Disney is going to cut all Keith Richards scenes from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4′ – Thaindian News

Los Angeles, Oct 25 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Shortly after announcing that rocker Keith Richards was going to be a part of the movie – ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 4’, there is now a new twist in the tale. Apparently Disney is not too happy with Keith’s drug tales and so now they have decided to axe him from the movie. And apparently that is not all. They have also decided to delete and cut away all the scenes that they have already shot with him in the movie.

Heroin – UK
Heroin addict accepts cash to be sterilized – examiner.com

A British citizen has become the first person in that country to accept money to be sterilized by a controversial U.S. charity, Project Prevention, founded by Barbara Harris reported the Mail October 23, 2010.

Youth & Alcohol Study – UK
Brit Kids Get Drunk for About Half the Cost of a Chocolate Bar – MeDINDIA

A recent study has revealed that youngsters in the UK can get drunk for half the price of a chocolate bar.

Drug-Related ER Visits For Kids – USA
Kids Under 6 Made Majority of ER Visits for Accidental Drug Ingestion – Join Together

Children five years old and younger account for 69 percent of visits made to the emergency room in 2008 for accidental ingestion of drugs — and adults should take heed, HealthDay News reported Oct. 15.

Marijuana – Mexico
Marijuana packages seized in Mexico had Homer Simpson labels – Thaindian News

TIJUANA, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) — Around 105 tons of marijuana – which would have been sold for around 4.2 billion pesos ($337 million dollars) in roughly 210 million packages – were seized in Mexico’s drug-plaged north on Monday.

Cocaine – Kansas
Sixteen people charged in KCK cocaine-distribution ring – The Kansas City Star

Sixteen people are charged with distributing more $4.2 million in cocaine in the streets of Kansas City, Kan., federal officials announced Monday.

Alcohol – UK
‘Drunk’ dad leaves 3-year-old son in car for 25 hours – Thaindian News

London, Oct 19 (ANI): A ‘drunk’ father left his three-year-old boy alone in a car for up to 25 hours.

Meth – USA
Killer Meth: America’s Greatest Drug Threat – Drug Addiction Treatment

Five years is a long time in the evolution of drug use. In August 2005, Newsweek magazine published a story claiming that meth was “America’s Most Dangerous Drug.” A lot has changed in the drug landscape in America since then, and it’s gotten to the point where many experts believe that killer meth is America’s greatest drug threat.

Cocaine & Meth – Oregon
Medford family members charged in drug bust – OregonLive.com, The Associated Press

MEDFORD, Ore. — Several members of a family have been arrested on charges of dealing methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine.

Alcohol-Related Crash – Michigan
Covert man hurt in crash early Sunday morning – Mlive.com

PAW PAW — A 48-year-old Covert man was critically injured Sunday during an alcohol-related, two-car crash, according to the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office.

Substance Abuse Grants – USA, SAMHSA
SAMHSA Awards Up To $6.7 Million In Grants To Expand Technology Assisted Care For Behavioral Health Services – Medical News TODAY

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced it is awarding a total of up to $6.7 million for three years to up to six grantees to expand their behavioral health treatment systems using technology-assisted approaches in communities that can most benefit from these types of integrated comprehensive services. This program is part of SAMHSA’s strategic initiative on preventing substance abuse and mental illness.

Marijuana & Crack Cocaine – North Carolina
Neighborhood shocked after man tries to sell drugs door to door – WMBF

MURRELLS INLET, SC (WMBF) – Neighbors in one Murrells Inlet development said they’re in shock after a man is arrested for trying to sell marijuana and crack to several people door to door.

Marijuana – Florida
Police find lost bong; suspect says thanks – UPI.com

BRADENTON, Fla., Oct. 17 (UPI) — A Florida man, arrested after admitting to police there was marijuana in his car trunk, thanked them for finding his bong, lost for seven years, officers say.

Prescription Drug Theft – Washington
Pastor charged with stealing pain meds – UPI.com

SPOKANE, Wash., Oct. 15 (UPI) — A pastor in Spokane, Wash., was arrested Friday for stealing prescription drugs from the home of a parishioner, police said.